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Course Syllabus
Econ 249: Statistics as Applied to Economics and
Business
Queens College, City University of New York
Summer, 2014


Instructor: Zhen Ma, Ph.D.
Email: zhen.ma@qc.cuny.edu
Office: PH 300 B
Office Hours: by appointment


Prerequisite:
Econ 101 or Econ 103 and Math 131 or equivalent.

Required Text:
Sharpe, De Veaux & Velleman Business Statistics, Custom Edition, Pearson,
2010, ISBN 1256299006 (This textbook is used for all Econ 249 classes at
Queens College. If you want to purchase a printed book from QC bookstore,
make sure it comes with an access code.)

Grading Policy:
Homework assignments 40%
Two exams
o Midterm exam 30%
o Semi-cumulative final exam 30%
Extra Credit 5%

Course Description and Requirements:
This course serves as the prerequisite of Econometrics. The objective of this
course is to develop tools that will serve you in solving simple real world
problems in economics and business using statistics. Topics we are going to
cover include descriptive statistics, basic probability theory, estimation methods
and hypothesis testing.

MyStatLab is your lifeline to the course (I will not be using Blackboard).
Electronic access to the textbook and most homework assignments are on
MyStatLab. I will also post this syllabus, PowerPoints of lectures and
announcements there. To register for and purchase MyStatLab, go to
http://www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com/northamerica/mystatlab/ . Then
register as a student. Our course ID is ma83698.

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There will be approximately 12 graded assignments on MyStatLab. They will
become available as we go along. There might be some assignments not on
MyStatLab; these must be handed in during class on the due date.
The vast majority of the material covered in the exams will be directly related to
the textbook, class lectures and the assignments. It is your responsibility to make
it to the exams and there will be no make-up exams.

There will be 13 lectures. Attendance is not a requirement. But I will take
attendance whenever possible. If you show up 80% of the time, you will receive
5 extra points for your final grade. Note that attendance of the first week is
required by the college for financial aid purpose.


Tentative Course Outline

Week Topic Chapter
1, 2 Introduction & Descriptive Statistics
Probability
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
2 Midterm (6/16) tentatively
3, 4 Discrete Probability Distribution
Continuous Probability Distributions
Sampling Distribution & Inferential Statistics
8, 9, 10, 11, 12,
13
4 Final Exam (6/25)



CUNY policy on academic integrity:
Academic dishonesty is prohibited in the City University of New York and is punishable
by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. You are responsible
for reviewing this policy. It is dishonest to change an answer to a test question once the
test has been returned to you.

It is also against CUNY policy to allow a student to do an extra credit assignment to
boost his/her final grade after the grade has been given.