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SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CARBONDALE
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
SYLLABUS; SPRING 2015
SOCW 397-001: STATISTICS FOR SOCIAL WORKERS
Instructor: Dalia Chowdhury
E-mail: dalia26@siu.edu
Class time: T, R 9.35-10-50 am
Class room: Faner 1028
Office Hours: Tuesdays/Thursdays 11.00-12.30 pm at the Faner Computer laboratory.
I. COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course is designed to instruct students in the application of statistical methods in Social
Work, focusing on basic descriptive and inferential statistics and their relationship to Social
Work research. Students will learn basic statistical computer applications, become prepared to
critically analyze published research in the field and apply statistical principles in their own research.
II. PLACE OF COURSE IN THE PROGRAM
This course fulfills the statistics requirements for undergraduate majors in Social Work by preparing the students to develop a better understanding of the applicability of statistical methods in
their future educational and professional careers.
III. COURSE OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this course, the students will:
1. Understand the fundamental principles of descriptive and inferential statistics.
2. Become familiar with statistical terminology and notation.
3. Be able to apply basic statistical concepts and arguments as applied to Social Work.
4. Become familiar with basic computer applications used in statistical methods.
IV. REQUIRED TEXT
Weinbach, R. W. & Grinnell, R. M. (2010). Statistics for social workers. New York: Allyn &
Bacon.
V. EXAMS & GRADES
Exams 2 @ 15 points each
Weekly Quizzes 10 @ 5 points each
Project
Total
30
50
20
100
Grading Scale: A = 90-100; B = 80-89; C = 70-79; D = 60-69, F = Below 60.
For this class exact grades are reported and they are not rounded up, or curved.
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Exams
This course includes two exams (Midterm and Final) worth 15 points each. Each exam will cover material from the texts designated for your class. The test question formats include multiple
choice, fill-in-the-blanks. The Final Exam will be cumulative.
Weekly quizzes:
• Students will have the opportunity to submit 11 weekly quizzes, out of which 10 will be
counted.
• They are worth 5 points each and coincide with assigned readings and course lectures of
the previous week.
• Quizzes will contain true/false, multiple-choice questions covering book chapter and discussions and may contain questions from the materials covered the week before.
• The quizzes will be placed on Desire to Learn and will be open from 11.59 am on
Monday and will stay 11.59 am each Tuesday.
Quiz Conditions:
If you miss a quiz, you will get a “zero”, no exceptions.
• However, jury duty, military duty or any other event is qualified for excuse at the instructor's discretion. For all conditions for missing quiz the instructor should be notified one
week in advance through email and providing subsequent evidence in class. The instructor will review the case and make the final decision.
The following will not be accepted as excuses to reopen a quiz. If a student misses a quiz
due to the following reasons, they will automatically get a zero, the instructor will not entertain any excuse listed below as a valid reason to reopen a quiz.
• Internet breakdown: Students are urged to take the quiz on campus through a University
computer (library, computer labs etc). In case there is a breakdown of the University
computer, screen shots should be taken and emailed to the instructor (Screenshots:
http://www.blacktonic.com/faq/how/how-do-i-take-screenshots-my-mac-pc). A note
should also be taken from the computer lab attendant present at that time specifying the
breakdown of the system. Quizzes cannot be retaken if there is an Internet failure at any
out of campus site.
• Additionally, if you are taking quiz on your smartphone or any other additional devices,
you are responsible for the action. The instructor is not responsible if your phone screen
freezes or if your Ipad stops working, and will not reopen quizzes under such conditions.
In other words, you are strongly encouraged to take the quiz during scheduled times on
an on-campus computer, preferably with a lab attendant present.
• Not knowing Desire to Learn: If you are not comfortable with Desire to Learn then it is
preferable to get training on using it. Not knowing D2L will not be considered a valid
excuse. Not “saving” the quiz on D2L will also not be considered valid.
• It is your responsibility to check your grades and notify the instructor promptly if you
have taken a quiz, and the grade was not listed in D2L within 24 hours. If you report any
later than 24 hours, the instructor will not treat it as valid.
• The grades of this course will be constantly updated on D2L. It is your responsibility to
check D2L and keep yourself informed about grades. Asking to reopen quizzes for not
understanding grading criteria, or not checking D2L will not be considered valid reason
to open quizzes.
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Project
This is a group assignment worth 20 points. The assignment will require you to create your own
data set as a class, your group will write a research hypothesis, enter the data into SPSS, choose
the appropriate statistical tests, and interpret the results. Your group has to write a 3 page paper
on it following APA format. Among other things, points will be deducted for incorrect APA.
