STATISTICS 161 – INTRODUCTORY STATISTICS FOR BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS (Winter 2021)

NOTE: All the times stated on this syllabus and on eClass are MST (Edmonton time)

Section	Class Time + Office Hours	Live Lecture	Instructor	Email
R1	MWF 1000 – 1050	Online through zoom on eClass	Fok, R	[email protected]
R2	MWF 1000 – 1050	Online through zoom on eClass	Kowalski, M	[email protected]
S1	TR 1230 – 1350	Online through zoom on eClass	Burak, K	[email protected]

Email Rules:

1) Please put “STAT 161” in the subject line (emails not sent using “STAT 161” in the subject line may be treated as suspect and possibly ignored).

2) Emails sent from your ualberta account are preferred (emails not sent using your ualberta email may be treated as suspect and possibly ignored).

3) Please ask specific questions.

4) If you have more than 5 specific questions in a week, please visit your instructor during their live lectures and/or office hours instead of emailing them the questions.

5) Please allow for up to 48 hours for email replies.

Lecture Delivery:

- Lecture material will be primarily delivered through pre-recorded videos posted on eClass.

- Students are required to watch the pre-recorded videos according to the tentative schedule.

- ZOOM class time sessions will be used for supplementary practice sessions and/or office hours. Subject to change.

Course Description: STAT 161 is an introductory statistics course focusing on statistical reasoning and data analysis for Business and Economics. Topics include: Data collection and presentation, descriptive statistics. Probability distributions, sampling distributions, and the central limit theorem. Point estimation and hypothesis testing. Correlation and regression analysis. Goodness of fit and contingency tables.

Course Prerequisite: Mathematics 30-1 or 30-2. This course may not be taken for credit if credit has been obtained in any STAT course, or in PEDS 109, PSYCO 211, SCI 151 or SOC 210.

Course Objectives and Expected Learning Outcomes: This course provides an introduction to statistical methods and their applications. The main topics are: obtaining and summarizing data with graphs and numeric measures; probability theory; and statistical inference (drawing conclusions from sample data by carrying out a hypothesis test). This course also comes with a lab component; students will use a computer program, EXCEL, as a tool to further help their understanding in statistical analysis. At the end of this course, students should be able to make objective decisions based upon statistical data.

Required Course Materials:

1) Excel - free for students (https://ualberta.onthehub.com/WebStore/OfferingDetails.aspx?o=44f9873d-b9d3-e811-810b-000d3af41938)

2) Desktop/Laptop

3) Webcam & Microphone (you don’t have to purchase them if both of these come with your desktop/laptop; if not, you can buy an external USB webcam that comes with a microphone)

4) Internet

5) SEM through Google Chrome

Optional Textbook:

OpenIntro Statistics (Fourth Edition): https://leanpub.com/openintro-statistics

Author: David Diez, Mine C ̧etinkaya-Rundel and Christopher D Barr.

Online version: Free

Recommended Learning and Additional Resources:

1) There are practice midterm and final exams posted on eClass.

2) Student must watch the assigned pre-recorded videos before you go to any online live sessions.

3) Piazza is a newsgroup-like message board, which supports LaTeX, where students can go online and post questions that your fellow students and instructors can answer. Piazza is trusted by over 1500 universities worldwide and has over 1,000,000 users. We are using the software this semester to promote appropriate student-student collaboration. For more information, please visit the folder named Piazza in the General tab on eclass. The rules for using Piazza is as follows:

a) Posting simple answers and/or detailed solutions of the homework assignments or exams is NOT allowed.

b) All materials posted on this Statistics 161 eClass website are the intellectual property of our Statistics instructors, so students are NOT allowed to post any of these materials on any other webpage or share with a third-party website without the permission of the author.

c) Violation of these rules will result in a violation of the Code of Student Behaviour.

d) Piazza is used for peer-to-peer learning. Please try and answer questions using hints or direction to the appropriate notes or videos.

e) Instructors may check in periodically to help with answers.

f)  If you have an urgent question, section-specific questions, or personal matter, please email your instructor directly.

g) This term, you may see notices from Piazza asking you for a donation (as they transition to a paid model later this year). You are NOT required to donate. Please let your instructor know if the donation requests become excessive.

