Introduction to Methodology

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Spring 2005

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Tuesday & Thursday 5:30-6:45
143 Schaeffer
Frederick J. Boehmke
frederick-boehmke@uiowa.edu
361 Schaeffer
335 2342
Tuesday & Wednesday 2:30-3:30, or by appointment
polisci201
ProfBoehmke

Announcements

  • The final exam will be downloadable from here Thursday morning at 9am
  • Class is cancelled on April 07.
  • The Midterm exam is scheduled for March 24 and will be a take-home exam due on Friday, March 25.
  • Class is cancelled on January 27.
  • Sign up for the class mailing list.

Assignments

Description

This course is an introduction to the theory and use of statistics and probability for political scientists. It is designed to familiarize you with basic concepts in statistics, including moments, distributions, hypothesis testing and multivariate regression analysis. The objective of the class is to build a foundation in these topics and to introduce the application of these techniques in a variety of settings. Besides regular homework assignments, there will also be computer assignments intended to highlight the basic theoretical concepts in the context of both real-world and simulated data. View course syllabus.

Topics to be covered

  1. Set Theory.
  2. Probability Theory.
  3. Sampling Distributions.
  4. Hypothesis Design and Testing.
  5. Distributions.
  6. Regression Analysis.

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Lecture Files

Lecure Topics and Readings

    Week 1: Course Introduction, Definitions and Basic Formulas.
      Reading: Kmenta, Ch 1.
    Week 2: Sampling Distributions.
      Reading: Kmenta, Ch 2.
    Week 3: Set Theory and Probability Theory.
      Reading: Kmenta, Ch 3.1-3.6.
    Week 4: Expected Values, Correlation and the Binomial and Normal Distributions.
      Reading: Kmenta 3.7, 4.1.
    Week 5: The Binomial and Normal Distributions. The Central Limit Theorem.
      Reading: 4.2-4.3.
    Week 6: Hypothesis Testing.
      Reading: Kmenta, 5.1-5.2.
    Week 7 More Hypothesis Testing/Errors in Hypothesis Testing.
    Week 8 Tests for Variances/Introduction to Regression.
      Reading: Kmenta, Ch 6.
    Week 9 Spring Break
    Week 10 Regression and Normality.
      Reading: Kmenta, Ch 7, pp. 201-231.
    Week 11 Hypothesis Testing, Prediction.
      Reading: Kmenta, Ch 7, pp. 231-252.
    Week 12 Multiple Regression.
    Week 13 Indicator Variables, Interactions, Heteroskedasticity.
      Reading: Kmenta, Ch 8-2, 11-1.
    Week 14 Maximum Likelihood, Binary Outcomes.
      Reading: Kmenta, 175-183, Ch 11-5.
    Week 15 Computer Lab.

Contact
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Other Information

Please visit the Political Science Department's Website at http://www.uiowa.edu/~polisci. It is frequently updated regarding events and procedures in our department, changes in the Schedule of Courses, plus TA and faculty hours when available. You may also find current information on pre-advising, and registration. Our Vernon Van Dyke Computing Facility (Political Science ITC) is located in Room 21 Schaeffer Hall. Available hours are listed at our website and also posted outside Room 21 Schaeffer.

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Class Homepages     Fred's Homepage
Last Updated: April 19, 2005
Created: November 11, 2003
Frederick J. Boehmke:
frederick-boehmke@uiowa.edu
Department of Political Science
341 Schaeffer Hall
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa 52242
Phone: (319) 335 2342