Syllabus |
Why study statistics in geography?
This is the information age; with the ever-increasing capabilities of computers, the internet and associated technology, we have access to huge amounts of information. How do we make sense of it all?
Graphs, tables, statistics and maps often appear in the news media. The New York Times recently displayed maps on food stamp usage. The BBC news recently presented graphs on cancer deaths. Are graphs or maps more informative? Was an appropriate design used to create the maps and graphs? Would we be better off looking at a table of numbers> Should we look at these data on a monthly basis, a seasonal basis, or an annual basis? Should we examine the data on a national , state, or county level? should we look at summary statistics such as means and medians? Should we look at total numbers or should we look at percentages?
Politicians, economists, and journalists use graphs and tables of various economic statistics such as gross domestic product and unemployment rates to argue about the state of our economy. Which of these statistics is most helpful in improving our understanding of what’s happening to our economy? Should we examine tables of numbers? Should we look at numbers on a monthly basis, a seasonal basis or an annual basis? Should we look at summary statistics such as means and medians? Should we look at total numbers or should we look at percentages? Should we look at graphs or should we look at maps? Should the maps show information by country, region, state, or county?
Statistics regarding global warming and its side effects appear regularly in the news, such as how many degrees warmer it is today than it was 59 years ago. Should we look at statistics such as this on a global scale? Should we look at these statistics on a continental scale? Should we look at statistics on a latitudinal scale? Should we look at statistics taken from land surfaces or from ocean surfaces? Should we look at statistics on a monthly , annual, or multi-year scale? Should we map the information or should we graph it?
Quantitative literacy is vitally important today. Of the many possible jobs you may find yourself in once you graduate, there’s a very good chance that at some point you’re going to be examining data – numbers – statistics. How will you make sense of this information? How will you convey what you’ve learned from the numbers to your colleagues, your boss, or the public? Even if you don’t end up working with data/statistics, this type of information gets thrown at us every day. Since we live in a democracy, we all get to take part in deciding what policies and actions government should take to enhance our well-being and the well-being of others. To do this responsibly requires us to understand what all the numbers, the statistics, mean. The result is that as geographers and as citizens, it behooves us to understand how to interpret and use statistics.
In this course we will examine a variety of geographic data. Geographic data includes any type of data used by geographers – physical geographers, economic geographers, political geographers, and any other type of geographer. Some of this data is spatial and can be mapped, and some of it is non-spatial and can only be graphed. We will learn ways of organizing and presenting data using graphs, maps, and descriptive statistics. We will learn ways of making sense of data using various statistical tests and discussing which tests are most appropriate (and which are not appropriate) for analyzing the data at hand. All of our analyses will be conducted in Excel and ArcGIS. Some time will be spent in lecture, but a lot of time will be spent working in Excel and ArcGIS.
Course Learning Outcomes
By the end of the semester you should be able to:
- organize and manipulate data in Excel and ArcGIS;
- correctly identify characteristics and qualities of data and measurements;
- create data-appropriate histograms in Excel and choropleth maps in ArcGIS;
- calculate (using Excel and ArcGIS) and correctly interpret measures of central tendency and spread for non-spatial data and for spatial data;
- describe how delineating boundaries on the landscape and how aggregating spatial information can lead to problems interpreting spatial data correctly;
- explain and use methods for sampling spatial and non-spatial data; and,
- determine the most appropriate statistical tests to use for analyzing and comparing measures of center, frequency counts, and point patterns; and then carry out these tests in Excel and ArcGIS and correctly interpret the test results.
Format and Policies
Prerequisites
This course has two prerequisites: Geography 276: Cartography, and Geography 279: Fundamentals of GIS. You may need to refer back to your notes from these two courses. If you don’t have both of these prerequisites, you should not be in Geography 390.
Required Material
- McGrew, J.C. and C.B. Monroe (2000) An Introduction to Statistical Problem Solving in Geography, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, Boston. (Available as a rental text.)
- Calculator
Internet Resources
The course web site will be used primarily to update the calendar and notify you of reading assignments.
http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/lemke/geog390/Attendance
You are required to attend class. Section 1 meets from 11:00-12:15 and Section 2 from 9:00-10:15 Tuesday and Thursday in Science D326 (SIAL Lab). Attendance will be taken at every class. Because of the nature of statistics, you are allowed only two (2) unexcused absences. The third unexcused absence will cost you a third of a grade. Every two additional unexcused absences will cost you an additional third of a grade. For example, if your calculated final course grade is a B+, but you have 3 unexcused absences, your final grade will be a B. If you have 5 unexcused absences and your calculated final course grade is a B+, your final grade will be a B-. Therefore, you should always attend class. Excused absences include absences for university related events, such as sporting events, for which you have a note from the supervising faculty, or absences related to medical or other emergency issues for which you can show you were incapable of attending class.
