Math 1010 Lecture 1, 8/24/2016 Alexander Reznikov

Who am I? Alexander Reznikov SC1527, MW 10:10-11:40am or by appointment via

Know your TA’s 10:05-10:55 Hua Lin, 11:10-12:00 Scott M. Rogers, 1:10-2:00 Caley E. Caito, TA’s will announce their office hours; if they are by appointment, feel free to them and set it up. TA’s will do some grading, and their job is to help you through the course as much as possible. However, you should help them help you: if you are not sure about a specific problem or topic, prepare questions in advance and ask during the discussion.

Syllabus 1 This course covers several important concepts of statistics and probability. We will learn how to understand plots and how to work with data. Even though we will mainly focus on “real-life” applications, we will also learn what math stands behind them. The main objective of the course is to be able to analyze given data and understand what we can and what we can not derive from it. The course will cover Chapters 1—14 of the book. I expect that you can work with numbers (add, subtract, multiply and divide, at least approximately) without help of calculator. That is, you do not need to know how much is 114/19, but you should be able to say that it is somewhere between 5 and 7. There will be a quiz at the end of each recitation. Also, there will be weekly homework assignments. We will have two or three hourly in-class tests and one two-hour final exam. Each in-class test is worth 100 points. Each quiz is worth 10 points and each homework is worth 15 points. The final examination is worth 150 points. One worst quiz and one worst homework will be dropped. Grades are based on the work shown, not on what was intended or implied. Sloppy, poorly justified and disorganized work, even though displaying the correct answer, cannot be given full credit. Full credit is given only for a correct solution and a correct answer. Please note that your TAs should be able to understand your solutions without spending too much time. Please be friendly to them and write your solutions clearly.

Syllabus 2 Be proactive in class, ask questions when you do not understand, work as many problems as time allows you, and help each other collaborate on understanding the course and solving the problems. If you ask a good or interesting question during the class (or discussion), you will receive extra 2 points (for each question). I am available during office hours or via ; also, the teaching assistants will have office hours and you can them. Please notice that graded homework might be not enough to ace in-class tests. Thus, it is recommended to solve more problems from the textbook. You can, of course, ask me or your TA about problems that are not assigned. Homework is an integral part of the course; note that some notions introduced in the exercises may appear on a test. You are encouraged to come and see me or your TA during our office hours. I will gladly provide help on particular problems, provided that you genuinely attempted to solve them.

Syllabus 3 Sometimes we will use help of a computer to analyze data. We will mainly work with MS Excel, as it is free for all of us, and it does a decent job. You are also encouraged to use the CD that goes with your book. You do not need to be an Excel expert. Whenever we need it, I will show what to do. You do not need to bring your laptops to class. In fact, I strongly suggest to keep them off your table during the class. Slides, grades and some other material will be available on Blackboard

Syllabus 4 Attendance might be taken at any time. If you miss a class, you are responsible for any announcement made, any material covered, and any additional topic introduced during this class. Office hours will not be used for this purpose. Make-up tests will only be given in exceptional circumstances – excused absence as defined by the University catalog. In such cases, you must provide a valid reason for your absence and must normally notify me in advance. If you oversleep a quiz, you can attend a later discussion to take it. Please do not abuse this!

What is “Statistics”? Statistics help us understand the world by analyzing data. Statistics is the art of distilling meaning from data. Is `17, 21, 30, 44, 76’ data? What about `Students scores on the test are 17, 21, 30, 44, 76 pts’? What does it tell us? How about `The buses that stop near ones home have numbers 17, 21, 30, 44, 76’? We need to know what values are measured and who they are measured on.

Survey Please write your age, gender, year of study, major, favorite sport, area code of your cell phone number, and number of siblings you have.

Variables In statistics, the word “variable” has a different meaning. In fact, any characteristic is a variable. Say, gender, age, height; ISBN of the book or your provider are also variables. Variables can be categorial or quantitative. Gender is a categorial variable, age is quantitative. Number of a bus can be also viewed as categorial, even though it is often a number. Sometimes one can convert categorial to quantitative. For example, “A+/A/A-/B+/…/F” can be converted to “4.0 / 3.5 / 3.0 / …/ 0.0”. Or to “100/99/98/…”. One should know which one, otherwise one student can have GPA 3.9 (pretty good!) and another GPA 90 (pretty bad)

Example In 2006, Consumer reports published an article evaluating refrigerators. It listed 41 models, giving the brand, cost, an overall rating, and the % requiring repairs over the past 5 years. Identify the who’s and what’s Specify which variables are quantitative (in this case, identify the units), and which are categorial.

Homework Read chapter 1 I will publish the survey we did today. Identify which variables are categorial, and which are quantitative. Which can be both? Draw three conclusions from the data. Example of a (probably wrong!) conclusion is “Senior students have more siblings than freshmen”.