SOCL 300: Using Statistics in Sociology Summer 2021
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SOCL 300: Using Statistics in Sociology Summer 2021 Instructor: Dr. Matt Pruitt Email: Matt.Pruitt@wku.edu Textbook: (required) Frankfort-Nachmias, Chava and Anna Leon-Guerrero. 2018. Social Statistics for a Diverse Society, 8th edition. Sage. ISBN: 978-1-5063-4720-2. [You may purchase/rent an older (or newer) edition of the textbook, but you will need access to some edition of this textbook. Questions from two chapters of the text will be covered on exams but will not be covered in class. In addition, there is a table from the text that you will need to work homework and exam problems for one section of the course.] Calculator: Students need to have a simple, hand-held calculator. You don’t need an expensive, tricked-out calculator that is capable of working with entered data; a calculator that has a button for calculating the square root of a number is sufficient. Course Description: This course is an introduction to statistical methods and techniques that are used to 1) summarize, describe, and analyze data, and 2) make inferences about populations based upon data collected from samples of those populations. Course Content: (This is not an exhaustive listing of material covered in the course and might be altered.) Exam 1: Chapters 1-3—independent and dependent variables; levels of measurement; frequency and percentage distributions; measures of central tendency; and symmetrical and skewed distributions. Exam 2: Chapters 4 and 5—measuring variability (range, interquartile range, variance, and standard deviation); the normal distribution; and the standard normal distribution (Z scores, transforming proportions and percentages into Z scores, determining area under the normal curve, and percentiles). Exam 3: Chapters 6 and 7—sampling; the concept of the sampling distribution; the sampling distribution of the mean; the central limit theorem; point and interval estimation; and confidence intervals. Exam 4: Chapters 8 and 12—assumptions of statistical hypothesis testing; research and null hypotheses; probability values and alpha; hypothesis testing with two sample means; sampling
distribution of the difference between means; hypothesis testing with two sample proportions;
scatter diagrams; and correlation.
Exam 5 (Final): Chapters 9 and 10—bivariate tables; the chi-square test; and measures of
association.
Course Objectives:
Upon completion of the course students should be able to:
• Correctly identity independent and dependent variables in hypotheses.
• Identity levels of measurement for variables.
• Construct and interpret frequency tables and percentage tables.
• Calculate and explain measures of central tendency.
• Distinguish between symmetrical and skewed distributions.
• Calculate and interpret measures of variability.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the normal curve.
• Convert raw scores into standardized (Z) scores.
• Transform percentages and proportions into Z scores.
• Work with percentiles in a normal distribution.
• Identify the primary types of probability sampling.
• Illustrate an understanding of sampling distributions.
• Show comprehension of the central limit theorem.
• Construct confidence intervals.
• State the null and research hypotheses for hypothesis testing.
• Conduct hypothesis tests for/of 1) one sample and population variance unknown, 2) two
sample means, and 3) two sample proportions.
• Construct and interpret bivariate tables.
• Calculate and interpret chi-square.
• Show an understanding of measures of association.
• Demonstrate an understanding of correlation and bivariate regression.
• Apply concepts learned throughout the semester.
• Demonstrate sufficient mastery of all aspects of course content via assessment measures;
bulleted items listed above are not an exhaustive list of course content.
Examinations:
There will be five exams given during this course. Material for the exams will come from the
text, lecture, exercises, video and/or web-based demonstrations of material related to the course,
and homework. Exams will be administered via Blackboard and are composed of multiple-
choice questions and true/false statements. Click on the Tests & Quizzes tab to access exams.
Each exam is worth 100 points.
EXAM DATES:
In this summer session, we are compressing a semester’s worth of content into a five-week
session, and that makes the distribution of course content a little tricky. As you will see below,I’m giving you windows within which you must take the exams. Some of these windows extend
over weekends (allowing the possibility of taking an exam on a weekend day but not requiring
one to do so), so please consult a calendar. The first date indicated below is a rough
approximation of the point in the semester when an exam would be administered during a
conventional semester and can be helpful in gauging your progress in the course. You may take
a given exam on any of the dates for which it is listed as being available.
Exam 1: Chapters 1-3—July 14 (available July 13-15)
Exam 2: Chapters 4-5—July 20 (available July 19-21)
Exam 3: Chapters 6-7—July 26 (available July 23-27)
Exam 4: Chapters 8 and 12—July 30 (available July 29-August 2)
Final: Chapters 9-10—August 5 (available August 4-6)
Homework*:
You will have homework assignments throughout the semester. These assignments will be
posted on Blackboard under Tests & Quizzes. An RTF of each HW is available in the Exam #
Material folder (Content tab). Assignments will be of varying length, and some assignments (or
parts of an assignment) may be weighted more heavily than others. All the points for these
assignments will be summed and will comprise approximately 17% of your grade in the course;
collectively they will carry the same weight (100 points) as an exam. Completing the homework
assignments will help you to master the material and prepare for your examinations. In addition,
doing well on the homework can help to boost your grade in the course given that homework
comprises approximately 17% of your course grade. You may take the homework multiple
times, and the answers are available after the first attempt. Homework that is not completed
prior to the due date will receive zero points. When entering answers to the Numeric Response
sections of HW assignments, please follow the guidelines listed in the Homework on Blackboard
Comments (Content tab).
