11/17/09. Solutions to H5, H6, H7 and exam 2 posted. Sorry for the delay.
11/14/09. I have posted a (very short) practice exam 3. I wish it was longer, but I have had a major PC crash and it is all I can do right now. Thanks for your understanding.
11/3/09. H6 posted.
10/7/09. H4 posted.
9/28/09. H3 posted.
9/21/09. Solutions to H2 posted. Practice exam and solns posted.
9/14/09. Homework 2 and solutions to homework 1 posted.
9/2/09. TA/grader info posted.
8/27/09. Homework 1 posted.
8/24/09. No lab on Friday 28th, and no homework due this week.

Section N11 Laboratory: 2-2:50., F; FOSC 133  
Section N12 Laboratory: 10-10:50., F;  FOSC 153
Section N13 Laboratory: 12-12:50., F; FOSC 157
 

[students enrolled in section 801 MUST also be enrolled in either N11, N12,  or  N13.]

T.A.: Jacob Turner, email jturner@smu.edu office Heroy 124, phone 214-768-2473, office hours TTH 11-12
Grader: Wenkai Bao, email   wbao@smu.edu office Heroy 124, phone 214-768-2473, office hours MW 11-12
 

Textbook
The basic practice of statistics, 5th Edition
by David S. Moore; Freeman

Overview 
In this course we will learn about common techniques of basic statistical inference. One of the most important, and a major focus of 2331 is the confidence interval. You will learn how to calculate these, how to interpret them, and how to use them with data. We will also examine their motivation. 

Lectures
Lectures are very important for understanding the material and doing well on the exams, please attend!    Please participate via questions, answers, and comments. It is also important to do the homework assignments.

Attendance
Attendance is required.  Failure to attend regularly will put your success in the course (and your grade) in serious jeopardy.  

Grading
Your semester grade will be determined as follows:
 

A final percentage of 90% will guarantee at least an A-, 80% guarantees at least a B-, 70% guarantees at least a C-, and 50% guarantees at least a D-.  There are NO EXTRA CREDIT opportunities available for this course, so make sure you understand what is required of you.  More details about the components of your grade......

• Exams: Exam I, Exam II, Exam III, and Final Exam -- Bring your calculator to each exam.  You will also need to make up a formula sheet for each exam.  The lowest score on the three "hourly" exams will be replaced by the next lowest score. For example, suppose you score 86, 73 and 82 on your three exams. Then the 73 will be replaced by 82 to give scores of 86, 82 and 82. The  three "hourly" exams will all be administered on Fridays in place of your regular lab.  You must take the exam during the lab time for which you are registered. The Final Exam is comprehensive.  ALL STUDENTS IN SECTION 801 MUST TAKE THE FINAL EXAM ON FRIDAY, DEC 11TH AT 11:30A.M.-1:30 P.M..      
• Homework Assignments -- These are assigned every class and due at the beginning of that Friday's lab. You can drop the lowest  homework score.   You may work in groups, but each assignment should be written up separately by each student.   NO LATE HOMEWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED.   
• Laboratory Assignments -- Attendance is required at laboratories.    THERE ARE NO MAKE-UP LABS.     Exams will also be held in the lab sessions, dates indicated on the schedule below. Labs are graded on  attendance and participation. YOU MUST SIGN THE SHEET PROVIDED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE LAB TO GET CREDIT FOR THAT LAB.
• Note on labs -- It is assumed that you will attend all labs. However, for many reasons (serious illness, family emergency, athletics participation, job interviews), frequently people cannot attend. In an effort to cut down on paperwork in large classes, I have adopted a policy that up to 2 labs may be missed without having to supply your TA with your documentation, but if you miss 3 or more, you need documentation for ALL labs missed. Thus I encourage you to attend all labs whenever possible, and if you have to miss one, keep the paperwork to justify it. Finally if you know ahead of time that you will be missing 3 or more labs, let your TA know (this applies particularly to athletes).

NOTE: Write your name and lab section number (N11/N12/N13) on all work (homework, exams, etc.)

Getting Help
Please contact me or the teaching assistant if you have questions or are having difficulties.  Office hours are regularly scheduled times that you can come by to ask questions or get help.  If you are unable to visit during scheduled office hours, contact myself or the teaching assistant  to set up an appointment.  

Additionally, the Learning Enhancement Center is an excellent resource for tutoring.  See http://www.smu.edu/~alec/ for location, hours, and other details.

University-Excused Absences (for student athletes, etc.)
If you are a student athlete or other person who will be missing class for similar university activities, please stay in close communication with the professor.  If possible, make a list at the beginning of the semester noting each lab or class that you will be excused from attending.  Unless you make other arrangements with the professor, you will be expected to turn in all homework by the due date (this usually means turning in HW early or getting a friend to turn it in for you).    Make sure you make arrangements BEFORE leaving town. Students participating in an officially sanctioned, scheduled University extracurricular activity will be given the opportunity to make up class assignments or other graded assignments missed as a result of their participation.  It is the responsibility of the student to make arrangements with the instructor prior to any missed scheduled examination or other missed assignment for making up the work.  (University Undergraduate Catalogue)

Disability Accommodations
If you need academic accommodations for a disability, you must first contact Ms. Rebecca Marin, Coordinator, Services for Students with Disabilities (214-768-4557) to verify the disability and to establish eligibility for accommodations.  Please obtain a letter from the Office of the Dean of Student Life certifying that you have a learning disability and then schedule an appointment with the professor to make appropriate arrangements.  No special accommodations can be made without prior notification from the Dean of Student Life, so please take care of this at the beginning of the semester.

