Class Location: Bear Hall 160, Tuesday/Thursday
Class Time: 9:30-10:45am

Instructor: Jammie Price, PhD; Office SB 214H

E-mail: pricej@uncw.edu, Phone: 962-3590

Course Web Page: http://people.uncw.edu/pricej/teaching/statistics/index.htm

Prerequisites: SOC 105  

Course Summary: We will begin by reviewing research questions, hypotheses, variables, causality and level of measurement.  Then we will become acquainted with SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), and simple database management.  From there, we will launch into descriptive statistics, also called univariate analysis.  Here we will cover central tendency,  dispersion, graphing, normal distributions, and the central limit theorem.  Then we will cover bivariate inferential techniques for different levels of measurement.  In this section we will consider how to examine relationships between categorical variables with crosstabular analyses and the Chi-Square statistic.  Second, we will consider how to examine relationships between a continuous dependent variable and a categorical independent variable with means comparisons, including t-tests and ANOVA (analysis of variance).  Third,  we will consider how to examine relationships between a continuous dependent variable and a continuous independent variable with correlations and t-tests.  Finally we will review multivariate analyses, including crosstabs with control variables, means comparisons with control variables, partial correlations, and multiple regression. 

Objectives: At the end of this course you should be familiar with some of the most commonly used analysis techniques. You should be able to better understand research reported in journals, newspapers, and magazines.  You will be prepared for conducting data analyses in your subsequent coursework and careers.  You will be able to add the following to your resume:  data entry, database management, data analysis, data graphing and data interpretation. 

Course Schedule: Check this daily for schedule changes. I will revise the schedule as needed as we proceed through the semester. 

Materials: Students need an operating calculator that can square numbers and take square roots.  Paper, pencils, and a calculator are required for all exams. 

Attendance: I will take attendance every class period.   I will use this data in the event of grade appeals, and for determining borderline grades.

Assignments: You have 4 assignments. None are graded. They serve as preparation for the exams. We will go over each assignment in class.  The assignments are a useful tool if you complete them before class. 

Exams: There will be three exams. They will be based on lecture material. Tests will be a combination of problems and essays. Exam 1 is worth 35% of your final grade. Exam 2 is worth 35% of your final grade. Exam 3 is worth 30% of your final grade. 

Extra Credit: None. Please do not ask for it.  

Grades: At the end of the semester, I will enter the above grades into the following formula to calculate final points: Final Points = Exam 1 (.35) + Exam 2 (.35) + Exam 3 (.30)