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Quantitative Reasoning

Quantitative Reasoning. Fall 2012 Lecture Notes. Contact information. Instructor Professor Olukayode Ajayi (Professor Ajayi) SCH 424 oaajayi@ilstu.edu (best communication method) Office Hours: MWF, noon – 1:30 pm. Graduate Assistants. Graduate Assistant: Chris Farrer

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Quantitative Reasoning

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  1. Quantitative Reasoning Fall 2012 Lecture Notes

  2. Contact information • Instructor • Professor Olukayode Ajayi (Professor Ajayi) • SCH 424 • oaajayi@ilstu.edu (best communication method) • Office Hours: MWF, noon – 1:30 pm

  3. Graduate Assistants • Graduate Assistant: Chris Farrer • Office: 408D SCH • Email: crfarre@ilstu.edu • Office Hours: MTW 1 pm – 3 pm

  4. Contact Instructions • Use ReggieNet • Send ALL email to BOTH the instructor and the Graduate Assistants • Email not meeting these criteria will be deleted unread

  5. Class Documents • All documents on ReggieNet • Library assistance here • Syllabus and Lecture Notes • On-line – Lecture notes by 9 am Thursday • Spend your time • Listening • Writing down salient points • Writing down questions • Each lecture note slide is numbered

  6. Attendance and Participation • Attendance • Mandatory • Random checks • 50 points

  7. My Philosophy • Welcome to the real world • This is your job • I am your boss • You must follow instructions to the letter • You will treat everyone with respect • This class requires you to think for yourselves • You get to pick your topic • MAKE SURE YOU HAVE DATA!!!!!!! • More on this later …

  8. Exams • None

  9. Detailed syllabus review

  10. Resources • On Reggienet: • Research Paper Rubric and Guidance • Research Paper Template • Library Assistance • Subject librarians will be here next week

  11. Paper Overview

  12. Research Paper • Topic • What I want to talk about and why • Literature Review • What others think about my topic • Positions illustrated by articles • Research Question • The question I want to answer • Hypothesis • My answer to my question

  13. Research Paper Criteria • Variables • Independent, dependent and control • Operational definitions • Research Design • How I will investigate my hypothesis • Data • What I find out • Conclusions • What my data means • Is my hypothesis correct? • Implications for future research

  14. What is Quantitative Reasoning? • Do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Why? • Intervening in Libya was the right thing to do • The United States should not intervene in Syria • Romney has thebest chance to beat Obama • The Bears are the best team in the NFL • Who is right? How do we find out?

  15. Normative versus Empirical • Empirical statements • Refer to what is true or false • Can be confirmed or disproved by investigation • May be questions or statements • May deal with past, present, or future • Examples?

  16. Normative statements • Deal with what is • Good or bad • Desirable or undesirable • Beautiful or ugly • Cannot be answered objectively • Depend on value judgment • Even if all agree with the statement, may still be normative – i.e. not empirically testable • E.g. Murder is bad • Other examples?

  17. Analytical statements • Validity is dependent on assumptions or definitions, not empirical observations • Example • Is it possible for a candidate to be elected president by the electoral college without having the greater number of popular votes?

  18. Week 2 Assignments • Start thinking about your own examples of normative and empirical statements or questions • Start thinking about a topic for your paper • The topic may be normative (at this stage) • Be broad in your topic • If you think “drinking soda causes obesity”, your topic is “causesof obesity”, not “drinking soda causes obesity”! • Find DATA!!!!! • Examples here, here, and here

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