Instructor
Richard L. Smith
Course Web Page: http://www.unc.edu/~rls/s151-2010/s151.html
Please check the course web page often, as important information
will be placed on it.
Class time and place:
Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:30-10:45 a.m.
Hanes 120
Instructional Assistant (IA):
Xuan Wang, Hanes B56. wangxuan@email.unc.edu. Office hours to be announced.
PLEASE NOTE: You cannot receive credit for Stat 151 if you have
previously taken Econ 70 or Psych 30.
Course Text
Statistics: The Art and Science of Learning from Data by Agresti and Franklin.
Second Edition, 2008. Published by Pearson Education/Prentice Hall.
This is a required text and you do need to have the second edition.
There is also a looseleaf version which is equally acceptable. The E-book
version may also be adequate but at the present time I am not recommending
that.
Schedule
The first class is on Tuesday January 11 and the last class is on
Tuesday April 27. There will be no class on March 9 or March 11
because of Spring Break.
If there are any changes in the class schedule you will be informed.
There will be two midterm exams and one final. The midterms
have been tentatively scheduled for Thursday February 18
and Thursday March 18. The final exam will be on Saturday, May 1,
beginning at 8:00 am.
If anyone knows of any reason why the midterm exams should NOT
be on those dates, please let me know as soon as possible. If
enough people request a change for good reason, I may change it.
However, unless I make an announcement, assume the midterms
will be on those dates.
With the final exam, you have the right to request a rescheduling
under the "three exams in 24 hours" rule. Such a request must be
made to (and approved by) your dean, not by me. However, if you
intend to make such a request, please let me know no later than the
second midterm. I need this information if I am to make an acceptable
alternative schedule.
Homeworks will be set each Thursday and returned the following
Thursday. The first homework
assignment is given below; others will be announced in class and on the
course web page.
Grades will be assigned as follows: 25% homeworks, 20% each midterm,
35% final exam. Your lowest three homework scores will be disregarded
in computing the homework average. This policy is designed to
compensate for occasional emergencies when you don't get the homework
completed on time. Please don't abuse it by simply ignoring some of
the homework assignments.
Class Policies
You are expected to attend class and to sign the attendance sheet each
time. I don't have a formal policy that ties your grade to your attendance
record, and I understand that students occasionally have to miss class
for reasons beyond their control. There is no ask formal permission if you
do have to miss class, but you should let me know if you are likely to miss
several classes. Also, I understand that you may sometimes have to miss
part of a class for various reasons (e.g. doctor's appointment, official
sports event); in such cases, it is acceptable to leave early (or arrive late)
in order to attend your appointment. However it is not acceptable
to stay just for a few minutes, sign the attendance sheet, and then leave.
If I feel you are deliberately misrepresenting your attendance on the
attendance sheet, I reserve the right to treat that as a violation of
the Honor Code.
The Honor Code will be followed at all times and you will be expected
to sign a Pledge on all exams, "I have neither given nor received
any unauthorized aid in completing this exam." In homework assignments,
you are allowed to consult with each other, with me or the IA,
or with a tutoring service if you use one. I encourage you to work
the homework assignments in groups if you feel that is the best way
for you to work. However, what you hand in must be your own work.
Direct copying from another student, or from some other source that
is not one of the official class resources, is not allowed and will
be treated as a violation of the Honor Code. Please contact me if
you have any questions about how this rule operates in practice.
In exams, your answers are expected to be entirely your own work
and any copying or consultation with other students will be treated
as a violation of the Honor Code. You are entitled to ask the instructor
if you feel a question is ambiguous or if for some
other reason you need clarification.
Exams will be open book. You will need a calculator and should bring
it to class and (especially) to the exams. There is no requirement
(or restriction) on the kind of calculator you can use, but a basic
calculator that performs the usual arithmetic operations (addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division, square roots, etc.) is all
you actually need. Exams will use "blue books" and you should bring
your own answer book(s) to the exam.
There is an instructional CD and you are entitled and
encouraged to use these and other computing resources (such as Microsoft
Word and Microsoft Excel) in completing homework assignments.
Computers will not be used (or permitted) in any of the exams.
All homeworks are expected to be handed in on time and there will be
no credit for late homework. As noted above, the grading policy allows
you to miss up to three homework assignments without penalty.
There are no makeups for exams unless agreed with me at least 3 weeks in
advance, or in cases of genuine emergency . If you think you
might have to miss an exam, it is essential that you
contact me as soon as you know you may have a problem.
If anyone has to miss a class or exam because of a religious holiday,
that is acceptable but I ask that you let me know. If one of the
designated midterm exam dates clashes with a religious holiday that
you must observe, let me know at once.
If you are a member of a university athletic team or some other
university-sponsored activity that allows you to miss class, you will
be excused according to university regulations, but it's essential you
let me know well in advance if you are likely to miss an exam.
Homework 1, due Thursday January 21:
Chapter 1, questions 1.24, 1.33. Chapter 2, questions 2.6, 2.8.
Note: Question 1.33 essentially asks you to find a newspaper article of
your own choosing that uses statistics, and describe briefly the type of statistical
reasoning it involves. You can include a physical cutting from a newspaper, or a
photocopy, or a printout from a news website such as www.newsobserver.com,
www.nytimes.com, www.usatoday.com or www.cnn.com. If the article is too long
to include the whole thing, just hand in the part that refers to statistics.
However, I do want everyone to hand in the article as well as your own commentary
about it! (The commentary, however, need be no more than a couple of sentences.)
Office: Hanes 303.
Phone: 962-2660.
Email: rls@email.unc.edu
Office hours (provisionally): Mondays 1:30-3:15 pm; Tuesdays 11:00-noon.