Optional Online Learning Resources:

Additional learning resources aimed at facilitating student learning, and perhaps including formative assessment tools, are available from the textbook publisher and may be accessed for a fee paid by the student to the third-party provider (e.g., the textbook company). Students choosing to access and use the online resources should note the following:

1. Registration in the system and any monetary transactions are of your own accord and not the responsibility of the University.

2. Students should be mindful of protecting their personal information and should be aware of how their personal information might be used and/or shared.

3. Students MUST NOT use their @ualberta email address or CCID to register into the system and instead should use a non-identifying email address or account.

Syllabus: Here is the tentative outline with the approximate number of hours indicated for each topic.

Grade Assessment:

Assignments (6) 10% https://eclass.srv.ualberta.ca/portal/

Lab Assignments (4) 10% https://eclass.srv.ualberta.ca/portal/

Midterm Exam 30% Saturday, February 27, 2021, from 1000 – 1130. Location: on eClass.

Final Exam 50% Monday, April 19, 2021, from 1400 – 1700. Location: on eClass.

Note: The date of the final examination is set by the Registrar and takes precedence over the final examination date reported in this document. Students must verify this date on BearTracks when the Final Exam Schedule is posted.

All sections of the course will be subjected to a common grading procedure. Your final grade will be determined based on your overall score out of 100. Here is the distribution that will be used to assign grades.

IMPORTANT: To pass the course, you also need a minimum total raw score of 40 out of 80 on the two exams OR pass the final exam. For example, if you get a weight of a out of 30 on the midterm and a weight of b out of 50 on the final, the total of a and b must be at least 40 OR b must be at least 25.

Note:

1) The overall online assignment mark is calculated by dividing the sum of all marks that you earned from all 6 online assignments by the sum of all marks assigned.

2) The overall lab assignment mark is calculated by dividing the sum of all marks that you earned from all 4 lab assignments by the sum of all lab marks assigned.

3) In order to ensure the fairness of the grading process for labs across all groups marked by different graders, the total score for the four labs for each student may be adjusted by the overall average lab total for all students in the course if significant differences among the groups are found.

4) Instructors will adhere to this grading distribution strictly, so no extra assignments will be given to any one student for raising mark purpose.

Grades are unofficial until approved by the Department and/or Faculty offering the course.

Examinations:

Midterm Exam (30%): The midterm exam will be a 90-minute exam held on Saturday, February 27, 2021, from 1000 – 1130, through eClass using a remote proctoring service called SEM (details will be posted on eClass), consisting of 30 multiple choice questions. The midterm exam will cover Module 0 to Module 3 inclusive, as well as Lab 1 and Lab 2 materials. More details about the topics will be discussed closer to the exam.

Final Exam (50%): The cumulative final exam will be a 180-minute consolidated exam held on Monday, April 19, 2021, through eClass using a remote proctoring service called SEM (details will be posted on eClass), from 1400 – 1700, consisting of 50 multiple choice questions. The final exam will cover Chapters Module 0 to Module 6, as well as all lab materials. More details about the topics will be discussed closer to the exam. The date of the final examination is set by the Registrar and takes precedence over the final examination date reported in this syllabus.

Midterm and Final Exam Formats and Rules:

- All exams will be held remotely using a remote proctoring service called SEM (Please refer to the “SEM Student Guide” and “area recording” files posted on eClass for more info). You MUST use Google Chrome to use SEM. During the exam, the Chrome browser window must be maximized at all times.

- Your computer and environment will be monitored during exams via a webcam and microphone. You MUST have a webcam and microphone. Dual monitors are not allowed.

- You should arrange for a place to write exams without interruption.

- Tablets and mobile devices are incompatible with remote proctoring services.

- You may be asked to upload a picture of your student OneCard during exam registration.

- The exams are open book (physical paper notes only).

- You can use any offline non-programmable calculator(s). TI-83 and TI-84 are not allowed.

