Introduction to Statistics I: Inference for a Single Variable

Dennis Roberts

Aim of Course:

To provide an easy introduction to statistical inference for a single variable. Once you've completed this course you'll be able to apply statistically valid designs to basic studies, and test hypotheses regarding proportions and means.

Note: This is the first of a two course sequence, part two being Introduction to Statistics II: Working with Bivariate Data. For those with little or no prior exposure to basic probability and descriptive stats, see also the companion preliminary course, Introduction to Statistics for Beginners, or, alternately, Survey of Statistics for Beginners.

Teaching statistics, especially AP statistics? The summer sessions of this course are especially suited to AP stats teachers who need to tune up their statistical skills.

Who Should Take This Course:

Anyone who encounters statistics in their work. The only mathematics you need is arithmetic (see below for basic prerequisites).

Course Program:

The course is structured as follows

The Instructor:

Dennis Roberts, instructor for the next available session, has spent over 35 years teaching in the areas of statistics and measurement/assessment, including courses in basic and intermediate statistics, educational assessment and psychological testing. His professional career was spent (3 years) at The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, (3 years) in Psychology at East Carolina University, and since 1973 (until retirement as Emeritus Professor) in the Educational Psychology program at Penn State University. Over the years, Dr. Roberts published dozens of empirical articles in journals, directed a Correspondence Course in Basic Statistics for 20 years and revised the study guide several times, revised his own introductory statistics book 3 times, and made numerous presentations at conferences of the American Educational Research Association and other professional societies.

Note: Various sessions of this course are taught by Robert Hayden, Dave Bock, Dennis Roberts, and Michelle Everson.

Organization of the Course:

The course takes place over the internet, at statistics.com. During each course week, you participate at times of your own choosing - there are no set times when you must be online. Course participants will be given access to a private discussion board. In class discussions led by the instructor, you can post questions, seek clarification, and interact with your fellow students and the instructor. The course is scheduled to take place over 3 weeks, and typically requires 10-15 hours per week. (Depending on your prior experience with statistics, those planning to teach AP Statistics may feel a need to put in more hours to be well prepared to teach this material.) At the beginning of each week, participants receive the relevant material, in addition to answers to exercises from the previous session. During the week, participants are expected to go over the course materials and work through exercises. Discussion among participants is encouraged. The instructor will provide answers and comments.

Grading/exam: For those seeking a grade there is a final exam at a scheduled day and time after the end of the scheduled classes.

Certificates and Grades:

You may be interested only in learning the material presented, and not be concerned with grades or certificates. Or you may be seeking college credit (via the ACE College Credit Recommendation Service), in which case your work will be assessed for purposes of issuing a grade. Or you may require only a "Certificate of Course Completion," along with professional development credit in the form of Continuing Education Units (CEU's). As you begin the class, you will be asked to specify your category.

Credit:

Academic credit is available via the American Council on Education (ACE) Credit Recommendation Service for this course, when taken together with Introduction to Statistics 2 (3.0 semester hours for the two together) . Click here for details. This course also offers continuing education units (CEU's). For those successfully completing the course (generally this means marks of 50% or better on the homework), 3.75 CEU's and a certificate will be issued by statistics.com, upon request.

Dates:

Apr. 18 - May. 9, 2008
Aug. 8 - Aug. 29, 2008
Oct. 10 - Oct. 31, 2008
Click here to be notified of future course offerings.

Participants gain access to the online materials on the first day of the course, and typically spend about 10-15 hours per week (at their convenience). You retain full access to course materials, including discussion board, for two weeks after the course closing date.

Level:

Novice/Refresher

Prerequisite:

You should be able to calculate and interpret common summary statistics such as mean, median, mode, variance and standard deviation. You should also be familiar with some tool, such as a histogram or stem-and-leaf plot, that will allow you to examine the shape of your data. Prior experience with probability will enhance your experience but is not necessary. These topics are all covered in statistics.com's Introduction to Statistics for Beginners, or, alternately, Survey of Statistics for Beginners. You should consider taking one of these before taking "Introduction to Statistics I." Whether you need it depends on whether you have previously taken statistics before, and your level of comfort with the subject and with statistical software.

Course Text:

For most sessions of this course, the required text is De Veaux, Velleman and Bock, Stats: Data and Models, with ActivStats CD. You can purchase it directly from the publisher here. ActivStats is an award-winning multimedia statistics tutorial. It runs on PCs and Macs. Important: To make sure you get the right textbook bundled with the right CD, we strongly recommend that you buy them as a package directly from the publisher at the above link, rather than from Amazon or a used book market.

Taking this course in June? The summer sessions of this course are especially suited to AP stats teachers and require a slightly different version of the text.

Please order your text in time to have it in hand by the course starting date!

Software:

Statistical analyses are normally done using statistical software and so software use is a part of most statistics.com courses. Because not all instructors know every program and there is no program all our students have when they sign up for this course, the default package is Data Desk, which comes with the textbook/ActivStats bundle, and runs on PCs and Macs. All instructors will try to answer questions about Data Desk. In addition the lessons will offer illustrations in Data Desk, Minitab and R. The textbook provides brief tips on using Minitab, Data Desk, SPSS, JMP and the TI-83/84 and TI-89 graphing calculators. If you are not familiar with any statistical software, we recommend you learn Data Desk in the _Introduction to Statistics for Beginners_ course even if the topics in that course are already familiar. Many of our students work in an environment where another program is used, and most any statistical software can do the tasks assigned in this course. However, except for Data Desk, you will need to get software support at your job or from the manuals. Teaching yourself a package other than Data Desk will add substantially to the time required to complete the course.

Teaching AP statistics or using a calculator? Please read this. See our Software section for information on obtaining free or nominal cost software for use during the course. Data Desk is the only package familiar to all instructors. Individual instructors may be familiar with other packages.

If you will be installing course software on a computer owned by someone else (your school or employer) you may wish to start the process well in advance of the course start date in case you need permissions or have to wait for installation by someone other than yourself. Here are some tips on doing this.

Registration:

Register Online - $349
Register Online (academic) - $279 (you must be affiliated with a college, university or high school)

Add $50 service fee if you require a prior invoice, or if you need to submit a purchase order or voucher, pay by wire transfer or EFT, or refund and reprocess a prior payment. Please use this printed registration form, for these and other special orders.

Note: See our Introduction to Statistics course packages to save money on Introduction to Statistics for Beginners, Introduction to Statistics 1, and Introduction to Statistics 2.

Note: Courses may fill up at any time and registrations are processed in the order in which they are received.