Math 331. Introductory StatisticsInstructor: Ionut FlorescuOffice: Kidde 227Phone: (201) 216-5452Email: [email protected] hours: M 4:00pm -6:00pm and by appt.website: http://www.math.stevens.edu/˜ifloresc/Teaching/2010-2011/index331.htmlThe purpose of MA331 is to understand the essential ideas and reasoningof applied statistics (data analysis, data production, inference). The courseis also designed to familiarize the students with statistical software neededfor the analysis of data.Required material(a) The textbook: ”Introduction to the practice of Statistics”, by D.Moore, G. McCabe and B. Craig, 6thedition, WH Freeman andCo, 2005, ISBN: 1429216220, ISBN-13: 978-1429216227.(b) Software textbook: ”Introductory Statistics with R”, by PeterDalgaard, Springer Verlag, 2004, ISBN: 03879-5475-9.(c) A scientific calculator (graphing calculator is ok but not neces-sary), a laptop is preferred with R installed.(d) Access to elearn.(e) A stapler.1ComputingWe will use R statistical software in this class. R resembles MATLAB inits approach, however it is designed specifically for statistical analysis. Datasets, and other information will be available at the course Web site. See theIntroR.pdf file on the website for a basic introduction and getting startedwith R. The second textbook provides great help with R functions. If youencounter problems with R code, you may email questions to me. Pleaseattach your programs with the e-mail.Note about use of EXCEL: An important goal of this class is to prepare thestudents to use statistical methods appropriately in a later course in their ma-jor field. Because we would not recommend the use of Excel for this purpose,we do not use it in MA331. Excel is very useful for a variety of basic purposesincluding the preparation of data sets for statistical analysis. However, thereare some serious deficiencies in this software. For more details about the de-ficiencies in Excel, see http://www.stat.uiowa.edu/˜jcryer/JSMTalk2001.pdfAttendanceYou are expected to attend each class and to participate in the discussion. Ingeneral, students who attend class regularly perform much better than thosewho come only occasionally. This professor reserves the option of giving popquizzes, so you are taking a risk of losing additional points in addition tomissing important information.GradesThe final grade will be determined as follows:Assignments 30%Project 1 10%Midterm examination 20%Final presentation 10%Final paper and finalized project 30%Total 100%You should assume that the letter-grade cutoffs for this course are the typical90-100 for an A, 80-89 for a B, etc.2AssignmentsHomework will be collected according to the posted schedule. The assign-ments will be posted on the course website. The assignment will be gradedin part for completeness and in part a few (not all) of the problems willbe graded for correctness. Late homework will not be accepted. Turningin homework early to my mailbox in the mathematical sciences departmentoffice (Kidde Bldg.) no later than 1 hour before class starts on the day theassignment is due, is acceptable. You are encouraged to discuss the home-work assignments with other students, but you must write up your workindependently. You are expected to turn in complete solutions. This meansSHOW YOUR WORK. One-line answers with no work attached may receiveno credit depending on the problem. Please see the file on the website enti-tled ”Collaboration and Group Work.” Homework is rarely excused. If youmust miss class due to a job interview or university-sponsored activity, youmust turn in your assignment in advance to receive credit. One HW scorewill be dropped at the end of the semester. If you have an excused HW, thisis the one which will be dropped.ProjectsAs part of the requirements for completion of this class students will haveto demonstrate the ability of using and applying material learned in class toreal problems. Note that there are no examinations listed for the class.The first part of the Project has a deadline around the middle of thesemester and the second part will be due around the end of the semester (theexact dates to be announced later). A more formal description of the Projectwill be posted on the course website.The projects are worked in groups and the students are required to contactme if one or more members of the group are not putting the work needed forcompletion of the project.During the last week of the semester each group will showcase the workand the results obtained during a 15 min presentation. The suggestionsreceived during the presentation from the instructor (me) and the fellowstudents are to be addressed in the final project write-up.During the finals week the students will turn in the final project in theform of a regular scientific article. Please note that 30% of the grade is3attributed to this project. The best projects will be published on a webpagededicated to this purpose. You may browse past year projects at the