Instructor: Greg Elmer
Office: 330A Thomas Bldg.
Phone: 865-3193
email: gelmer@stat.psu.edu
Office Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays: 3-5
 

Grader: Lan Wang
Office: 316 Thomas Bldg.
Phone: 863-3238
email: wwlan@stat.psu.edu
Office Hours: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays: 12:30-1:30

Lecture: 104 Thomas MWF 3:35-4:25

REQUIRED TEXT:

An Introduction to Mathematical Statistics and Its Applications, 2nd ed., by R. J. Larsen and M. L. Marx

This text is available in the PennState bookstore next to the HUB.

COVERAGE:

We will cover as much of chapters 5 - 13 as possible.

ASSIGNMENTS

        Problems will be assigned throughout the week and will be due Wednesday. Only 2-3 randomly selected problems will be graded. Each problem will be worth 10 points. To receive credit, the solutions must be legible and organized. The grader will read your work, grade it, and may add comments to help you. Graded assignments will be returned to you in class.

        Homework is due at the BEGINNING of class on Wednesday. Assignments handed in after that will receive a 20% penalty. About two days after the homework is due, the solutions will be placed on reserve in the Mathematics Library (109 McAlister). No homework will be accepted after the solutions have been placed on reserve.

        You are encouraged to discuss assignments with your classmates. However, any work you hand in should be exclusively your own. Any suspected copying/cheating will be punished.

EXAMS

        There will be three in class examinations and one comprehensive final examination. The in class examinations are tentatively scheduled for September 25, October 21, and November 18 and the final is tentatively scheduled for December 16 at 10:10. The dates for the in-class exams may be changed at my discretion. You may bring one 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper into each of the exams with any notes on it that you feel will help you during the exam. Also, you may wish to bring a calculator to each exam.

GRADING

 The approximate grading scale is:

There will be no opportunities for extra-credit to make up for poor performance on the exams or homework.

MINITAB

        These days virtually all statistical calculations are done by computers. Therefore, being able to generate the correct output from a statistical package and being able to interpret this output is an integral part of statistics today.

        There are many popular statistical software packages used in practice. We will use a software package developed at PennState. MINITAB can be accessed through your CAC account. Like most Windows' programs today, MINITAB takes full advantage of the menu environment and is thus very easy for beginners to start using. However, I will provide you with a basic introduction to MINITAB. Also, as I introduce more advanced topics in the course, I will introduce methods for generating the correct output in MINITAB.

MISCELLANEOUS