EC 305B1 ECONOMIC STATISTICS, FALL 2012 SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: KARIM NAGUIB OFFICE: SSW 412A EMAIL: KARIMN@BU.EDU

Course Description The aim of this course is to introduce students to statistical methods and their applications in economics and business. First, descriptive statistics will be introduced: we will discuss the methods by which data is organized and presented. Second, basic probability theory will be introduced which is essential to the understanding of latter material. With these tools we will be prepared to tackle making inferences (estimation) about populations, based on nite samples. This is not a theoretical course, and hence will focus on the application of statistical methods. Prerequisites EC 101 (or EC 111) and EC 102 (or EC 112) Class Schedule Mon,Wed 5:00pm6:30pm in CAS 235 Course Website You will nd the course website on the Blackboard website http://blackboard.bu.edu Course Material Required Textbook. Statistics for Business and Economics, 7th Edition, by Paul Newbold, William L. Carlson and Betty Thorne. Prentice Hall, NJ. The textbooks website: http://www.pearsonhighered.com/newbold/ Optional Books. A Beginners Guide to R by Alain Zuur, Elena N. Ieno, and Erik Meesters. Springer www.springer.com Introductory Statistics with R by Peter Dalgaard, Springer www.springer.com These books are available to read and download for free from www.springer.com when accessed from BU.
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Statistical Analysis Software. In this course you will be required to learn enough R, an open source (free) software environment for statistical computing and graphics, to do some simple analysis, using data provided on the course and textbook websites. You have two options in using R: you can use the web application version or you can download and install it. To access the web application version of RStudio go to http://casec.bu.edu/rstudio. You log in with your BU username and the password is your username and the last four digits of your BU ID (for example, if the last four digits of my BU ID were 1234, the password would be karimn1234). If you want to install it on your computer you will need to download R from http://cran.r-project.org/ RStudio from http://rstudio.org/ The above two optional books should also be helpful, however, what we will do will probably be a lot simpler. I will also give an introduction to R in class.

Grading Policy First Mid-term Exam Second Mid-term Exam Final Exam Problem Sets Attendance and Participation Percentage of Total Grade 25% 25% 25% 20% 5%

Problem Sets. Problem sets will be given, one a week, typically due in one week. There are four possible grades for each problem set: PS Grade Check Plus Check Check Minus Zero Exam Schedule. First Mid-term Exam: 10/3/2012 Second Mid-term Exam: 11/7/2012 Final Exam: Determined by Registrar Late Problem Sets/Missed Exams. Late problem sets will not be accepted and there will be no makeup exams. I reserve the right to change the weighting of problem set/exam grades only in exceptional circumstances (a veried family emergencyimmediate family members onlyor an illness or injury). It is your responsibility to plan your travel ahead around exams dates.
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Criteria Percentage of PS Score All questions solved and correct 100% All questions solved with some errors 80% Incomplete 50% Not turned in 0%

Academic Conduct Students should know and understand the provisions of the CAS Academic Conduct Code. Copies are available in room CAS 105. Any cases of suspected academic misconduct will be referred to the Deans Oce. Instructor Office Hours The instructor will hold oce hours to explain any material covered in the class. Please refer to the TA for grading concerns. Tuesday 2:30pm4:00pm Friday 11:00am12:30pm Teaching Assistant The TA (Peter Wang, hwa4@bu.edu) will be responsible for grading all problem sets and exams, and will hold oce hours to discuss any questions/concerns with respect to the problem sets and exams. TA Oce Hours. Peter will hold oce hours in SSW B17C on Monday 3:00pm4:00pm If you are unable to make it to his oce hours, send me and email and setup a time to meet. Communication The best way to communicate with me outside the class is coming to oce hours or by email, which I check regularly. Course Outline Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Sections Describing Data: Graphical 1.11.5 Describing Data: Numerical All Probability All Discrete Random Variables and Probability Distributions 4.14.5, 4.7 Continuous Random Variables and Probability Distributions 5.15.3, 5.55.6 Sampling and Sampling Distributions 6.16.3 Estimation: Single Population 7.17.4 Estimation: Additional Topics All Hypothesis Testing: Single Population 9.19.3, 9.5 Hypothesis Testing: Additional Topics 10.110.2, 10.5 Simple Regression 11.111.3, 11.5