Religious observance  
Religiously observant students wishing to be absent on holidays that require missing class should notify their professors in writing at the beginning of the semester, and should discuss with them, in advance, acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the absence. 

SMU Honor Code
The SMU Honor Code will be strictly enforced.  Students caught giving or receiving unauthorized help on examinations will either be given a course grade of zero or taken before the Honor Council.

Hints for Succeeding in Stat 2331
1. USE OFFICE HOURS!    The best way to use office hours is to work on practice problems together.  Before I help you with a problem during office hour, I will require that you have put some effort into that problem on your own.  Bring your paper with your partial work written out.

2. Make sure you do all the homework. Drops are for those rare cases where you couldn't do an assignment due to an emergency.

3. Get involved in lectures.  Don't be afraid to ask for clarification on issues which confuse you.

4. Don't be a stranger. If you are confused see the TA or me, or both.

5. Keep all your returned homework and exams.  

Tentative Schedule

WEEK	TOPIC (Numbers refer to chapters in book)	DUE DATES AND TEST DATES FOR THIS WEEK	FRIDAY LAB ACTIVITY
8/24-8/28	8/24: ------- (No class) 8/26: Introduction, 1 (stemplots)	----------	No lab on 8/28.
8/31-9/4	8/31: 2 ( mean, median, variability using standard deviation, IQR) 9/2: 3 (normal curves)	HW1:  Problems: 2.3, 2.4, 2.39, 2.42, 3.6, 3.7 (Due Friday 9/4 in lab) Solutions to H1.	Lab1 (9/4): Variability and normal curves
9/7-9/11	9/7:  --------HOLIDAY 9/9: 4 (scatterplots, correlation),	No homework this week	Lab2 (9/11): Correlation
9/14-9/18	9/14: 5 (regression) 9/16: More 5 (regression), 6 (Simpson's paradox)	HW2: 4.13, 4.16, 4.19, 4.21, 5.16, 5.31. (Due Friday 9/18 in lab). Solutions to H2.	Lab3 (9/18): Simpson's paradox.
9/21-9/25	9/21: 6 (more on Simpson's paradox), 8, 9 (Sampling and experiments). 9/23:   Exam review	No homework this week	Practice exam I Key to practice exam I Exam I (9/25/2009) Solutions to exam 1
9/28-10/2	9/28:  10 (randomness and probability) 9/30: 10, 11 (random variables, probability distributions, sampling distribution, central limit theorem)	HW3: 10.2, 10.6, 10.10, 10.11, 10.47, 10.53 Solutions to homework 3.	Lab4 (10/2): Sampling, central limit theorem
10/5-10/9	10/5: 12, (conditional probability) 10/7: 12, (conditional probability using tables)	HW4:  Here Solutions to H4	Lab5 (10/9): probability
10/12-10/16	10/12  --------- HOLIDAY 10/14: 14, (confidence intervals).	------	(10/16)--- No lab this week
10/19-10/23	10/19: 16, 17 (More on Confidence Intervals, t-tables) 10/21: 17	HW5:  14.37, 14.38, 14.39, 17.5,  17.28a Solutions to H5.	Lab6 (10/23):  Confidence intervals for a mean
10/26-10/30	10/26: ------- 10/28: Exam Review	------(No homework this week)	Exam II Friday Practice exam 2. Solutions to practice exam 2. Solutions to exam 2.
11/2-11/6	11/2: 18, confidence interval for difference in 2 means 11/4: practical vs statistical significance	HW6: 18.26a, 18.26c, 18.30, 18.31 Solutions to H6.	Lab7 (11/13): Confidence intervals, comparing means.
11/9-11/13	11/9: 19 (proportions) 11/11:  20 (comparing two proportions)	HW7:   19.38, 20.22, 20.23, 20.32 Last day to drop: Nov 10. Solutions to H7.	Lab8 (11/20): Comparing proportions
11/16-11/20	11/16: Testing ideas. How to use a CI to test.  11/18: Exam Review.	No homework this week. Exam III, Friday 11/20.	Exam III Practice exam 3 Solutions to practice exam 3 Solutions to exam 3
11/23-11/27	11/23: Significance levels. 11/25:  ----- NO CLASS	No homework this week.	-----------(Thanksgiving)
11/30-12/4	11/30: 18, t-test. 12/2:  P-values	HW8:	Lab 9 (12/4): t-test, p-values
12/7-12/11 Beginning of finals	12/7: Odds 12/9: Review for final	STAT 2331-801:  Final Exam is Friday, Dec  11th, 11:30am -1:30 pm.