- Electronic equipment, other than your non-programmable calculators and your computer or device used to write your exams, cannot be used during the exam.

- You are NOT permitted to access online or downloaded materials via any devices.

- You will NOT be able to access materials on eClass other than the formula sheets and statistical tables.

- You are NOT permitted to access any internet sites other than the eClass during the exam.

- Copying, revealing, taking pictures of, posting, sharing, photographing or redistributing exam questions to any third party during or at any time after the exam is STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

- Communications with anyone (other than with your instructor) during the exam is STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

- Students will not be allowed to begin an examination after it has been in progress for 30 minutes.

- Please review section 23.5 from the University of Alberta Calendar for other details regarding examinations.

NOTE: If you cannot write an exam due to religious conflict or any other school-related conflict, you must notify your instructor in writing within two weeks of the start of Winter term classes (on or before Monday, January 25, 2021). If this action is completed, your instructor will arrange accommodations such as a different exam date. If you fail to notify your instructor of a religious conflict or any other school-related conflict on or before Monday, January 25, 2021, then you may apply to transfer the weight of the exam to the final exam. You must notify your instructor within two working days of the missed exam in order to transfer the weight to the final exam. Appropriate documentation, including your timetable from Beartracks, is required to justify missing the exam. Otherwise, the reason may not be accepted and a score of zero will result for the missed exam.

Past (or Representative) Evaluative Material: There are practice midterm and final exams posted on eClass.

Labs and Lab Assignments (10%): https://eclass.srv.ualberta.ca/portal/

● Beyond the information below, it will be assumed you are familiar with all information under the topic “Labs” on eClass.

● There are 4 typewritten lab assignments to submit. You can find all the lab instructions, assignments, data files, due dates, solutions, and all other related information on eClass (there is no lab manual).

● The due dates for the labs as follows:

o Lab 1: Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 21:59 (9:59pm)

o Lab 2: Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 21:59 (9:59pm)

o Lab 3: Wednesday, March 24, 2021 at 21:59 (9:59pm)

o Lab 4: Wednesday, April 14, 2021 at 21:59 (9:59pm)

● Group Work: Each student will be assigned randomly to a group of three students (occasionally four) for each of the four labs. The composition of groups will vary from one lab to another. For each of the four labs, students will be able to determine who the other members in their lab group are via eClass Forum. One forum will be created for each lab assignment.

● The students in each group will be expected to use the lab report template to create a lab report that will provide answers to the questions specified in the lab assignment using Google Documents. The members of the group should elect their leader who will ensure that the group completes the report on time and will be responsible for submitting a PDF copy of the assignment before or on the due date. Individuals within a group will receive the same grade on each assignment. The instructor can change the assignment scores for individual students in the group if justified. Only a single submission should be received from each group.

● Before you and your group members start working on the lab assignment problems, you should first familiarize yourself with the relevant lecture material and go through the lab instructions corresponding to the lab assignment.

● Each member is responsible for all questions in the lab, so lab members SHOULD NOT divide the lab questions up, but should collaborate on all the questions as a group TOGETHER.

● Lab assignments are not weighted equally. The overall lab mark is calculated by dividing the sum of all marks that you earned from all 4 lab assignments by the sum of all marks assigned.

● Software: Excel is required to complete the lab assignments. Each group will be required to generate its own Excel output and then answer the questions from the output using its knowledge from class. Excel is a spreadsheet with most of the statistical features covered in introductory statistics courses. If you do not want to purchase Excel, you can get it free, please visit this link for more info:

https://ualberta.onthehub.com/WebStore/OfferingDetails.aspx?o=44f9873d-b9d3-e811-810b-000d3af41938

● Lab Instructions & Lab Videos: Each lab in eClass contains instructions in text and video form. It is expected that you and your group members view these before completing the lab.

● There are online lab help sessions for the students to attend, please find specific help hours in the chart on the next page. You may ask the lab assistants to clarify lab assignment questions. Please find more info for the lab help sessions through the Lab Information link on eClass under the Lab Assistance tab.

