SOCI 331 Social Statistics
Bethany Bryson, Fall 2009
Office Hours Tue and Thur 1:30-4:00 in 210 Sheldon Hall
Overview
Introduction to the techniques for collecting, describing, analyzing and presenting quantitative sociological data.
Materials and Other Essentials
Access to a computer for word processing, email, web browsing, and data analysis (using SPSS).
Textbook: Social Statistics for a Diverse Society with SPSS.
A basic calculator (The one on your cell phone will do).
Additional materials are available through Blackboard under documents.
Requirements
This is a step-by-step, hands-on, how-to course where grades are based on participation, homework assignments, and exams. Please pay special attention to time management this semester, you will be learning a new software program and doing most of that work independently. As you know, one unexpected computer snag can sometimes eat up lots of time. Budget accordingly!
Participation & Attendance - 20% of final grade
Attendance is required at all class meetings. I keep detailed participation notes to reward class members who make helpful contributions and to hold everyone accountable for their conduct in the classroom and online. Please note that I will give you credit for helping classmates, and that I will deduct points for competitive behavior that hurts your peers. You may skip three class meetings without penalty. I do not police excused versus unexcused absenses, so there is no need to explain yourself.
Weekly Homework Assignments - 50% of final grade
Individual assignments must be submitted electronically via Blackboard by 5pm on Fridays. Please make use of the discussion boards to seek and give help as you work on your assignments. I'll give real course credit to helpers. You may skip two homework assignments without penalty. But this is your only excused lapse! You are responsible for confirming that your homework assignments have been successfully uploaded on Blackboard.
Assessment/Tests - 30% of final grade
There will be two equally weighted formal tests: one at midterm and one at the end of the semester. Together, these constitute your 30%. I may also give pop quizzes throughout the semester, but good scores on pop quizzes would earn you extra credit and poor scores would not harm your grade (directly).
Important Policies
Grading Policies: I grade exams on a 10 point scale and other assignments on an 8-poing scale. Under the 8-point system, I reserve 8s for exceptional work. Performance that exactly fits the requirements of an assignment is worthy of 6 or 7 points (depending on the assignment), not a score of 100%. Semester grades are calculated by converting the 8-point scores into percentages (6/8 = 75), dropping the two lowest (if applicable) weighting them according to the chart above, averaging them and converting the result to letter grades by the following conventions: (Some of these grades are not relevant to the online group.)
97-100 is an A+,
93-96 is an A,
90-92 is an A-,
87-89 is a B+,
and so on.
If necessary, letter grades are converted as follows:
an A+ is a 98,
an A is a 95,
an A- is a 91,
a B+ is an 88,
and so on.
Attendance: Attendance is required at all class meetings and is incorporated into your participation grade as described above. I do not police excuses.
First-Week Attendance Policy At the instructor's discretion, any student registered for a class in the College of Arts and Letters who does not attend the first two (2) scheduled meetings of the class (or does not attend the first scheduled meeting of a class that meets once a week) may be administratively dropped from the class.
Enrollment Procedures: Students are responsible for registering for classes and for verifying their class schedules on e-campus.
Enrollment Deadlines: The deadline for dropping and/or adding fall semester classes on e-campus is Tuesday, September 1, 2009. Dropping a class after these dates through the course adjustment deadlines result in a W grade on the transcript and tuition charges. The deadline for adding classes with instructor and academic unit head signatures is Thursday, September 10, 2009. The course adjustment deadline (to withdraw with a W grade or change credit options is Thursday, October 22, 2009.
Withdrawl: Please pay careful attention to the university's withdrawal policies, as well. Failing to withdraw from a course that you are not attending can be even more serious than taking a course in which you have not enrolled.
Blackboard and Computing Technology: It is your responsibility to save your work as you go, backup your files, submit your work on time, and confirm that all work submitted via Blackboard has been successfully uploaded in a virus-free readable format. (Word documents must be in Microsoft Word, not WordPerfect format.) All these conditions require EXTRA effort to save files, back them up, budget time for technical difficulties, and to click-through to and confirm your uploads. I do not accept corrupt files as evidence of completed assignments.
Honor: I take the JMU Honor Code very seriously and I expect you to follow it. We will also make heavy use of collaboration in this class and use the discussion boards to help each other complete assigned tasks. If you are unsure about the distinction between collaboration and plagiarism, please ask questions before you submit someone else's work as your own! All quizzes, texts and exams should represent your own unaided work. Plagiarism and cheating are grounds for immediate course failure in addition to the university proceedings and are not subject to informal reconsideration.
No Make-up Exams: Tests, exams and quizzes cannot be made up. I may, at my discretion, enter a grade other than zero for the missed exam based on your pervious work. You cannot pass the class if you miss more than one test.
Access and Learning Needs: If you have a letter from JMU's Office of Disability Services, please bring it to me during the first week of class. If you are not familiar with the center, but you have a concern about access, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or problems with recurrent depression or other illnesses that affect your schoolwork, I urge you to see your doctor and the ODS at the start of the semester to discuss your needs and options. (Of course, I'll be happy to talk to you before you go, if you like.) IF YOU FEEL YOU PERFORM WORSE WHEN YOU TAKE TESTS ONLINE THAN ON PAPER, PLEASE TELL ME THIS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEMESTER!
Special Circumstances: I am generally opposed to changing any of the rules described above for the special circumstances of individual students. The reason is only that there are so many other deserving candidates who haven't asked. As a result, you can expect me to reject most of your requests for individual exemptions, but you can also expect me to give serious consideration to bigger changes that might improve conditions for the whole class. Try to think sociologically (perhaps even collectively?) about your problem before you bring it to me, and you'll get better results. Read this ("the promise") for help framing your argument.
Note: The conditions of this syllabus are subject to change as discussed in class, but this document will not be altered during the semester.
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