Why study statistics in geography? |
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This is the information age; with the ever-increasing capabilities of the internet and associated technology, we have access to huge amounts of information. How do we make sense of it all? Results from the recent national election are readily available at numerous web sites in numerous formats: red/blue state maps, red/blue state cartograms, graded red/blue choropleth county maps, tables of total vote counts for individuals by state, and the list goes on. Do some of these representations of election data do a better job of helping us understand the statistics behind the election results than others? 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 it’s side effects appear regularly in the news, such as how many degrees warmer is it today than it was 50 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, economic, political, population, 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 |
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Format and Policies |
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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
Attendance You are required to attend class. Class meets from 11:00-12:15 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 three 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 6 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. 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! Some class time will be spent in lecture, but you should still participate by asking questions about lecture material you don’t understand. Some class time will be spent working on activities and you are expected to work on these activities during class. Some activities may be group activities and you are expected to be respectful to other students in your group and to work cooperatively with them. Some 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. Assignments Class materials are available on the Geography/Geology Department’s server, Geodept1. Everyone will have their own personal folder. Relevant data sets will be added to your folder as required for completing assignments. All of your computer work should be saved to your personal folder on Geodept1 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 Geodept1 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. Failure to hand assignments in on time will result in a grade penalty (see below). |
Readings You should do assigned readings before coming to class. Readings are listed on the course web site. Read these pages critically, asking questions as you go: Do I understand it? Why is it important? When and how would I use this information? How does this information relate to other information I’ve learned in class? Tests Exams should be taken at the scheduled time. These times are listed in the course calendar (below). Make-up exams are only allowed for extreme cause and with a verified excuse. Calculators may (and should) be used during tests; however, palm-top computers, PDAs, cell phones, or other electronic devices with multiple capabilities, including mathematical calculations, are not allowed. Internet Resources The course web site will be used primarily to update the calendar and notify you of reading assignments. Office Hours Office hours are Tuesday and Thursday 9:15-10:00, Wednesday 2:00-3:00, and by appointment. Office hours are times set aside for you! If you can’t come during regular office hours please let me know and I’ll be happy to arrange a time to meet that works for both of us. Please also feel free to use email for any questions or comments regarding the course material. I will occasionally email comments or announcements to the class, and these will be sent to your university email account. I strongly encourage you to use email to ask questions, particularly if you have conflicts with my office hours. You can email me questions anytime. 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). Please use your university email account for all email to me regarding this course. Email from other providers (e.g. Yahoo, Hotmail) may not reach me due to the University’s spam filter. Cell phones Cell phones should be turned off or set to vibrate during class. Cell phones must be turned off and put away during tests. Talking on cell phones or text-messaging during class is not allowed. Student rights and responsibilities UWSP has specific guidelines regarding student rights and responsibilities in class and on campus. |
Evaluation and Grading |
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The final course grade is based on 3 exams, quizzes, and assignments. These are weighted as follows:
TestsQuizzes may be announced ahead of time, or they may be unannounced. They will take about 10 minutes and will require you to solve problems or answer questions regarding the most recent lecture material or the most recently returned assignment. Always have a calculator with you so you can use it if necessary on exams or quizzes. You may not share calculators during tests. Cell phones, PDA’s or other electronic devices that also may serve as a calculator are not allowed. |
AssignmentsThere 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. The assignments are designed to see if you’re meeting the course outcomes listed above. Exercises are due in class (not after class) on the assigned date. Late assignments are automatically penalized and lose 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 may be allotted for questions on the exercises before you hand them in, so it is always worthwhile to ask questions about the assignments. Letter GradesThe following cutoffs will be used as a guide for assigning letter grades: |