Math 151 , Spring 2005, Day 1 Hit reload to get most current version 

 If you missed class, handouts are in the white folder outside my door, Mac 102
Assignment for Day 2, Wednesday Feb. 2.
Reading:  D&V Intro Stats, Chapters 1,2,3 thru p. 18. 
ActivStats 1 thru 3-1 (SPSS parts optional)
HOMEWORK Day1
--Leave under my door, Mac 102:  Pretest and Student questionnaire, if not finished in class today.
--Activstats--Getting Started, do front page.
Do Ch. 1, Introduction
Do Ch. 2, Data & Measurement:  Do the Circle Experiment, p. 2-2 top (in SPSS version,  2-3 top in Generic) and save your results.
   Looking at your data / learning about SPSS or DataDesk  is optional.
Remember, variables hold measured information on individual cases. In this dataset we measured:
Variables:
* the time between mouse clicks (time)
* the size of the circle (size)
* the distance between the circles (distance)
* by how much you missed the center of the circle (missBy)
* whether the trial was for your right or left hand (hand)
* the color of the cirle recorded in text (color)
* and as an index number (color Index)
* the distance in the x direction between the two circles (dX)
*the distance in the y direction between the two circles (dY).
Hand in: B)   Which are quantitative, which categorical ?
Bring Circle data to class & be prepared to discuss:  What questions could we ask about your performance?

 
Take your pulse (heartbeats per minute).  Write it down.
Pick a playing card from the circulating envelope.  Write it down. Return it to the OTHER envelope.

Syllabus, class mechanics, links from main page
Handouts:  Syllabus, Activstats
           Pretest, Student questionnaire (Return when finished)
             Data collection:  Class year, height, hair color, shoe size, heart rate (pulse).  Pick a card.  Record on questionnaire.

Data:  Information (usually numbers)  in context:  Who (& how many), What (is measured. Units),  When and Where? Why? How?
Variable (possible values), individuals (cases)
    Categorical (can be ordinal--has natural order) or Quantitative (can add, average)

Intro Stats Text & Activstats for SPSS (bundled)
 
Prof. Velleman's life work.  
Intro Stats:  I really like the philosophy of this text.  As a first edition, there are still a few bugs left; don't be afraid to disagree with the author or the solutions manual.
Activstats goes through the concepts one by one, with an activity, exercises, self-tests.  You can stop, start, repeat as often as you like.  Eliminates the "I dropped my pencil and missed 3 definitions" problem with lectures, also class diversity problem.
 
SPSS vs. DataDesk:  Statistical Packages...
   SPSS
is research-level package standardized on by social sciences.  We will learn how to use (some of) it this term.
   DataDesk
(student version) comes with Activstats bound in book. Has a powerful set of tools for manipulating and visualizing data, as well as doing standard statistics.  Learning it is optional.  (But if you learn 2 stats packages, the next will be easy!)

Take notes! (Book and disk).  Questions? (answers)  More than once through!
 Long-term memory--repetition at intervals, several senses (write it down).
 Outline (for final!)

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