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Office: |
BSB-202G |
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Telephone: |
525-9140 x 23423 (24-hour Voice Mail) |
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e-mail: |
Tuesday 10:30 & 15:30, Wednesday 10:30, Thursday 9:30
Please come at the start of the hour. Other times by appointment.
Don't hesitate to contact me by telephone, voice mail, or e-mail any time you need help. If you need to see me at any time and my office door is open, I will see you then if I can, or arrange a time to meet later.
The class will meet once a week for two hours (Thursday 10:30-12:20, in BSB-101). Some of that time will be spent in the computer room in a workshop format. Students will also be expected to devote time each week to independent study.
Learn statistical software packages, beginning with S-Plus and continuing with SAS and any other systems the students wish to work with.
Learn exploratory data analysis, learn how to approach a large and complex data set.
Develop analytical skills using a broad range of statistical methods. Integrate and apply the techniques of statistical analysis learned in other courses. Improve understanding of linear and non-linear models and explore advanced multivariate methods.
Get some experience in consulting skills, and consultant-client interaction.
Learn how to document your work and write a report.
We will work with the data sets chosen for the Case Studies Session at the Statistical Society of Canada 1999 Annual Meeting to be held at the University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, 6 - 9 June 1999. We hope that this year, as in all past years, some Statistics 4P03/6P03 students will be able to attend the meeting and present their results in the Case Studies Session. The Case Studies will be available from the Statistical Society of Canada web site by the end of January.
This book is more suited to self-study than lecturing, but we will be discussing assigned readings. There are good examples showing how to begin analyzing different kinds of data sets. There is good advice on report preparation.
Also Recommended:
You will need to refer to other manuals for Splus, SAS and any other software packages you may be using. There is a set of SAS manuals in the BSB Windows computer lab. An Splus manual can be signed out from the Mathematics & Statistics office.
Some data sets will be chosen from
One data set will be chosen from the following text. The larger data sets from the text are included on a disk as MINITAB Portable files.
Statistical computing, statistical software packages, working with large data sets, exploratory data analysis, graphical methods, statistical consulting practice, linear and non-linear models, report writing.
The assignments for 1998-99 will be developed in class, in consultation with the students.
The four assignments listed below are from 1996-97. They are listed here only as examples. This year's assignments will follow a similar pattern.
All written reports must be submitted by the end of the regular undergraduate examination period.
Students will have accounts on two of the Departmental UNIX machines, icarus and stats. Splus and SAS are available on stats. They can be accessed from the BSB Windows computer lab, or from home, with X-term emulators. Detailed instructions can be found in the Web document "Running Splus at McMaster". Other software is available in the BSB Windows computer lab (MINITAB, SPSS, Excel).
There will be no written tests or final examination.
The four assignments will be worth 20 marks each. All will be judged on content, creativity, validity and accuracy. Assignments 3 and 4 will also be judged on the quality of writing (5 marks out of 20).
Students may work in pairs and submit assignments jointly, in which case each student will receive the same mark on the assignment.
The remaining 20 marks will be awarded for class participation; a student who attends all classes and contributes regularly to class discussion will receive full marks.
I will review all "borderline" marks and possibly make further adjustments.
Graduate students taking Statistics 6P03 for graduate credit must give a 50-minute class presentation and submit a written report on one of the Case Studies.
This additional work will count for 10% of the graduate student's final mark. The mark computed from assignments, tests and examinations by the grading scheme shown above will count for 90%.
We remind you of the "Statement on Academic Ethics" and the "Senate resolution on Academic Dishonesty" as found in the Senate Policy Statements distributed at registration and available in the Senate Office.