Statistical Analysis
PRST 5600/6600/7600
3 credit hours

All chapter assignments are due by 11:55 p.m. on the date indicated in the Dropbox and Grades section of eLearn. I will always accept your assignments early, but late assignments are not accepted so please do not ask.

Before beginning your homework for each chapter be sure and check to see if an Excel template has been prepared. In some cases, the template will save a great deal of time in data entry. You can locate the templates under Data Files Excel, Minitab, SPSS on your CD, or in by selecting the proper chapter and clicking on the Data Files option. For some of your homework you will be using an Excel Data Set. You locate these files the same way you locate Data Files. We will be using the Baseball and Real Estate Data Sets almost exclusively in this course.

Course Information

Course Description:

The purpose of this course is to provide students with an introductory survey of the many applications of descriptive and inferential statistics. Today, skills are needed to deal with the large volume of numerical information. We need to be critical consumers of information provided by others. In addition, we need to be able to reduce large amounts of information into a concise and meaningful form to enable us to make effective interpretations, judgments, and decision.  

Course Objectives:

Upon completion of this course you should be able to:

1) determine whether the existing information is adequate or additional information required.

2) gather additional information, if it is needed, in such a way that it does not provide misleading results.

3)  summarize the information in a useful and informative manner.

4) analyze the available information.

5) draw conclusions and make inferences while assessing the risk of an incorrect conclusion.

Prerequisites and Co-requisites:

Bachelors Degree from an accredited college or university and admission to the Masters in Professional Studies program or departmental permission.

Course Topics:

Sequence of course topics with detailed reading and exercises are listed in the assignment section of this syllabus. Students are required to complete the readings, exercises, and threaded discussions each week.  

 

1) What Is Statistics?

2) Describing Data: Frequency Distributions and Graphic Presentation

3) Describing Data: Numerical Measures

4) Describing Data: Displaying and Exploring Data

5) Survey of Probability Concepts

6) Discrete Probability Distributions

7) Continuous Probability Distributions

8) Sampling Methods and the Central Limit Theorem

9) Estimation and Confidence Intervals

10) One-Sample Texts of Hypothesis

11) Two-Sample Tests of Hypothesis

Specific Course Requirements:

Knowledge of hardware and software listed below. 

Textbooks, Supplementary Materials, Hardware and Software Requirements

Required Textbooks:

Please visit the Virtual Bookstore to obtain textbook information for this course:
http://direct.mbsbooks.com/tbr.htm

 

Supplementary Materials:

Hyper Links (On-line Resources):
Will be provided in eLearn.

Hardware Requirements:

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm.

Software Requirements:

The minimum requirements can be found at http://www.rodp.org/students/hardware_software.htm. Windows 98/2000/XP, Internet Explorer 5.5 or better as your default browser, Media Player, Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Excel and Word).

Instructor Information

Please see the separate page inside the course to find instructor contact information as well as a statement of virtual office hours and other communication information.

Assessment and Grading

Testing Procedures:

A mid-term exam, open book, open note. Grades will be based on this exam, a paper, participation in discussions.

Grading Procedure:

Grades will be assigned on the scale presented below. There will be no rounding up a letter grade at the end of the course. There is no extra credit available in this class.  As professionals you are expected to continually present a high standard of work raising the bar on quality and delivery.

Grading Scale:

Chapter 2

Homework

5

Interactive quiz

5

Chapter 3

Homework

5

Interactive quiz

5

Chapter 4

Homework

5

Interactive quiz

5

Chapter 5

Homework

5

Interactive quiz

5

Chapter 6

Homework

5

Interactive quiz

5

Chapter 7

Homework

5

Interactive quiz

5

Chapter 8

Homework

5

Interactive quiz

5

Chapter 9

Homework

5

Interactive quiz

5

Chapter 10

Homework

5

Interactive quiz

5

Chapter 11

Homework

5

Interactive quiz

5

Subtotal

 

50

 

50

Mid-Term Exam

 

100

Final Paper/Project

 

100

Threaded Discussion

 

100

Course Total

 

400

Number grades translate into these letter grades:
A 100%-90%;
B - 89%-80%;
C - 79%-70%;
D - 69%-60%;
F - below 60%.

Assignments and Participation

Assignments:

Quick View of Course Requirements-Detailed reading lists and topics are provided within the ELEARN Course

1) Post comments to the Discussion Board, at least once a week, at [Discussion Forum]. Click on PRST 5600, Statistical Analysis, then Communications and then Discussions.

2) Submit answers to chapter exercises and assignments in the Drop Box in the proper chapter folder. Deadlines for submission are posted in the syllabus, but generally there is a deadline once a week, due Sunday night at 11:55 p.m. Write in complete sentences. Make sure you use Excel or MegaStat in Excel to perform calculations. Do not type in answers in Excel. I need to see that you are making progress in you command of Excel and MegaStat. Always check your Student CD before beginning your homework. There are many learning aids and Excel Templates that can assist you in the completion of your assignments.


