PS 100A/200A: Statistical Analysis for Political Science I 

Welcome to the webpages of Political Science 100A/200A, Statistical Analysis for Political Science I, the first course in the Political Science Department's 3 course sequence on statistical methodology.        This course is a graduate-level introduction to data analysis for political scientists. "Why not just take statistics from statisticians?" you might ask. There are two main reasons.  First, this course is designed for students with a broad range of prior exposures to the subject, which is typically the case for incoming political science graduate students. The course assumes no prior mathematical or statistical knowledge, except for some recollection of algebra. Nonetheless, certain topics unlikely to be stressed in a really basic introductory statistics course will be covered.  The math behind these will be shown in class but you will not be required to reproduce or extend it in problem sets or on the fi nal. The difference between this course and a "Statistics 100" is that this course is political science flavored. It will rely on political science examples, data sets, and preferred techniques, and is informed overall by the methodological styles and implicit philosophies typical of current practice in political science. Prerequisites: None, as noted above, except for algebra. Some memory of basic calculus will be helpful, since some material that uses it will be covered. However this is certainly not necessary (for example, the main text uses no calculus and barely any algebra). Requirements: Four problem sets and one take-home fi nal.  Formation of 2-4 person study groups for mutual support on the problem sets is strongly encouraged, as this seems to facilitate learning.      For the applied statistics problems, we will use STATA, which is available in either the Political Science's Computer Cluster (for Political Science Ph.D. students), or in some other clusters on campus, for example Social Science Reading Room in Green Library and 2nd floor of Meyer Library .      The class meets at 11: 00 - 12:15 MW and occasional Fridays at CERAS 304.        Current upload news (HW, answer key, handout etc.) and other notices will be posted on this page (see below), so you may want to add this page to your bookmarks.

Notices: The instruction on accessing/installing Stata is here, "Getting Stata". The instruction on managing your files when you use Stata on the Leland system is here.  The instruction on downloading and Opening Files are uploaded. Click "Download Files" (NEW) The list of course materials and a preliminary version of the syllabus can be reached under "Syllabus". Contact information for the instructor and the TAs can be reached under "Contact"  Section Information (you can also download handouts)

For problems or questions about course webpages contact Juliana Bambaci or  Junga Kim.
Last updated: Oct. 1, 2001.