Course Syllabus

Statistics: Measurement in Economics

Econ 310 (4 Credits), Fall 2018

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Instructor: Christopher McKelvey

E-mail: cmckelvey@wisc.edu

 

Course Overview

This course provides an introduction to statistics. We will tackle three main topics. We begin with a brief overview of descriptive statistics and statistical terminology. Next we turn to probability, a branch of mathematics which provides us with the methods necessary to reason about uncertain environments. Finally, we turn to the bread and butter of statistics: estimation and inference. Particular attention will be paid to the application of these tools to the analysis of economic data.

Prerequisites

Prerequisites for this class include (a) an introductory economics course and (b) Math 211 or Math 221.

Class Meetings and Office Hours

Lectures are Tuesdays & Thursdays from 1:00 - 2:15 p.m. in Social Science 5206.

My office hours will be Mondays from 1 - 2:30 p.m. in Social Science 7321. Your TA will announce his or her office hours at your first discussion section.

Textbook and Required Materials

A non-graphing scientific calculator is required for all exams (you’ll want one that can perform the following functions: x^y, x!, and e^x).

Our textbook is: Keller, Gerald (2018). Statistics for Management and Economics, Bundled with Aplia. Cengage Learning, Eleventh Edition.

We’ll be using Aplia extensively for this class, so it is essential that you buy a “book plus Aplia” bundle, not simply the book alone. There are three options for obtaining an Aplia bundle:

• Option 1 – If you're happy with electronic-only access to the textbook, when you log into your Aplia account you’ll be given an opportunity to buy a semester of access for about $100.
• Option 2 – If you prefer a physical textbook, the University Bookstore sells an Aplia bundle that includes a loose-leaf edition of the text for about $170.
• Option 3 – A final option is Cengage Unlimited, which for $120 gives you a semester of access to all Cengage e-books and digital learning platforms (e.g., Aplia and Mindtap). If you prefer a physical textbook, they’ll include a textbook rental for an additional $8. If you’re taking more than one class this semester that uses a Cengage textbook, this can be a very cost effective way to go.

NOTE: It’s possible to access all class materials and complete all assignments on the Aplia website without payment for 14 days, so if you’re on the waitlist or you’re thinking of dropping this course, I recommend holding off on purchasing anything until after you’ve finalized your schedule.

Aplia Registration

To resister for Aplia, please follow these instructions:

1. Go to http://login.cengagebrain.com/
2. Enter your course key and click the Register button. The course key for this class is: 7YMN-BMNH-WXGB
3. If you already have an Aplia account from a previous course, please log in. Otherwise enter an e-mail address and click the SIGN UP button. If you're creating your account, be sure to select the Central Time (US & Canada) (GMT-06:00) time zone. Continue to follow the on-screen instructions.

Course Webpage

We will not be using Learn@UW (aka Canvas) for this course. Instead, lecture notes and all other course materials will be available on the Aplia website: http://www.aplia.com/

Evaluation

Your overall grade for the course will be based on four components:

• Midterm Exams: There will be two in-class midterms, each worth 20% of your overall grade for the course. See the exam dates in the course outline below. Ensure that you are available these dates, as midterm exams will not be rescheduled for any student for any reason. On a case by case basis, in the event of a truly unavoidable absence (submit a written statement in advance of the exam), I may elect to shift the weight of a missed exam to subsequent exams. Note, however, that a cold or flu does not constitute an unavoidable absence – illnesses must be severe enough to make attendance impossible and must be fully documented.
  
• Final Exam: The (cumulative) final for this class is worth 30% of your overall grade for the course. As with the midterms, in a class this size it is not possible to reschedule the final – even when students have multiple exams in a 24 hour period. However, if you have another exam at exactly the same time, then I am willing to reschedule so long as you provide evidence of enrollment in a class with a conflicting final and notify me at least two weeks in advance.
  
• Aplia problem sets: These are worth 25% of your grade for the course, so completing them will be critical to your success. Problem sets must be completed on the Aplia website before the due date. Late problem sets will not be accepted for any reason, but your lowest two Aplia problem set grades will be automatically dropped. 
  
• Stata problem set: There will be one Stata problem set, which will be worth 5% of your grade for the course. More details on this assignment will be provided later in the semester. You are encouraged to form a study group with your classmates, but you must write up your answers independently. Problem sets with identical answers will not be accepted (i.e., receive zero credit).
  

Your overall grade for this class will be curved. This curve can help your grade, but cannot hurt it. I achieve this by computing your grade using two different methods. First, I assign grades according to a percentage scale, where A = [92,100], AB = [88,92), B = [82,88), BC = [78,82), C = [70,78), D = [60,70), F = [0,60). (In other words, if you receive a grade in the class of 92% or better, then you’ll receive an A.) Second, I assign grades according to a percentile scale, where A = [83,100], AB = [65,83), B = [45,65), BC = [25,45), C = [6,25), D = [3,6), F = [0,3). (In other words, if you perform better than 83% of the class, then you’ll receive an A). Your overall grade in the class is the higher of these two grades.