● All Help Sessions, forum, deadlines for meeting your group members or active participations and due date will be posted on the Deadline and Due Date tab on the Lab Information through eClass when they are finalized.

Lab		Help Sessions	Forum Opens	Deadline for communicating and meeting (online) with your group members	Deadline for Active Participation	Due Date
Intro Lab	Introduction to Excel	Self Study				Introduction to Excel. No work to be submitted.
1	Descriptive Statistics	Jan 29, Feb 1, 2, 3	Mon, Jan 25	Thurs, Jan 28	Mon, Feb 1	Wed, Feb 3 at 9:59pm
2	Linear Regression	Feb 12, 22, 23, 24	Mon, Feb 8	Thurs, Feb 11	Mon, Feb 22	Wed, Feb 24 at 9:59pm
3	Sampling Distributions	Mar 19, 22, 23, 24	Mon, Mar 15	Thurs, Mar 18	Mon, Mar 22	Wed, Mar 24 at 9:59pm
4	Inference for Mean(s)	Apr 9, 12, 13, 14	Thurs, April 1	Thurs, Apr 8	Mon, Apr 12	Wed, Apr 14 at 9:59pm

● Introductory Lab: All students must have access to Excel and work through the Introductory Lab Instructions available on the STAT 161 eClass website. Students are not to submit anything from this introduction.

● Completed assignments will be saved as a PDF file, submitted, graded, and returned on eClass.

● All groups must submit ONE PDF electronic copy of the lab assignment to the appropriate link on eClass on their respective due dates.

● ***Late lab assignments will not be graded and will result in a ZERO recorded for that assignment. No extensions will be granted. The TA will only accept ONE electronic copy of the lab assignment.

● Students should read the lab instructions and questions for each lab before meeting with their group member, but students should not start writing the lab report until after the first meeting with his/her group members.

● If a student fails to communicate and meet (online) with their group members on or before “deadline for communicating and meeting your group members” and/or fails to actively work on the lab report (meaning complete a draft copy) on or before “deadline for active participation,” he or she will get ZERO on that assignment and the remaining group members can complete the lab without this student.

● In case a group member has missed any of the deadlines, the remaining group members should only include their names on the cover page of the lab and fill out the “Summary of Issues” section on the cover page of your lab report.

● Students who have missed deadline(s) are NOT allowed to submit a lab report, and even the lab is submitted, it will not be graded. Do not delete another student’s submission.

● Ethical Conduct: Collaboration with other groups is limited to discussion and exchange of ideas. No record of any sort (written or electronic material) may be exchanged between groups. Each group must write their own lab report, using their own words to answer the questions in lab assignment. The group members are expected to support and motivate each other while holding each other accountable for completing the assignments on time.

● Grading Fairness: In order to ensure the fairness of the grading process for labs across all grading groups marked by different graders, the overall percentage for the lab component for individual students may be slightly adjusted if significant differences in the total lab scores among the several grading groups are found.

Homework Assignments (10%):

● Your homework assignments will be administered through eClass.

● There are 6 homework assignments with 6 due dates as follows:

o Assignments (Module 0 & 1): Friday, January 29, 2021 at 21:59 (9:59pm)

o Assignments (Module 2): Friday, February 12, 2021 at 21:59 (9:59pm)

o Assignments (Module 3): Friday, February 26, 2021 at 21:59 (9:59pm)

o Assignments (Module 4): Friday, March 12, 2021 at 21:59 (9:59pm)

o Assignments (Module 5): Friday, March 26, 2021 at 21:59 (9:59pm)

o Assignments (Module 6): Friday, April 16, 2021 at 21:59 (9:59pm)

● Format: Once you are in a specific eClass assignment, you will be able to see the homework assignments and when a homework assignment is available and due. After you finish a particular assignment, you will get an instant mark. You are allowed unlimited tries for each assignment, so if students are not happy about their mark after each try, students are welcome to redo the whole assignment again before the due date.