Grading:
Course grades will be determined according to the following scale:
Total Points Grade
540-600 A
480-539 B
420-479 C
330-419 D
< 329 F
A new column (Homework Percentage) will be created in Blackboard at the end of the
semester in order to adjust the homework points earned during the semester to a possible
total of 100. Overall, there are 600 points to possibly be earned during the semester in the
course (see above)—100 points from homework and 500 points from exams. Be aware that
the Total column in Blackboard cannot be used to determine your grade at any point
during the semester because this column sums ALL POINTS posted in Blackboard; points
earned from homework will be included in this tally as though they are equivalent to exampoints, providing a misleading assessment of your performance in the course. To determine your exam average at any point in the semester, divide the total exam points earned by the number of exams. To determine your homework average, divide the total homework points you have earned by the total homework points possible. At the end of the term, an Exam Points column, which will tally the points earned on all exams, will be added to the Grade Center. In addition, a Course Points column, which will tally the Homework Percentage and Exam Points columns, will be added to the Grade Center; this column will provide the total points (of 600 possible points) you have earned in the course. In addition, please do not ask me to provide extra-credit opportunities or to assign you a grade that is higher than what you have earned in the course. Such requests will not be honored, and I will not respond to emails in which such requests are made. To wit, please don’t ask if there is “anything I can do to raise my grade in the class,” and I am aware that you’re “only a few points away” from a given grade. Moreover, it is inappropriate to attempt to leverage a grade by making appeals regarding the effect of a course grade on one’s academic standing or athletic eligibility, the renewal of a scholarship or financial aid, the likelihood of your being admitted into law school or a post-graduate program, and so on. Math: There is a math prerequisite for taking this course. The actual mathematical calculations you will be performing in this class are not that difficult. It is essential that you remember how to work with negatives and understand order of operations [i.e., rules of precedence (PEMDAS)]. Appendix F of the text, A Basic Math Review, will provide a quick review of this material for those who may need a quick refresher. Lectures: Lectures for each section of the course are in the “Exam # Material” folders (Content tab). As in math and language courses, material that is covered in latter parts of the course builds directly upon and utilizes knowledge that students should have acquired in earlier sections of the course. Hence, the material covered in the course is cumulative. For each chapter, both a Word handout and a PowerPoint handout to accompany lectures are provided. Use whichever you prefer. Most of the lecture material that is not included in the handouts is marked with two asterisks at the top of the PowerPoint lecture slides. In lectures I sometimes misspeak. For instance, I may misread 0.0416 as 0.416 or transpose it to 0.0461. When such errors are clear misspeaks that are easily recognizable within the context of what is being said, I have not listed corrective notifications with the lecture link. I think I have caught and provided corrective notifications for any misspeaks that are confusing and/or of substantive importance. The Learning Center Should you require academic assistance with your WKU courses, The Learning Center (located in the Downing Student Union, 2141) provides free supplemental education programs for all currently enrolled WKU students. The Learning Center at Downing Student Union offers
certified, one-on-one tutoring in over 200 subjects and eight academic skill areas by appointment or walk in. Online tutoring is offered to distance learners. TLC is also a quiet study area (with side rooms designated for peer-to-peer tutoring) and a computer lab to complete academic coursework. Please call TLC in the Downing Student Union at (270) 745-5065 for more information or to schedule a tutoring appointment. www.wku.edu/tlc Resolving Complaints about Grades The first step in resolving a complaint about grades is for the student to attempt to resolve the problem directly with the course instructor. See the Student Handbook, available at http://www.wku.edu/handbook/ for additional guidance. Title IX Misconduct/Assault Statement Western Kentucky University (WKU) is committed to supporting faculty, staff and students by upholding WKU’s Title IX Sexual Misconduct/Assault Policy (#0.2070) at https://wku.edu/eoo/documents/titleix/wkutitleixpolicyandgrievanceprocedure.pdf and the Discrimination and Harassment Policy (#0.2040) at https://www.wku.edu/policies/docs/251.pdf. Under these policies, discrimination, harassment and/or sexual misconduct based on sex/gender are prohibited. If you experience an incident of sex/gender-based discrimination, harassment and/or sexual misconduct, you are encouraged to report it to the Title IX Coordinator, Andrea Anderson, 270-745-5398 or Title IX Investigators, Michael Crowe, 270-745-5429 or Joshua Hayes, 270-745-5121. Please note that while you may report an incident of sex/gender based discrimination, harassment and/or sexual misconduct to a faculty member, WKU faculty are “Responsible Employees” of the University and MUST report what you share to WKU’s Title IX Coordinator or Title IX Investigator. If you would like to speak with someone who may be able to afford you confidentiality, you may contact WKU’s Counseling and Testing Center at 270-745-3159. ADA Accommodation Statement In compliance with University policy, students with disabilities who require academic and/or auxiliary accommodations for this course must contact the Student Accessibility Resource Center located in Downing Student Union, 1074. SARC can be reached by phone number at 270- 745-5004 [270-745-3030 TTY] or via email at sarc.connect@wku.edu . Please do not request accommodations directly from the professor or instructor without a faculty notification letter (FNL) from The Student Accessibility Resource Center.
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