Math 180 -- Spring, 2006 -- Analytical Methods

Here is the syllabus:

Texts for this course are
“Analytical Methods for Lawyers” by Howell E. Jackson, Steven M. Shavell, W. Kip Viscusi, and
David Cope, Foundation Press, 2003. This a text created for a new first-year law course at Harvard
designed as a “…gateway to …upper level offerings[,]” and requires no previous law training. We will
cover the following parts: Chapter 1, Decision Analysis; Chapter 2, Games and Information; Chapter
3. Contracting (brief overview only); Chapter 6, Microeconomics; Chapter 7, Economic Analysis of
Law (brief overview); Chapter 8, Fundamentals of Statistical Analysis; and Chapter 9, Multivariate
Statistics. (We omit Chapter 4, Accounting and Chapter 5, Finance, which are technical in nature.) The
chapters on statistics will form a good introduction to the second text.
“A Concise Guide to Evidence-Based Psychiatry” by Gregory E. Gray, M.D., Ph.D., American
Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., 2004. The psychiatry here is secondary (except for the references which
would be helpful to practitioners); this is a short, dense pocket-sized text on “evidence-based medicine”
which is essentially the application of statistical methods to determining the best course of treatment. The
identical principles are applicable in many non-medical contexts. There are passing references to
powerful statistical techniques which go beyond an introductory course. Here is a list of the chapter
headings: 1.Introduction to Evidence-Based Medicine; 2. The 5-Step Evidence-Based Medicine
Model; 3. Asking Answerable Questions; 4. Searching for Answers (This chapter is rather specific to
medicine since the web sources listed are mainly medical. A problem in the course will be to see what
sources one might find for other kinds of questions.); 5. Clinical Trials; 6. Systematic Reviews and
Meta-Analyses; 7. Clinical Practice Guidelines; 8. Diagnostic Tests; 9. Surveys of Disease Frequency;
10. Studies of Risk or Harm; 11. Studies of Prognosis; 12. Evaluating Your Performance; 13. Learning
and Practicing Evidence-Based Psychiatry; and 14. Teaching Evidence-Based Medicine to Psychiatry
Residents. (The last few chapters are also rather specific to medicine but do contain some important
general principles.)
There will be one mid-term exam, a final exam, and exercises, but much of the grade will be based on
student projects (to be discussed in class).

The course meets Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:30 to 2:50, in room 4C2, DRL. The first meeting is
Tuesday, January 10. Last class officially is Thursday, April 20. However, the first day of Passover
falls on Thursday, April 13 and the eighth day (the day of memorial services) falls on Thursday,
April 20, days which I observe. I will be available later in the afternoon of April 20 to discuss student
projects but there will be no formal class.

In the following, “AM” refers to “Analytical Methods …”; “CG” to “A Concise Guide …”.
Week of
January  10.     AM:     Chapter 1
                17.                 Chapter 2
                24.                 Chapters 3 and 6 (start)
                31.                 Chapters 6 (conclude) and 7
February  7.                  Chapter 8
               14.                  Chapter 9
               21.     CG       Chapter 1, 2, 3; review for midterm (on AM)
               28.                  midterm (on material from AM); CG Chapters 4, 5
March     7.                  Spring Break
               14.                 Chapters 6 and 7
               21.                 Chapter 8 (additional material: Bayes’ Theorem)
               28.                 Chapters 9 and 10
April         4.                 Chapters 11 and 12
                11.                Discussion and review (no class April 13)
                18.                Discussion and review (see above for April 20)