Course Syllabus
ECO220Y1Y: Quantitative Methods in Economics, 2018/19, Prof. Murdock
L0201: Wed 11-1, SS 2102; L0301: Wed 2-4, PB B250 (B150 Winter); L0401: Tues 2-4, MP 102
All three sections have Fridays 9-11 reserved for tests, tutorials, and other events
Final Exam Bulletin Board
Visit the Final Exam Bulletin Board for information about our common (all sections of ECO220Y) final exam. For help, see the TA Aid Centre schedule during the final exam period.
Schedule: Slides, readings, HW, tutorials, and tests
The complete Fall 2018 schedule of events and Winter 2019 schedule of events, with links to key course materials, are below.
The Data Analysis Course Module (DACM)
The Data Analysis Course Module (DACM) is an important part of ECO220Y. This dedicated DACM Quercus site provides all details.
Quercus Quizzes
See the What to expect for Quercus quizzes page.
Readings
See the Readings page, which has all the readings for the course in one spot.
The Economics Study Centre: Some Peer Mentor Recommendations
See The Economics Study Centre. There is an amazing ALL-STAR team of Peer Mentors to help you with ECO220Y1Y for 2018/19. So many of my very top students from 2016/17 and 2017/18 are serving. Further, Peer Mentors are selected not just for academic achievement but also excellent communication skills. I would strongly encourage you to take advantage of this amazing resource. For best service, go regularly and not just the day before tests (when it can get crowded).
Peer Mentors (alphabetical by last name) who took ECO220Y1Y with me (all with truly excellent to outstanding results):
- Alejandra Bellatin (took ECO220Y with me in 2017/18)
- Kathleen Chen (took ECO220Y with me in 2017/18)
- Andrew Harrison (took ECO220Y with me in 2017/18)
- Ren Ivan Hsieh (took ECO220Y with me in 2017/18)
- Gulru Inan (took ECO220Y with me in 2016/17)
- Jocelyn Ji (took ECO220Y with me in 2017/18)
- Yu Mao (took ECO220Y with me in 2016/17)
- Jenney Ren (took ECO220Y with me in 2017/18)
- Saarah Sheikh (took ECO220Y with me in 2016/17)
- Amelie Xiaotian Zhang (took ECO220Y with me in 2016/17)
- Diana Zhang (took ECO220Y with me in 2017/18)
Note that DACM first started in 2017/18. However, all the Peer Mentors who took ECO220Y with me in 2016/17 also served as Peer Mentors last year: they are particularly experienced. Also, Christopher Sims (took ECO220Y in 2017/18) did great with another professor and knows our curriculum and DACM well. Whenever you go to the Study Centre you will be sure to find a helpful Peer Mentor. We have particularly amazing coverage for ECO220Y1Y this year.
Fall 2018 Schedule
| Day, Date | Event |
RR (required readings): complete BEFORE class HW (homework): complete soon AFTER class |
| Fri, Sept 7 | TA tutorial |
Introduction to tutorials and prerequisite review RR: Prerequisite Review with a Diagnostic Quiz |
| Tues/Wed, Sept 11/12 | Lecture 1 |
Course overview, sampling, data & describing categorical data RR: Chapters 1 – 4; HW: HW 1 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Sept 14 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Sept 17 | Quercus Quiz 1 due |
Week 1 material (Lecture 1 and HW 1) & prerequisite review See the What to expect for Quercus quizzes page. |
| Tues/Wed, Sept 18/19 | Lecture 2 |
Histograms, central tendency & variability RR: Sections 5.1 – 5.6; HW: HW 2 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Sept 21 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Sept 24 | Quercus Quiz 2 due | Week 2 material |
| Tues/Wed, Sept 25/26 | Lecture 3 |
Percentiles, STATA, box plots, standardizing & other transformations RR: Sections 5.7 – 5.14; HW: HW 3 (Solutions) |
| Wed, Sept 26 | DACM Module A Quiz Due | (Opens on Fri, Sept 21) |
| Fri, Sept 28 | TA Review for Test #1 | Report to room ES1050 at 9:10am (Note: There is nothing happening in KP108 on Friday, September 28.) |
| Mon, Oct 1 | Quercus Quiz 3 due | Week 3 material |
| Tues/Wed, Oct 2/3 | Lecture 4 |
Describing associations, covariance, correlation & causality RR: Chapter 6 & SW11 (see Readings page); HW: HW 4 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Oct 5 | TEST #1 | 9:10 – 11am; See Announcements for details |
| Mon, Oct 8 | THANKSGIVING | (No Quercus Quiz due: a break) |
| Tues/Wed, Oct 9/10 | Lecture 5 |