VI. COURSE POLICIES
• Class Conduct Expectations: Students need to be on time and prepared for class. This
means being present both physically and mentally. Class lecture is not to be interrupted
by electronic devices, late arrivals or talking.
o Doing other assignments, Internet searches, conversing with others or anything else
besides taking notes and asking questions related to class will not be tolerated.
o Students are expected to conduct themselves in a manner, which is respectful towards the instructor, guest speakers and fellow students.
o Students who leave class without informing the instructor in advance will be
considered disrupting and disrespectful to the instructor and peers. Students
can lose up to 10 points for any kind of disruption.
•
Attendance: Attendance is mandatory.
o Only two (2) unexcused absences will be accepted for the semester. Students
must communicate to the instructor through email in order to request an excused
absence. The granting of Excused absences is up to the instructor’s discretion.
o Students will loose 5 points off their total grade for each unexcused absence.
o In the event that a student has 4 or more total excused or unexcused absences, the student will fail the course.
•
Academic Dishonesty: Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to: plagiarism
(plagiarism is discussed at length at this website: http://www.plagiarism.org/), misleading
the instructor, sharing test information with students from other sections, failure to adequately contribute to group projects, and turning in work done for another course.
•
Incomplete Grade: In keeping with the University and School of Social Work policy,
incompletes are given only when a student is unable to complete the course requirements
for reasons beyond his/her control. A student wishing an incomplete must submit a written request stating the nature of the emergency. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES MAY
AN INCOMPLETE BE GIVEN IF THE STUDENT IS FAILING THE COURSE.
•
Disability Statement: If you have any type of special need(s) or disability for which you
require accommodations to promote your learning in this class, please contact me by
January 29th, 2015. You may wish to contact office of Disability Support Services
(DDS) directly at 453-5738 or go to Room 150 at Woody Hall to verify your eligibility
and options for accommodations related to your special need(s) or disability. Without eligibility verification through DDS, it will be not possible for me to provide you with additional accommodations.
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•
Emergency Procedures: Southern Illinois University Carbondale is committed to
providing a safe and healthy environment for study and work. Because some health and
safety circumstances are beyond our control, we ask that you become familiar with the
SIUC Emergency Response Plan and Building Emergency Response Team (BERT) program. Emergency response information is available on posters in buildings on campus,
available on the BERT’s website at www.bert.siu.edu, Department of Public Safety’s
website www.dps.siu.edu (disaster drop down) and in the Emergency Response Guidelines pamphlet. Know how to respond to each type of emergency.
•
Instructor Rights: The instructor reserves the right to change the schedule, assignments,
and/or evaluation criteria throughout the semester. You will occasionally receive other
assignments or readings as the instructor deems fit. Any changes will be announced to
the class with sufficient notice to prepare for the changes. It is your responsibility to
keep informed about discussion topics and assignments. If in doubt, check with your instructor. (Source: http://ehs.siu.edu/epse/common/documents/syllabi/epsy549.pdf)
VII. This is a TENTATIVE SCHEDULE, subject to change according to class needs.
Week 1: Jan 20 & 22
Ch 1, Introduction
Quiz 1: Jan 26
Week 2: Jan 27 & 29
Ch 2, Frequency Distributions and Graphs
Quiz 2: Feb 2
Week 3: Feb 3 & 5
Ch 3, Central Tendency and Variability
Quiz 3: Feb 9
Week 4: Feb 10 & 12
Ch 4, Normal Distributions
Quiz 4: Feb 16
Week 5: Feb 17 & 19
Ch 5, Hypothesis Testing: Basic Principles
Quiz 5: Feb 23
Week 6: Feb 24 & 26
Ch 6, Sampling Distributions
Quiz 6: Mar 2
Week 7: Mar 3 & 5
Tying up loose ends
Week 8: Mar 7 to 15
Spring Break.
Week 9: Mar 17 & 19
Midterm March 17th, 9.35-10.50am on D2L.
Week 10: Mar 24 & 26
Ch 7, t-Tests and ANOVA
Quiz 7: Mar 30
Week 11: Mar 31 & Apr 2 Ch 8, Chi-Square Test
Quiz 8: Apr 6
Week 12: April 7 & 9
Ch 9, Correlation
Quiz 9: Apr 13
Week 13: April 14 & 16
Ch 10, Regression
Quiz 10: Apr 20
Week 14: April 21 & 23
Ch 11, Program Evaluation
Quiz 11: Apr 27
Week 15: April 28 & 30
Tying up loose ends.
Week 16: May 5 & 7
May 5th, Project submission; discussion.
Finals Week
Final Exam May 14th, 8.00-10.00am on D2L.
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