ST 432 Course Information Page 1 of 5 Spring 2016
Class webpage: http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/people/reiland/courses/st432/
If you don't believe in random sampling, the next time you have a blood test tell the doctor to take it all.
Anonymous Instructor of Statistics
Instructor:
Thomas Reiland, 5278 SAS Hall, 515-1939, email: reiland@stat.ncsu.edu
office hours: T, Th 9:00-10:00 and by appointment
Teaching Assistant:
Yuan Tian, 1101 SAS Hall, email: ytian11@ncsu.edu
, office hours: TBA
Course Description:
This course explores issues in survey sampling including design principles pertaining to planning and execution of a sample survey and statistical considerations in analysis of sample survey data.
Topics include simple random sampling, systematic sampling, stratified random sampling, ratio estimation, and cluster sampling.
Textbook:
Elementary Survey Sampling by Richard L. Scheaffer, William Mendenhall III, R. Lyman Ott, and
Kenneth Gerow (2012), seventh edition, Duxbury, ISBN 978-0-8400-5361-9.
Calculator:
Students will need a basic calculator that can do addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and square roots.
. You should bring your calculator to class every day. We will often do calculations in class.
Prerequisites for this class:
ST 305 Statistical Methods.
Course Goals :
☆ Understand and use standard survey terminology and be able to recognize common features of sampling designs.
☆ Understand the advantages and disadvantages of commonly used sampling designs.
☆ Be able to design a survey incorporating important features of the population and objectives of the study.
☆ Be familiar with the properties of estimators typically used with common sampling designs.
☆ Be able to estimate quantities of interest from commonly used sampling designs.

ST 432 Course Information Page 2 of 5 Spring 2016
Course Coverage:
We will cover most of chapters 1-9 and other selected topics as time permits.
Textbook Material Topic
Introduction to Sampling Chapters 1-2
Some Basic Statistical Concepts Chapter 3
Simple Random Sampling Chapter 4
Stratified Random Sampling Chapter 5
Ratio and Regression Estimation Section 6.1-6.4, 6.6
Systematic Sampling
Cluster Sampling
Sections 7.1-7.3
Chapter 8
Two-Stage Cluster Sampling Sections 9.1-9.5
See the class webpage for a more detailed, updated schedule of reading and homework assignments, etc. http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/people/reiland/courses/st432/
Students with disabilities:
Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In order to take advantage of available accommodations, students must register with the Disability Services Office
(DSO). The DSO is located on the Second Floor of the Student Health Services Building, Suite
2221, Campus Box 7509, 515-7653. http://dso.dasa.ncsu.edu/accommodations
Academic Integrity Policy:
Any form of academic misconduct is a violation of the Student Code of Conduct and will not be tolerated.
Academic misconduct may be defined as "any activity which tends to compromise the academic integrity of the institution, or subvert the educational process". I expect complete honesty in the completion of exams and assignments. The student's signature on an exam means that the student neither gave nor received unauthorized aid. No help should be offered or accepted during an exam. Cheating on an exam at the least will result in an F in the course.
Students are encouraged to discuss homework problems with each other; however, submission of the answers must be done independently. Violations of this rule will not be tolerated and will be considered cheating; violators at the least will receive a 0 on the assignment.
Further details on academic integrity are in http://policies.ncsu.edu/policy/pol-11-35-01 (see paragraphs 6 through 9).
Homework:
There will be approximately 7 homework assignments during the semester. Assignments will consist primarily of problems from the textbook and will be collected at the beginning of class on the due date. Depending on the nature of the assignment, late homework may be accepted for a substantial reduction in points.. You are encouraged to work together on homework assignments.
However, each student must submit his/her own answers.

