Policy

An introductory course which surveys everyday economic statistics, topics in descriptive and inferential statistics, and regression analysis. The concentration is on applications to problems in economics. Topics include: techniques for organizing and summarizing economic statistical data; random variables and probability distributions; sampling distributions; estimation and hypothesis testing, and simple and multiple regression theory. Computer lab assignments and applications will be part of the course. Prerequisites: Economics 101 or 177, Economics 102, college-level algebra, or consent of instructor.

Economics 227 is labeled as a Statistics for Economists course. It is in fact, an introduction to the everyday economic statistics that permeate modern society. Analysis of current economic conditions and the use of regression analysis and inferential statistics to describe and forecast economic activity will be introduced. follow up to the Statistics for Economists course in which regression analysis is introduced. The purpose of the course is to provide an understanding of everyday economic statistics (such as the GDP), statistical theory, the use of statistics by economists, and linear regression techniques. Specific topics to be learned in the course will include the use (and abuse) of over 40 "economic statistics." Descriptive statistics, regression analysis, probability, sampling, inferential statistics, and the use of technology and data analysis will all be examined and understood as part of the learning outcome. Several empirical projects will be part of the course.

Knowledge and Understanding - By the end of this course, students should be able to:

evaluate economic statistics and select those measures necessary to examine where the economy has been, where it is now, and predict where it is headed.
use statistics to describe and analyze problems in the form of descriptive and analytical models and be able to solve the models
collect, understand, and evaluate economic data in the context of both macro and micro economic models.
apply statistical reasoning to economic data and use statistical analysis to explain and interpret observed economic actions.

Intellectual & Practical Skills - By the end of this course, students should develop problem solving abilities using logical and quantitative skills to:

think analytically, empirically, and critically in an economic sense.
critically analyze data sets and apply statistical tools to improve decision making
evaluate data and statistical arguments and evidence.
apply descriptive statistics, probability, inferential statistics, and econometric analysis to analyze a range of economic issues.
strengthen verbal and written communication skills through in-class participation, essay writing, individual and group problem analysis.
use statistical software (currently Eviews) and spreadsheet analysis to do statistical and econometric computations

Teaching Style

This is not a course in "sadistics." While quantitative courses sometimes are considered "hard," the use of statistics for economic analysis can be very lively. One only need to look at the current political rhetoric about the "state of the economy." Do not let the following sentence be a description of your statistic's course experience.

“If I had only one day left to live, I would live it in my statistics class: it would seem so much longer.”

The course will be conducted in a lecture-discussion, application, format. Some of the presentations will use multi-media, the computer lab, and information will be obtained from the web. Lectures emphasize important or difficult points in the reading. You are expected to keep up on the reading and bring any questions about the reading to class. Since the course material builds over the semester, it is important that you keep up with the reading and other material and not fall behind. The online program, Aplia, will be utilized for most of the homework and Polleverywhere will be used for full class participation. The texts (digital and/or hardcopy), outside reading, inclass experiments, and empirical assignments, will be an integral part of the learning experience. Some of this material will be experienced in group formats.

If you have trouble with some concept or the reading, or any of the assigned work, and it is not made clear in class, I expect you to seek me out during office hours or set up an appointment. Email is another way to contact me with issues or concerns about the class. Be sure to put your "real" name and course information in your email.

Cleo (http://cleo.whitman.edu) will be used to store student grades and as a "drop box" for some assignments. Most information for the course will be available on the course webpage. The grading information for this course is outlined on the requirements page.

To loosely quote David D. Friedman "Many students have been persuaded, by their experience in high school and college, that taking a course consists of memorizing a set of conclusions. Reading course material then becomes an exercise in creative highlighting, designed to extract from five hundred pages of verbiage, the thirty or forty pages containing the answers to the questions that will appear on the exam. Such a collection of answers is about as easy to remember as a collection of random numbers, and not much more useful. Students who practice this form of learning generally forget shortly after the final most of what they have learned."

This course is based on a different idea of how statistics for economists should be taught. Teaching statistics poses many important challenges. How do I keep students’ attention and help them develop their abstract and practical thinking? I will try to do the following throughout the course -- when introducing a new concept, I will first start with a “real-life” analogy, then proceed to the more formal math, and finally illustrate the concept with examples. This should persuade students to pay more attention to concepts and procedures rather than memorizing facts and formulas

This course will start with discussions (and examples) of everyday economic statistics such as the GDP, the CPI, leading indicators, and measures of stock market performance. In class discussions of empirical readings, (such as the ranking of liberal arts schools in the press) will precede the more formal discussions of statistical methods. Lastly, the use of modeling in economics will be developed and examined so that the application to reality and the power of statistics (and econometrics) may be experienced.

If you are not honest in this course (e.g., get caught cheating on an exam, do not do your own work when required to do so), I will give you an F for the course and record the information with the Dean of Students. To be perfectly clear, not doing your own work when you are expected to do so (computer exercises, problems, exams, or assignments) is considered cheating unless I have said that you may work with others. If you are given group assignments or it is suggested that you work with others, it is important that you put all names that contributed on the turned in work.

Any student who, because of a disability, may require some special arrangements in order to meet course requirements should contact Professor Parcells, as soon as possible, to make necessary accommodations. (Appropriate verification will be needed).

Policy

Overview