Confounding, Lurking Variables, and Designing Experiments

Week 2: January 18 through January 21

MATH 216 ~ Probability and Statistics for Natural Science Majors ~ Spring 2005

Class meeting schedule and topics

Tuesday, January 18 ~	Simpson's Paradox
Wednesday, January 19 ~	Designing experiments
Friday, January 21 ~	Statistical significance
Monday, January 24 ~	Probability and counting methods

Homework Assignments

5. Due Wednesday, January 19

   Required work

   • Review Section 1-3 on Confounding
   • Practice Problem 1-8 or Practice Problem 1-9 on page 30

   Optional work

   • Practice Problem 1-9 or Practice Problem 1-8 on page 30

6. Due Friday, January 21

   Required work

   • Review Section 1-3 on Confounding
   • Practice Problem 1-11 on page 35

   Optional work

   • Practice Problem 1-10 on page 35

7. Due Monday, January 24

   Required work

   • Review Section 1-4 on Designing Experiments
   • Practice Problem 1-13 on page 44
   • Practice Problem 1-14 on page 44
     Note that you may use common sayings for this problem. See a list of common sayings at www.math.iup.edu/~tshort/handouts/protocols.html.

   Optional work

   • Practice Problems 1-12 and 1-15 on page 44