STAT 301        Statistics I      Fall 2009

Day-by-day notes (first third of course)

Wed Sept 23:

  1. Go over syllabus.
  2. Work through handout titled “Inference for a Proportion”
  3. Learn how to perform binomial calculations in Minitab
  4. Work through Investigation 3.3.2 (page 219)
  5. Work through Investigation 3.3.4 (page 226)
  6. Collect data for “which tire?” HW

 

Studies: Helper/hinderer toys, Heart transplant mortality, Halloween treat

 

Topics: Reasoning process of statistical significance; null model, simulation, p-value, binomial probabilities, null hypothesis, alternative hypothesis, two-sided p-value, significance level

 

Find handout here, coin-tossing applet here, videos here

 

Minitab: Graph> Probability Distribution Plot…> Binomial

 

Mon Sept 28:

  1. Quick recap from last class
  2. Cover some basic definitions: observational unit, variable (pages 7, 8), population, sample (page 13), parameter, statistic (page 174) 
  3. Practice with those definitions on studies from previous class
  4. Work through Investigation 3.3.5 (page 229)
  5. Work through Investigation 3.3.6 (page 232)
  6. Work through Investigation 3.3.7 (page 236)

 

Studies: Kissing, Baseball batting

 

Topics: Observational unit, variable, population, sample, parameter, statistic, confidence interval, rejection region, type I error, type II error, power

 

Minitab: Stat> Basic statistics> 1 Proportion

 

Wed Sept 30:

  1. Quick recap from previous classes, overview of today’s class
  2. Cover basic definition: normal probability curve (page 280), standard normal distribution (page 295), z-score (page 124)
  3. Answer Practice problems 4.1.1, 4.1.2 (page 284)
  4. Work through Exploration 4.2 (page 297)
  5. Work through Investigation 4.3.1 (page 301)
  6. Work through Investigation 4.3.2 (page 307)

 

Studies: Birthweights, Reese’s Pieces

 

Topics: Normal probability curve/model, standard normal distribution, z-score, sampling variability, sampling distribution, Central Limit Theorem (CLT) for sample proportion

 

Minitab: Graph> Probability Distribution Plot…> Normal

 

Mon Oct 5:

  1. Quick recap from previous classes, overview of today’s class
  2. Cover definition of test statistic (page 313) and test of significance structure (page 314)
  3. Re-analyze kissing study, Halloween treat study with z-test (normal approximation)
  4. Derive normal-based confidence interval for population proportion (ending with page 324)
  5. Re-analyze kissing study with z-interval
  6. Analyze teen TV study

 

Studies: Kissing study (revisited), Halloween treat study (revisited), Teen TV study

 

Topics: Test statistic, test of significance structure, standard error, normal-based CI for popn proportion, critical value z*

 

Minitab: Stat> Basic Statistics> 1 Proportion (Use test, interval based on normal distribution)

 

Wed Oct 7:

  1. Quick recap from previous class (z-test, z-interval for population proportion)
  2. Explore meaning of “confidence level” (Exploration 4.3, starting with (d), page 328)
  3. Learn “adjusted Wald” procedure (Investigation 4.3.6, page 331, with a different context)
  4. Collect class data on time travel for HW9
  5. Investigate “practical vs. statistical significance” (Practice 4.3.6, page 321)
  6. Learn how to calculate necessary sample size (Practice 4.3.9, page 327)
  7. Study importance of random sampling (Practice 4.3.12, page 336)

 

Studies: Reese’s Pieces (revisited), left-handedness, cat households, near-sightedness, Literary Digest poll

 

Topics: Interpretation of confidence level, adjusted Wald procedure, practical vs. statistical significance, sample size determination, random sampling

 

Mon Oct 12:

  1. Go over exam preparation advice
  2. Review selected HW problems
  3. Look through exam review problem
  4. Work through first example of handout titled “Inference for 2×2 Tables” (see handout here)

 

Studies: Dolphin therapy, yawning study

 

Topics: Simulating randomization test for assessing statistical significance with 2×2 tables

 

Wed Oct 14: Exam 1