NJIT HONOR CODE

All Students should be aware that the Department of Mathematical Sciences takes the NJIT Honor code very seriously and enforces it strictly.  This means there must not be any forms of plagiarism, i.e., copying of homework, class projects, or lab assignments, or any form of cheating in quizzes and exams.  Under the Honor Code, students are obligated to report any such activities to the Instructor.

Mathematics 664-102:

Methods for Statistical Consulting

SPRING 2009

Course Schedule Link

»      Instructor:  Prof. Dhar

»      Textbooks:  

╚       Applied Statistics and the SAS Programming Language by Ronald P. Cody and Jeffrey K. Smith (Fifth Edition), Prentice Hall; ISBN: 0-13-146532-5.

╚       Statistical Case Studies by Peck, Haugh and Goodman; SIAM; ISBN:  0-89871-413-3.

»      Course Content: Communicating Applied Statistics to Scientists. Statistical tools for consulting: SAS and/or S-plus (or freeware R program) will be required. SAS and its Proc procedures will be used extensively. In addition, other software such as MATHEMATICA, etc may be used. Data management, and/or handling missing data, will be learnt. Exploratory data analysis and graphic methods will be used to look at raw data. Model selection methods, GLM and mixed models and other modeling techniques will be learnt. A data reduction technique such as detecting collinear variables is studied. Factor analysis and its role in GLM are also discussed. Use of tests with validation of assumptions will also be studied. Finally, report writing and communicating results will be emphasized. If feasible, practicing consultants/statisticians will make presentation(s).

»      Course Web Page:  http://web.njit.edu/~dhar/mth664/math664.html

»      Grading Policy:  The final grade in this course will be determined as follows:

Follow all the directions given in class to do homework, projects and assignments. Writing style should be such that it is easy for any professional statistician to read. Mathematical tools used to arrive at each concluding statement based on the computer output must be stated. Just churning outputs is not a statistician's job as most non-statisticians can generate volumes of statistical outputs. One should be able to statistically interpret them and draw logical conclusions that are statistically meaningful.

Please note that the University Drop Date March 30, 2009 deadline will be strictly enforced.

»      Homework and Reports: 

1.      Student must carefully read with the week the chapter (s) covered from Cody and Smith in detail.

2.      Use SAS software to solve homework problems, learn case study problems and consulting projects

3.      Solutions to the problems are expected to be as close to the wordings of the problem from the textbook and as assigned by the instructor. Homework grades is also based on students interpreting statistical results and drawing the appropriate conclusions which are both statistical in nature and logical. In case SAS is used to solve the problem, must provide the correct program and summarized output.

4.      Presentation of project work should be in the form of a report (say to the "client" or your "company manager") with detailed explanation of the output and statistical analysis used. Interpreting and analyzing the data at hand is part of the homework and reports.

»      Attendance:  Attendance at all classes (both lecture and recitation) will be recorded and is mandatory.

»      Presentation with Handout:

1.      Quality of the statistical topic and overall material presented. Read several journal articles or books, etc., dealing with tools and methods in statistical consulting.  Useful or new research work emphasizing the statistical method or tools applied that are presented. This material presented, should have statistical and scientific relevance. Quality including the clarity of the statistical research, that of the article on statistical consulting, or the material that develops consulting tools will be assessed.   (10 points)

2.      Circulate a PDF copy or printed clear copy of your presentation. This copy of your talk should be such that students are able to review the handout later and are able to recall the important ideas. Please note that points will be deducted if the copy material (e.g. the printed material) is hard to read. (10 points)

3.      Make a presentation in person to the class. The presentation is clear and thorough (for example):

i.        Overview and Objectives: clearly state the objectives and the overview/sequence of your presentation.

ii.     Observing the time limit:

a)      Keeping the specified time limit of about 20 minutes (subject to change due to class size).

b)     Effectively using the time to make a sound presentation. You will lose points for having used only, e.g., 15 minutes of your allotted time.

iii.   Communication skills: Clarity and quality of your presentation in terms of:

a)      Positioning yourself so that the view of your presentation is not blocked.

b)     Proper use of equipment (chalk board, computer, slide projector, overhead projector).

c)      Proper use of presentation tools (power point, transparences, visual aids, etc.).

d)     Facing the audience.

e)      Speaking clearly enough to communicate the ideas of the talk to them.

f)       Ability to handle questions coming from audience.

g)      Ability to discuss his/her work and convey the main ideas. (10 points)

╚       Total Points for Presentation with Handout:  = 30 POINTS

»      Course Policies:

1.      No assignments, home works, exams will be accepted late.

2.      In case of a legitimate excuse scores will be imputed

3.      No eating allowed during the class and exams periods.

4.      Wandering in and out of the classroom is not allowed.

5.      Use of Laptops, computer devices, etc. are not allowed during class and when the instructor is lecturing.

»      Makeup Exam Policy:  There will be NO makeup exams during the semester. In the event the Final Exam is not taken, under rare circumstances where the student has a legitimate reason for missing the final exam, a makeup exam will be administered by the math department. In any case the student must notify the Math Department Office and the Instructor that the exam will be missed and present written verifiable proof of the reason for missing the exam, e.g., a doctors note, police report, court notice, etc., clearly stating the date AND time of the mitigating problem.

»      Cellular Phones:  All cellular phones and beepers must be switched off during all class times.

MATH DEPARTMENT CLASS POLICIES LINK

All DMS students must familiarize themselves with and adhere to the Department of Mathematical Sciences Course Policies, in addition to official university-wide policies. DMS takes these policies very seriously and enforces them strictly. For DMS Course Policies, please click here.

Course Outline and Assignments:

Prepared By:  Prof. Prof. S. K. Dhar

Last revised:  January 6, 2009