Course requirements

Discussion Board:

Once a week, discussion questions will be assigned by the instructor. Access the Discussion Board on the course home page and comment on the questions as suggested by the professor. Tell us what you think is important or what you would do if faced with the situation. Feel free to look at the discussion comments made by your fellow students and respond to their ideas. Check out the criteria for threaded discussions to assist you in creating depth of thought and responses to the questions.

From the eLearn course home page, click on the Discussion Board link. Find the date and title of the case study under Topic and click on the hyperlink. The instructor will post initial moderators comments/questions to guide the discussion. Click on the bold hyperlink title of the discussion and a new window will pop up that allows you to read all the messages posted for the topic. Click Reply and add your comments.

Participation in the discussion board will be part of your participation grade. Each student is required to sign on to the web site and post a contribution to the Discussion Board on the topic during the week. The discussions will be time based and closed after a specific time. You will not be allowed to post to the discussion after the deadline has passed. The instructor will evaluate the quality of your participation for the final grade.

Homework:

Read the assigned chapter. Answer the exercises/questions on the assigned readings and submit your answers in the Drop Box by the end of the day the assignment is due (generally, each Sunday at 11:55 p.m.). You may submit assignments early. Assignments may not be turned in late. You will receive a grade of zero on all assignments not submitted or submitted late. The readings provide the background for the Discussion Board analysis. Therefore, you must read them on a timely basis.

Class Participation:

Students must participate in all interactive aspects of the course if interaction is part of the course design. Students must communicate with other students in the chat room. Students are expected to communicate with the instructor as a learning resource and check the course bulletin board frequently for announcements.  Students must actively participate in threaded discussion events.  

Punctuality:

Students need to remain current with the course calendar.   NOTE: If you do not login during a week (defined as Sunday midnight to Sunday midnight,) then that week will count as an absence. One unexcused absence will result in the lowering of the course grade by a letter grade; two absences will result in lowering the course grade by two letter grades; three absences will result in failure of the course.

Course Ground Rules and Plagiarism

Participation is required as stated above.  You are expected to communicate with other students in threaded discussions.  Learn how to navigate in eLearn. Keep abreast of course announcements. Use the eLearn Course e-mail address as opposed a personal e-mail address.  Address technical problems immediately. Observe course netiquette at all times. 

 Do not include propriety or copyrighted material from other sources without written permission.

Any student engaged in cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty is subject to discipline based on TBR guidelines.

 The term plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full or clear acknowledgment. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials. Cheating includes the misrepresentation of papers, reports, assignments or other materials as the product of a student's sole independent effort. Do your own work when submitting answers to questions on readings. If you have any doubts or questions, ask the instructor not another student for clarification.

Guidelines for Communications

Email:

  • Always include a subject line.
  • Remember without facial expressions some comments may be taken the wrong way. Be careful in wording your emails. Use of emoticons might be helpful in some cases.
  • Use standard fonts.
  • Do not send large attachments without permission.
  • Special formatting such as centering, audio messages, tables, html, etc. should be avoided unless necessary to complete an assignment or other communication.
  • Respect the privacy of other class members

Discussions:

  • Review the discussion threads thoroughly before entering the discussion. Be a lurker then a discussant.
  • Try to maintain threads by using the "Reply" button rather starting a new topic.
  • Do not make insulting or inflammatory statements to other members of the discussion group. Be respectful of others ideas.
  • Be patient and read the comments of other group members thoroughly before entering your remarks.
  • Be cooperative with group leaders in completing assigned tasks.
  • Be positive and constructive in group discussions.
  • Respond in a thoughtful and timely manner.

Chat:

  • Introduce yourself to the other learners in the chat session.
  • Be polite. Choose your words carefully. Do not use derogatory statements.
  • Be concise in responding to others in the chat session.
  • Be prepared to open the chat session at the scheduled time.
  • Be constructive in your comments and suggestion

Web Resources:

Library

The Tennessee Virtual Library is available to all students enrolled in the Regents Degree Program. Links to library materials (such as electronic journals, databases, interlibrary loans, digital reserves, dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, and librarian support) and Internet resources needed by learners to complete online assignments and as background reading must be included in all courses.

Students With Disabilities

Qualified students with disabilities will be provided reasonable and necessary academic accommodations if determined eligible by the appropriate disability services staff at their home institution. Prior to granting disability accommodations in this course, the instructor must receive written verification of a student's eligibility for specific accommodations from the disability services staff at the home institution. It is the student's responsibility to initiate contact with their home institution's disability services staff and to follow the established procedures for having the accommodation notice sent to the instructor.