MathStat474
Welcome to Math 474 @ IIT by Sonja Petrović. The section numbers in the tables below refer to the following course textbook: Walpole, Meyers, Meyers, Ye: Probability and Statistics for Engineers and Scientists, 9th edition.
Important dates
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Midterm will take place in class on date tbd. Midterm exam topics: everything up to and not including the intro to continuous random variables! The midterm will be graded within one week, and so you will be able to see your grades by x/xx. But the physical exams may not be returned until x/xx.
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Final exam will take place on date and location tbd. The exam will be comprehensive, with 2/3 of the topics from after the midterm, and 1/3 before the midterm!
Weekly schedule
| Topics | Reading | Homework |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1 & 2 | ||
| Introduction to basics Research questions Populations, samples, and data collection Sample spaces and types of data Summarizing quantitative data graphically |
Sections 1.1, 1.2, 1.5, parts of 1.6, 1.7. Section 2.1. | Homework 1 is due week 2, day 2 [Wed 8/27]. Homework 2 is due week 3, day 2 [Wed 9/3]. |
Main concepts / ideas:
- wk1, day1: Research questions, population, sample, sample space with notation, data, data collection mechanisms, types of data. Where does randomness come from (I am not random!)? How data are generated.
- wk1, day2: “the big picture” relating probability to inference; examples of studies and conclusions. Why is it important to quantify the uncertainty (e.g., “with 95% confidence we conclude that 65% of the US adult population favors X…”) Sent (on Slack) a data set to try to see a pie chart or a bar chart. Begin to think about how data are usually summarized graphically: visualization of a categorical variable.
- wk2, day1: Histograms - visualizing distributions for quantitative variables. (Remember, we talked about boxplots for discrete variables in week 1.) Interpreting histograms. Measures of center and beginning to think about measures of spread (e.g. range).
- wk2, day2: How do you summarize “data spread”? Think about the histograms we saw in week 2. How you do detect an outlier?
- Also included: a pop-up ‘quiz’ on boxplots! [low stakes - participation credit for any answer!]
- wk3, day1: Labor Day holiday [no class].
HW formatting
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Weekly
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