Much class time will be devoted to working on individual assignments and you are expected to work on these assignments in class until class time runs out or until your work is finished. Leaving class early without permission may count as an unexcused absence.
You are responsible for all material covered in class. If you miss a class, even for a legitimate reason (e.g. a class field trip or university sponsored sporting event in which you are participating), you are still responsible for the material. You should get notes from a fellow student for any classes you miss.
Class Participation
Please participate in class; ask questions and contribute comments. Some in-class activities may be group activities and you are expected to be respectful to other students in your group and to work cooperatively with them. Much class time will be devoted to working on individual assignments and you are expected to work on these assignments until class time runs out or until your work is finished. You are not allowed to leave class early.
Readings
You should do assigned readings before coming to class. Readings are listed on the course web site.
Cell phones and Electronic Devices
Cell phones, Blackberries, PDAs, MP3s and other electronic devices should be turned off during class. Talking on cell phones, tex-messaging, checking for messages, emailing, and listening to music during class is not allowed. It is rude and distracting to other students in the class and to the instructor. All cell phones and other electronic devices except for calculators must be turned off and put away during tests.
Office Hours
Office hours are Monday and Wednesday from 11:00-12:00, Tuesday from 1:00-2:00, and by appointment. If you can't come during regular office hours I'll be happy to arrange a time to meet that works for both of us.
You may email me questions, particularly if you have conflicts with my office hours. I usually check my mail twice a day – first thing in the morning, and before I go home at the end of the day. I try to respond to all emails within 24 hours (except on weekends).
Student rights and responsibilities
UWSP has specific guidelines regarding student rights and responsibilities, academic standards and disciplinary procedures, accommodation of religious beliefs, and conduct on university land, available at: http://www.uwsp.edu/admin/stuaffairs/rightsandresponsiblities.aspx.
Evaluation and Grading
The final course grade is based on 3 exams, and assignments. These are weighted as follows:
Exam I 15%
Exam II 20%
Exam III 25%
Assignments 40%
Total 100 %Tests
Exams should be taken at the scheduled time. Make-up exams are only allowed for extreme cause and with a verified excuse. Calculators may be used during exams; however, cell phones, Blackberries, PDAs, or other electronic devices with multiple capabilities, including mathematical calculations, are not allowed.
Exam 1: Tuesday, February 28, in class.
Exam 2: Tuesday, April 10, in class.
Exam 3: Section 1: Monday, May 14, 12:30-2:30PM in the SIAL
Exam 3: Section 2: Wednesday, May 16, 12:30-2:30 in the SIAL
All exams are comprehensive. All the material you learn for exam 1 is fair game for exams 2 and 3, and all the material you learn for exam 2 is fair game for exam 3. The material covered toward the end of the semester builds on the material covered in the beginning of the semester. Exams will require you to solve problems or answer questions similar to ones in the assignments. This will include doing work in Excel or ArcGIS during the exam. There may also be some true/false questions, but nothing on the exams is computer scored. Always have a calculator with you so you can use it if necessary on exams. You may not share calculators during tests. Cell phones, PDAs or other electronic devices that also may serve as a calculator are not allowed.
Assignments
All material required for the assignments will be available on one of the university's web servers. Each student will have their own personal folder for storing their work in. Relevant data sets will be added to your folder as required for completing assignments. All of your computer work must be saved to your personal folder for grading purposes. If you decide to do work on your personal computer, make sure you put a copy of all your work in your personal folder on the university server by the assigned due date. These files will be checked as part of the grading procedure, and if your computer files are missing from your personal folder, your grade will suffer.
There are a lot of assignments for this class. The only way to learn statistics is to do statistics. You can’t learn statistics by listening to someone lecture or by watching someone else solve problems. You have to do it yourself. Likewise for learning computer software – you have to do it yourself. Assignments are due in class (not after class) on the assigned date. Late assignments are automatically penalized 20% of the grade. Late assignments will not be accepted once I have returned an assignment. IN other words, once I hand back assignment 2, you cannot hand in assignment 2; you get a zero. Time will often be allotted for questions on the exercises before you hand them in, so it is always worthwhile to ask questions about the assignments. The assignments will all be graded. The weight of individual assignments will vary depending on how long and how complex the assignment is.
Letter Grades
The following cutoffs will be used as a guide for assigning letter grades:
A 92-100 B- 80-81 D+ 68-69 A- 90-91 C+ 78-79 D 60-67 B+
88-89 C 72-77 F below 60 B 82-87 C- 70-71