Vinod’s Syllabus for ECRU 2140 Sections: 8, 9 and 10 ...



Vinod’s Syllabus for ECON 2140 Section: R8 STATISTICS I



Prof. H.D. Vinod, Ph. D. (Harvard) Published 6 books and over 200 research papers in top journals. They have been cited over 2197 times by other researchers.

Fellow of the Journal of Econometrics is one of many honors received.

OFFICE Room 526EAST, Dealy Hall, Rose Hill Campus, 5th floor of Dealy Hall. Turn Right out of the elevator, immediate right then left after you go through two sets of doors into the area where there are Economics Dept. offices. Then left and a Right. 3rd office on your Left!

OFFICE HOURS Thursdays 1:15 pm to 2:15 p.m. and by appointment. Before or after the class is a good time also.

CLASS MEETS 3rd floor Room 312 Keating Hall on Mondays and Thursdays at 4.00 PM (Sec. 8)

computer lessons can be done at your classroom desk, on home computer or at the Language Lab located at KE B25

SOFTWAREs

1) You will need to buy (you cannot share it) only one software product sold at



by credit card or money order for about $70.  The software is free to download. Select the version with audio and video files about 700 meg). It is preloaded in Fordham classrooms. However, one cannot use the software without the access code. What you buy is called “access code” for just Statistics or Discovering Statistics (not Business Statistics). The software comes with complete explanations of all stat ideas, audio and video. Be sure to download the complete version.

Your course ID is Fordhamstat

Be sure to join the correct section when you register in my class within the software.

TEXTBOOK:

The software comes with an e-book Discovering Statistics authored by Hawkes and Marsh.

You will be able to download it when you buy the access code.

A hard copy should be in the library reserve room. Let me know if you do not find it.

It is linked to the software, and I will expect you to keep up with it during the semester.

Introduction to Probability and Statistics using R (IPSUR) is available free at:





has the entire file which generates the book by using Latex system for one or two of you who may know about Latex document generation. Most of you only need the pdf file. IPSUR is also a

free R package.

I am also using a free public domain book  freely downloadable at



by David Lane (Rice University) and others Download the pdf version (about 32 meg), perhaps print it and read it as your text We shall not follow it closely.

 A 500+ page book on probability theory written by

Dartmouth professors  is also free,  I find it to be very good.

Find it at:

or



It has 600+ exercises and solutions are available at



BTW

When you buy the access code at the website or it will be e-mailed to you. Record your unique access code at several places for easy access. You will need it every class and for all exams.

You cannot share the software with anyone.

CALCULATOR: Instead of a calculator we use R software. No Smartphone calculator!

There is a free statistics software called R. A good intro is at

Get R on your laptop in 5 easy steps:

(1) google the phrase "R-project" (the hyphen between R and project is important!

(2) click on Download under CRAN

(3) Choose a local CRAN mirror (e.g. Pennsylvania at

(4) Click on "download R for windows" or mac or linux as the case may be

(5) Click on "base"

I will use R instead of a calculator and would urge you to use it also, since it is kind of fun to use. My past students tell me that they are grateful to me for suggesting R. Many jobs require R. In the brave new world of Big Data, knowing R is an important skill to learn. Using the five steps above, you can have access to R anywhere there is an Internet connection. Your calculator will not be always at hand.

INTRODUCTION: Statistics is a technical subject best learned by good regular study. See Table of Contents of your software / text.

My e-mails to you are generally serious business and best viewed on a laptop, not smart-phone

TOPICS COVERED in STAT 1 :

Basic Descriptive Stats: Mean, Median, Mode, Standard Deviation, Graphics, Frequency Distributions, Histograms, polygon, etc. Population and Sample. Probability Theory, Sampling Distributions. Mathematical Expectation, Estimating Means and Proportions. We include very little (if anything) from Chapter dealing with Hypothesis Testing and Inference. We do not include correlation and regression to be covered in Stat 2 given next semester.

POLICIES:

To encourage and reward regular study, there will be about ten computer lessons, 2 quizzes, a midterm and a final exam. Late submissions of homework will not be accepted, except for medical disability supported by a written document.

