This outline is also available in PDF.
Held: Wednesday, 23 January 2008
Summary:
We start the course off in the normal way: By exploring the subject, your
motivations for studying the subject, and the ways in which we will study
the subject.
Notes:
- For Friday's class, please do all of Topic 1 and read the preliminaries for Topic 2.
- For Friday's class, please fill out the course survey.
Overview:
- Preliminaries.
- Why are you here?
- What is statistics, anyway?
- Some silly (or not-so-silly) examples.
- A bit about the course.
- Comparing sections.
- Parting thoughts.
- You are in section 3 of Grinnell's Introduction to Statistics,
which is cross-listed as SST-115 and MAT-115.
- My name is Samuel A. Rebelsky. I go by "Sam"
- My co-instructor is Katherine McClelland. She tends to go by "Katherine"
(or at least I think she does).
- We're still working on finding a class mentor.
- We'll start class with two related questions ...
- All-too-common answer: Because it's a requirement for Major
(e.g., Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, Anthropology)
- So, why is it a requirement for that major?
- Other reasons we'd hope for
- It's a different way of approaching the world, and I consider the exploration of different ways to approach the world essential to my liberal arts eduction.
- Statistical data are used in many ways, and I want to be an informed citizen
.
- One perspective: The study of data
- How to summarize large quantities of data
- How to find useful patterns in data
- How do design techniques for gathering useful data
- ...
- More generally: A technique for understanding the world around us
- Employs a variety of techniques
- Some are quantitative: Formulae and the results of those formulate can tell us about data + Some are visual: We use charts and graphs and other drawings + Some are even algorithmic: We apply a series of operations
- Even more generally: A gateway to quantitative literacy, the ability to read and write quantitative information.
- Historical [modifid from Damn Lies and Statistics by Joel Best]
- Began with attempts to quantify information about
the state
: population and aspects of populations. ("political arithmetic")
- People who gathered such information were called
statists
- Eventually, the work they did was called
statistics
- In the 20th century, more general techniques were developed to understand and analyze data.
-
Every year since 1950, the number of American children gunned down
has doubled.
(From Damned Lies and Statistics)
-
The Illinois legislature has appointed a task force to determine why
half of the babies born in Cook County Hospital are below median weight.
(approximate quotation from Chicago Tribune in early 1990's)
-
Most faculty receive only 5's and 6's on their end of course evaluations.
It's clearly a case of Lake Wobegon: Everyone is above average.
(overheard from a faculty colleague)
-
A study shows that the average worth of someone who attended Harvard
in the 1970's is close to half a billion dollars
(based on
a past anecdote)
-
The increase of disease during the 1950's is directly
proportional to the increase of activity. Clearly,
activity causes disease.
(Study described by wife).
- Our goal is to help you think statistically.
- To read and think criticially about statistical evidence
- To use statistical techniques to form conclusions or hypotheses about data
- To present statistical results in a variety of forms (spoken, written, visual)
- You do not learn these things by watching other people do them. You learn by practice.
- We use a workshop-style approach
- Most days, you'll work on a variety of problems in class with a partner
- You'll need to be an active participant in your own learning
- Working with a partner helps you improve your communication skills
- And
two heads are better than one
- Our textbook is Workshop Statistics
- I recommend that you use a separate lab notebook to record your answers.
- There is a vast (or not so vast) infrastructure to help you with the course
- Sam
- Katherine
- The class mentor, if we ever find one
- The resources of the Math Lab
- Your colleagues
- ...
- There are three sections of 115 this semester and two sections of 209
- 115 is intended for students without significant background in calculus
- Students with such background should consider switching to 209
- 209 is taught by statisticians; 115 is taught by users of statistics
- All three sections of 115 are using Workshop Statistics
- This section meets three days per week, the others meet four days
per week
- Partialy because of that, we're taking a somewhat different approach to the
material.
- I'm following a somewhat steady pace through the material, with one
Topic per day
- The other sections are mixing things up a bit, often requiring a bit
more out-of class work
- I'm also using a different statistics environment, R, rather than
Minitab.
- This section is also much bigger.
- Be responsible in exiting the building
- Conserve energy
- Don't damage experiments
- Two assignments for Friday
- Introductory survey
- Topic 1 in Workshop Staistics
;
