REQUIREMENTS:

Students should bring an inexpensive calculator to each class. The add, subtract, multiply, divide, and square root functions are the only ones necessary. Please do not purchase an expensive, scientific calculator just for this class. Scientific calculators and hand computers are usually more trouble than they are worth in this for our purposes.

Students are responsible for all material in the assigned portions of the text whether I discuss it explicitly or not. Once class has begun, please enter as unobtrusively as possible or wait until a break to enter the room. If you must leave the class before it is over, please tell me before the class begins unless you suddenly become ill.

Students should complete reading and homework in a manner that maintains pace with the topics being discussed and the lectures. Students are required to attend all class meetings and to take examinations and quizzes in class. (Please note that the purchase of airplane tickets, vacations, athletic events, etc., are not excuses for missing classes.) Quizzes or midterms will be given at each class meeting and are closed book. Students may use up to three pages of handwritten (not typed or photocopied) notes, the syllabus xeroxed statistical tables, and a calculator for exams and quizzes.

No final examination or extra credit assignments will be given. I will discard the lowest quiz grade and the lowest midterm grade. No makeup examinations or quizzes will be given except in extraordinary situations and then at the discretion of the instructor. After two absences I will begin to deduct one grade point for each additional absence except in extraordinary situations.

One to three hours credit for POLS 499 working on research under my supervision may also be available, depending on the semester. Interested students should contact me early in the semester.

SDSU students should also open e-mail accounts. The Social Science Research Laboratory and other such units on campus offer no-charge training in the use of e-mail. I have included my e-mail address on this syllabus to enable students to communicate with me outside my scheduled office hours for students' convenience. The syllabus is also on my website on the URL above. I anticipate that students will make use of this opportunity in case they wish to communicate with me, since I do not check my telephone voice mail at SDSU.

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. All written work must be your original work (i.e., not previously submitted for credit in any other course, either at SDSU or at any other academic institution). Any questions about this should be addressed to me in advance. Please familiarize yourself with the University Policy regarding Cheating and Plagiarism at: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/ senate/policy/pfacademics.html And also be aware of the Student Grievances procedure, available on-line at: http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/srr/statement/sectionVII.html

GRADING:

Computation of Grades. The process of computing final grades in this class is based on how individual performance compares to class averages (means) on quizzes, midterms, attendance, and other assignments. Each person's score is determined by subtracting the class mean from the score and dividing the result by a measure of how much dispersion there is around the mean for the class (the standard deviation). This is called a Z score in statistics. It adjusts all grades according to the difficulty of tests so that a person scoring high on an easy test (a test for which the class mean is very high) but who scores below the mean will receive a negative Z score while a person who scores low but above the mean on a more difficult test will receive a positive Z score. After eliminating the lowest quiz and lowest midterm scores for each student, the mean of Z scores are computed for each type of assignment (i.e., quizzes, midterms, other assignments, and attendance). A final score is computed by weighting each score by the percentage above, and then summing the weighted scores. Letter grades are assigned based on naturally occurring cut points among final scores.

In the past, persons who consistently Z scores 1 standard deviation above the class mean have received A's in the course, and persons who consistently scores near the class mean have received C's. I alone assign final grades, and students are responsible for checking the number of points assigned to each test or exercise and returning graded work for which a score has been incorrectly entered into blackboard. These kinds of corrections must be made within two weeks of the return of any returned work. NOTE: After two absences unexcused in advance, I will deduct one grade point for each additional absence. No person who fails to complete all assignments will receive a passing grade in this course.