Fall

2019
POLS 0825: Quantitative Literacy in Social Science

Professor Arceneaux
Office: 453 Gladfleter Hall
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours: Wednesday 2:00pm – 4:00pm, or by appointment

Teaching Assistants Office* Office Hours** Email
David Crawford GH417 T 11:30am – 1:30pm [email protected]

Emirhan Ozkan GH420 F 1:00pm – 3:00pm [email protected]

Diamond Peer Teacher Study Sessions
Diana Gavrykh GH442 T 3:30pm – 4:30pm [email protected]
R 12:30pm – 1:30pm
*GH = Gladfelter Hall, **or by appointment

Meeting Locations and Times

Lecture: Tuesday/Thursday
Anderson Hall 14, 9:30am – 10:50am

Lab: Friday
Section Location Time TA
1 103 Anderson Hall 9:00am-9:50am Emirhan Ozkan
2 103 Anderson Hall 10:00am-10:50am David Crawford
3 103 Anderson Hall 11:00am-11:50am David Crawford
4 103 Anderson Hall 12:00pm-12:50pm David Crawford
5 22 Anderson Hall 12:00pm-12:50pm Emirhan Ozkan
6 22 Anderson Hall 10:00am-10:50am Emirhan Ozkan


Course Description

Statistics are all around us. You can’t open a newspaper, much less a social science
journal, without seeing them. Statistical analysis and inference is one of the major
recent advances in human knowledge (the study of probability didn’t begin in
earnest until the 17th century). It has proven quite useful in helping us understand
our world, and it is an indispensable scientific tool. However, statistics are quite
often abused and misused. This course will provide you with an introduction to
applied statistics. We will work on acquiring the basic building blocks necessary to
be a competent consumer of basic statistics for data analysis. We will explore the
basic concepts and statistical methods that underlie research design, measurement,

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descriptive analysis, and causal inference. This course fulfils the General Education
Quantitative Literacy requirement.

Anthropological, psychological, political, social, and economic arguments and
knowledge frequently depend on the use of numerical data. An anthropologist might
examine how population differences in genes explains population differences in
health outcomes; a psychologist might hypothesize that I.Q. is attributable to
environmental or genetic factors; a politician might claim that hand gun control
legislation will reduce crime; a sociologist might assert that social mobility is more
limited in the United States than in other countries, and an economist might declare
that globalization lowers the incomes of U.S. workers. How can we evaluate these
issues and arguments? Using examples from anthropology, psychology, sociology,
political science, and economics, students will examine how social science methods
and statistics help us understand the social world. The goal is to become critical
consumers of quantitative material that appears in scholarship, the media, and
everyday life.

Course Learning Goals
• Understand quantitative models that describe real world phenomena and
recognize limitations of those models;
• Perform simple mathematical computations associated with a quantitative
model and make conclusions based on the results;
• Recognize, use, and appreciate mathematical thinking for solving problems
that are part of everyday life;
• Understand the various sources of uncertainty and error in empirical data;
• Retrieve, organize, and analyze data associated with a quantitative model;
and
• Communicate logical arguments and their conclusions.


Course Materials

Required:
1. Scientific calculator (sorry, smart phones are not allowed during exams)

2. Steinrock, Robert. 2018. Statistics with R: A Beginner’s Guide. Los Angeles: Sage.
Note: I have never discovered a statistics textbook that presents all of the
relevant material in the order or depth I would like. So, treat the textbook as a
reference, not a complete source of all course material. Just as reading a
dictionary cannot teach you a language, this textbook is not a substitute for
going to class and labs. All of the material covered on tests will be covered in
the lectures and labs.

3. You will be using R and R Studio to analyze data. Both are free and can be
downloaded to your computer (http://www.r-project.org/ and http://rstudio.com). See

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the Appendix to Chapter 1 of the textbook for instructions. You can also find these
programs on CLA lab computers.


The textbook is available in the Temple bookstore. Materials from lectures (e.g.,
PowerPoints) and lab assignments will be posted on Canvass.

Course Requirements

Math Skills. Our focus will be on the logic of data analysis and will mostly be taught
at a conceptual level. So, there will be minimal reliance on proofs. I assume that you
have done no prior work in statistics. Mathematical knowledge at the level of high
school algebra is expected. You will also be expected to be able to read
mathematical notation (which we will cover in lectures).

Problem Sets. Learning statistics is like learning a foreign language. It takes time,
repetition, and lots of practice. Consequently, this will be a hands-on class. You will
be asked to complete a series problem sets. These assignments will give you an
opportunity to apply (and even extend) concepts discussed in class. You will
analyze real data using R (via the R Studio interface). Each Friday you will meet
with a teaching assistant for a lab in which you will learn how to use R Studio as well
as apply topics discussed in lectures.

Exams. The topics learned in this class build on one another – understanding early
material will be essential for grasping later material. For this reason, there will be
three examinations throughout the semester (two midterm exams plus a cumulative
final) in addition to the problem sets. Regular assignments should give you a chance
to hone your skills as well as identify your areas of strength and weakness. Students
who are happy with their grade by the end of the class can choose to skip the final,
while those who want to improve their grade have the option of taking it.

Group Project. Your TA will be place you into groups of three to four. Your group
will formulate a social science research question, develop a hypothesis that answers
this question, collect quantitative data necessary to test your hypothesis, analyze the
data using R Studio, and write-up the results in a brief research paper.

Lab Participation. The purpose of the labs is to give you a chance to engage the
material in a small class setting. It is imperative that you attend labs and participate
fully.