ST 432 Course Information Page 3 of 5 Spring 2016
Exams:
There will be 2 midterm exams and a final exam on the following dates:
First midterm exam: Wed. Feb. 10
Second midterm exam: Wed. March 23
Final exam: Mon. May 2, 1:00-4:00
The exams will be closed book and closed notes. For each exam you will be allowed to use a calculator and one 8½ × 11 formula sheet (handwritten or typed, both sides). You may not use a smartphone, tablet, or any other web-enabled device as a calculator on an exam, even if the internet access is disabled.
If you have a documented disability for which you are entitled to exam accommodations such as double-time or a separate reduced distraction room, you must make accommodations with the
Disability Services Office (see Students with disabilities paragraph elsewhere in this document).
Requests near the end of an exam to finish the exam in my office because, for example, you are usually granted double-time, will not be granted.
Lecture Worksheets:
At many lectures one or more lecture worksheets will be distributed. The worksheets will require individual, group, or class participation in a basic activity related to recent lecture material.
You will receive 2 copies of each worksheet, one to hand in at the conclusion of the lecture and the other to keep and use for study purposes.
For each lecture worksheet that you hand in you will receive 10 points.
The purpose of the lecture worksheets is to actively involve you in the recent lecture material in a non-threatening manner; they are not rigorously graded for accuracy or correctness, so you can muddle your way through the problems without fear of gradebook reprisals.
The key here is effort.
The worksheet will frequently be where you apply for the first time recent lecture material to solve a problem. Those students who simply sign their name and make minimal effort defeat the purpose of the worksheets. If you make an honest individual or group effort the worksheets will show you, without penalty, what you do not yet understand about the lecture material and enable you to focus your homework effort and exam preparation.
The best 10 worksheet grades will be used in determining your course grade.
Lecture worksheets will be accepted from students only at the lecture at which they are completed.
Since I am counting only the best 10 worksheet grades, the occasional missed worksheet for a valid reason such as illness or family emergency should not be an issue.

ST 432 Course Information Page 4 of 5 Spring 2016
Grading:
Each midterm exam is 100 points and the final exam is 100 points; each homework is worth between 10 and 20 points. The point totals for each component are shown below:

Exams 400 points
(midterm exam 1, 100 pts., midterm exam 2, 125; final exam, 175 pts.)

Homework 140 points (7 assignments @ 20 pts. each)

In-class worksheets 100 points (best 10 grades)
Total 640 points
Your grade in the course is assigned according to the percentages shown in the table below. The percentage score, rounded to 2 decimal places, is determined by summing your exam score (400 points possible), your homework score (140 points possible.), and worksheet points (100 points possible) and dividing this sum by 640.
GRADING SCALE PERCENTAGES
F D-
<60 60.00
-
62.49
D
62.50
-
67.49
D+
67.50
-
69.99
C-
70.00
-
72.49
C
72.50
-
77.49
C+
77.50
-
79.99
B-
80.00
-
82.49
B
82.50
-
87.49
B+
87.50
-
89.99
A-
90.00
-
92.49
A
92.50
-
97.99
Attendance:
Attending class is your right and your responsibility. I will not take attendance. However, good
A+
98.00
-
100 attendance is highly correlated with good grades. I encourage you to attend class every day and actively participate in the learning process. Active participation involves not just taking notes, but thinking, asking questions and answering questions during class.
Classroom policies:
Courtesy in the classroom is required.
 Do not start “packing up” before class is over. I will rarely keep you more than 60 seconds beyond the end of the scheduled time.

Please turn off or silence your cell phones before class begins.

If you have food or drink during class, please keep it quiet! Try to open packages or cans before class begins. Please throw away your trash when you leave and clean up any messes you have made.

Please refrain from extended, distracting conversations with your neighbor during class, except when you are instructed to do so for an in-class exercise.

Please do not sleep, read newspapers, email or books, work on homework (especially for other courses), play games on your calculator/smartphone/ipad/laptop or listen to music during class.
If I see you doing these things, I will ask you to stop.

You may take notes on a laptop/ipad, but do not use the laptop/ipad to do anything else during class time. If I see you doing something else with the laptop/ipad, I will ask you to put it away.
How can you be successful in this class?

Attend every lecture. During lecture, think, ask questions and answer questions.

Get to know someone else in class. This person can take notes for you if you have to miss class and may be someone with whom you can study.

After each lecture, review the notes before the next lecture. Look for connections to previous

ST 432 Course Information Page 5 of 5 Spring 2016 material. Think about the BIG picture. Come to the next lecture ready to learn something new!

Keep up with homework assignments: Start working on them early. Collaborate with others.
Ask questions of the instructor or TA well before the assignment is due. Be sure that you can re-work every homework problem and in-class exercise ON YOUR OWN.

Work hard on the project: Start early and consult with the instructor/TAs as needed.

Before each test, review homework problems, work practice problems, review and summarize lecture and reading notes. Think about the BIG picture.
 Visit the instructor and TA outside of class. I don’t always have time to answer questions fully before/after/in between classes. Come to my office hours and/or those of the TA to help with any of the items listed above.