Course 2015-2016 a.y.

Classes: 23 (II sem.)

Instructors:
Class 23: ANNE MARIE JEANNET

This course is introduction to both the logic and mathematics of statistics, with an emphasis on political science applications. The first half of the course covers introductory univariate statistics, while the second half of the course focuses on bivariate relationships in statistics. In the classroom, the teaching will mix a conceptual instruction of statistics with practical data exercises in STATA.

In sum, this course aims to cultivate students’ nascent analytical abilities and develop their statistical reasoning and literacy; equip students with a computational competence in STATA software and provide a supportive learning environment for all willing students, especially those who feel intimidated by quantitative material.

• Measuring political concepts (quantifying concepts, units of analysis, measurement error).
• Describing Variables (central tendency, dispersion, standard deviation).
• Thinking Probabilistically (elementary probability, estimating probability under the normal curve).
• The Foundations of Statistical Inference (sampling, random selection, point and interval estimation).
• Making Comparisons and Framing Hypotheses (multivariate distributions, hypothesis testing, t-distribution, t-test, statistical significance, type I and II errors).
• Measures of Association (correlation, chi-squared test).
• Simple Linear Regression (OLS, sum of squares, f-test, assumptions).