● Please complete your homework before the due date. Students are expected to do their homework assignment for a particular module once the instructor has finished that module. Please plan to do your assignments ahead of time. It is your responsibility for completing the assigned homework in a timely fashion. Late assignments will not be accepted. Please plan to complete the assignments well in advance of the actual due date. If you have an isolated issue, you therefore have plenty of time to resolve it and/or access another computer.

Excused Absence Where the Cause is Religious Belief:

For an excused absence where the cause is religious belief, a student must contact the instructor(s) within two weeks of the start of the term to request accommodation for the term (including the final exam, where relevant). Instructors may request adequate documentation to substantiate the student request.

Missed Components:

Missed Midterm and Missed Lab Assignments: A student who cannot write the midterm exam or hand in a lab assignment due to incapacitating illness, severe domestic affliction, or other compelling reasons can apply to transfer the weight of the missed component to the final exam. There are no deferred term exams or lab assignments. To apply for a weight transferral, a student must inform the instructor within two working days following the scheduled date of the term work or term exam missed, or as soon as the student is able, having regard to the circumstances underlying the absence. In all cases, instructors may request adequate documentation to substantiate the reason for the absence at their discretion.

An excused absence is a privilege and not a right; there is no guarantee that an absence will be excused. Misrepresentation of Facts to gain an excused absence is a serious breach of the Code of Student Behaviour.

Missed Homework Assignments: Since the material is covered in class well before the due dates, no excuses are accepted for missing a due date.

Missed Final Examination: A student who cannot write the final examination due to incapacitating illness, severe domestic affliction or other compelling reasons can apply for a deferred final examination. Students who failed at the start of term to request exam accommodations for religious beliefs are expected to follow the normal deferred final examination process. Such an application must be made to the student’s Faculty office within two working days of the missed examination and must be supported by a Statutory Declaration or other appropriate documentation (Calendar section 23.5.6). Deferred examinations are a privilege and not a right; there is no guarantee that a deferred examination will be granted. Misrepresentation of Facts to gain a deferred examination is a serious breach of the Code of Student Behaviour.

Date: Saturday, May 8, 2021

Time: 0900

Location: Online through eClass

NOTE: Deferral of term work and/or examinations is a privilege and not a right; there is no guarantee that a deferral will be granted. Misrepresentation of Facts to gain a deferral is a serious breach of the Code of Student Behaviour.

Re-examination:

A student who writes the final examination and fails the course may apply for a re-examination. Re-examinations are rarely granted in the Faculty of Science. Re-examinations are governed by university-wide Academic Regulations and Faculty of Science Academic Regulations. Misrepresentation of Facts to gain a re-examination is a serious breach of the Code of Student Behaviour.

REMOTE DELIVERY CONSIDERATIONS

Technology for Remote Learning:

To successfully participate in remote learning in this course, it is recommended that students have access to a computer with an internet connection that can support the tools and technologies the University uses to deliver content, engage with instructors, TAs, and fellow students, and facilitate assessment and examinations. Please refer to Technology for Remote Learning - For Students for details. If you encounter difficulty meeting the technology recommendations, please email the Dean of Students Office ([email protected]) directly to explore options and support.

Please contact the instructor by the add/drop deadline if you do not have access to the minimum technology recommended. The instructor will make arrangements for accommodating students who contact the instructor before this date. Failure to do so may result in a zero in any assessment that depends on the minimum technology.

Remote Proctoring Consideration:

We will use a remote proctoring service for exams. Your computer and environment will be monitored during exams.

● You should arrange for a place to write timed exams without interruption.

● Tablets and mobile devices are incompatible with remote proctoring services.

Recordings of Synchronous Activities:

● Please note that class times for this course may be recorded. Recordings of this course will be used for the purposes of asynchronous learning and will be disclosed to other students enrolled in this section of the class.

● Students have the right to not participate in the recording and are advised to turn off their cameras and audio prior to recording; they can still participate through text-based chat at the discretion of the instructor. It is recommended that students remove all identifiable and personal belongings from the space in which they will be participating.

● Recordings, if any, will be made available until the end of term, April 20, 2021. Please direct any questions about this collection to the instructor of this course.

