What's On This Page?
Instructor and student resources for DSS (some works in progress):
What's NOT On This Page?
- The source files used to produce the syllabus, slides, and exercises
- The datasets and solutions for the additional replication exercises
OVERVIEW OF MY COURSE
My course progresses through small, digestible exercises that students work through at least three times: first by following along with the exercises in the textbook on their own computer, then through the in-class exercises we complete together, and again in the weekly take-home problem sets. All three—textbook, in-class exercises, and problem sets—run in parallel, drawing on the same statistical concepts and code but asking students to answer different research questions by analyzing other real-world datasets. This gives students repeated hands-on experience, which is key to building skills, and shows them how to apply quantitative reasoning across a variety of contexts.
- Logistics: My course meets for 23-25 sessions, each 75 minutes long. If you have fewer meetings, I recommend skipping the review sessions (lectures 8, 12, 16) and, if you must, also one or two of the final lectures (22, 23, and 24).
- Content: It skips some of the more advanced topics in DSS because it is designed for undergraduates with no prior experience in coding or statistics, and minimal math background.
- My syllabus is here (updated: 06/27/2025).
- The in-class exercises are included in the lecture slides below, and my problem sets are identified among the additional replication exercises further down.
- If you plan to use my student resources, I recommend directing students to the DSS Student Resources website (bit.ly/dss_student_resources), which includes all student-facing materials.
- Instructors can request an exam copy of the book here.
- All code and datasets used in the book are available in the DSS folder here. Those used in the additional replication exercises are provided only to instructors using DSS as the main textbook.
- Questions? Feel free to email me at ellaudet [at] gmail [dot] com. Feedback? Please share it through this short survey (submissions can be anonymous).
LECTURE SLIDES (currently reviewing)
My lecture slides are meant to complement DSS, not replace it. They skip some of the more advanced topics covered in the book and do not repeat all the details found in it.
- Lecture 1. Course Introduction (updated: 06/27/2025)
- Lecture 2. Introduction to RStudio and R (Readings: 1-1.6) (updated: 07/01/2025)
- Lecture 3. Observations and Variables (Readings: 1.7) (updated: 07/02/2025)
- Lecture 4. Computing and Interpreting Means (Readings: 1.8-1.10) (updated: 07/01/2025)
- Lecture 5. Causal Effects and Randomized Experiments (Readings: 2-2.4) (updated: 07/02/2025)
- Lecture 6. Does Social Pressure Affect Turnout? (Readings: 2.5-2.7) (updated: 07/02/2025)
- Lecture 7. Survey Research and Exploring One Variable at a Time (Readings: 3-3.4) (updated: 07/05/2025)
- Lecture 8. Review (updated: 07/08/2025)
- Lecture 9. Exploring the Relationship Between Two Variables (Readings: 3.5-3.7) (updated: 07/08/2025)
- Lecture 10. Predicting Non-Binary Outcomes with Linear Regression (Readings: 4-4.4.1) (updated: 07/12/2025)
- Lecture 11. Predicting Binary Outcomes with Linear Regression (Readings: 4.6-4.9) (updated: 07/21/2025)
- Lecture 12. Review
- Lecture 13. Estimating Causal Effects with Observational Data (Readings: 5-5.3.1) (updated: 07/25/2025)
- Lecture 14. Controlling for Confounders Using Multiple Linear Regression (Readings: 5.3.2-5.4.2)
- Lecture 15. Internal and External Validity (Readings: 5.5-5.7)
- Lecture 16. Review
- Lecture 17. Midterm Exam
- Lecture 18. Review of the Midterm
- Lecture 19. Probability (Readings: 6-6.8)
- Lecture 20. Hypothesis Testing with Estimated Regression Coefficients (Readings: 7-7.1, 7.3-7.6)
- Lecture 21. Do Small Classes Increase Probability of Graduating
- Lecture 22. Do Women Promote Different Policies Than Men?
- Lecture 23. Does Social Pressure Affect Turnout?
- Lecture 24. Is There Racial Discrimination in the Labor Market?
- Lecture 25. Final Exam
ADDITIONAL REPLICATION EXERCISES
These exercises draw on the same statistical concepts and code used in the exercises in the book, but ask students to answer different research questions by analyzing other real-world datasets, giving students the opportunity to apply the same statistical tools across a variety of contexts. They can be used as in-class exercises or as problem sets. (I have marked those I assign in my class.):
Does Having a Criminal Record Affect the Chances of Receiving A Call Back for a Job Interview? Based on: Devah Pager. 2003. "The Mark of a Criminal Record." American Journal of Sociology, 108 (5): 937-75.
