Math 101, Reasoning with Data: Elementary Applied Statistics

This course focuses on understanding how statistics are used and misused in a variety of fields, including medicine, the physical sciences, and the social sciences. It is intended to be accessible to students who have not yet had calculus and to satisfy the Quantitative Reasoning Overlay Course Requirement. This course is not open to students who have taken or are taking ECON 103/SOC 190, QR 180, POL 199, or PSYC 205. Moreover, if you have taken Math 116 or the equivalent, then Math 220, which also satisfies the QR overlay requirement, is a more appropriate course for you. See the instructor for more information.

Statistical concepts and questions are all around us. For example:

• In national elections, the TV networks often predict the outcome soon after the polls close, before votes are counted. How do they do this? How reliable are their predictions?
• A drug manufacturer has been testing a new product to combat the effects of stroke. The company reports that 52% of the subjects fared better after taking the drug. Is this enough evidence to conclude that the drug is effective, or is more information needed to analyze the drug's effectiveness?
• Some SAT and GRE prep courses advertise that they guarantee to improve your score. But scores tend to improve if you retake the test even without a prep course. How can you determine if it is worthwhile to take a prep course?
• Women who are HIV-positive may give birth to HIV-positive babies. Would giving HIV tests to all men and women who apply for marriage licenses be an effective way of reducing the rate at which babies are born with HIV?

After taking this course, you should be able to answer questions like these, and follow and analyze statistical arguments about data that you find in courses or in the media (i.e., be "statistically literate" ). You should be able to understand where the fundamental formulae and tests of statistics come from and what they mean. You should be able to apply basic statistical tests that are common to several disciplines, and be prepared to learn any additional statistical methods you will need for specific courses in the future.

You will carry out simple computations in the course by hand or with a calculator, and more involved ones with computer software. There will be several computer labs to help you learn how to use the software for calculations and to visualize the basic ideas of statistics and probability. There will also be a term project in which you will be collecting and interpreting your own data.

Prerequisite: Fulfillment of the basic skills component of the Quantitative Reasoning requirement. Not open to students who have taken or are taking ECON 103/SOC 190, QR 180, POL 199, or PSYC 205. Not open to students who have completed MATH 116, 120, or 205, except by permission of the instructor; such students should consider taking 220 instead.
Distribution: Mathematical Modeling. Fulfills QR overlay requirement.

• Megan Kerr mkerr@wellesley.edu
• Department of Mathematics
• Date Created: August 11, 1997
• Last Modified: July 5, 2005
• Expires: June 30, 2006