Sociology 3112-002Introduction to Social StatisticsSpring 2009University of UtahTTh 10:45 AM-12:05 PM, BEH S 102Instructor: Vincent Kang FuOffice: 303 BEH SEmail: [email protected]: (801) 585-5930Office hours: after class and by appointmentCourse website: http://www.soc.utah.edu/courses/soc3112Lab/teaching assistantsTBACourse summaryThis course introduces students to the building blocks of traditional statistical inference in the context ofsocial science. Statistics is a set of tools and techniques researchers use to describe and draw conclusionsabout the world. We begin by studying descriptive statistics including frequency distributions, andmeasures of central tendency and variability. We next study ways to describe relationships betweenvariables, including measures of association and bivariate regression. Finally we study basic inferentialstatistics and learn how to use sample data to draw well-reasoned conclusions about the population. Course requirements and gradingClass and lab attendance are important to success in this course. Failure to attend lectures or labs willresult in a lower grade. To encourage class attendance, there will be several unannounced quizzes duringthe semester. These MAY NOT be made up, but I will drop your lowest quiz grade. You will also begraded on 3 exams. Prior approval is necessary to miss an exam and will only be given in extreme cases. Exams and quizzes are unique to each section of this course. You will receive no credit for takingquizzes or exams from the section in which you are not officially enrolled. Homework for each chapter(posted on the class website) will be due at the next class meeting after the lecture on each chapter iscompleted. Late homework will not be accepted, although you may miss one homework assignmentwithout penalty. This course also includes a lab component where you will learn the mechanics ofcarrying out statistical analyses using a computer. Your final grade will be based on your homeworkassignments (10 percent), lab performance (15 percent), quizzes (15 percent), and 3 exams (60 percent). Contact the teaching assistants or me immediately if you are having difficulty with any aspect of thiscourse. Do not wait until the day before an exam to ask for help! By then it may be too late!TextsFrankfort-Nachmias, C. and A. Leon-Guerrero. 2005. Social Statistics for a Diverse Society. Fourthedition. Thousand Oaks, California: Pine Forge Press.Kentor, J. 2004. Exploring Social Inequality With Statistics. Thomson Custom Publishing.Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)The University of Utah seeks to provide equal access to its programs, services and activities for peoplewith disabilities. If you will need accommodations in the class, reasonable prior notice needs to be givento the Center for Disability Services, 162 Olpin Union Building, 581-5020 (V/TDD). CDS will workwith you and the instructor to make arrangements for accommodations. All written information in this course can be made available in alternative format with prior notificationto the Center for Disability Services.AdviceMany of you may feel anxiety about learning material that requires math and equations. It would bedishonest to claim that statistics employs no math, but this course requires only the most elementarymathematics–arithmetic and very simple algebra. Do not be put off by this minimal math: You can do it!It is a bad idea to fall behind in any course, but it is fatal to do so in this course. Understanding thetopics covered in later weeks requires a good grasp of material covered in earlier weeks. Because wehave a great deal of material to cover, this course is necessarily fast paced. Attend the lectures regularlyand do the homework on time. If you miss classes, skip homework assignments, and cram for the exams,you will almost surely do poorly. This is also not the kind of course in which it will be easy to bring your grade up at the end of thesemester by studying extra hard for the last exam and later quizzes. The material we cover increases indifficulty as the semester progresses. Students usually find that the material covered in the beginning ofthe class is much more straightforward than the topics at the end of the semester. To improve chances ofsuccess in this course, you must buckle down at the beginning of the semester. Academic honestyIf you are caught cheating on a quiz or exam–or helping someone else to cheat–you will receive a failinggrade for the course. Other forms of academic misconduct will be dealt with accordingly. All instancesof academic misconduct will be also referred to the Department Chair or Dean of the College. Don’t doit! It’s just not worth it!Course outline and reading scheduleNote that this outline is tentative. Discussion and test dates my change.January 13 Introduction & Chapter 1: The What and Why of Statistics15 Chapter 2: Organization of Information: Frequency Distributions20 Chapter 3: Graphic Presentation & Chapter 4: Measures of Central Tendency2227 Chapter 5: Measures of Variability29February 3 Review5 Exam #1: Descriptive Statistics10 Chapter 6: Relationships Between Two Variables: Cross-Tabulation1217 Chapter 7: Measures of Association for Nominal and Ordinal Variables1924 Chapter 8: Regression and Correlation26March 3 Review5 Exam #2: Relationships Between Variables10 Chapter 9: The Normal Distribution12 17 Spring break19 Spring break24 Chapter 10: Sampling and Sampling Distributions2631 Chapter 11: EstimationApril 27 Chapter 12: Testing Hypotheses914 Chapter 13: Chi-square Test1621 Chapter 14: Analysis of Variance23 Review28 Exam #3: Inferential