I strive to make all of the grading transparent and fair.  If you are unhappy with the way a problem has been graded, I encourage you to discuss it with me, but you must bring the concern to me within two weeks of when you were first able to view the graded problem set or exam.

Learning Outcomes

Following the completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Interpret tables, graphs, and statistics used for describing data
• Apply probability theory to characterize random variables and determine the likelihood of uncertain events
• Estimate population parameters using point and interval estimators
• Evaluate and describe the properties of an estimator
• Test theories about population parameters by determining an appropriate test statistic, implementing a formal hypothesis test, and interpreting the outcome
• Use statistical software to apply these statistical techniques to the analysis of economic data

Credits

This class meets for a total of 4 class period hours each week of the semester and carries the expectation that students will work on course learning activities (reading, writing, problem sets, studying, etc) for about 2 hours out of classroom for every class period. This syllabus includes additional information about meeting times and expectations for student work.

Students with Disabilities

If you have approval from the McBurney Center for disability-related accommodations, please contact me to discuss how these accommodations will be implemented for this course. This should be done as soon as possible, and no later than two weeks before the first midterm.

Grievance Procedure

The Department of Economics has developed a grievance procedure through which you may register comments or complaints about a course, an instructor, or a teaching assistant. The Department continues to provide a course evaluation each semester in every class. If you wish to make anonymous complaints to an instructor or teaching assistant, the appropriate vehicle is the course evaluation. If you have a disagreement with an instructor or a teaching assistant, we strongly encourage you to try to resolve the dispute with him or her directly. The grievance procedure is designed for situations where neither of these channels is appropriate.

If you wish to file a grievance, you should go to room 7238 Social Science and request a Course Comment Sheet. When completing the comment sheet, you will need to provide a detailed statement that describes what aspects of the course you find unsatisfactory. You will need to sign the sheet and provide your student identification number, your address, and a phone where you can be reached. The Department plans to investigate comments fully and will respond in writing to complaints.

Your name, address, phone number, and student ID number will not be revealed to the instructor or teaching assistant involved and will be treated as confidential. The Department needs this information, because it may become necessary for a commenting student to have a meeting with the department chair or a nominee to gather additional information. A name and address are necessary for providing a written response.

Misconduct Statement

Academic Integrity is critical to maintaining fair and knowledge based learning at UW Madison. Academic dishonesty is a serious violation: it undermines the bonds of trust and honesty between members of our academic community, degrades the value of your degree and defrauds those who may eventually depend upon your knowledge and integrity.

Examples of academic misconduct include, but are not limited to: cheating on an examination (copying from another student's paper, referring to materials on the exam other than those explicitly permitted, continuing to work on an exam after the time has expired, turning in an exam for regrading after making changes to the exam), copying the homework of someone else, submitting for credit work done by someone else, stealing examinations or course materials, tampering with the grade records or with another student's work, or knowingly and intentionally assisting another student in any of the above. Students are reminded that online sources, including anonymous or unattributed ones like Wikipedia, still need to be cited like any other source; and copying from any source without attribution is considered plagiarism.

The Dept. of Economics will deal with these offenses harshly following UWS14 procedures (http://students.wisc.edu/saja/misconduct/UWS14.html):

1. The penalty for misconduct in most cases will be removal from the course and a failing grade.
2. The department will inform the Dean of Students as required and additional sanctions may be applied.
3. The department will keep an internal record of misconduct incidents. This information will be made available to teaching faculty writing recommendation letters and to admission offices of the School of Business and Engineering.

If you think you see incidents of misconduct, you should tell your instructor about them, in which case they will take appropriate action and protect your identity. You could also choose to contact our administrator (Tammy Herbst-Koel: therbst@wisc.edu) and your identity will be kept confidential.

Course Outline

Topic	Dates	Reading
Introduction and Descriptive Statistics	9/6	Chapters 1 & 4
Sampling	9/11	Chapter 5
Probability	9/13, 9/18	Chapter 6
Discrete Distributions	9/20, 9/25, 9/27	Chapter 7
Continuous Distributions	10/2, 10/4	Chapter 8
Catch-Up & Review	10/9
Midterm	10/11
Continuous Distributions (continued)	10/16	Chapter 8
Sampling Distributions	10/18, 10/23	Chapter 9
Estimation	10/25, 10/30	Chapter 10
Hypothesis Testing	11/1, 11/6	Chapter 11
Inference	11/8	Chapter 12
Catch-Up & Review	11/13
Midterm	11/15
Inference (continued)	11/20	Chapter 12
Comparing Two Populations	11/27, 11/29	Chapter 13
Simple Linear Regression	12/4, 12/6	Chapter 16
Catch-Up & Review	12/11
Cumulative Final Exam	12/19 7:45-9:45am