The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the theory and application of quantitative methodology. I will cover a wide variety of statistical approaches to confront the political, economic, and sociological theories. The basic tools will be the least squares estimation in multiple regression analysis. Topics include the properties of the estimators, hypothesis testing, dummy variables, specification error, multicollinearity, heteroskedasticity, and serial correlation. Several extended subjects, such as the analysis for qualitative response, panel data, and time-series data, will also be introduced.
Although there is no prerequisite for this course, basic understanding of descriptive and inferential statistics is assumed. Fundamental algebra and calculus will be used and several of the tools will be reviewed when necessary for the material in the class.