Course Information for Stat 3011
Introduction to Statistical Analysis
Spring Semester, 2004
Lectures: MWF 10.10am-11.00am
Room: Physics 170, TCEASTBANK


Instructor: Tiefeng Jiang.

E-mail: tjiang@stat.umn.edu.

Phone: 612-624-3850.

Office Hours: Mon. and Wed. at 1.15pm-2.15pm, Ford Hall 365.
TAs and their office hours:

Sarah Klejbuk Heimel (labs 6 and 7): heim0107@umn.edu; Office hours: 11.15am-12.15pm TTh.

Xinyun Zhu (lab 8): zhux0141@umn.edu; Office hours: 12.20pm-1.10pm on Tue. and 10.10am-11.00am on Thur.

All of them hold office hours at Ford Hall 352.
Credits: 4

Prerequisite: High school mathematics.

Textbook: "The Basic Practice of Statistics" by David Moore, Third Edition.

Material: All students should have a portable calculator able to find roots, logarithms and exponentials. Bring this to class. In any case, you will need the calculator for the Exams.

Lectures: I will follow the book reasonably close. Methods, examples and applications outside the book will be presented in class, so you are encouraged to attend all the lectures. You can (and should) ask questions at any time.

Homework Assignments:

 Homework assignments will be due every Friday. Homeworks must be turned in at the beginning of the LECTURE. Late homeworks will not be accepted. In case you are not able to attend the lecture you can either fax your homework at:
(612)-624-8868 (School of Statistics and Department of Theoretical Statistics, attention: Tiefeng Jiang)
or you can mail it at:
Tiefeng Jiang, School of Statistics, 313 Ford Hall, 224 Church Street S.E. Minneapolis, MN 55455
by the time the homework is due. All course work must be readable and submitted on 8.5x11 paper, with your name and session number on the top right hand corner of every page. Work must be stapled. Working together in groups on homework is permitted, but each student must do his or her own write-up of the solutions and fully understand them. Talking about problems with other people does help in learning, but just getting solutions does not! Homeworks will be graded by the TA and will be returned at the lab.
Grading Policies:

Exams: There will be two midterms and a final in this course. The final exam will be cumulative with emphasis on the material not yet tested. Examinations will be closed book. You are permitted to bring one 8.5x11 sheet of paper with formulas or other notes on both sides to the midterm and use it to look up formulas. For the final exam, you may bring two such sheets. You should bring a calculator to the exams. Sharing of calculators or formula sheets during an exam is not permitted.

Grading: Your final grade will be determined by a weighted average of homework and examination scores: homework around 20%, each midterm around 20% and final around 40%. Grade cutoffs will be around 90% for an A, 80% for a B, 70% for a C, and 60% for a D, and the rest will result in an F. Cutoffs will include plus/minus and maybe adjusted per class performance. If you registered S/N, you will need a C- or higher to get a grade of S.

Missing Exams: If you miss the midterm for a legitimately documented reason, such as illness confirmed with a written excuse, your total exam grade will be based on the final. If you can not attend the final for a legitimately verifiable reason, you must provide a written excuse to receive an incomplete. See the School of Statistics policy on incompletes below. Otherwise, if you miss the final, you will receive a zero for the exam. Note that social/vacation plans are not legitimate reasons for missing an exam.

Incompletes: According to U of M grading policies, ``The I shall be assigned at the direction of the instructor when, due to extraordinary circumstances, the student was prevented from completing the work of the course on time. The assignment of an I requires a written agreement between the instructor and student specifying the time and manner in which the student will complete the course requirements during the student's next period of enrollment.'' In this course an I grade will be given only in cases of extreme hardship. Poor performance in the course is not grounds for an incomplete.
Examination Dates:

  • Midterm 1: Feb. 27.

  • Midterm 2: Apr. 16.

  • Final Exam: 10.30am-12.30am on Thurs. on 05/13.