The University of Texas at Austin School Of Social Work
Social Work Statistics
Instructor: Jim Schwab
Office: SSW 3.106b Phone Number: 471-9816
Office hours: Tuesday/Thursday,
2:00pm – 4:00pm, or by appointment Email: [email protected] Spring 2000 Course Number: SW 318 Unique Number: 58470 Classroom: SSW 1.214/SSW2.118
Class time: Tuesday/Thursday, 12:30pm – 1:45pm
Course web site: http://webct.cc.utexas.edu:8900/public/SW318_s00/
Course Description
This course is one of the two courses in research for undergraduate social work majors. Completion of the liberal arts math requirement is a prerequisite for this course. This course provides a basic introduction to the conceptual and quantitative tools used to describe and interpret data in the conduct of social work practice and research. Students learn how to select, calculate, and interpret appropriate statistics applicable to common data analysis situations related to direct practice, administration and planning, and policy making. The course provides students with the opportunity to acquire personal computer skills in Microsoft Excel to calculate statistics and present results. Students are required to complete SW 318 prior to entering the major. Students majoring in social work must earn a grade of C or better in this course.
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, the student should be able to:
1. Explain, calculate and interpret descriptive statistics including: basic terminology, scales, notation, frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion, and the normal distribution.
2. Read and analyze basic charts and graphs, contingency tables, and computer results; 3. Explain, calculate, and interpret inferential statistics including probability, and hypothesis
tests.
4. Identify and apply the correct statistical technique to the research question;
5. Understand that statistics are value neutral, but can be used to support discriminatory and prejudicial value positions contrary to the values of social work, especially against special populations (e.g. women, people of color, people with disabilities, gays and lesbians).
Required Materials
The text for this course is:Ott, R. Lyman; Larson, Richard; Rexroat, Cynthia; and Mendenhall, William. (1992). Statistics: A Tool for the Social Sciences, Fifth Edition. Belmont, California: Duxbury Press.
All calculations will be done using a Microsoft Excel application "Statistics Workshop" developed by the instructor. Statistics Workshop will do all of the calculations required for this course, except for some addition and subtracting which can easily be done in Excel. Statistics Workshop requires that you use a PC computer with Excel 2000 (Office 2000) loaded on it. All of the computers in the School of Social Work Technology Classroom and Computer Lab have Microsoft Excel 2000 loaded on them.
Statistics Workshop and its accompanying data sets can be downloaded from the course web page to any PC computer. Statistics Workshop is in the process of being developed and regular updates will be posted on the course web page. Directions for downloading and installing this program will be covered in class 4.
You can use the Statistics Workshop on your home computer, provided you have Microsoft Excel 2000 on a PC computer and access to the Internet using Internet Explorer 5.0. Excel 2000 is available to you for only the cost of the CD-Roms used to distribute them. The University has a site-license for Microsoft Office 2000 which includes Excel (as well as Word and PowerPoint).. All faculty, staff, and students are included in this license. You may use this software on your home computer at no cost. If you do not have access to a CD-Rom containing this software, you can purchase it at the Campus Computer Store for $25.00 for the set of 5 CD-Roms. Be sure to get Office 2000 for a PC computer (not Office 98 for Macintosh or Office 97 for the PC).
Additional information about obtaining Microsoft office is available at the Campus Computer Stores website at http://www.campuscomputer.com/.
If you do not have a personal computer, the necessary hardware and software is available in the LRC computer lab, as well as many other computer labs on campus. There is a list of computer labs and the policies governing their use at the web site address:
http://www.utexas.edu/computer/labs/. In order to use the computers in campus computer labs you need an IF (Individually Funded) account. Details about IF accounts, including how to obtain one on-line are available at the web address: http://www.utexas.edu/cc/account/.
The course web page is designed using an educational tool called WebCT which supports interactive instruction. All WebCT requires is that you have a web browser on your computer. I recommend Internet Explorer 5.0, which is available at no cost from Microsoft. It is the browser that I use to design and test all of the web pages.
WebCT will support the following activities: the syllabus and any updates are available for downloading; the Statistics Workshop and datasets for problems are available for downloading; homework assignments will be made available and completed online; your grades on
assignments and homework will be available; a public bulletin board is supported for reporting problems on assignments, requesting assistance, and checking for announcements.