Simple regression: OLS, interpretation, ANOVA & R-squared RR: Sections 7.1 – 7.7, 19.4; HW: HW 5 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Oct 12 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Oct 15 | Quercus Quiz 4/5 due | Weeks 4-5 material |
| Tues/Wed, Oct 16/17 | Lecture 6 |
Logarithms in regression analysis with Asiaphoria & Dummy Variables RR: “Logarithms in Regression Analysis with Asiaphoria”, Section 7.8; HW: HW 6 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Oct 19 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Oct 22 | Quercus Quiz 6 due | Week 6 material |
| Tues/Wed, Oct 23/24 |
Randomness & probability RR: Chapter 8; HW: HW 7 (Solutions) |
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| Fri, Oct 26 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Oct 29 | -- | (No Quercus Quiz due: a break) |
| Tues/Wed, Oct 30/31 | Lecture 8 |
Random variables & discrete distributions RR: Sections 9.1 – 9.4, 9.6 (9.5 optional); HW: HW 8 (Solutions) |
| Wed, Oct 31 | DACM Module B Quiz Due | (Opens on Fri, Oct 26) |
| Fri, Nov 2 | TA Review for Test #2 | Report to room ES1050 at 9:10am (Note: There is nothing happening in KP108 on Friday, November 2.) |
| Mon, Nov 5 – Fri, Nov 9 | READING WEEK | No classes and no tutorials, but office hours continue as usual |
| Mon, Nov 12 | Quercus Quiz 7/8 due | Weeks 7-8 material |
| Tues/Wed, Nov 13/14 | Lecture 9 |
Continuous distributions [The Normal table] RR: Sections 9.8 – 9.11, “The Normal Table: Read It, Use It,” (Optional: 9.7, 9.12, “Normal Probability Plots” pp. 280-2); HW: HW 9 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Nov 16 | TEST #2 | 9:10 – 11am; See Announcements for details (including the article from The Star) |
| Mon, Nov 19 | Quercus Quiz 9 due | Week 9 material |
| Tues/Wed, Nov 20/21 | Lecture 10 |
Sampling distributions & sampling distribution of P-hat RR: Sections 10.1 – 10.2; HW: HW 10 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Nov 23 | TA tutorial | Fully-labelled graphs, Normal approximation to Binomial & sampling distribution of P-hat Report to room ES1050 at 9:10amOR at 10:10am for a 50-minute TA tutorial. (Note: There is nothing happening in KP108 on Friday, November 23.) |
| Mon, Nov 26 | Quercus Quiz 10 due | Week 10 material |
| Tues/Wed, Nov 27/28 | Lecture 11 |
Sampling distribution of X-bar & simulation methods RR: Sections 10.3 – 10.5; HW: HW 11 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Nov 30 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Dec 3 | Quercus Quiz 11 due |
Week 11 material Note: The next quiz (Quercus Quiz 12) opens on Friday, December 7 and is due Monday, January 7 |
| Tues/Wed, Dec 4/5 | Lecture 12 |
Confidence interval estimation: single proportion & differences between proportions RR: Chapter 11; HW: HW 12 (Solutions) |
| Thur, Dec 6 – Fri, Jan 4 | BREAK | No classes, no tutorials, and no office hours Note: Quercus Quiz 12 opens on Friday, December 7 and is due Monday, January 7 |
Winter 2019 Schedule
| Day, Date | Event |
RR (required readings): complete BEFORE class HW (homework): complete soon AFTER class |
| Mon, Jan 7 | Quercus Quiz 12 due |
Week 12 material Note: Opens on Friday, December 7 at noon |
| Tues/Wed, Jan 8/9 | Lecture 13 |
Hypothesis testing using a P-value approach RR: Sections 12.1 – 12.3; HW: HW 13 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Jan 11 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Jan 14 | Quercus Quiz 13 due | Week 13 material |
| Tues/Wed, Jan 15/16 | Lecture 14 (typo on Slide 14 fixed) |
Alpha, statistical vs. economic (business) significance, economic (business) significance, rejection region (critical value) approach & comparing proportions RR: Sections 12.4 – 12.8; HW: HW 14 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Jan 18 | TEST #3 | 9:10 – 11am; See announcement Test #3 |
| Mon, Jan 21 | Quercus Quiz 14 due | Week 14 material |
| Tues/Wed, Jan 22/23 | Lecture 15 |
Type I errors, Type II errors & power RR: Sections 12.9 – 12.10; HW: HW 15 (Solutions) See "Adaptive Partial Drug Approval: A Health Policy Proposal" on Readings page |
| Fri, Jan 25 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Jan 28 | -- | (No Quercus Quiz due: a break) |
| Tues/Wed, Jan 29/30 | Lecture 16 |
Inference about mu: estimation & hypothesis testing [The Student t table] RR: Chapter 13; HW: HW 16 (Solutions) |
| Wed, Jan 30 | DACM Module C Quiz Due | (Opens on Fri, Jan 25) |
