Syllabus and Course Outline
August 25, 2025
Name: Byeong-Hak Choe.
Assistant Professor of Data Analytics and Economics, School of Business at SUNY Geneseo.
Ph.D. in Economics from University of Wyoming.
M.S. in Economics from Arizona State University.
M.A. in Economics from SUNY Stony Brook.
B.A. in Economics & B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Hanyang University at Ansan, South Korea.
Choe, B.H., 2021. “Social Media Campaigns, Lobbying and Legislation: Evidence from #climatechange and Energy Lobbies.”
Question: To what extent do social media campaigns compete with fossil fuel lobbying on climate change legislation?
Data include:
Choe, B.H. and Ore-Monago, T., 2024. “Governance and Climate Finance in the Developing World”
Climate finance refers to the financial resources allocated for mitigating and adapting to climate change, including support for initiatives that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance resilience to climate impacts.
Choe, B.H. and Newbold, Steve, “Estimating the Value of Statistical Life (VSL) through Big Data”
VSL is the monetary value associated with reducing the risk of death.
Email: bchoe@geneseo.edu
Class Homepage:
Office: South Hall 227B
Office Hours:
This course is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of data handling techniques, focusing on practical application through case studies.
Key topics include:
These areas will be explored through detailed, real-world examples to address common data analysis challenges.
Throughout the course, students will gain hands-on experience with Python and its data analysis libraries, along with practical applications of git and GitHub.
Python for Data Analysis (3rd Edition) by Wes McKinney
Python Programming for Data Science by Tomas Beuzen
Coding for Economists by Arthur Turrell
Python for Econometrics in Economics by Fabian H. C. Raters
QuantEcon DataScience - Python Fundamentals by Chase Coleman, Spencer Lyon, and Jesse Perla
QuantEcon DataScience - pandas by Chase Coleman, Spencer Lyon, and Jesse Perla
Laptop: You should bring your own laptop (Mac or Windows) to the classroom.
Homework: There will be six homework assignments.
Project: There will be one project on a personal website.
Exams: There will be two Midterm Exams and one Final Exam.
Discussions: You are encouraged to participate in GitHub-based online discussions and class discussion, and office hours.
You will create your own website using Quarto, R Studio, and Git.
You will publish your homework assignments and a project on your website.
Your website will be hosted in GitHub.
The basics in Markdown will be discussed.
References:
The project report should include data collection and exploratory data analysis using summary statistics, visual representations, and data wrangling.
The document for the project must be published in each member’s website.
There will be tentatively 28 class sessions.
The Midterm Exam I is scheduled on October 8, 2025, Wednesday, during the class time.
The Midterm Exam II is scheduled on November 12, 2025, Wednesday, during the class time.
The Final Exam is to be determined.
The due for the project is December 16, 2025, Tuesday, 11:59 P.M., Eastern Time
pandas basics.pandas.\[ \begin{align} (\text{Total Percentage Grade}) =&\quad\;\, 0.05\times(\text{Attendance Score})\notag\\ &\,+\, 0.20\times(\text{Total Homework Score})\notag\\ &\,+\, 0.25\times(\text{Project and Website Score})\notag\\ &\,+\, 0.50\times(\text{Total Exam Score}).\notag \end{align} \]
You are allowed up to 4 absences without penalty.
For each absence beyond the initial five, there will be a deduction of 1% from the Total Percentage Grade.
Participation will be evaluated by quantity and quality of GitHub-based online discussions and in-person discussion.
The single lowest homework score will be dropped when calculating the total homework score.
\[ \begin{align} &(\text{Midterm Exam Score}) \\ =\, &\text{max}\,\left\{0.50\times(\text{Midterm Exam I Score}) \,+\, 0.50\times(\text{Midterm Exam II Score})\right.,\notag\\ &\qquad\;\,\left.0.33\times(\text{Midterm Exam I Score}) \,+\, 0.67\times(\text{Midterm Exam II Score})\right\}.\notag \end{align} \]
\[ \begin{align} &(\text{Total Exam Score}) \\ =\, &\text{max}\,\left\{0.50\times(\text{Midterm Exam Score}) \,+\, 0.50\times(\text{Final Exam Score})\right.,\notag\\ &\qquad\;\,\left.0.25\times(\text{Midterm Exam Score}) \,+\, 0.75\times(\text{Final Exam Score})\right\}.\notag \end{align} \]
Make-up exams will not be given unless you have either a medically verified excuse or an absence excused by the University.
If you cannot take exams because of religious obligations, notify me by email at least two weeks in advance so that an alternative exam time may be set.
A missed exam without an excused absence earns a grade of zero.
Late submissions for homework assignment will be accepted with a penalty.
A zero will be recorded for a missed assignment.
All homework assignments and exams must be the original work by you.
Examples of academic dishonesty include:
Geneseo’s Library offers frequent workshops to help you understand how to paraphrase, quote, and cite outside sources properly.
The Office of Accessibility will coordinate reasonable accommodations for persons with physical, emotional, or cognitive disabilities to ensure equal access to academic programs, activities, and services at Geneseo.
Please contact me and the Office of Accessibility Services for questions related to access and accommodations.
You are strongly encouraged to communicate your needs to faculty and staff and seek support if you are experiencing unmanageable stress or are having difficulties with daily functioning.
Liz Felski, the School of Business Student Advocate (felski@geneseo.edu, South Hall 303), or the Dean of Students (585-245-5706) can assist and provide direction to appropriate campus resources.
For more information, see https://www.geneseo.edu/dean_students.
To get information about career development, you can visit the Career Development Events Calendar (https://www.geneseo.edu/career_development/events/calendar).
You can stop by South 112 to get assistance in completing your Handshake Profile https://app.joinhandshake.com/login.