ENVR 506	Biostatistics
Fall 1999

Syllabus

Textbook and Software

Sokal and Rohl, Biometry, 3^rd edition

STATA

Instructor

Professor Charles N. Haas, x2283

Haas@drexel.edu

312 Abbotts West (building 29-W) (until 9/24/99)

603 Nesbitt Hall (on and after 9/24/99)

TA

Class Home Page

www.pages.drexel.edu/~haascn/ENVR_506

All lecture notes will be made available on this site in Adobe pdf format. You should download the notes, or review them BEFORE each class. Except for the first class period, no hard copies of class notes will be distributed.

On the class home page, I will be placing useful links which you should take the opportunity to browse. These include various data sources, as well as links to tutorial files and hints about STATA.

Course Objectives

Statistics play an essential part in the understanding of environmental problems and their solution. The objective of this course is to provide a systematic coverage of basic statistical methods which are useful in environmental science, engineering and policy. In doing this we will make use of a statistical software package, which facilitates the handling of large and complex data sets. This package should be useful in other courses and in further work in the environmental field.

General Course Policies

1. Homework will be due on the date assigned during the class period (generally one-week after distribution). No late homework will be accepted for any reason. No faxed homework or e-mailed homework will be accepted for any reason. A missed homework assignment will count as a zero.
2. Homework is to be done individually. Evidence of collaboration will result in a zero for the entire homework assignment. All outside references should be cited. Neatness does count. Homework should be completed in pen (or via a printer) to assist in legibility -- do not do homework in pencil.
3. Exams will be in class. Missed exams (except for dire reasons) will count as zero. The instructors will be the sole judge of whether any excuse suffices for an excused exam.
4. The TA will grade the homework assignments. Any questions on homework grading should first be discussed with the TA. If this does not resolve the question, then you may consult the instructors.
5. The final course grades will be determined by weighting the exams, the problem sets, and the assessment of the instructors as to contributions towards in-class discussion according to the scheme below. The final grade will be determined based on a judgement as to whether you have attained the course objectives. An "A" grade will be assigned to those students who are judged to completely demonstrate their attainment with the course objectives. A "B" grade will be assigned to students who show some deficiencies in achieving these objectives. A "C" grade will be assigned to students who show many deficiencies, or some major deficiencies. Grades of "D" and "F" will be assigned to students falling below the level of a "C" grade.

Grading

Problem sets 30%

Midterm 27.5%

Final exam 27.5%

Subjective 15 %