Sociology 201 Instructor: Melodie Hallett
Fall 2014
Class Location: PSFA 136
Office: PSFA 144
Office Hours: Tues – 3:15 – 3:45 p.m.
Thurs - 12:00 – 12:30 p.m.
Meeting time: T/TH 2 – 3:15 p.m.
Section: 2
*E-mail: mhallett@mail.sdsu.edu
Office phone: - 619.594.2112
In this elementary statistics course you will learn how to gather meaningful data, how to make sense of data, and how to formulate and test theories. You will analyze data through graphs, measures of central tendency and spread. You will learn basic probability, sampling distributions, and practice statistical inference through hypothesis testing and confidence intervals. In this course, you will become adept at recognizing poor designs that may lead to invalid results. Additionally, you will be able to design a good study, analyze the data from such a study and make conclusions about your own theories.
Students will learn basic statistical concepts through lecture, group work and computer simulations. The stress will be on understanding when to use which technique rather than just crunching numbers through formulas. Use of a computer and knowledge of ‘Window’s’ based applications is a requirement since calculations will be done using ‘SPSS/PAWS 20.0’, a statistical software package.
Prerequisites: Course in intermediate algebra. Satisfaction of the Entry Level Mathematics requirement; and qualification on the Mathematics Departmental Placement Exam, Part IA.
1.
Statistics Unlocking the Power of Data by Robin H. Lock and Patti Frazer Lock
(REQUIRED) – Must be purchased with Wiley Plus (electronic and hard cover editions are available).______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
2.
Course Reader -
SOC 201 Introduction to Elementary Social Statistics
Course Reader: Fall 2014 by Melodie Hallett (REQUIRED).
__________________________________________________________________________
3.
SPSS v. 22 or higher Software (OPTIONAL). Available at SDSU Bookstore, or Online.
Also available for rent http://www.onthehub.com/spss/ Choose IBM® SPSS® Statistics
Base GradPack 22 for Windows (06-Mo Rental). The library has SPSS for your use as well.
Additional Items:

Calculator: Each student will need a scientific calculator. If you prefer to purchase a statistical calculator, TI-84 or TI-83 would be useful, but is not required.
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 An active email account, which will be your primary school e-mail and blackboard account.
 A USB drive for saving your lab assignments.
*E-mail is the preferred method of contact. The best way to communicate with me!
Upon successful completion of the course the student, with the aid of the computer where appropriate, will be able to:
1.
Evaluate means and standard deviations of both grouped and individual item samples.
2.
Input survey data for analysis
3.
Create graphs and tables for data visualization and presentation.
4.
Do hypothesis testing of means (one and two sample problems).
5.
Evaluate Correlation.
6.
Create and analyze contingency tables and conduct the appropriate test for significance.
7.
Understand and explain statistical analyses in reports of social science research.
8.
Prepare for more advanced courses in statistical methods.
9.
Identify and perform appropriate statistical tests for many research areas.
10.
Develop quantitative and analytical skills.
Attendance Policies:
Attendance is mandatory for this course.
Unlike many other courses, it will be very difficult for you to keep up with the material if you are not in class. Absences will result in poor grades on exams and homework exercises.
If you miss a session, you will lose the points for work completed during that class session. Please do your best to not miss class!
No make-up work will be permitted. You are given one dropped assignment.
If you miss class, fail to turn in an assignment or lab work, regardless of your reason, you will use your dropped assignment to cover your missed assignment. If you miss a session, you will be responsible for any announcements or material from class that you miss.
Please write down 2 of your classmates’ names and phone or e-mail address in case you miss a session, please contact your classmates for information on what you missed.
Classmate Name:____________________ Classmate E-mail/ Phone:___________
Classmate Name:_____________________ Classmate E-mail/ Phone:___________
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In addition, if you would like help with materials, you can often call one of your classmates to assist you with assignments and class concepts. I’d keep the above numbers available for such cases.
Please bring your text books ,usb drive, and calculator to every class!
Assignments:
Assignments will be given in class and posted in Blackboard. I will not hand out printed copies of the assignments in class. You may also check Blackboard for announcements and results.
