CJ 581

Criminal Justice St

Statistics

Fall 1999

Robert T. Sigler, 348-7781, 553-3897, rsigler@cj.as.ua.edu.

Text SPSS 9.0 Guide to Data Analysis, Prentice Hall,

Marija J. Norusis

August 26 Introduction and study

Sept. 2 Codebook and Questionnaire

Sept. 9 Writing a Program in the lab code book due

Sept. 16 Frequencies in the lab program due

Sept. 23 Missing values and cleaning the data frequencies due

Sept. 30 Interpreting Frequencies crosstabs routine

Oct. 7 Transforming data crosstabs due

Oct. 14 Interpreting Crosstabs t-test and anova routines

Oct. 21 Interpreting the T-test and ANOVA (routines due) GLM

Oct. 28 exam

Nov. 4 Interpreting General Linear Model (routine due)

Nov. 11 Interpreting correlation (routine due) regression

Nov. 18 Interpreting regression

Dec. 2 Individual sessions

Dec. 9 paper due

Course Requirements

You will analyze a set of data in this course. You will learn how to code data, how to prepare a codebook, how to write an SPSS program, how to interpret a range of statistics, and how to write a report of your findings. The paper in this course will be your analysis of the data file which I will provide along with a copy of the questionnaire.

Projects

Projects are usually printouts. In order to earn the points, the projects must be turned in on the day that they are due.

1. codebook 4 pts

2. program 4 pt

3. Frequencies 4 pts

4. Crosstabs 4 pts

5. t-test 3 pts

6. ANOVA 3 pts

7. correlation 3 pts

8. Regression 3 pts

9. General Linear Model 3 pts

Exam

The exam will cover the interpretation and use of the statistical procedures that are presented in the routines frequencies, crosstabs, t-test, and ANOVA.

Paper

The paper will present the findings from the study that you choose to present. You will need to report findings from each of the basic routines. You should focus on an issue of importance to you. The paper should be of publishable quality.

Course Evaluation

Projects 30

Exam 30

Paper 40

Class Format

The class will be very difficult. In order to complete your paper on time, you must write sections of your paper each week. While there is no attendance policy, you are encouraged to attend all classes as we will discuss the preparation of the programs that you will need to use the computer and interpretation of the statistics that you will need to write the paper. If you attend class, I will spend as much time as needed with you to help you learn the material. Chances are good that you will fail the course if you do not attend class regularly. If you get behind in this class you can not catch up so the due dates for the projects are firm. You loose one point each day the project is late. If at any time you fall two projects behind, you will be asked to drop the course. Because of the nature of the course there are no excused absences.

This course is difficult because of the volume of work required. During the first weeks you will need to devote from 10 to 20 hours to figuring out how to use the computer. The more you know about computers or keyboarding the easier this part of the course will be for you. The statistics in this section are easy to understand and interpret. The last section of the course is very easy in terms of using the computer but will cover statistical procedures which are relatively difficult to understand and use. This course is non-computational. That is, the computer will do all of the math for you. You will need to learn how to make the computer work for you and how to interpret the information that the computer provides.