Statistics 135,  Fall 2006

INSTRUCTOR: Ani Adhikari. Email address aniclass@stat.berkeley.edu,  office 413 Evans, phone 642-2208. I do not answer questions like, ``How do I solve Problem X?'' by email or on the phone. Please use email and the phone only for emergencies and administrative issues.  Please include your full name and SID in all email messages to me.  

OFFICE HOURS: TuTh 11:30-1:30 in 413 Evans; and you can always talk to me after class.  On Tuesdays my Stat 20 students will have preference in office hours.  You will have preference on Thursdays.
 
GSI:  Donghui Yan.  His office hours will be announced by the end of the first week.

WEEKLY SCHEDULE: Lecture meets MWF 1-2 in 2 LeConte.  Sections meet F for an hour each in Evans.

WEB PAGE:  http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/~ani/s135f06/index.html . You must visit this page regularly.  It will contain homework assignments, data for analysis, etc.

PREREQUISITES:  Algebra, calculus, and probability at the level of Stat 134.  I will assume not just an acquaintance but fluency with all of these.  

TEXT: Mathematical Statistics and Data Analysis (third edition), by John Rice, published by Duxbury.  We will cover most of Chapters 7 to 13.
   An excellent reference for probability is Probability by Jim Pitman, published by Springer Verlag. The best introductory statistics text in the world is Statistics by Freedman, Pisani, and Purves, published by W.W. Norton.

 

HOMEWORK:  Assignments will be posted on the web each week and will be due Friday of the following week in section.  No late homeworks will be accepted. 

COMPUTER LABS:  Later in the term we do some data analysis using a freely downloadable statistical package called R.  You will find it useful to have access to a computer and to the Internet at home, though we will provide accounts on our department machines if necessary.  

EXAMS:
There will be one midterm and one final. If you cannot take the final at the date and time given below, you cannot take this class.
There will be no late, early, or repeat exams.

Midterm :   Friday October 20, in class.
Final       :   Friday December 15, 5-8 p.m., Exam Group 12.  Room to be announced.
 

GRADES:
Overall scores will be computed as follows:

Homework and computer labs          40%
Larger of midterm and final 20%
Final 40%
What this means is, do your homework well. And if you mess up on the midterm, work hard for the final.  If you score higher (as a percent of the total points) on the final than on the midterm, then your midterm percent will be replaced by your final exam percent. 

No individual letter grades will be given for quizzes, midterm or final. Your letter grade for the course will be based on your overall score.