INTRODUCTORY STATISTICS FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
Time: MWF 11:00-11:50 with discussion sections T or Th 4:00-4:50
Expected Enrollment: 180

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The objective of this course is to equip students with the probabilistic and statistical techniques needed to support empirical analysis of data in economics and other social sciences.

Nowadays most of these analytical techniques taught in the class are available in commonly used and user-friendly computer programs such as Microsoft Excel. This course will NOT make extensive use of computer software as the intention is to ensure that the student is familiar with the underlying theory, illustrated by (computationally straightforward) numerical examples. This will ensure that the student will ultimately be an informed user of these programs, and has an understanding of the assumptions and the limitations of various analytical tools.

PREREQUISITES: No formal prerequisites. However, an understanding of basic math concepts at the calculus level is helpful.

TEACHING METHOD: Three lectures a week. There will also be weekly problem sets to be worked on in the students' own time. A weekly discussion section will be held to review the problem sets.

GRADING: Evaluation will be made on a final examination (40% of the total grade), two mid-term examinations (25% each), and weekly problem sets (10%).

READINGS: The text for this course is Paul Newbold, William L. Carlson and Betty Thorne, Statistics for Business and Economics (Eighth edition, Prentice Hall, 2013, ISBN 978-0-13-274565-9). We will be covering the first 11 chapters.

The textbook is available in a number of formats:

• Full book
• A cheaper custom edition especially for NU covering just the first 11 chapters which will be available from the Norris bookstore
• An e-book

The eighth edition has just been published. Students are welcome to use a used version of an earlier edition, or the custom NU edition covering chapters 1-11 in the Seventh Edition.