In addition to posting requests on the bulletin board, you may request help via personal email, which I check several times during a typical workday. Usually you may anticipate a response within 24 hours or less. My email address is listed at the top of this syllabus. If I think your question is of general interest to the class, I will post it on the bulletin board unless you explicitly request that I do not post it. If you need to meet with me personally, the best method for setting an appointment is via email.
Succeeding at Learning Statistics
Many students who are attracted to Social Work as a profession find mathematically oriented material challenging and frustrating. While we can't make the content “easy” for these students, we have learned some things that make it “do-able.” First, stay current with the class; if you let yourself get behind, the degree of difficulty increases rapidly. Second, do not expect to master the material on the first attempt. It takes a while for these concepts and ideas to take hold. Expect to read the material and work the problems more than once. Work in small time
increments; you will learn more in one hour a day for three consecutive days than a three hour stretch on a single day. Third, start your assignments early to allow a cushion for frustration. The content of this course is much more difficult when you are tired and frustrated. Almost always you can get past the place where you are stuck faster if you can put it down and come back to it later; but in order to do this, you have to allow yourself time to come back to it later. Fourth, when you are stuck, try to explain to someone else what you are trying to do. This can often help you identify for yourself the problem you are having. Often the step we are missing is easily obvious to someone who is not try to solve the problem.
This course will require you to devote a considerable amount of time, energy, and commitment to both in-class and out-of-class activities. You will be responsible for reading the assigned material and being able to solve the homework problems. It is expected that all students will actively participate in the learning process by attending all classes, reading the assigned text materials prior to class, and doing homework problems in a timely fashion.
Any student who may require special assistance in meeting the requirements of this class is expected to make these needs known immediately to the instructor. Most facilities utilized in the social work program are accessible to the physically challenged, but timing and convenience may become factors that require special planning. For information on disabled student services at UT, please refer to the most recent undergraduate catalog.
Getting Help
The instructor is available for individual conferences during office hours and by appointment. Many students have found it helpful to email the instructor with problems and questions, especially problems in using the computer. Since email is a routine part of the way we work these days, you can almost always be assured of a response on the same or next day. If you choose this option, please include specific details of what problem you are working on, what the computer is doing, etc.
If you do not have access to a personal computer, you can complete homework assignments in the Learning Resource Center (LRC) on the first floor of the School of Social Work building. LRC schedules are posted in the computer lab.
Homework Assignments
There will be 11 homework assignments to be completed and the answers entered in WebCT on the computer. The purpose of the homework assignments is to give you practice solving
problems with data. The first homework assignment is to practice using WebCT and will not be included in calculating the homework grade.
Weekly homework assignments will consist of statistical questions asked about a dataset. The homework assignments will require you to use the Statistics Workshop to answer these questions. When you have computed your answer, you will enter that answer in WebCT. Homework assignments will be available on the course web page at the conclusion of the lab class and must be completed by the start of the following lecture class, at which time access to the homework assignment expires. Your homework will be graded online and you will receive immediate feedback.
Each student's homework assignment will be drawn randomly from a test bank of questions. Each student's homework will contain comparable, but not identical questions. The homework assignment may be redone up to five times. You will be given a new selection of questions each time you redo the assignment. You will be graded on the last assignment completed.
It is desirable that each student should complete their homework assignments individually. While I can monitor the time you spend logged into WebCT, I do not have any mechanism to be certain that this expectation for individual work is satisfied. However, the format and problems on exams will be the same format as the homework problems. The homework is designed to prepare you to do well on the exams, both in terms of content and the process of entering the information into the computer. If you have a difficult time answering homework questions or using WebCT, your performance on exams will likely suffer.
More details about using WebCT will be provided in Class 4.
Exams
Exams will be administered on the computer in WebCT. Exams will be in the same format as homework assignments, and will included conceptual questions from the text as well as
statistical problems to solve. Exams will be time-limited to the 75 minute class period. A student must submit their exam for grading at the end of 75 minutes. Unlike homework assignments, grades on exams will not be immediately released. Grades will be released after all students have completed the exam. At that time, students may log into their WebCT account and see their grade and any feedback.
