INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS
COMM 2513, SECTION 001
Michael F. Price Hall 2030
Course Instructor:
Dr. Patrick Meirick
Burton Hall 223
(405) 325-1574
Office Hours: M & W 11:30-1 p.m., and by appointment
meirick@ou.edu
Textbook and Required Packet:
Spatz, Chris (2011). Basic Statistics: Tales of Distributions (10th Edition). Cengage
Wadsworth Thomson Learning.
The required course packet is available for free download on D2L. A printed version of
the packet is available for sale at Crimson and Cream, Student Union Room 126
Any other material will be provided on D2L.
Course Objectives:
To provide you with knowledge concerning empirical research design and statistical analysis. To
help you to be able to understand, interpret, calculate and critique statistical data.
Policies:
1. This course is subject to university policies on academic misconduct. See the undergraduate
catalogue for explanations of these policies. The minimum penalty for misconduct is a grade of
“F” on the assignment. Also, a report is made to the Campus Judicial Coordinator that is kept on
file. The provost’s office may impose additional penalties, such as community service,
suspension or expulsion.
You are expected to work independently on all graded assignments and exams. To do otherwise
is to cheat and will be considered academic misconduct. If you have questions regarding what
comprises academic misconduct, please contact me. Ignorance of the definition of academic
misconduct is not a valid excuse and will not keep a student from being charged. For more
information, see www.ou.edu/provost/integrity-rights
2. No make-up exams are given or late work excused unless a verifiable emergency is present
and then only at the instructor’s discretion. Also, it is the policy of the University to excuse the
absences of students that result from religious observances and to provide without penalty for the
rescheduling of examinations and additional required classwork that may fall on religious
holidays. In any case, you must contact the instructor BEFORE the exam or assignment due date
by e-mail or phone. Written documentation is required at the following class period. Once an
exam has been returned, no make-up is allowed. Requests for re-grading particular items will
only be considered within one week after the exam or class assignment is returned to class and
must be in writing.
Homework is due at the beginning of class. If your homework is late, the following
policy is in effect: If you turn it in…
15 minutes after class has started until the end of class: -5 points.
Day of class: -10 points
Day after class: -20 points
Two days or more: Homework not accepted for any reason.
3. Attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class or lab session and will be part of your
final grade. The teaching assistant will be taking attendance at the beginning of class or lab. If
you are not in your seat when attendance is taken, it is your responsibility to make sure that you
are counted present for that day. Students who arrive to class more than 15 minutes after the
beginning will not be counted present for that day. Material may be covered in class which is not
in the book and any material covered in class or in the book may appear on the exams.
Also, the material in this class builds on the earlier material. Once you miss material it will be
hard to catch back up. If you miss a lecture and need to attend office hours to ask questions
about the material covered that day, bring with you a copy of the day’s notes that you obtained
from a fellow student. Notes will not be available from the instructor or the teaching assistants.
4. Speaking of being prepared, plan to bring your calculator, packet and text to class every
session. You will learn more and keep up better if you are able to work practice problems in
class.
5. You are expected to exercise common courtesy for the instructor and your fellow students.
This means: Silence your cell phone and other portable electronic devices and put them away.
Don’t talk during lectures. You may confer (quietly) with classmates when working on practice
problems in class.
6. For exams, no graphing or programmable calculators (for example, Ti-82 or Ti-89) will be
permitted, nor will ones with text or communication capabilities. Scientific calculators (like the
Ti-30 series) are allowed. (All you really need is a basic calculator with a square root key. The
one I use in class is a promotional giveaway worth 99 cents.)
7. Up to 30 points (3%) of extra credit toward your final grade can be obtained by participating
in research projects conducted in the Department of Communication. These projects cannot be
ones that count for extra credit in any other class. Points will be assigned based on the time
commitment participants are expected to make (roughly 10 points or 1% per hour). I will round
to the nearest point (e.g., 45-minute studies will be worth 8 points). Research project
opportunities will be listed on the bulletin board outside of the Burton Hall Lounge and posted
on http://learn.ou.edu.
8. Any student with a disability should contact me as soon as possible regarding
accommodations. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor within the first two
weeks of class.
9. Messages will occasionally be sent to your OU e-mail account. You can forward this account
to other e-mail accounts you have by going to a computer lab on campus and asking the assistant
for help. You will be responsible for messages sent to your OU account. Also, I may post
messages, articles, or notes on Desire2Learn. You are also responsible for obtaining these
materials.
Graded work:
There will be three exams: two during the semester worth 200 points each, and a cumulative
final worth 350 points. There will be four homeworks worth 50 points each. Attendance will
also total 50 points, for a grand total of 1000 points for the class.
Grading:
A= 900-1000 points (90-100%)
B= 800-899 points (80-89%)
C= 700-799 points (70-79%)
D= 600-699 points (60-69%)
F= 0-599 points (0-59%)
Tentative Course Schedule
Date
Topics
Readings
8/22
8/24-8/26
Introduction to course and statistics
Variables and Levels of Measurement
1
1
8/29-9/2
Frequency Distributions and Graphs
2
9/5
9/7-9/9
Measures of Central Tendency
Measures of Variability
3
4
9/12-16
9/16
Normal Distributions
Homework #1 Due
7
9/19-21
9/23
Review for Exam #1
Exam #1
9/26-9/28
9/30
Correlation
Regression
6
6
10/3
10/5
10/7
Regression
Sampling Distributions
OU/TEXAS: NO CLASS
6
8
10/10-10/12
10/14
Sampling Distributions
Hypothesis Testing
Homework #2 due
10/17
10/19-10/21
Hypothesis Testing
Power and types of error
10/24-10/26
10/28
Review for Exam Two
Exam #2
10/31-11/2
11/4
One-sample t-test and confidence intervals
Independent samples t-test
9
10
11/7
11/9-11/11
11/11
Independent samples t-test
Paired samples t-test
Homework #3 due
10
10
11/14-11/18
11/21
11/23-11/25
One-way ANOVA
Start chi-square tests
THANKSGIVING: NO CLASS
11
14
11/28-12/2
Chi-square tests
14
12/5
Choosing Statistical Methods
16
Homework #4 due
Review for Final (Cumulative, but focused on November)
12/7-12/9
Friday, 12/16, 8-10 a.m.
8
9
9
9, pp. 183-190; pp. 222-223
Final Exam (Exam Three)