Welcome to STAT 218!

Sinem Demirci, PhD

Merhaba!

A headshot of a woman with curly, short, shoulder-length hair with green eyes.

Dr. Sinem Demirci (she/her)

025-213

sdemirci@calpoly.edu

Instructor’s office hours:
Tue: 01:10 PM - 02:50 PM (In-Office)
Wed: 11:10 AM - 12:00 PM (In-Office)
Thu: 01:10 PM - 02:00 PM (In-Office)

Today’s Menu


In this lecture, I will be briefly talking about

  1. Syllabus and Course Structure
  2. What is Statistics?
  3. A Soft Introduction to Week 1

Course Website and Syllabus


We have a course website to organize and manage our course materials.


Tip


Please refresh the page each time you open the website to ensure you are viewing the most up-to-date version.


Schedule


Textbooks

Main Textbook - See Next Slides

For Lab Sessions - Free Online Textbook

  • Where can I get a copy of this book?
    • There are few options that I found
      • Cal Poly Mustang Shop
      • Course Reserves
      • Pearson - you can subscribe for 4 months
      • Cal Poly Textbook Facebook page: Rumor is that there is such a Facebook page where students sell textbooks at low prices.

Assessment

More on Investigations (Group Assignments)

  • There will be ‘Investigation Sessions’ every Wednesday to be completed (hopefully) within classroom time.

  • You are encouraged to work in groups on these assignments. Each group should be composed of 2-3 students to work and complete them together both in the class and/or after the class.

  • It will…

    • focus more on a key statistical concept.
    • be turned in one write-up with all of your names.

  • All investigation assignments are due Fridays by 11:59 pm.

  • You may work either the same group members or shuffle around.

More on Lab Assignments

  • There will be ‘Lab Sessions’ on Fridays to be completed (hopefully) within classroom time.

    • Lab sessions will be conducted in groups, and the lab assignments will also be group projects.
    • Each group is composed of 2-3 students to work and complete the labs together both in the class and/or after the class.

  • All lab assignments are due Tuesdays by 11:59 pm.

  • You may work either the same group members or shuffle around.

  • We will use R programming language.

In brief…


  • Tuesday & Thursday: Lecture-based approach

  • Wednesday & Friday: Learn-by-doing approach

A Note on Attendance and Participation


Attendance

  • I will record attendance during every lecture, not for grading purposes, but to track your learning progress in this class.

    • In case of recurring absences, I will reach out to understand the reasons and work together to find solutions.

A Note on Attendance and Participation


Participation

  • Your active involvement enriches our learning environment and enhances everyone’s experience.

    • It isn’t about speaking up every day; it’s about actively engaging with the material and activities.

    • I respect that everyone participates in differently.

  • In brief, you must be present in our classroom (both physically and mentally) unless you have an “Excusable” Reason for Missing Class

    • Please contact with me in advance if you are not coming and do your best to catch up

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I call my professor?


  • Dr. Demirci (Dr. Deh-meer-jee)
  • Prof. Demirci
  • Dr. D.

Why didn’t you answer my email?


I usually respond within 48 hours. If you haven’t heard back…

  • Your email might have taken a detour.
  • You used a personal email address, and I thought it was a secret agent (from: undercover_hero@gmail.com).
    • PLEASE USE YOUR CAL POLY EMAIL ADDRESS AND INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND THE COURSE YOU’RE IN.
  • Please e-mail again after 48 hours.

Is there any study guide for this course?


  • Study daily.
    • The feeling of learning does not guarantee retention.
      • Even if everything felt crystal clear that day, studies show that it is temporary. Don’t let it mislead you.
  • Read the materials before coming to the lecture.
    • It’s normal—part of the learning process—not to understand every single sentence.
  • Ask questions!
  • Come to my office hours (chocolate might be available).

Can we use AI tools in this course?


  • Yes and No. Please read our AI policy very carefully to avoid any unintended consequences.

I have math anxiety (alt text: not a tech-savvy person). What can I do to pass this class?


  • Please talk to me!

  • I’m designing this course to be more conceptual and less algebraic. You can:

    • Mute your inner critic.
    • Come and ask for help.
    • Believe in yourself.

  • We can do this together!

What if I ask a stupid question?


