Monthly Schedule

(AP Statistics, Period B)

F 10/1/04	No additional HW due today. You have plenty of work already with your group project (which, presumably, you have spent some time working on this week).
M 10/4/04	HW due: Begin reading in Chapter 3 (35 minutes minimum, more recommended). Reading notes are required, as always.
T 10/5/04	HW due: Read through p.147 (end of §3.2) if you have not already done so; write #3.32, 3.34. In #3.32(a), you will need to have Plot1 and Plot2 active simultaneously, using different symbols for each. The rationale for doing this is found in Example 3.5 on p.130.
W 10/6/04	HW due: Continue reading in Chapter 3.
Th 10/7/04	HW due: Continue reading in Chapter 3; you may omit from p.157 to the middle of p.162. Write #3.48. Group leaders will need to make an oral status report (except for Group 3, which has already handed in a final report).
F 10/8/04	No school.
M 10/11/04	Columbus Day (no school).
T 10/12/04	No additional written HW due. However, Groups 1 and 2 should use the long weekend to make significant progress on their projects. Group 3 is finished and can enjoy a weekend of vacation.
W 10/13/04	HW due: Continue working on your group project (due at the end of this week), and finish reading Chapter 3 if you have not already done so (through p.183, though you may omit from p.157 to the middle of p.162). Also, write out the answer to this question: Interpret the equation yhat = 18593 – 0.0663x in the context of our discussion. After you have interpreted the y-intercept (as we did at the end of class), interpret the slope using words similar to the answer to #2(a) from Section II of Practice Examination 2 in the Barron’s book, except without implying a cause-and-effect relationship. (In my edition, that is on p.376, but your page number may vary.) Approved/recommended wording for the AP is to use the phrase “is associated with” and to indicate which units are increasing and which are decreasing.
Th 10/14/04	HW due: Use our LSRL model to answer the following questions, showing all work and correct notation: (a) Predict the asking price of a 2002 Camry with 34,000 miles. (b) Approximately how many miles would be on a 2002 Camry whose asking price is $15,500? Answers to HW due yesterday: The y-intercept, $18,593, is the hypothetical price of a 2002 Camry with 0 miles. [Note that we should not use this value for prediction purposes, since 0 is well outside the set of x values in our data. To use x = 0 miles for prediction would be an example of extrapolation, which is generally bad.] The slope, –0.0663, indicates that each additional mile is associated with a decrease in asking price of a little more than 6½ cents. Or, you could say that the LSRL model predicts a decrease of $0.0663 for each additional mile driven. The linear correlation coefficient is negative (r = –0.4636) but not particularly strong. Although there is clearly a negative association between mileage and price, there are also a number of outliers. The coefficient of determination is r^2 = 0.2149, which means that approximately 21% of the variation in y (price) can be explained by the variation in x (mileage). The rest is due to other factors: condition, trim level, aggressiveness of the seller, regional price fluctuations, etc.
F 10/15/04	HW due: Visit the sample size calculator for proportions to determine how large a sample will be needed in order to estimate the STA/NCS faculty voting preferences in the Bush vs. Kerry race, at a 95% confidence level, for various margins of error: ±7%, ±10%, ±13%. Since the race is close, use .50 as the estimate of the population proportion, and use 200 as the estimate of the population size for the combined size of both faculties. Note that for the calculator to work correctly, you must enable scripting, and you must click the “Calculate the Sample Size” button followed by the “Calculate the FPC Adjusted Sample Size” button. If the link I provided above is not working correctly, try the alternate sample size calculator. You need not show your work. Simply record your answers in your HW notebook in this format: (a) Sample size required for m.o.e. = .07, 95% confidence: _______ (b) Sample size required for m.o.e. = .10, 95% confidence: _______ (c) Sample size required for m.o.e. = .13, 95% confidence: _______ Class will meet in Steuart 202 during F period (12:45–1:25 p.m.) and will be held jointly with Ms. Grazette’s class. It is important that as many of us as possible meet with the students who will be conducting the presidential election polling for The Saint Albans News. The lecture will consist primarily of a PowerPoint briefing on the fundamentals of opinion polling, followed by a short workshop session in which we develop the methodology for the poll. If for some reason you are unable to attend during F period, then come during B period as usual to receive the briefing.
