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ECON 4630
ECON 5630
TOPIC #1: INTRO TO COURSE AND TO
PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS
I.
About the Course
A.
Purpose
B.
Goals
C.
Syllabus
1.
Texts: Lind, Marchal, and Wathan: Basic Statistics for Business and
Economics (7th edition) and (optional) McCloskey: Economical Writing.
2.
Exams
Exam
Date
Coverage
Midterm I:
Midterm II:
Final Exam:
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3.
Statistics Lab
4.
Problem Sets and Writing Assignments
5.
In-Class Exercises
6.
Attendance
7.
Classroom Etiquette
8.
Succeeding
9.
Getting Help
10.
Cheating and Plagiarism
11.
Disability Accommodation
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II.
Probability and Statistics: An Overview
A.
B.
Statistics
1.
Definition
2.
Types
Probability
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C.
Why Do We Study Probability and Statistics?
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III.
Types of Data
A.
Time Series Data = data which are observed over time (daily, weekly, monthly,
annually,...etc.)
B.
Cross Section Data = data which are observed over observations (people, countries,
firms,...etc.)
C.
Panel Data = data that contains both cross section and time series observations (pooled
data)
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IV.
Types of Variables
A.
Qualitative = variables that are not naturally numeric
B.
Quantitative = variables that are naturally numeric
C.
Discrete = “countable” variables, with gaps between values
D.
Continuous = variables that can assume any value over a certain range
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V.
Terminology
A.
Population = the entire set of individuals that share a common characteristic
B.
Parameter = a characteristic or statistic that describes some aspect of the population
C.
Sample = a subset of the population
D.
Estimate = a characteristic or statistic that describes some aspect of the sample.
E.
Mutually Exclusive = a property of a particular set of categories such that an
individual in included in only one category (NO OVERLAP)
What Is Your Religion?
Islam
Catholicism
Protestantism
Hinduism
Christianity
Judaism
Animism
Atheism
Other
F.
Exhaustive = a property of a particular set of categories such that every individual
in included in at least one category
What Is Your Religion?
Islam
Catholicism
Protestantism
Hinduism
Animism
Atheism
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VI.
Levels of Measurement
A.
Nominal-Level: data are
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B.
Ordinal-Level: data are
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C.
Interval-Level: data are
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D.
Ratio-Level: data are
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
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E.
Levels of Measurement: A Summary
Level
Summary
Example
Nominal
Ordinal
Interval
Ratio
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NOTES:
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