Schedule of Topics

Class will meet on Mondays, 6:30-9:00PM, in 3611 James. In addition to class meetings, students are invited to meet regularly with Professor Shortell outside of class to discuss the assignments and to prepare for the final exam.

Our main text will be OpenIntro Statistics (3rd edition), a free, open-source textbook. You can download a PDF of the book for free or buy a low-cost paperback. There is also a PDF optimized for tablets. The purpose of the readings is to make the lecture and exercises in class easier to understand. In the schedule, below, the chapters refer to this textbook. I've also prepared an online primer, An Introduction to Data Analysis & Presentation, to help you learn the material. In addition, I have made available, in the comment below, some additional readings on the topics we will discuss.

Read the textbook and online material before the class meeting in which we will begin discussing it; journal articles may be obtained using the citation databases on the BC Library website.

We will be using an open source statistical programming language, R, to do data analysis in this class. R is free and you can install it on your own computer (Windows, Mac, Linux) if you wish. The link to the R project site includes an online users guide. If you have a laptop and would like help installing R, bring your computer to office hours and I would be happy to assist you. If you are interested in learning R as a professional researcher, I would recommend The R Book by Michael J. Crawley (2nd edition) [ISBN 978-0-470-97392-9; also available as an ebook] as a resource.

Topics

Part I. The Basics
[M 8/28] Introduction to the course. Read Introduction, Methodological Issues.

No classes on M 9/4.

[M 9/11] Introduction to R. Read Measurement, Data, and chapter 1. Learning objectives

[M 9/18] More about programming. Read Data Structures in R.

[M 9/25] Probability. Read Sampling, Probability, and chapter 2 (slides). Learning objectives.

[M 10/2] Descriptive statistics. Read Central Tendency and Variability, Categorical Data.

No classes on M 10/9.

For this section, also read Jacobs, J. A. 1996. Gender Inequality and Higher Education. Annual Review of Sociology 22:153-185; and Massoni, K. 2004. Modeling Work: Occupational Messages in Seventeen Magazine. Gender & Society. 18(1):47-65.

Examination 1. Due by 6:30PM on Monday 10/16.

Part II. Hypothesis Testing with Means
No classes on M 10/10.

[M 10/16] Inference. Read The Normal Curve, Sampling Distributions, The Confidence Interval, and chapters 3 (slides) and 4 (slides). Learning objectives, Learning objectives.

[M 10/23] Comparing two means. Read T-test.

[M 10/30] Comparing more than two means. Read Analysis of Variance.

[M 11/6] More on analysis of variance. Read Factorial ANOVA, chapter 5.

[M 11/13] More on factorial analysis of variance.

For this section, also read Stockard, J. and R. M. O'Brien (2002) Cohort Variations and Changes in Age-Specific Suicide Rates over Time. Social Forces. 81(2):605-42; and, Langford, T. and N. J. Mackinnon. (2000) The Affective Bases for the Gendering of Traits. Social Psychology Quarterly. 63(1):34-48; Ridgeway, C. L., et al. (1998) How Do Status Beliefs Develop? The Role of Resources and Interactional Experience. American Sociological Review. 63(3): 331-350.

Examination 2. Due by 6:30PM on Monday 11/20.

Part III. Regression Analysis
[M 11/20] Bivariate and partial correlations. Bivariate regression. Read Correlation Coefficients, Linear Regression.

[M 11/27] Multivariate linear regression. Read Multiple Linear Regression chapter 7. Scripts: Recoding and Indexing, Creating Dummy Variables, Another Practice with Multiple Regression.

[M 12/4] Regression with a binary dependent variable. Read chapter 8.

@ [M 12/11] More on logistic regression.

For this section, also read Granberg, E. M., et al. (2009) Body Size and Social Self-Image Among Adolescent African American Girls. Youth & Society. 41(2): 256-277; and, Hogan, P. F., and R. Furst Seifert. (2009) Marriage and the Military: Evidence That Those Who Serve Marry Earlier and Divorce Earlier. Armed Forces and Society. XX(X): 1-19.

Examination 3. Due by 6:30PM on Monday, 12/18.

Part IV. Assessment and Review
[M 12/18] Review for Final Examination.
Exam due by midnight on Friday, 12/22.