If you miss the midterm, or quizzes for medical reasons, the weight on the final will increase by the corresponding amount only if WRITTEN document is submitted to me within 3 business days. If supporting document about the excuse is not received within a week, you may get a ZERO.

Homework Lessons, Assessments, Midterm and Final EXAMS

The relative importance (Weights) for 5 aspects of your course grade are (may change) as follows:

1) Computer software Homework Lessons 29 % (Learn to upload your certificates on the Internet and keep an eye on your own progress report to make sure that your homework is recognized by the software.)

2) Midterm (webtest) is worth 25 % of your grade to be held on Thursday, May 4

3) Class attendance and participation 5 %. (Attendance is a course requirement, not an option).

4) The Final exam as a webtest on Hawkes software is on Thursday, May 4 is worth 33% of your grade.

5) The second part of the final exam will cover only what cannot be covered by software. It is worth only 8% .This part of the test will be answered in a bluebook and will be held at (1.30 pm ) on May 15. The university may change this tentative date but I doubt they will change it.

Special consideration will be given to students who lack mathematical background, but are willing to work. The simplest way to show that you are trying is by regularly attending the classes, asking questions, and attempting to do the homework and quizzes even if they are not easy.

SOFTWARE and CLASS MEETINGs

You are required to buy software product called “Hawkes Learning Systems: Statistics (not “Business stats,” not "Discovering Statistics" which are more expensive and watered down).” You do not need the CD to use software at Fordham classrooms. THE CD is only for home use. The software has many chapters, of which we will cover 6. Use each chapter by clicking in the sequence on: “Learn,” “Practice,” and “Certify”. In the Certify mode you have various parts and “Strikes Allowed.” If you complete the exercise, you will get an 11-character certification code. If you do the exercise and are not connected to the Internet, you can register the code later at: fordhamstat You identify yourself to the software by typing or uploading your access code. If the access code is on a thumb drive the file may be called access.cod It will ask you to select your instructor and your section. Choose the right section number of your section (depends on when your class meets). If all goes well you will see lesson numbers and have a chance to click on the lesson you have completed and then submit certificate. Then you can browse and submit from a diskette or type in the 11-character code by hand. You can also look at your own progress report showing what lessons you have completed and the due dates for each.

If completed on time, you will have (T) in the column for status key, indicating that you completed it before the deadline earning you all 10 points. What matters for grading is your completion of assignment, not percentage of correct answers. There is a lateness penalty built in the software. If too many strikes, you have to redo the problems. Having to re-do is not counted against you. Each of you gets a new problem each time, so cheating is minimized. If you let anyone else do your computer assignment(s), it is considered cheating subject to an F in the class and other penalties. You are cheating only yourself by failing to learn the material. Do not rush. Take your own time.

It is useful to study with the use of the software at home. You can complete assignments on the computer in the computer lab in the classroom or at home. Usually you can work in the language lab KE B25 on weekends even if the classroom is not available. Doing homework on time is important; there is a lateness penalty of following percentages (5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 80) of 10 for lateness of up to (2, 4, 6, 12, 15, 25, 25+) days. All such scores are eventually added and if they add up to 100 for 10 lessons (say), it will add 27 to your ultimate score, since these assignments are worth 27% of your grade. The date the 11-character certification code is registered at Hawkes website is assumed to be when you did the homework. Hence do the lessons when connected to the Internet. If not register ASAP and keep an eye on your "progress report" to make sure.

FURTHER POLICIES:

If you miss a class, you lose 0.5% grade. Make sure to get the details from a fellow student. It is difficult to understand subsequent material if you have missed classes. I may require proof that you have made an attempt to understand the material you missed. Please try to develop good study habits for this course. STATS is worth learning, and I am here to help. It is up to you to seek my help, or help from fellow students. Since the BLACKBOARD software was ignored by too many of my past students, I will not use it.

No make-ups, final exam or midterm exam is made worth more points. Need written proof for all excuses must be submitted quickly, within 3-4 business days..

No cell phones or earphones in the class please. Certainly not during exams!

The grade assigned by Hawkes software is completely irrelevant. Ignore it. I use my own workbook to compute your grade.

BEST LUCK to you all

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