Welcome
Welcome to my STAT 657 web site, and to the course. I'm looking forward to
having a relatively small class of somewhat advanced students.
With this course, I plan
to follow the text book rather closely (but will supplement it
with some additional material). I will also cover some additional procedures that
we can do with the software (but aren't covered in the text).
I will expect you to read the book very carefully
before class each week, and also read over the course notes (assuming I can keep ahead
and give you the notes at least a week ahead of time). This way, you
shouldn't have to take many notes during class and can just sit back and pay attention
to the lectures during which (1) I'll try to emphasize the important parts of the book and
the notes, and (2) I'll try to simplify some of the more complicated parts of the material.
In addition to making use of a
required text, you will be expected to use the software package
StatXact 11 (or
somehow obtain the same results that StatXact gives) for a lot of the
homework.
Since StatXact is not available in any of the GMU computing
labs, I've arranged for the company that sells it,
Cytel,
to make copies available to you at an extremely reduced price.
The
academic price of a single copy of StatXact was $1125 the last time I checked, but they are
willing to sell you a copy for $25.
Unless you already have access to the latest version of
StatXact,
version 11, and will continue to have access to it through early
December, I think that you should take advantage of the greatly reduced
pricing and buy a copy. (Note: The reduced price copy of StatXact will expire after the end
of the semester. You will download it using a link that Cytel will e-mail to you. So be sure to give me
the e-mail address that you wish to use. (It might be best if everyone just uses their GMU e-mail address.))
As opposed to you
contacting the company directly,
they want me to collect the money
and place a single order
for all of the copies that are desired. So that we can start using the
software soon, I plan to submit the order on Friday, September 7, and so
you should decide what you want to do and give me a check made out to Clifton D. Sutton (or cash) for the proper
amount ($25) by no later than Thursday, September 6.
(If you want to pay in cash, please bring me the exact amount. I might not be able to make change if say you bring two $20 bills.)
Before the first class meeting on Sep. 1, try to go over the
syllabus carefully in addition to reading Ch. 1 and the first
half of Ch. 2 of the text book. (Note:
This web page contains some comments about the first portion of Ch. 1 of the text.)