  • There are no stupid questions!

  • I love seeing the variability in your answers—it helps me understand your learning patterns and improves my lectures.

  • I track participation, not correctness.

Are you rounding up our grades at the end of the quarter?


  • Nope! But during the quarter…

    • I offer extra credit opportunities.
    • I might curve grades if the class average is too low.

I am switching my major. Can you give me a B+?


  • REMEMBER! This is your responsibility to study this lecture and get a B+.


  • I can’t help you in Weeks 7, 8, or 10, or during final weeks.

  • If you’re switching majors, let me know in advance so I can provide extra office hours or materials to help you maximize your grade.

Why are we using the R Programming Language?


  • It’s a computer language used by Homo sapiens to communicate with computers. Every college graduate/researcher/professional should have a basic programming literacy in the 21st century.

  • We will NOT learn how to code from scratch.

  • We’ll learn the nature of the language and modify basic codes by changing dataset names and variable names.

Do we have to shuffle our groups every week?


No, but…

  • Sometimes students don’t share the workload equally.
  • Some group dynamics might not work.


If you’re happy with your group, feel free to stick together for all investigations and labs.

Can I work individually?


Yes, but…

  • It could be overwhelming as tasks are designed for 2-3 people.
  • You should learn how to work in a group.
  • Let me know if you do not want to work alone but didn’t find any groups.

What is Statistics, Dr D.?


  • If we were all exactly the same, most statistical methods would be of little use.

  • But we are not!!

    • This creates situations involving uncertainty and natural variation.

What is Statistics, Dr D.?


  • Statistics is a collection of procedures and principles for gaining and analyzing information to educate people and help them make better decisions when faced with uncertainty.

  • Science of Uncertainty

  • Science of Certainty

What Are the Building Blocks of Decision Making?



Data and evidence form the foundation of most decision-making processes.

I keep hearing “data” everywhere. What are they?



  • Datum vs. Data
  • recorded values, whether numbers or labels, together with their context are called data.
  • are often organized into a data frame

Hold on, what is a “Data Frame”?

What is an Observational Unit?



  • The person or thing being measured.
  • Case, study subject, experimental unit are other names for it.

What is a “Variable”?



  • Any characteristic of a person or thing that can be assigned a number or category.

Categorical Variable

  • When a variable names categories and answers questions about how cases fall into those categories, it is called a categorical variable.

    • e.g., eye color (green, blue, brown)

  • may only have two possible values (like “yes” or “no”).

    • We call them binary variables.

  • may be a number like a zip code.

Quantitative Variable


  • When a variable has measured numerical values with units and the variable tells us about the quantity of what is measured, it is called a quantitative variable.

  • e.g., temperature (F or C), speed (mph)…

Data Frame/Matrix Revisited

What Are the Data Sources?

Data can be obtained:

  • Through research

    • Experiments
    • Observational studies
    • …

  • From information collected by public or private agencies

  • From online sources (e.g., websites, databases)

But…



Data alone can’t make good decisions. We need a solid approach.

You said “evidence” somewhere? 👀


Example: A man on the news got mercury poisoning from eating swordfish, so the average mercury concentration in swordfish must be dangerously high.

  • What type of evidence is this?
  • Is it authentic and verifiable?
  • Could it be an exceptional case?

What is Empirical Evidence?


  • In applied statistics, analyses are typically based on empirical evidence!

  • To get that, one must collect data from scientific studies such as

    • Observational study
    • Randomized experiment
    • Survey
    • And many more complicated studies within and beyond the scope of statistics (meta-analysis, qualitative research methodologies etc)…

We’ll describe them later this week.

What am I doing here?


  • By the end of this course, I hope to increase your statistical literacy and data literacy. In the best-case scenario, I will support you in decision- making process and making sense of uncertainty through the use of statistics.


  • STAT 218 is tailored for life science students who will inevitably engage with Statistics in their future professions.

What about tomorrow?



Our first investigation day! Bring your laptop/iPad/Chromebook.

Extra Activity

Decide on what type of study, survey, observational study or experiment?

  • Who has more support among “likely voters”?
  • Who uses Instagram more: men or women?
  • Does smoking during pregnancy increase the risk of having a premature baby?
  • Does aspirin prevent heart attacks?