In-Class Problems. I will often present the entire class with a problem that can be
answered by reflecting on material covered in previous classes. You may use your
class notes to help answer these problems and we will go over the answer in class.

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Assignments will be weighted in the following way:

Problem Sets 20%
In-Class Problems 10%
Group Project 15%
Exams 30% (15% each)
Cumulative Final* 15%
Lab Participation 10%
Total 100%

*If you opt out of taking the final, you will receive the average of the two midterm
exams for your final exam grade.

Course Policies

Attendance. I expect students to attend lectures and labs and turn in assignments
on time. If you miss a class or lab session, it is your responsibility to get notes and
assignments from a fellow student. Because this is a four-credit course, the
workload will be heavier than most of your other courses. If you want to do well,
please allot a sufficient amount of time to understand the material and complete
your work.

Late Work. I do not accept late work. Problem sets are due at the beginning of class
or lab session in which they are due. If you can’t make it to class or lab for some
reason, it is your responsibility to send your TA the problem set before the due date.
As a general rule, I do not give make-up exams. In rare and extreme circumstances, I
will make an exception, but in order to be considered for an exception, you must
contact me before the exam. Late work and missed exams will receive no credit,
unless arrangements are made with me before the due date.

Don’t be shy. Please feel free to ask questions during class. I know it’s a cliché, but
it’s true that if you are confused about something, others probably are, too. Please
don’t assume you’re the only one not getting it. So, contribute to the public good
and your private gain by asking a question. Also, feel free to visit the TAs or me
during office hours if you need help (or make an appointment if you can’t make it to
our office hours).

Etiquette. Please follow common norms of politeness. This includes (but is not
limited to) treating fellow students, TAs, and me with respect and being attentive in
lectures and lab. Please don’t interrupt other students, talk during lecture or lab
demonstrations, or fall asleep in class. When you send an e-mail to the TAs or me,
please treat it as a formal correspondence. Include a respectful salutation (e.g., Dear
Professor), use standard grammatical English, and sign your full name.

Academic Integrity. Plagiarism and cheating are the most severe infractions you
can commit in academia. Ideas are the currency of the academy and plagiarism is

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tantamount to stealing. Quotes should be placed around phrases and sentences that
come from another source (published or unpublished) and the author(s) should be
cited in both the text and in a reference section at the end of the paper. If you
paraphrase the words or ideas of another person, you should also attribute credit to
the source by citing it in the text and in the references.

Please be warned that research papers will be submitted to an electronic resource
that searchers for matches in books, articles, and Internet websites. So, it will not be
easy to plagiarize and get away with it.

Plagiarism and cheating will not be tolerated. It will earn you an immediate F in the
course and be reported to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards.
If you are unclear about whether or how a source needs to be documented, consult a
style guide or ask me.

Special Accommodations

Any Student who has a need for accommodation based on the impact of a disability,
including special accommodations for access to technology resources and electronic
instructional materials required for the course, should contact me privately to
discuss the specific situation as soon as possible. If you have not done so already,
please contact Disability Resources and Services (DRS) at 215.204.1280 in 100
Ritter Annex to learn more about the resources available to you. We will work with
DRS to coordinate reasonable accommodations for all students with documented
disabilities.

Student and Faculty Academic Rights and Responsibilities

Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom.
The University has a policy on Student and Faculty and Academic Rights and
Responsibilities (Policy #03.70.02) which can be accessed through the following
link: http://policies.temple.edu/PDF/99.pdf

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Course Calendar

Below is the plan for the course lectures. It is your responsibility to keep track of all
dates, assignments, and changes (which will be announced in class). Reading
assignments come from Stinerock, unless otherwise noted (handouts can be found
on Canvass).

Date Topic Reading Aid
8/27 Course Overview

8/29 No Class – APSA Meeting

8/30 Lab: Getting started in R

I. Foundational Concepts
9/3 Statistics: What are they good for?

9/5 Overview of Research Design & Data Collection Chapter 1

9/10 Measurement

9/12 Graphing Basics Chapter 2.1-2.2

9/17 Central Tendency & Variance Chapter 3.1-3.4

9/19 Distributions Chapter 3.5-3.6

9/24 Fundamentals of Probability Theory Chapter 4.1 & 4.3

9/26 Random Sampling Chapter 7

10/1 Central Limit Theorem Review z-scores
(Chapter 3.5)

10/3 Confidence Intervals Chapter 8

10/8 Review (9/3 – 10/3)

10/10 Exam 1
No lab 10/11

II. Causality and Statistical Inference

10/15 The Fundamental Problem of Causal Inference Chapter 9

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 10/17 Hypothesis Testing: Comparing Means &
Proportions Chapter 11

10/22 Conditional Probabilities & Crosstabs Chapter 2.3 & 4.6

10/23 Hypothesis Testing with Crosstabs Crosstab Handout

10/29 Data Sources for Group Project

10/31 Group Project Meeting

11/1 Lab: Discuss Group Project Topic

11/5 Statistical Inferences and Decision Making

11/7 Correlation Chapter 3.6

11/12 Linear Regression Introduction Chapter 12.1-12.2

11/14 Linear Regression Interpretation Chapter 12.3

11/19 Hypothesis Testing with Regression Chapter 12.4

11/21 Spurious Correlation and Multiple Regression Chapter 13

11/22 Lab: Group Research Project Due & Presentations

11/26 Fall Break — No Class

11/28 Thanksgiving — No Class

12/3 Review (10/16 – 11/29)

12/5 Exam 2

12/6 Lab: Optional Review for Final

12/12 Cumulative Final Exam 8:00am – 10:00am