There are 10 graded homework exercises to be completed for this course, one exercise for each week of class. Each Thursday an exercise will be assigned in class, as well as posted here. To earn the points for each exercise students, working either individually or in pairs, must complete the exercise and submit their answers via Canvas no later than 1pm on following Monday. Thus exercise 1 will be assigned on the Thursday of week 1 and submitted on the Monday of week 2 and so on. Exercise 10 will be due in the exam slot, on Wednesday March 20 between 4 and 7pm. Since each week’s exercise will receive detailed review and discussion in class each Tuesday, late assignments will not be accepted except in the most extraordinary of circumstances. 

Each exercise will require students to access and analyze recent survey data files using SPSS. Thus students should have SPSS installed on their own computers. Students may also be able to use SPSS in one of UCSC’s Mac labs, e.g., at Social Sciences 1, Rm 135, Crown 201, Porter Arts D-240 or Rachel Carson 101. Essential information on use of SPSS is available in Chapter 1 of Almquist et al.

The exercises listed here for the most part compare 2021 California and Texas public opinion on issues related to Covid Policy Mandates.