All materials needed to complete the exam will be installed on the computers in the IT Classroom prior to the exam, i.e. a copy of Statistics Workshop, the data sets to be analyzed, and a
browser link in Internet Explorer to WebCT. No other materials may be used in completing the exam. The use of any programs or materials on floppy disks or downloaded from the internet is not permitted. The use of email during exams is not permitted. If a student has any question about what is or is not permitted during an exam, they should ask the instructor prior to doing it. Computer activity during the exam will be monitored and any violation of these policies will be treated as scholastic dishonesty and result in a grade of zero for that exam.
Class Attendance
Class attendance is mandatory. Role will be taken at the start of each class.
After three missed or partially attended classes, a penalty of two points will be deducted from the student's grade for each class missed. It is expected that students will use the three permitted misses for whatever medical emergencies, doctors appointments, family crises, personal crises, religious holidays, and special events that may occur during the semester. No excuse is necessary for the first three classes missed. No excuse will be accepted for missing more than three classes. It is strongly encouraged that students preserve their three permitted misses for the unexpected emergencies which inevitably occur at some time in every semester.
Class attendance implies attendance for the entire class, from 12:30 to 1:45. Coming late and/leaving early will be treated the same as a missed class.
Grading
A student’s final grade in the course will be based on the test grades and class attendance. Activity Percent of Test Grade
Home Work 25%
Exam I 25%
Exam II 25%
Exam III 25%
If more than three classes are missed or partially attended in the semester, 2 points will be deducted from the test grade based on homework and exams.
Letter grades will be assigned according to the following scale: A = 90.0% - 100.0% of total possible points B = 80.0% - 89.9% of total possible points C = 70.0% - 79.9% of total possible points D = 60.0% - 69.9% of total possible points F = 59.9% or less of total possible points
Class Schedule
The anticipated schedule of activities for this course is listed on the next page. The instructor reserved the right to modify the schedule if deemed necessary. Chapter references refer to the textbook.
Tuesday Classes
Lecture Classes – Room 2.118 Thursday Classes
Lab Classes – Room 1.214 Class 1
1/18/2000
Video: "Against all Odds: Inside Statistics, 1. What is Statistics?"
Class 2 1/20/2000
Chapter 1. What is Statistics?
Class 3 1/25/2000
Chapter 2. Measurement Class 4 1/27/2000
Introduction to WebCT and the Statistics Workshop
Class 5 2/1/2000
Homework 1 due
Chapter 3. Graphical Techniques for Describing Data for a Single Variable
Class 6 2/3/2000
Tables and charts depicting the distribution of a variable
Class 7 2/8/2000
Homework 2 due
Chapter 4. Numerical Techniques for Describing Data from a Single Sample
Class 8 2/10/2000
Measures of central tendency, variation, and location for a variable
Class 9 2/15/2000
Homework 3 due Review for Exam 1
Class 10 2/17/2000
Exam 1
Class 11 2/22/2000
Chapter 5. Probability, Inferences, and Sampling Distributions in the Social Sciences Class 12 2/24/2000 Relative frequencies as probabilities Probability distributions Class 13 2/29/2000 Homework 4 due
Chapter 6. Concepts of Estimation: The One-sample Case
Class 14 3/2/2000 Estimation of population parameters Class 15 3/7/2000 Homework 5 due
Chapter 7. Statistical Tests of Hypothesis: The One-sample Case
Class 16 3/9/2000
One-sample hypothesis tests of means, proportions, and frequency distributions
3/14/2000 Spring Break 3/16/2000 Spring Break Class 17
3/21/2000
Homework 6 due
Chapter 8. Estimation and Statistical Tests of Two Samples
Class 18 3/23/2000
Two-sample hypothesis tests
Class 19 3/28/2000
Homework 7 due Review for Exam 2
Class 20 3/30/2000 Exam 2 Class 21 4/4/2000 Chapter 9. Cross-classification of Data Class 22 4/6/2000 Percentage Comparisons Class 23 4/11/2000 Homework 8 due Chapter 9. Cross-classification of Data Class 24 4/13/2000
Hypothesis tests of relationships in tables Class 25 4/18/2000 Homework 9 due Chapter 10. Measures of Class 26 4/20/2000
Measures of association for nominal and ordinal variables
