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syllabus
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statistics 382
admin
syllabus
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| Instructor | Office | Phone | |
| David Madigan | Hill Center, 574 | (732)932-7494 | dmadigan at rutgers.edu |
I will try to be at the Science and Engineering Resource Center building each Monday and Thursday before class (I'll be there by 10am). Otherwise, please post to the class blog or e-mail me to make an appointment. I read my email frequently.
10:20am - 11:40am |
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10:20am - 11:40am |
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Please speak up in class. Be prepared to talk and to share ideas. Most people don't think of statistics classes as discussion oriented, but I prefer to have much discussion and debate.
Statistics is the study of uncertainty: how to measure it, and what to do about it.
We deal with uncertainty all the time. Fortunately, we can usually deal adequately with it in a fairly crude manner ("I am uncertain as to exactly how long it will take me to drive home this evening. However, I'm fairly sure it will take 10 or 15 minutes"; "I'm just about certain that smoking causes lung cancer"). However, there are other times when we need to be much more precise ("What is the risk that the next Space Shuttle will explode?"; "Does taking an aspirin a day reduce the risk of heart disease?"; "What will the price of oil be in 2008?"). Statistics is good for telling you how much (or how little) you know about something, for figuring out how to design experiments to get new information to reduce your uncertainty, and for telling you the best decision to make in the face of uncertainty.
Enjoy
Starting in the second week, homework will be assigned each Monday (on the web page), and will be due the following Monday in class. I will sometimes assign homework problems which we have not yet covered in class.
I will be making every effort to return your graded work as quickly as possible. Your homework score will be the average of your best 9 out of the 12 assignments. You must do a minimum of 9 homeworks to get any credit for homework. No late homework will be accepted without prior arrangement.
You are encouraged to discuss homework problems with other students. Of course, what you hand in must ultimately be your own work - copied homework will receive no credit.
Homework solutions will be available online on the homework page. Needless to say, once I have made the solutions public, I will no longer accept assignments.
You can bring one regular sized sheet of paper to each exam. Calculatorswill be allowed but laptop/notebook computers will not. Quizzes will take place in class about every three weeks. They will be comprehensive. In case of hardship or illness, your other scores will be adjusted at my discretion only if documentation (such as a doctor's letter) is provided.
The quizzes will not necessarily be "just like the homework".
If you've seen this page, you've probably found the course home page. It is at http://stat.rutgers.edu/~madigan/382. There will be a lot of information there including course notes, homework assignments, web assignments, and exam dates.
| Homework: | 20% |
| Quizzes: | 30% |
| Final: | 50% |
A fixed linear scale will be used rather than a curve for grades. I will determine the cut-off levels for grades later in the quarter. Basically, if you work hard and grasp the main ideas, I want you to get an excellent grade.
We will start with Chapter 6 and see how far we get.
382 is an undergraduate statistical theory course. It is designed to teach the core mathematical ideas in statistics and introduce some tools to potential users of statistics. A basic mathematical competence is assumed. We will bias the material somewhat towards science applications, although we will also consider applications in engineering, medicine, business, education, sport, and politics.
The course will cover as much of the book as we can (starting with Chapter 6). The pace will be entirely dictated by the performance of the class.