- Part I: Loading and Making Sense of Data (Chapter 1)
- Part II: Computing and Interpreting Means (Chapter 1)
- Part III: Estimating an Average Causal Effect (Chapter 2)
- Part IV: Focus on White Applicants (Chapter 7)
- Part V: Focus on Black Applicants (Chapter 7)
Does Social Pressure Affect Turnout? Based on: Alan Gerber, Donald Green, and Christopher Larimer. 2008. "Social Pressure and Voter Turnout: Evidence from a Large-Scale Field Experiment." American Political Science Review, 102(1): 33-48.
- Part I: Loading Data and Computing Means (Chapter 1)
- Part II: Estimating an Average Causal Effect (Chapter 2)
- Part III: Statistical Significance & Validity (Chapter 7)
Estimating the Bias in Self-Reported Turnout
- Part I: Loading and Making Sense of Data (Chapter 1)
- Part II: Computing and Interpreting Means (Chapter 1)
- Part III: Subsetting Variables and Creating Histograms (Chapter 3)
Do Women Promote Different Policies than Men? Based on: Raghabendra Chattopadhyay and Esther Duflo. 2004. "Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from a Randomized Policy Experiment in India." Econometrica, 72 (5): 1409-43.
- Part I: Loading and Making Sense of Data (Chapter 1; Problem Set #1)
- Part II: Computing and Interpreting Means (Chapter 1; Problem Set #2)
- Part III: Estimating an Average Causal Effect (Chapter 2; Problem Set #3)
- Part IV: Visualizations and Correlations (Chapter 3; Problem Set #4)
- Part V: Effect on Drinking Water Facilities (Chapter 7; Problem Set #9)
- Part VI: Effect on Irrigation Facilities (Chapter 7)
Predicting Course Grades Using Midterm Scores
- Part I: Predicting Final Exam Scores (Chapter 4)
- Part II: Predicting Overall Scores (Chapter 4; Problem Set #5)
- Part III: Predicting Probability of Earning an A or A- (Chapter 4)
- Part IV: Quantifying Uncertainty (Chapter 7)
What is the Effect of the Death of the Leader on the Level of Democracy? Based on: Benjamin Jones and Benjamin Olken. 2009. "Hit or Miss? The Effect of Assassinations on Institutions and War." American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 1 (2): 55-87.
- Part I: Visualizations and Correlations (Chapter 3)
- Part II: Difference-in-Means Estimator (Chapter 5; Problem Set #6)
- Part III: Controlling for Confounders (Chapter 5)
Other One-Part Exercises
- Evidence of Data Fabrication Based on: David Broockman, Joshua Kalla, and Peter Aronow. "Irregularities in LaCour (2014)" (Chapter 3)
- Predicting Elections Using Betting Markets (Chapter 4)
- Does Having a Black Candidate Running Increase Black Turnout? Based on: Bernard Fraga. 2016. "Candidates or Districts? Reevaluating the Role of Race in Voter Turnout." American Journal of Political Science, 60: 97-122. (Chapter 5)
- Do Political TV Ads Affect Voter Turnout? Based on: Ansolabehere, Stephen, Shanto Iyengar, Adam Simon and Nicholas Valentino. 1994. "Does Attack Advertising Demobilize the Electorate?" The American Political Science Review, Vol. 88, No. 4, pp. 829-838. (Chapter 5; Problem Set #7)
- Multiple-Choice Questions on Probability (Chapter 6; Problem Set #8)
- Do Small Classes in Elementary School Improve Student Outcomes? Based on: Frederick Mosteller, "The Tennessee Study of Class Size in the Early School Grades," Future of Children 5, no.2 (1995): 113-27. (Chapter 7)
- Is There Racial Discrimination in the Labor Market? Based on: Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan. 2004. "Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination." American Economic Review, 94 (4): 991-1013. (Chapter 7; Problem Set for Extra Credit)
INTERACTIVE GRAPHS (work in progress)
To help students develop an intuition about some of the key concepts in statistics:
- Random Treatment Assignment (Chapter 2)
- Random Sampling (Chapter 3)
- Mean and Standard Deviation (Chapter 3)
- Correlation Coefficient (Chapter 3)
- Intercept and Slope (Chapter 4)
- Least Squares Method (Chapter 4)
- Law of Large Numbers (coming soon) (Chapter 6)
- Central Limit Theorem (coming soon) (Chapter 7)
SELF-GRADED REVIEW EXERCISES (work in progress)
To enable students to check their understanding of the material on their own (run code in linked R script in RStudio):
VIDEOS (work in progress)
- How to Run a Randomized Experiment (Chapter 2)
- How to Fit a Line to Predict Y Based on X (Chapter 4)
ADDITIONAL READINGS (work in progress)
- How to Use Posit Cloud for Data Analysis (Chapter 1)