● Please see “Recording and/or Distribution of Course Materials” below for more information. In particular, students are prohibited from sharing these videos with anyone not currently enrolled in STAT 161.

Student Resources

Decima Robinson Support Centre (DRSC): Students in any 100 or 200-level math or stats course can submit a request for help from our graduate student TA's. Online drop-in help for Statistics is still to be determined. Students are to join the virtual queue by self-enrolling in the Decima Robinson Support Centre eClass site: https://eclass.srv.ualberta.ca/course/view.php?id=59434

Access Team: The Access team can link you to math tutors, writing tutors, mental health workers, and other services on campus. If you require a tutor for your math background or could use support for your general well-being please contact the Access Team. All services provided by the Access Team are of no cost to students. For information please e-mail [email protected].

Academic Success Centre: The Academic Success Centre provides professional academic support to help students strengthen their academic skills and achieve their academic goals. Individual advising, appointments, and group workshops are available year-round in the areas of Accessibility, Communication, Learning, and Writing Resources. Modest fees apply for some services.

Student Resources for Remote Learning:

Online learning may be new to you. Check out tips for success and find out more about online learning on the Campus Life page, and specifically on the Student Resources for Remote Learning page.

Students Eligible for Accessibility-Related Accommodations (students registered with AR – Accessibility Resources): Eligible students have both rights and responsibilities with regard to accessibility-related accommodations. Consequently, scheduling exam accommodations in accordance with AR deadlines and procedures is essential. Please note adherence to procedures and deadlines is required for U of A to provide accommodations. Contact AR for further information. AR students have to make arrangements for all exams with the AR Office.

Student Responsibilities:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: ‘The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (online at www.governance.ualberta.ca) and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.’

All forms of academic dishonesty are unacceptable at the University. Any suspected offence will be reported to the Faculty of Science. Anyone who is found in violation of the Code of Student Behaviour may receive a sanction. Typical sanctions include conduct probation, a mark reduction or a mark of 0 on an assessment, a grade reduction or a grade of F in a course, a remark on the transcript, and a recommendation for suspension or expulsion.

Collaboration on Assignments: See http://www.osja.ualberta.ca/Students/AppropriateCollaboration.aspx for more.

Every term there are several students who receive academic penalties for copying assignments. Here are some tips to avoid copying on assignments:

1) Do not write down something that you cannot explain to your TA or instructor.

2) When you are helping other students, avoid showing them your work directly. Instead, explain your solution verbally. Students whose work is copied also receive academic sanctions.

3) If you find yourself reading another student's solution, do not write anything down. Once you understand how to solve the problem, remove the other person's work from your sight and then write up the solution to the question yourself. Looking back and forth between someone else's paper and your own paper is almost certainly copying and will result in academic sanctions for both you and your fellow student.

4) If the instr uctor or TA writes down part of a solution in order to help explain it to you or the class, you cannot it and hand it in for credit. Treat it the same way you would treat another student's work with respect to copying, that is, remove the explanation from your sight and then write up the solution yourself.

5) There is often more than one way to solve a problem. Choose the method that makes the most sense to you rather than the method that other students happen to use. If none of the ideas in your solution are your own, there is a good chance it will be flagged as copying.

Cell Phones: Cell phones are to be silenced (turn the ringer off) during lectures, labs, and seminars. Cell phones are not permitted during exams (you cannot use your cell phone as a calculator).

Recording and/or Distribution of Course Materials:

Audio or video recording, digital or otherwise, of lectures, labs, seminars or any other teaching environment by students is allowed only with the prior written consent of the instructor or as a part of an approved accommodation plan. Student or instructor content, digital or otherwise, created and/or used within the context of the course is to be used solely for personal study, and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose without prior written consent from the content author(s).

Other legal stuff: Policy about course outlines can be found in §23.4(2) of the University Calendar. Any typographical errors in this Course Outline are subject to change and will be announced in class. The date of the final examination is set by the Registrar and takes precedence over the final examination date reported in this course outline.

Tentative Schedule