- 2 - Geography 391 Syllabus 1/8/2008
Geography 391: Quantitative Methods in Geography
Contact Information
Instructor: Dan Weiss ()
Course Places & Times
Classroom: Saunders Hall, Room 204
2:00-2:50, Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Office Hours: Saunders Hall, Room 317
3:00-4:00 PM, Wednesday
Or by appointment
Links to Course Information
Course Website: http://www.unc.edu/courses/2008spring/geog/391/001/
UNC Blackboard: http://blackboard.unc.edu/
Course Description
This course is designed to introduce elementary statistical analysis methods in the context of geography. This course will cover descriptive statistics, hypothesis formulation and testing, sampling strategies, and correlation and regression analysis. For the application of these statistical methods, students will learn how to use numerical computing software to process example datasets drawn from physical and human geography. Through the course students will gain a basic understanding of quantitative methods used by geographers and gain experience describing and solving research problems from a statistical perspective.
Course Objectives
1. To learn the concepts, definitions, and applications of basic descriptive and inferential statistics used by geographers in research.
2. To introduce basic statistical measures for quantifying spatial relationships between different data.
3. To learn how to choose appropriate statistical techniques for describing, interpreting, and predicting geographical variables and data.
4. To learn how to use numerical computing software for statistical analysis and visualization on large data sets.
Course Textbook
Burt, J.E. and Barber, G.M. (1995). Elementary Statistics for Geographers, 2nd edition. (ISBN: 0898629993)
Course Software
Some homework assignments for this class will be done in the Microsoft Excel and/or S-Plus software packages. Microsoft Excel is installed on most lab computers on campus (and probably already installed on your laptop). To obtain a copy of S-Plus for your laptop, send a request to the software acquisition office (https://software.unc.edu/available.php). When your order is complete, you can pick up the CD at the software acquisition office located in the basement of House Undergraduate Library.
Course Organization
Monday & Wednesday: Lecture (see calendar below for topics)
Lecture notes (PowerPoint slides) will be available on Blackboard
Friday: Statistical technique demonstrations using selected software
Readings
Readings from the textbook will be detailed in class and on the course webpage. The lecture content will closely follow the assigned readings, which should be read before class.
Lecture Notes
Lecture notes for this course will be posted on BlackBoard and on the course website.
Homework
Weekly homework assignments will consist of problem sets and short lab assignments. Homework will typically be assigned on Monday and will be due the following Monday at the beginning of class. Assignments will loose 10% for each day late.
Attendance & Participation
The concepts taught in geography 319 are cumulative in nature and attending all class meetings is strongly recommended. To encourage this behavior, as well as being on time for class, attendance will be taken at the beginning of each class. You will also be expected to participate in class discussions.
E-mail Protocol
Please include “geog391” in subject line of any e-mails you send to me in case the e-mail is intercepted by a spam filter.
Exams
There will be 3 exams in this course, 2 during the semester and one final. The final exam period for this course is Tuesday, May 6th @ 12:00 PM.
Make-up Exams
Type 1: Excused absences that the instructor is notified of in advance (at least 14 days before the exam). For this type of absence we can simply arrange a make-up time.
Type 2: Unexcused absences due to illness, emergency, or insufficient notification time. For this type of absence we must discuss the reason(s) for the absence and arrange a make-up time IF the reasons are justifiable. However, the make-up exam for this type of absence will be different and more difficult than the original exam to dissuade cheating and to compensate for additional studying time.
Grading Details
1) Homework will account for 60% of the total course grade (300/500 points).
2) Exams will count for 30% of the total course grade (150/500 points).
3) Attendance and participation will count for 10% of the total course grade (50/500 points).
Grading
Item / Points / Due DateHomework 1 / 30 / 1/23/2008
Homework 2 / 30 / 1/28/2008
Homework 3 / 30 / 2/4/2008
Homework 4 / 30 / 2/11/2008
Homework 5 / 30 / 2/25/2008
Homework 6 / 30 / 3/3/2008
Homework 7 / 30 / 3/17/2008
Homework 8 / 30 / 3/24/2008
Homework 9 / 30 / 4/7/2008
Homework 10 / 30 / 4/21/2008
Exam 1 / 50 / 2/13/2008
Exam 2 / 50 / 3/26/2008
Exam 3 / 50 / 5/6/2008
Attendance & Participation / 50