Concepts in Computing with Data

STAT 133

Making Data

On one side of your card write answers to the following questions (borrow a pen from a neighbor if needed):

1. What is your lab number? (integer)
2. How many years have you been at Cal? (integer)
3. Are you a Statistics major? (true / false)

On the other side of the card write answers to the following questions:

1. What was your “song of the summer”? (character string)
2. What is the farthest that you were from Cal this summer in miles? (numeric)

Before Class

• Project first slide showing laptop policy.
• Write lab section number / times / GSIS on board.
• Pass out index cards, one to each student.

On this slide Circulate through the room as this is happening to check in on students.

With the people around you…

Take a few minutes to share your name and the answers to the questions that you wrote down.

03:00

Introduce the course staff.

What this class is about

In preparation for the case study that follows, ask “Raise your hand if you have ever voted by mail. Did you enjoy it? Would you rather have gone to a polling place?”.

The way elections are conducted has become contentious. Those in support of vote by mail say it increases the franchise: gets more people to vote. Those in support of-in person voting say it increasing civic participation and is less subject to fraud. The current administration is pushing to eliminate vote by mail in favor of in-person voting.

The reason why we vote by mail in California is because of how they vote in Oregon.

• 1998 Oregon 1st state to conduct elections by mail.
• Voters mailed a ballot a month before.
• They return it at their leisure.

What are the dynamics of this form of voting?
What is “turnout” over time?

In 1998, Oregon became the first state to conduct its elections exclusively by mail. Every election, all registered voters are automatically mailed ballots to their home address roughly a month before the election. Voters then vote at their leisure and mail back or drop off their ballot sometime before the election closes. Due to concerns about the Covid-19 pandemic, many other states have implemented some version of Oregon’s voting system in preparation for the November 3rd, 2020 election next Tuesday.

At the end, before switching slides, ask: “What data would be useful to answer this question? Where could I find it?”

Ask: “What appears to be stored in each cell?”

Answer: the number of ballots received since last recorded date in that county.

Computational workflow

1. Access and store data
2. Perform Optical Character Recognition (OCR): PDF > .xls, .csv

What is “turnout” over time?

Boardwork

What is “turnout” over time?

Compuational workflow

1. Access and store data
2. Perform Optical Character Recognition (OCR): PDF > .xls, .csv
3. Isolate data from Deschutes County
4. Convert day from words to numbers
5. Create new column of cumulative returns
6. Create line plot

Boardwork

How this class works

Who takes it

Statistics major

Cornerstones

Lecture

• Stow laptops and phones
• I’ll do mix of slides and boardwork
• Take handwritten notes (paper or tablet)

Lab

• Sometimes working as a class to get hands-on practice with computing.
• Usually one of the following:
  • Code Interviews: 1 on 1 with GSI.
  • Project Studio: Presenting your work on part of your project to two students an the GSI.

Assignment types

• 15% Code Interviews (on Problem Sets)
• 15% Project Studio (on Projects)
• 40% Quizzes: Every two weeks in the CBTF
• 30% Final Exam: Monday of finals week 7 - 10 pm

Before Next Time

1. Review syllabus at <stat133.berkeley.edu>
2. Ask a question or leave a comment on EdStem about it

Parting words

1. You’ll get out of this course what you put into it.
2. We’re here to support you