To access Blackboard, go to http://blackboard.sdsu.edu
. Enter your user name and password
(this is the same as used with Webgrades). Go to the My Courses section and select Soc 201.
Cheating and/or Plagiarism:
In order to encourage a free and collaborative work environment, students are welcome to discuss assignments with their classmates.
However, these are not to be viewed as Group work unless noted by the instructor. Each student is responsible to complete his/her own work in its entirety. Activities including
(but not limited to) file sharing and/or copying, or submitting an assignment which matches another assignment verbatim will be subject to formal accusations of cheating and/or plagiarism.
All suspected incidents of cheating and/or plagiarism will be reported to San Diego State
University’s Office of Judicial Affairs.
I wil drop your lowest percentage assignment score . No late assignments will be accepted since you are allowed to drop one of the assigned problem sets. You must turn in the remaining assignments prior to their due date ; late assignments receive zero points . There are no exceptions to these rules. Assignments will count as late if they are not received at the beginning of class.
Course Requirements/Grading:
Your final grade will be based on the total points in the class, which break down
(approximately) according to the following percentages:
Homework, Lab work, and class participation - 34%
Three Exams - 66%
Grade breakdown: 90% - 100% Is guaranteed at least a grade of A-
80% - 89% Is guaranteed at least a grade of B-
70-79% Is guaranteed at least a grade of C-
60-69% D Is guaranteed at least a grade of D-
Below 60% F
The instructor may assign "+/-" grades in marginal cases.
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DO YOU CURVE GRADES OR BUMP UP TO THE NEXT GRADE?
Final grades are just that: final
. Please do not ask me to “bump” you up, regardless of how close you are to the next grade. I offer 15 points of extra credit for purchasing your textbooks and other materials at the beginning of the semester. So your final grade has already been curved.
1 . There are three exams worth 150 points each. The date for each exam is given in the topic outline on blackboard in the Course Documents folder.
2. Make-up exams will be given only in rare circumstances, and will require documentation.
3. Each of the exams will cover only the material since the last exam (except to the extent that the previous material is necessary for understanding the new material).
4. Exams are closed book/notes. One 8.5 x 11” piece of paper – FRONT SIDE only - may be used for notes and approved calculators may be used on exams. No cell phones or headphones allowed. You may NOT use your cell phone as your calculator, as it is difficult for me to monitor the use of the internet, text, and other applications, rather than the sole usage of the calculator. Make sure to write all relevant formulas on your paper. In addition, all work must be shown on the exam. Your cheat sheet must be your own, you may not share cheat sheets amongst each other. I prefer all cheat sheets be hand written.
5. All electronic devices must be turned off during exams. This includes cell phones and music through headphones!
1. Read all of the assigned material; outline the chapter. Watch the videos in Blackboard.
2. Complete your homework sets and turn them in on time. Note that late assignments are not accepted for any reason. Failure to turn in your assignments will result in a poor grade in this class.
3. Attend office hours of the instructor to get assistance with any of the problem sets you are working on.
4. Work through problems or notes with your classmates.
Students with Disabilities and Special Needs:
If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) 594-6473 . To avoid any delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations based upon disability cannot be provided until you have presented your instructor with an accommodation letter from Student Disability
Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.
