STAT 3001 - Midterm Exam I Study Guide: Probability Theory and Descriptive Statistics, Exams of Statistics

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STAT 3000 - Section 002

Fall 2001

Study Guide for the Midterm Exam I

Your first midterm exam is scheduled for Wednesday, October 3, 2001, from 9:30am to 10:20am. The exam is worth 200 points, i.e., about 14% of your final grade.

The first midterm exam will cover material from Chapter 6 and Chapter 1 of the Hayter book (Units 1 and 2 in the lecture notes). The following topics will be included:

v Chapter 1: Probability theory

− 1.1 Probabilities − 1.2 Events − 1.3 Combination of events − 1.4 Conditional probability − 1.5 Probabilities of event intersections − 1.6 Posterior probabilities

v Chapter 6: Descriptive statistics

− 6.1 Experimentation − 6.2 Data presentation − 6.3 Sample statistics

Material not in the textbook that has been discussed in the class and/or given as a homework assignment will also be included (e.g., use and abuse of graphs, measures of shape of the distribution etc.).

The problems on the exam will be comparable to those discussed in class or given in your homework assignments 2 - 5! Calculus problems (as in the homework assignment 1) WILL NOT be included in this exam.

You will be given about 50 minutes to complete the exam. The exam will be a closed- book exam , which means that you are not allowed to use the textbook or the lecture notes. However, you are allowed to have help sheets - two sheets of paper (letter or A format) with your own notes that you have prepared at home. You may write whatever you want on both sides of these sheets (4 pages) - formulas, definitions, numbers…, you may even copy entire homework solutions or examples discussed in the class - whatever you think is most useful for you.

You should also bring a hand calculator. If you have built-in statistical functions in your calculator, you are strongly encouraged to use them (provided you already know how to use them - there will be no time during the exam to learn how to use your calculator), but not required. The problems in the exam will not require an extreme amount of calculation, so you will be able to work with a simple calculator. However, you will always have to indicate which formula you have used to get the result. Just an end result, even when it is entirely correct, is not enough to get full credits!

A review session will be organized on Monday, October 1, 2001, from 6:00pm to 7:00pm in ……………….. Attend this session if you have any question or some problems that have not been solved yet. Attending the review session is completely voluntary.

Recommended preparation for this exam includes:

• Work on the exercises from your lecture notes and your homework assignments. Study carefully the solution sheets;
• Read Chapter 1 and Chapter 6 of the Hayter book; read through your lecture notes and handouts;
• Work on the exercises provided in the book (including those that have not been given in the homework assignments);
• It is very useful to check the old exams (especially Midterms I) on http://www.math.usu.edu/~vukasino/teaching/old_exams/old_exams.htm;
• Prepare your 'help sheets' for the exam. As indicated above, you may write whatever you want on these sheets.
• Check your calculator; replace the batteries if necessary;
• The night before the exam, relax and try to get enough sleep.

Good luck!