Stat 218 Applied Statistics for the Life Sciences Winter 2006

Instructor: Allan Rossman
Class Meetings: MTuWTh 10:10-11:00 (sec. 1), 1:10-2:00 (sec. 2); room 02-206 (Statistics Studio Classroom)
Office: Faculty Office Building East 25-102
Phone: 756-2861 (6-2861 on campus)
Email: arossman@calpoly.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays 3:10-5:00, Wednesdays 3:40-4:30, Thursdays 3:10-5:00; also by appointment and by chance
Text: Statistics for the Life Sciences (3rd edition), by Samuels and Witmer

Course Webpage: http://statweb.calpoly.edu/arossman/stat218/

Overview: Statistics might be defined as the science of numerical reasoning from data. Statistics enables the application of the scientific method, for it provides the concepts and techniques needed to collect, analyze, and draw conclusions from data. This course introduces you to fundamental ideas and methods of statistics, particularly those with applications to the life sciences.

Goals: By the conclusion of the course, I hope that you have improved your ability to:

• apply and interpret the results of a variety of statistical techniques, including both descriptive and inferential methods;
• understand many of the fundamental ideas of statistics, such as variability, distribution, association, causation, sampling, experimentation, confidence, and significance;
• analyze and assess statistical arguments, such as those found in the popular press as well as in scholarly publications;
• use statistical software to analyze data;
• communicate your knowledge of statistical ideas effectively.

Course Materials: You should purchase the textbook and a three-ring binder for storing and organizing handouts and notes.  You must also have a scientific calculator and access to the internet and to the statistical software package Minitab outside of class.  Please bring your binder and calculator to every class session.  Links to notes/handouts will be available here.

Class Policies: I strongly encourage you to prepare for and to participate in every class session. Not only will this help you to learn the material and perform well in the course, but it will also produce a much more enjoyable learning environment for all of us. Preparing for class will typically involve printing out and bringing to class the handout/notes for that day and reading the section(s) of the book to be discussed that day. Participating in class will typically entail contributing to discussions and working on hands-on activities that I design to help you investigate and learn the material. The in-class presentations and activities will supplement the readings but will not attempt to replace them.

I ask you to please observe common courtesies in class, specifically to:

• arrive on time (but if you are late, please enter without disrupting class)
• do not allow your cell phone to ring during class
• do not talk to your neighbors when I am talking (but please do talk to your neighbors when working on activities)
• do not pack up your materials for leaving until class is over
• do not use the computer to check e-mail (or other non-course-related things) during class time
• do not use the printers for printing course notes or assignments (except on unusual occasions)

I also expect you to devote substantial outside-of-class time to your work for this course. I anticipate that this work will involve:

• reading the textbook
• reviewing your class notes
• working on assignments
• preparing for exams

Use of Computers: We will make fairly extensive use of computers in this course.  They will prove useful in at least three ways:

• for performing calculations and creating graphics necessary for analyzing data,
• for conducting simulations to approximate long-run behavior of random phenomena, and
• for addressing “what if” questions that allow you to explore concepts of probability and statistics.

We will make frequent use of the statistical analysis package Minitab and of Java applets available on the internet, and we may make occasional use of the spreadsheet package Excel. No prior knowledge of these software tools is assumed; you will receive detailed instructions regarding their use when the need arises. Minitab is freely available in the Studio classroom and in all ITS-run computer labs. You can download a free copy of Minitab (for PC’s, not Macs) from my.calpoly.edu (click on Technology and then Windows and then Minitab.

Grading Policies: Your course grade will be determined by the following components, with relative weights as indicated:

• investigation assignments (20%)
• two midterm exams (45%; 25% for the higher score and 20% for the lower score)
• cumulative final exam (35%)

Assignments: You may have noticed that this list does not include homework assignments, but I will assign optional problems from the text. I strongly encourage you to work on these problems in order to judge how well you are learning the material and prepare for the kinds of questions that will be on exams. A listing of these optional homework assignments will be maintained here. Solutions will be available from the “course materials” link in Blackboard.

Investigation assignments typically build on in-class activities; one or two will be assigned per week. These are often fairly open-ended, requiring both writing and computer work. You may work with one other person on these investigations, submitting one report with both names, provided that both students make substantial contributions to working on that assignment. Word-processed reports of investigations are preferred to hand-written ones, and computer output should be integrated into the report. Investigations are due at the beginning of class on the indicated day, which will be announced in class. Late investigations will not be graded, and missed investigations can not be made up. You may drop the two lowest of your investigation scores. A listing of investigation assignments will be maintained here.

The purposes of these assignments are:

• to give you the problem-solving practice necessary to learn, understand, and apply the concepts and techniques presented,
• to provide you with feedback regarding your understanding of the material,
• to further your discovery and exploration of course material, and
• to prepare you for the kinds of questions that will be on the exams.

Exams: There will be two mid-term exams and a final exam. Dates are given below. You may make up a missed exam only with a written medical excuse. The final exam will focus on more recent material but will also have a cumulative component. These exams will be open-book and open-notes. You will be provided with preparation advice before each exam. One thing to keep in mind is that interpretations and explanations will be as important as calculations.

Advice: With apologies to David Letterman, I offer the following “Top Ten” suggestions to improve your learning in this course:

• Come to class.
• Participate in class.
• Invest time outside of class.
• Read carefully.
• Ask questions.
• Use office hours.
• Work lots of problems.
• Help each other.
• Write well.
• Think!

A common theme emerges from this list: You are responsible for your own learning. As your instructor, I view my role as providing you with contexts and opportunities that facilitate the learning process. Please call on me to help you with this learning in whatever ways I can.

Tentative Schedule: The following is always subject to change but should give you a sense for what topics we will cover and when:

Week	Dates	Topics	Chapters
1	January 3-5	Descriptive Statistics	1,2
2	January 9-12	Random Sampling, Normal Distribution	3,4
3	January 17-19	Sampling Distributions	5
4	January 23-26	Confidence Intervals, Exam	6
5	January 30-February 2	Comparing Independent Samples	7
6	February 6-9	Experimental Design	8
7	February 13-16	Comparing Paired Samples, Exam	9
8	February 20-23	Analyzing Categorical Data	10
9	February 27-March 2	Analysis of Variance	11
10	March 6-9	Linear Regression	12
	Wed, March 15	Final Exam