STATISTICS 203
Introduction to Statistics for the Social Sciences
Fall 2010
Textbook: Elementary Statistics in Social Research 11th Edition,
Levin, Fox, and Forde
Instructor:
Darby Thompson
dthompso@sfu.ca
© Copyright 2010, Darby Thompson
Goals
I will NOT:
- make you all statisticians
- convince you that statistics is the best thing ever
- ask you to memorize lots of formulae
- teach you anything irrelevant or useless
After taking this class you WILL be able to:
- understand why statistics are useful
- perform some basic analyses
- interpret results in paper and media
- improve your critical thinking
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Important Information
Course Notes:
All notes will be available on my website:
http://www.stat.sfu.ca/~dthompso/
There will be gaps completed during lectures.
Statistics Workshop:
Open every day (K9514). TAs are available to answer questions
or help with homework. Access to computing and statistical
software: http://www.stat.sfu.ca/teaching/workshop/
Office Hours:
Tuesdays 12:00 – 1:00PM
Room K10564
These are only if you have administrative or grading questions
or have not found the workshop helpful. Go to the WORKSHOP
FIRST. I will NOT fill in the gaps in your course notes.
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Policy on Late Assignments and Academic Integrity
Assignments MUST:
- be handed in by the deadline
Late assignments will not be marked
- be placed in the box outside the Stats Workshop
Assignments later discovered in the wrong box will not be marked
- have student name, course number, and student number
clearly in the top right-hand corner
- have computer output integrated directly into the answer (not
stapled to the back)
- be the work of the student
Collaboration on assignments is encouraged, but the work must
be the student’s own
In the case of two or more assignments or portions thereof, which
appear to be duplicates or work of another student, none will receive
marks
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Exams
2 Midterms
- mixture of multiple choice and short answer
- related to both lecture material, textbook, in-class examples,
and homework questions
- open-book
- calculators are permitted, but will not be necessary
Policy on missed-midterms:
- if you notify me in advance, a make-up date/time may be
possible
- if you miss a midterm (with health-related excuse), weight will
be transferred to the final
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Grading and Dates
4 Assignments
2 Midterms
Final
Assignments
Midterms
Final
= 15%
= 40%
= 45%
Set 1
Set 2
Set 3
Set 4
1
2
Dates
Sep 21
Oct 12
Nov 2
Nov 16
Oct 19
Nov 23
Dec 17
If you will be unable to write a midterm or exam on the
scheduled day, notify me in advance.
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Grading Scheme
Grade Percentage
95-100
A+
90-94
A
85-89
A80-84
B+
75-79
B
70-74
B65-69
C+
60-64
C
55-59
C50-54
D
< 50
F
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Fall 2011 - Week 1, Lecture 1
Descriptor
Exceptional
Outstanding
Excellent
Very Good
Good
Minimally Good
Satisfactory
Satisfactory
Minimally Satisfactory
Unsatisfactory
Very unsatisfactory
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Topics
1.
Introduction and Role of Statistics in Social Science (Chapters 1)
2. Types of Data and Graphical Presentation of Data (Chapter 2)
3. Measures of Central Tendency (Chapter 3)
4. Variability (Chapter 4)
5. Probability and the Normal Distribution (Chapter 5)
6. Samples and Populations (Chapter 6)
7. Hypothesis Testing (Chapter 7)
8. Correlation (Chapter 10)
9. Non-Parametric Significance Testing (Chapter 9)
10. Regression (Chapter 11)
11. Non-Parametric Correlation (Chapter 12)
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You will need software …
Software will be required to complete the assignments.
All in-class examples will be completed using JMP
(Download free at http://www.sfu.ca/itservices/software/ )
* if you have installed JMP previously, uninstall completely and then install JMP8
I will not be giving tutorials on JMP, but will perform all analyses
in class and will post some videos to the class website.
Feel free to use any software package you are familiar with:
R, SPSS, SAS, MiniTab
Advise against using Excel
- some techniques not included
- some procedures differ in subtle ways and may give answers inconsistent
with statistics programs
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More Helpful Info
 Read lecture notes; make your own study notes
 Read the text ahead <- a little bit EVERY DAY
 Practice! Practice! Practice!
 Collaboration on Assignments is encouraged, but your work
must be your own
 Academic integrity is required of all members of the
University. Please consult the General Guidelines of the
calendar for more details.
 Don't compromise the learning of your fellow students
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Statistics …
“If the results disagree with informed opinion, do not admit
a simple logical interpretation, and do not show up clearly
in a graphical presentation, they are probably wrong.
There is no magic about numerical methods, and many
ways in which they can break down. They are a valuable
aid to the interpretation of data, not sausage machines
automatically transforming bodies of numbers into scientific
fact.”
-- FHC Marriott
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Video of the Week
Hans Rosling: New Perspectives on the HIV Epidemic
Professor, International Health Karolinska Institutet
Director, Gapminder Foundation
Why are we watching this?
Data presented:
 Variables:
o Time (year)
o HIV Infections (%, #)
o Income ($ per person) o Region (Country, Continent)
Notice:
 The impact statistics can have on perception
 The importance of graphical presentation
 The absence of formulas or numbers
Consider:
 trying to get this point across without a lot of #s
 whether this is convincing or has your mind changed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qRtDnsnSwk
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Statistical Critique of Hans Rosling:
Confounding
- Causal links for differences are proposed, is that valid?
- Is it possible that there were other reasons for these differences?
Statistical Bias
- did methods of data collection vary over time? Over country?
- is it possible that different countries differ in the way the data is
captured?
Variation
- within-country variation is mentioned, but not quantified; some
segments of the population may be very different from others
These three terms will be revisited throughout this class and will be
critical to ensure they are accounted for when results are interpreted.
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Reading for Lecture #2:
Chapter 1
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