Spring 2018 | SOC 3811 Section 001: Social Statistics (48752)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person Term Based
- Class Attributes:
- UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
- Times and Locations:
- Regular Academic Session01/16/2018 - 05/04/2018Tue, Thu 09:45AM - 11:00AMUMTC, West BankAnderson Hall 330
- Enrollment Status:
- Closed (120 of 120 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- This course will introduce majors and non-majors to basic statistical measures and procedures that are used to describe and analyze quantitative data in sociological research. The topics include (1) frequency and percentage distributions, (2) central tendency and dispersion, (3) probability theory and statistical inference, (4) models of bivariate analysis, and (5) basics of multivariate analysis. Lectures on these topics will be given in class, and lab exercises are designed to help students learn statistical skills and software needed to analyze quantitative data provided in the class. prereq: Credit will not be granted if credit has been received for Soc 5811 (Soc 5811 offered Fall terms only). Undergraduates with strong math background are encouraged to register for 5811 in lieu of 3811. Soc Majors/Minors must register A-F.
- Class Notes:
- Click this link for more detailed information: http://classinfo.umn.edu/?ewf+SOC3811+Spring2018
- Class Description:
Quantitative data can reveal the social world - or disguise it. This class will teach methods of describing, displaying, analyzing, and interpreting quantitative data so that it can reveal, not disguise, social patterns. We will cover: (1) descriptive statistics and principles of good graphing; (2) methods of transforming data to make its patterns visible; (3) the probability theory that lets us use samples to learn about populations; (4) principles of causal inference; and (5) methods for relating multiple variables to understand their relationships.
Credit will not be granted if credit has been received for Soc 5811 (Soc 5811 offered Fall terms only). Undergraduates with strong math background are encouraged to register for 5811 in lieu of 3811. Soc Majors/Minors must register A-F.
- Grading:
- 33% Quizzes33% Problem sets33% Analytical memos
- Exam Format:
- ComputationsMultiple ChoiceShort Answer
- Class Format:
- 50% Lecture and large-group activities50% Computer Labs
- Workload:
- 10-35 pages reading per week; quizzes most weeks; 5 shorter problem sets; 3 longer analytical memos
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/48752/1183
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 15 November 2016
Spring 2018 | SOC 3811 Section 008: Social Statistics (50022)
- Instructor(s)
- Class Component:
- Lecture
- Instructor Consent:
- No Special Consent Required
- Instruction Mode:
- In Person Term Based
- Class Attributes:
- UMNTC Liberal Education Requirement
- Times and Locations:
- Regular Academic Session01/16/2018 - 05/04/2018Tue 05:30PM - 08:00PMUMTC, West BankBlegen Hall 317
- Enrollment Status:
- Open (57 of 60 seats filled)
- Also Offered:
- Course Catalog Description:
- This course will introduce majors and non-majors to basic statistical measures and procedures that are used to describe and analyze quantitative data in sociological research. The topics include (1) frequency and percentage distributions, (2) central tendency and dispersion, (3) probability theory and statistical inference, (4) models of bivariate analysis, and (5) basics of multivariate analysis. Lectures on these topics will be given in class, and lab exercises are designed to help students learn statistical skills and software needed to analyze quantitative data provided in the class. prereq: Credit will not be granted if credit has been received for Soc 5811 (Soc 5811 offered Fall terms only). Undergraduates with strong math background are encouraged to register for 5811 in lieu of 3811. Soc Majors/Minors must register A-F.
- Class Notes:
- Click this link for more detailed course information: http://classinfo.umn.edu/?almquist+SOC3811+Spring2018
- Class Description:
- SOC 3811 is an introduction to statistical thought with a focus on methods and techniques used in the social sciences. Note that many (if not all) of the methods and techniques discussed in this course can be equally applied to the physical or engineering sciences even though the examples drawn from the social sciences. Students are not expected to become expert statisticians, but they are expected to gain an understanding of how statistics can be used to address problems within the social sciences. Further, students will become knowledgeable and critical consumers of statistical information that appear in everyday life, such as in the media or work place. Last, the student will also be given the opportunity to acquire competency in basic data management and analysis tasks within the R statistical programing environment.This course will cover basic methods for describing data, performing basic statistical tests and understanding conditional modeling approaches. Specifically we will discuss key metrics of data analysis such as the mean, median and mode, as well as expose the student to visualizations of data such as the histogram or bar-plot. Basics of statistical tests will be discussed, including basic exposure to hypothesis testing and statistical significance. Last, basic exposure to statistical (or probability) modeling will be discussed with an emphasis on linear models.The overall structure of this class is as follows: (1) introduction to and overview of data, (2) statistical inference, and (3) statistical models. Theme one will focus on introduction to the managing and manipulation of data, to the measuring and metrics used to understand data, and to the visualization of data. Theme two will focus on the introduction to key statistical concepts such as population and sample data and the basics of statistical inference. Last, the third theme will focus on statistical (probability) models and basic methods for describing and modeling conditional distributions.
- Grading:
- Homework 30%, labs 10% and end exams 60% (lowest grade in each category will be dropped).
- Exam Format:
- 3 inclass exams.
- Class Format:
- Lecture and lab.
- Workload:
- Weekly course readings, biweekly homeworks, weekly labs and 3 exams.
- Textbooks:
- https://bookstores.umn.edu/course-lookup/50022/1183
- Instructor Supplied Information Last Updated:
- 9 November 2017
ClassInfo Links - Spring 2018 Sociology Classes
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