Department of Mathematics and Statistics

Stat 2300, Fall 2005

Business Statistics - International Program

Syllabus
USU Catalog Description

QL 2300. Descriptive and inferential statistics, probability, sampling, estimation, tests of hypotheses, linear regression and correlation, chi-square tests, analysis of variance, and multiple regression. Prerequisite: Math 1050. (4 Cr - F, Sp, Su)

USU Instructor

Dr. Jürgen Symanzik
Associate Professor
Utah State University
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
3900 Old Main Hill
Logan, Utah 84322-3900
USA
e-mail: symanzik@math.usu.edu

Local Instructor

Alex Cheng
Institute of Advanced Learning
Tsim Sha Tsui Center
Hong Kong
e-mail: alex_cheng_@hotmail.com (note the two underscores in alex_cheng_)

Textbook

We will use the electronic textbook CyberStats. Please go to http://cyberk.com and register for course ID # 1105 (Standard - Utah State University - Juergen Symanzik - Stat 2300 - International) at a cost of US-$ 33. This will give you access to CyberStats for one semester. It is your responsibility to pay the CyberStats publisher directly. If you do not submit your payment, your access to the electronic textbook will be denied after the initial trial period.

There exists an optional print companion to CyberStats at an additional cost. In case you would like to obtain the printed version of the course material, please contact the CyberStat publisher directly. It may be beneficial if a small group of students jointly orders several copies of the print companion.

Please check the message board of CyberStats frequently for announcements, discussions, etc.

Lessons / Homework Assignments

CyberStats allows you to work at your own speed, at times most convenient to you. There is a weekly meeting, administered by the local instructor. The confirmed times for the course are as follow: Your local instructor will inform you if a meeting has to be rescheduled due to local holidays or for other reasons.

The meeting location for the course is:

These meetings are no regular lectures. Instead, your local instructor will help with technical problems, summarize answers to frequently asked questions, and emphasize important points of the course material assigned for reading each week.

CyberStats consists of 7 main units and more than 40 subunits: We will study the following subunits, following a schedule that addresses 2 or 3 subunits each week (i.e., 36 subunits overall). Two non-CyberStats topics will be discussed as well: You should work independently on these subunits, reading the main parts, checking your progress via the self-assessment tests, and work on as many of the homework assignments as possible. You are always allowed to work ahead, but you should not fall behind this schedule.

The first set of exercises in each CyberStats subunit is the assigned set of homework assignments. You have to submit your answers electronically via CyberStats by the end of a week. This means, answers to the exercises in set 1 of subunits A-1 and A-2 are due on Sun 9/4/05, 23:59 (11:59pm)

There will be 15 sets of homework assignments, each worth 10 points. Your local instructor will randomly select a subset of questions and grade these in detail. For those questions not selected, you will get credit based on whether you have done/not done a question (independenly from correctness).

Exams

There is one midterm and one final exam. The midterm is worth 350 points. The final exam is worth 500 points.

All exams are open-book, open-notes, open-computer (i.e., you have full access to CyberStats and all its tools, calculators, etc.). The midterm should be completed in 90 min (1.5 hours) and the final in 180 min (3 hours). You are expected to use the CyberStats tools, calculators, etc. efficiently. If you rarely looked at the CyberStats tools and only read the main text, you will most likely fail the exams.

The midterm will be given during or after week 8 (beginning Mo 10/17/05) and will cover the following 19 subunits: A1-A9, B1-B3, B5-B7, B9, and B11-B13. Your local instructor will inform you on exact dates, times, and rooms of the midterm during the semester.

The final exam will be given during or after week 15 (beginning Mo 12/5/05) and will cover the following 34 subunits: A1-A9, B1-B3, B5-B7, B-9, B11-B13, C1-C4, C6-C8, C10, D1-D4, and E1-E3 (i.e., the final is comprehensive). In addition, there will be questions dealing with the two non-CyberStats topics on misleading graphs and charts and on Microsoft Excel. CyberStats subunits F1 and G1 will not be examing in the final exam (but they are covered in the last homework assignment). Your local instructor will inform you on exact dates, times, and rooms of the final exam during the semester.

Exam questions will be at the same difficulty level as the exercises from the homework assignments. In fact, some exam questions will be drawn from the remaining exercise sets (2, 3, ...). The final exam will consist of regular questions and a data part where you are given a real data set and are required to answer questions using the CyberStats tools. The midterm and the final exam will be graded by your US instructor. Sample questions (with answers) will be provided later in the semester.

Grading Policy

Overall, there will be 1000 points: 150 for homework assignments, 350 for the midterm, and 500 for the final. An approximate grade distribution is given below. Plus minus grades are not indicated.