| Fri, Feb 1 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Feb 4 | Quercus Quiz 15/16 due | Weeks 15-16 material |
| Tues/Wed, Feb 5/6 | Lecture 17 |
Inference about the difference between means RR: Chapter 14; HW: HW 17 (Solutions) File referenced in HW 17: credit_spending.xlsx |
| Fri, Feb 8 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Feb 11 | Quercus Quiz 17 due | Week 17 material |
| Tues/Wed, Feb 12/13 | Lecture 18 |
Simple regression model (assumptions) RR: Sections 18.1 – 18.2, “Logarithms in Regression Analysis with Asiaphoria,” 19.6 – 19.8 (Optional: Discussion of “Normal probability plot” pp. 607-8); HW: HW 18 (Solutions) File referenced in Lecture 18: ch18_MCSP_Frozen_Pizza.csv |
| Fri, Feb 15 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Feb 18 – Fri, Feb 22 | READING WEEK | No classes and no tutorials, but office hours continue as usual. |
| Mon, Feb 25 | -- | (No Quercus Quiz due: a break) |
| Tues/Wed, Feb 26/27 | Lecture 19 |
Statistical inference with regression RR: Sections 18.3 – 18.6, 19.2; HW: HW 19 (Solutions) |
| Wed, Feb 27 | DACM Module D Quiz Due | (Opens on Fri, Feb 22) |
| Fri, Mar 1 | TA Review for Test #4 | Report to room ES1050 at 9:10am (Note: There is nothing happening in KP108 on Friday, Mar 1.) |
| Mon, Mar 4 | Quercus Quiz 18/19 due | Weeks 18-19 material |
| Tues/Wed, Mar 5/6 | Lecture 20 |
Multiple regression: model & interpretation RR: Sections 20.1 – 20.3; HW: HW 20 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Mar 8 | TEST #4 | 9:10 – 11am; See Test #4 Announcement for details |
| Mon, Mar 11 | Quercus Quiz 20 due | Week 20 material |
| Tues/Wed, Mar 12/13 | Lecture 21 |
Interpretation (again), overall statistical significance & fit of a multiple regression model [The F table] RR: Sections 20.4 – 20.6; HW: HW 21 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Mar 15 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Mar 18 | Quercus Quiz 21 due | Week 21 material |
| Tues/Wed, Mar 19/20 | Lecture 22 |
Dummy variables & interaction terms RR: Sections 19.3, 21.1 – 21.3, “Waterloo 2016 Salary Disparities” (Quercus) (Optional: “Standardized Residuals,” “Influence Measures” pp. 737-9); HW: HW 22 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Mar 22 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Mar 25 | Quercus Quiz 22 due | Week 22 material; Note: This is the last Quercus Quiz |
| Tues/Wed, Mar 26/27 | Lecture 23 |
Quadratic Terms, Connecting (mu1-mu2) to Regression, and an Economics Paper Illustrating Regression in Action RR: “Quadratic terms” (Quercus); HW: HW 23 (Solutions) |
| Fri, Mar 29 | DACM TA tutorial | For details, see the DACM Handbook |
| Mon, Apr 1 | -- | (No Quercus Quiz due: a break) |
| Tues/Wed, Apr 2/3 | Lecture 24 |
More Regression Applications (No RR or HW) |
| Wed, Apr 3 | DACM Module E Quiz Due | (Opens on Fri, Mar 29) |
| Fri, Apr 5 | TEST #5 (OPEN MAKE-UP) | 9:10 – 11am; See Test #5 Announcement for details |
| Tues, Apr 30 | FINAL EXAM | See the Final Exam Bulletin Board (on the DACM Quercus site); See the TA Aid Centre schedule during the final exam period. Date, time and location has been set by A&S: TUE APR 30, 2:00 - 5:00 PM Rooms are assigned by first letter(s) of your last name:
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Help from our TAs
See the TA Aid Centre schedule during the final exam period.
| Event(s) | Starting date and links for details |
| Weekly Tutorials | See the Fall 2018 Schedule and Winter 2019 Schedule for schedule. For the DACM Tutorials, see the DACM Handbook on Quercus for details. |
| Weekly TA Office Hours with Head TA Aly | Mondays, 3:00 - 4:00pm, GE 313, third floor of the Economics Department, 150 St George Street. These start on September 17th and run through April 8 (with a break for Thanksgiving, Family Day, and the Winter break). |
| Extra TA Sessions before tests/exam | See the Fall 2018 Schedule and Winter 2019 Schedule for those scheduled during regular Friday morning time slot. Additional TA Aid Centers before each term test and the final exam will be announced on Quercus. |
| Our Head TA, who manages the Quercus Quizzes and remark requests for term tests is Aly Somani (aly.somani@mail.utoronto.ca). | |
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
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