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\centerline{MONT 106N -- Identifying Patterns}
\centerline{Information and Sample Questions for Final Exam}
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{\it General Information}
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The final exam will be given on Thursday, December     
17 from 2:30pm to 5:30pm in our regular classroom, Stein
307.  The exam will be roughly twice as long as the midterm.
If you are well-prepared and work steadily, I expect that you
will complete it within two hours.  However, if you need more
time, you will have until 5:30pm to work on the exam.

The final will cover the material from Parts I - IV (Chapters 1 - 15) 
of Freedman, Pisani, Purves.  This means in particular:
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\item{1.}  Issues about the design of studies -- controlled experiments
versus observational studies, questions like the ones from Problem Set
1 about whether conclusions are justified, possible confounding factors,
and so forth.  A question here might ask for a paragraph-length written
response rather than just a calculation.
\item{2.}  Histograms -- be able to construct histograms for 
``small'' data sets, explain the conceptual meaning of the histogram, etc.
\item{3.}  Averages, medians, and standard deviations -- be able to compute
these for ``small'' data sets by hand.  Also be prepared for 
conceptual questions about what these measures tell us about data.
\item{4.}  Normal approximation to data -- using the normal curve
and the normal curve area table (questions similar to Problem Set 3), percentiles, etc.
\item{5.}  Equations of lines in the plane.
\item{6.}  Correlation: scatter plots, the correlation coefficient, its
meaning; be able to compute the correlation coefficient in a relatively
small case.  
\item{7.}  ``Regression to the mean'' and the ``regression fallacy.''
\item{8.}  The SD and regression lines; making predictions with the regression
line, the rms error for regression, distribution within vertical strips
of the scatter plot.
\item{9.}  Chances, conditional probabilities, independence, the addition
and multiplication rules.
\item{10.}  Binomial coefficients and the binomial formula for probabilities.  
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No use of cell phones, pagers, I-pods, or any other electronic devices
beyond a calculator will be allowed during the exam -- turn them off
and stow them in your backpack.
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