Grading Policy
The final course grade will be determined based on the following breakdown:
- Research Project: 35%
- Lab Assignments: 25% (5 at 5% each)
- Problem Sets: 35% (5 at 7% each)
- Syllabus Quiz: 5%
The final numeric grade will map to the final letter grade according to SUU's standard number to-letter grade conversion scheme. Final grades ending in .5 or higher are automatically rounded up to the nearest whole percentage point.
A: 94-100
A-: 90-93
B+: 87-89
B: 84-86
B-: 80-83
C+: 77-79
C: 74-76
C-: 70-73
D+: 67-69
D: 64-66
D-: 60-63
F: 0-59
Research Project
The goals of the research assignment are to engage students with a project that interests them and apply the statistical and computational tools they develop during the course. The writing process has three stages: proposal, initial data analyses, and final submission. You will first submit a proposal describing the research question you will explore throughout the semester. This may include some description of the data you would need to answer your question. Research questions should be simple and descriptive. Examples of descriptive research questions may include:
- How do voters perceive the economic health of the US?
- How have infant mortality rates changed in sub-Saharan Africa changed over time?
- How do the compositions of political parties in majoritarian vs. proportional representation systems differ?
The proposal will be due by the end of the 3rd week of class. It should include discussion of data.
For the initial data analysis, you will need to collect and analyze data using the statistical methods we use in class, including but not limited to: means, standard deviations, probabilities, histograms, linear regression, etc. A short write-up of the results should accompany these analyses. This will prove to me that you have the data in hand, have begun analyzing it, and have an idea of how to visualize your findings.
The initial data analysis will be due by the end of the 5th week of class.
The final submission will be a full-length, 5-7 page research essay including figures and tables. A rubric for formatting guidelines will be made available. Code used to produce the statistical analyses will be provided to the instructor with the final submission of the project.
Points are not awarded for submitting the proposal and initial data analysis. Instead, a 10% reduction in the final grade will result for each deadline missed.
Lab Assignments
As part of the class, we’ll learn about statistical computing in R. Five computing exercises will be due throughout the semester that will walk students through computation. Think of this as the "practical" or "applied" portion of the course. Students will need to pass the lab assignments with an average of 70% in order to receive a passing grade for POLS 2005. Each of these is worth 7% of the final grade. A late penalty of 10% per day will be assessed. Labs will be submitted as PDF's from a knitted R Markdown file (instruction will be given on how to do this).
Problem Sets
There will be several problem sets throughout the course with applied questions related to the statistical and methodological concepts discussed in the course materials. Each of these is worth 5% of the final grade. All Problem Sets will be submitted as PDF's knitted from an R Markdown file (instruction on R Markdown will be given in the first Lab). In other words, all code to produce answers will be submitted in the PDF.
Problem Sets will not be accepted later than 3 days after the deadline, as solutions will be posted on Canvas. A late penalty of 10% per day will be assessed.
Syllabus Quiz
An open-book syllabus quiz worth 5% of the final grade will be due the first week of the course. This is to ensure all expectations and course policies are known.
Assignment Due Dates
All assignments, quizzes, and labs in this course are due on Sunday nights (11:59pm). I schedule it this way to give students the maximum amount of time possible to complete readings, quizzes, and assignments throughout the week at your own pace and according to your own schedule. HOWEVER this means that in most weeks, multiple assignments will be due at the same time. Students are responsible for planning ahead to ensure that all assignments are completed by the deadlines listed in the syllabus. In other words, you should not wait until Sunday to START the assignments/readings/labs for a particular week, and instead should pace yourself throughout the week.