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Date Day
8/26/2014 Tues
8/28/2014 Th
9/2/2014 Tues
Topic
Syllabus
no class
Intro to SPSS & Data entry
Lock Book
Reader
Chp
Chp 1-2
9/4/2014 Th
9/9/2014 Tues
9/11/2014 Th
9/16/2014 Tues
9/18/2014 Th
9/23/2014 Tues
9/25/2014 Th
9/30/2014 Tues
10/2/2014 Th
10/7/2014 Tues
10/9/2014 Th
10/14/2014 Tues
10/16/2014 Th
10/21/2014 Tues
10/23/2014 Th
10/28/2014 Tues
10/30/2014 Th
11/4/2014 Tues
11/6/2014 Th
11/11/2014 Tues
11/13/2014 Th
11/18/2014 Tues
11/20/2014 Th
11/25/2014 Tues
11/27/2014 Th
12/2/2014 Tues
12/4/2014 Th
12/9/2014 Tues
Variable Measurement
Sampling & Bias
Frequencies
Proportions
Central Tendency
Central Tendency
Variance
Variance/Boxplots
Review for exam 1
Exam 1
Graphs
Z-scores
Sampling Distribution
Confidence Intervals
hypothesis tests
tests for proportions
tests for proportions
review for exam 2
Exam 2
one sample t-test
paired t-test
indep t
chi square test
Correlation
Thanksgiving break
Exam 3 review
Exam 3
Chp 1.1
Chp 1.2
Chp 2.1
Chp 2.1
Chp 2.2
Chp 2.2
Chp 2.3
Chp 2.4
Chp 1-2
Chp 5
Chp 3.1
Chp 3.2
Chp 4
Chp 6.1-6.3
Chp 6.1-6.3
Chp 3-6
Chp 6.4-6.6
Chp 6.13
Chp 6.10-6.12
Chp 7.1-7.2
Chp 2.5
Chp 6.4-6.6, Chp
6.10-6.13, Chp 7,
Chp 2.5 Chp 5-9
Chp 1
Chp 1
Chp 3
Chp 3
Chp 3
Chp 3
Chp 3
Chp 1-3
Chp 4
Chp 5
Chp 4-5
Chp 5
Chp 6
Chp 7
Chp 8
Chp 9
B e h a v i i o r r : If you exhibit behavior unbefitting a college classroom, you will be asked to leave and the appropriate action will be taken. This includes, but not limited to talking while the instructor is speaking, cell phones that ring during class time and distracting other students.
T a r r d y tardiness is strongly discouraged, for it is both discourteous and disruptive to class procedures.
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L a p t o p E t t i q u e t t t e: You may use your laptop in class if you are viewing handout or making notes on lecture. PLEASE DO NOT use your laptop for any other kind of work/ internet surfing. If you must send an email or do other things, please leave the classroom. It is very distracting to other students in the class
(and to me). If you do not leave the room, and I see you using your laptop for non-class related things, I will confiscate your laptop until the end of class or ask you to leave.
C e l l l l p h o n e E t t i i q u e t t t t e: Cell phones must be turned off. NO TEXTING. If I see it, hear it, or catch you using it in any fashion during class, I will ask you to leave, or confiscate your phone until the end of class.
T e s s t t E t t i i q u e t t t t e: : DO NOT have anything except your TEST, Calculator, Cheat Sheet, Z-table, Scratch paper and pencil on your desk. You may only open SPSS and Blackboard. No electronic class files, no online notes, nor any internet search engines may be used. Keep your eyes focused on your own test and your computer screen. Make all restroom stops BEFORE you start the test. No talking. You may not use your cell phone during the test. No Texting. If you are caught searching online for solutions through your phone or the internet browser, or if you are caught texting, you will receive a 0 on your test.
Religious Observances and Holidays:
Taken from the official San Diego State University policy regarding religious observances:
University Policy on Absence for Religious Observances includes the following statements: “By the end of the second week of classes, students should notify the instructors of affected courses of planned absences for religious observances. Instructors shall reasonably accommodate students who notify them in advance of planned absences for religious observances.” Please notify the instructor in a timely manner and a reasonable accommodation will be reached.
If a religious holiday conflicts with class, please notify me as soon as possible.
Student Athletes, Fraternity/Sorority Members, and EOP Students:
If you belong to one of the aforementioned groups that require frequent grade checks, please let me know as soon as possible.
Regarding Student Absence from Classes for Official University Events and Activities
… taken from the University Senate
Responsibilities of the student participant are to notify faculty teaching affected courses within the first two weeks of classes. At that time, the student shall request accommodation for any missed examinations or other assignments. Students who do not make arrangements by the end of the second week of classes might not be granted special accommodations for the absence. If scheduling changes occur, it shall be the responsibility of the student to notify faculty immediately.
If you will be missing a class due to an official university event (i.e. sports activities), you must notify the instructor that you will be missing class prior to the date you will be absent for EACH absence. All homework will be due on the date of your absence, therefore, you must make arrangements to make up the work in advance, or turn in your assignment electronically .
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