Transcript 01/09/2008

Quantitative Methods in Geography
Geography 391
Introductions and Questions
• What (and when) was the last math class
you had?
• Have you had statistics before?
• What do you expect from this class?
• What to you hope to learn in this class?
General Course Overview
• Class Foci
– Basic statistical techniques
– Introduction to spatial statistics
– Statistical terminology & symbols
– Conducting statistical analyses using
computer software
• My goal is for this course to be as practical
as possible
Course Topics
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Statistics and Geography (ch1)
Univariate Descriptive Statistics (ch2, ch3)
Probability Theory (ch5)
Random Variables and Probability Distributions (ch6)
Sampling (ch7)
Statistical Inference: Estimation (ch8)
Statistical Inference: Hypothesis (ch9)
Parametric Statistical Inference: Two Samples (ch10)
Correlation Analysis (ch12)
Regression Analysis (ch13)
Course Information
• Class: 204 Saunders, 2:00 – 2:50 MWF
• Office Hours: 317 Saunders, 3:00 – 4:00
Wednesday (or by appointment)
Course Schedule
• Monday & Wednesday – Lecture
– Lecture notes will be available online after
class
• Friday – Technique demonstration & work
day
– Bring your laptops
– Have questions prepared
Course Information
• The syllabus, assignments, lecture slides,
etc. can be found on blackboard or on the
course website
• http://www.unc.edu/courses/2008spring/ge
og/391/001/
Textbook
• Burt, J.E. and Barber, G.M. (1995).
Elementary Statistics for Geographers,
2nd edition. (ISBN: 0898629993)
• Reading assignments will be posted online
• You are expected complete the reading
before class
Textbook Organization
• The textbook is divided into 3 sections
• Descriptive Statistics (ch1 – ch3)
– Including simple spatial & non-spatial statistics
• Inferential Statistics (ch5 – ch11)
– Including probability theory, sampling, & hypothesis
testing
• Statistical Relationships (ch12 – ch14)
– Including correlation & regression analyses
Course Organization & Exams
• The course will be divided into 3 sections
corresponding to those in the textbook
• There will be an exam after each section,
• Exam #3 will be held during the final exam time
(Tuesday, May 6th @ 12:00 PM)
• Each exam will be worth 50 points (10%)
• Note that section 2 is longer than sections 1 & 3
Homework
• There will be 10 homework assignments in this
course
• Each assignment will be worth 30 points (6%)
• You will have a week for completing most
assignments, details are available in the
syllabus
• There will be a 10% per day penalty for late work
Attendance
• You are expected to attend all classes and
engage in discussions
• Attendance will be taken at the beginning
of class (don’t be late)
• Attendance and participation will ultimately
count for 50 points (as much as an exam!!)
Terminology
• Terms and symbols are important for
communicating methods and results and
explaining what they mean, particularly to nonstatisticians
• Terms and symbols are also the building blocks
for more advanced statistical techniques
• The textbook does a pretty good job of
explaining basic statistical terms
Software
• Initially we’ll do stats by hand and/or calculator
• Microsoft Excel – should be on your laptop
already
– Basic functions and the data analysis add-in tools
• S-Plus – available through UNC (** for the
computer savvy, you may choose to use R
instead)
• Time permitting, we may use statistical
extensions in GIS software
Your To Do List
• Contact the software acquisitions office
and order S-Plus on CD (we’ll install it
later, but get the ball rolling)
• Bring your laptop every Friday - we’ll talk
about a few Excel basics this week
• Read Chapter 1 for Monday