M 10/18/04	HW due: Rewrite the draft question list. Handwritten format is fine, or you may use a word processor if you prefer. However, a markup of the existing survey form will not qualify for credit. Omit questions that you feel are unnecessary, and modify or add questions according to your judgment. Do your own writing; collaboration for ideas is fine, but each final product should be unique. Direct copying, or permitting direct copying to occur, would constitute an honor code violation. Here is Friday’s F period PowerPoint briefing on the fundamentals of opinion polling. Please reread this if you did not take complete notes. Those who attended during B period should note that I have added a few slides to “flesh out” the summary presentation.
T 10/19/04	HW due: Write #3.68 and #3.70, and send me an e-mail message (ASAP) in which you either concur with our class’s collective recommendations to Ms. Grazette’s class or list specific changes. I tried as well as I could to put something from everyone’s input into the final product, but of course no such effort to merge multiple inputs will ever satisfy everyone completely.
W 10/20/04	HW due: Read §4.1 (through p.208, at least) and work on your projects. Also, the revised questions and methodology for the election poll are now available. Our class and Ms. Grazette’s American Media class will be conducting polling today and tomorrow. As of about 3:00 this afternoon, survey assignments were placed in your mailbox. I had requested, as you know, that the NCS subjects be assigned to American Media students; however, there was apparently a misunderstanding, since most of the NCS subjects ended up on our class’s lists and most of the STA subjects ended up on their class’s lists. If we can’t get this corrected by tomorrow, then go ahead and poll the people you were assigned, to the best of your ability. At a few minutes after 3:00 this afternoon, I inserted blank survey forms, a copy of the methodology sheet, and a large manila envelope into each of your mailboxes. People who had already picked up their survey assignments should check back to receive those additional items.
Th 10/21/04	Big Quiz on Chapter 3 (40 points, not droppable). If you can do problems 1-10 from October 2000 and problems 2-5 and 11-14 from the October 1998 test, you should be in good shape. An answer key is available for the October 2000 Big Quiz, and a partial answer key for the test is now available as well. Altogether, these review problems cover nearly all of the problems you are likely to see, with the exception of the essay question that asks you to “interpret the slope b (or b1) in the context of the problem.” Several answers to that type of question should already be in your notes. After school: Please submit survey forms to Room S between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m. If you have not finished, then submit what you have managed to gather so far. Don’t be late, since I need to leave at 3:00. A representative from the American Media class needs to meet with me in Room S just before 3:00 to receive instructions on how to enter the data into an Excel spreadsheet.
F 10/22/04	Last call for survey forms is at 10:00 a.m. Come to my office if you have any “late hits” to submit. I must also receive the completed Excel spreadsheet(s) by that time.
M 10/25/04	HW due: Rewrite the survey methodology, using the existing document (p.2) as a starting point. Pay attention to all the things we discussed in class, and write sufficient detail so that your plan is crystal clear. Make changes to the existing aspects of the methodology that you feel should be changed, and add carefully thought-out new features as appropriate. Treat this as a take-home essay test. Grammar, spelling, neatness, and clarity count. You may compare ideas with classmates, but the words you write must be your own.
T 10/26/04	HW due: Finish reading §4.1 (through p.222) if you have not already done so; write #4.21, 4.22. In class, I will distribute a solution key for yesterday’s required exercise.
W 10/27/04	HW due: Read §4.2; write #4.48.
Th 10/28/04	HW due: Read §4.3; write #4.60.
F 10/29/04	Last day of first quarter. Big Quiz (40 points, not droppable) on Chapter 4.

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Last updated: 30 Oct 2004