SECTION 602: 9:35 a.m. - 10:50 a.m., TR - BLOC 150
SECTION 603: 2:20 p.m. - 3:35 p.m., TR - BLOC 150
INSTRUCTOR: Dr. C.H. Spiegelman
OFFICE: 405C Blocker Building
PHONE NO: 845-8887
OFFICE HOURS: 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. T
12:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. R
or by appointment
TEXT: Required: An Introduction to Statistical Methods and Data Analysis, (4th Ed.) by Ott.
Optional: MINITAB (student version), copies of transparencies from Notes & Quotes
STAT 651 is an introductory graduate level statistics course. No prior statistical training is required or expected. We expect that you have taken the prerequisite math courses listed in the graduate school catalog. You are not expected to be a professional mathematician. Many, if not most, students have no prior statistics courses. This course is taught in the Department of Statistics. This means that you will have exposure to a broad range of examples including those from agriculture, business, physical and engineering sciences, biological sciences, social sciences, and medicine (human and veterinary).
We will cover approximately the first half of the text. Copies of nearly all my overhead are available from Notes & Quotes. I am providing them as a convenience to you. Buy them only if you wish to. I will provide you the opportunity to use your own data (from your research or hobby). If you follow my requirements, you can get 10% of your grade based on the analysis of your data. You may do this analysis at home or anywhere else that you find feasible. Should you wish to do this:
1. The data set must be suitable for analysis by either regression or analysis of variance. These terms are probably new to you, so browse the text chapters covering these topics immediately. From the examples, you should be able to find out what kind of data you need.
2. The data should have at least two columns of 25 numbers (measurements, or treatment groups). Some expectations are made for the data sets containing more than two columns.
3.You perform whatever methods we learn in class (that are relevant) on your data, and then bring your work in during office hours for grading at least every other week. Without an acceptable reason, I will not accept late work. Acceptable reasons are a death in your immediate family, verifiable illness, religious holiday, or any other Texas A&M University certifiable reason. To me, an especially unacceptable reason is that you are attending another course that causes you to miss STAT 651 on a frequent basis.
I will assign text book problems each week. However, I will not grade them. Instead, I will have the grader post the worked problems one week after they are assigned. There will be a minute quiz every other week. These quizzes are intended to make us sure that you are doing the assigned homework. (Please do your homework. For some this is a tough course. You can keep your chance of success high by doing your assignments.) The quizzes will be much easier than the two one hour exams. Basically, most students that do their homework carefully should get (and have historically gotten) near 100% on their quizzes. This may not be true for the hourly exams.
How I determine your grade:
At the end of the semester you may choose from methods A, B, or C below. You grade will be determined by your choice from:
A. Quizzes 1/6, 2 in class exams 1/4 each, and the scheduled final 1/3
B. Quizzes 1/6, 2 in class exams 1/5 each, and the scheduled final 13/30
C. You choose 90% of either a or B+10% for the analysis of your data.
Note that I drop your lowest quiz score
The handouts used in this course are copyrighted. By "handouts," I mean all materials generated
for this class, which include but are not limited to syllabi, quizzes, exams, lab problems, in-class
materials, review sheets, and additional problem sets. Because these materials are copyrighted,
you do not have the right to copy the handouts, unless I expressly grant permission.
As commonly defined, plagiarism consists of passing off as one's own the ideas, words, writings,
etc., which belong to another. In accordance with this definition, you are committing plagiarism if
you copy the work of another person and turn it in as your own, even if you should have the
permission of that person. Plagiarism is one of the worst academic sins, for the plagiarist destroys
the trust among colleagues without which research cannot be safely communicated.
If you have any questions regarding plagiarism, please consult the latest issue of the Texas A&M University Student Rules, under the section "Scholastic Dishonesty."