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NOTE: Effective Winter Quarter 2009, Advanced Biometrics will be moved to the graduate level and be taught as a BIO 575. Any references to BIO 499 should be disregarded.
The AdPac is now ready for download as a pdf file. You will need to bring the AdPac to class every day. The AdPac has all of the class examples, as well as supplementary reading and practice problems. The instructions for using the SAS program as well as your SAS assignments are in the AdPac. The AdPac is a big document: 114 total pages (cover + 113 pages).
When you click below to download, tThe document will probably open in Acrobat. It is recommended that you save the document to your hard disk, and reopen the document from your hard disk before printing. If you try to print from the download, it can take a long time. Some special characters may not be correct in the pdf version (it depends on your computer to some extent). Check with Dr. Moriarty if you are unsure about any characters.
The California State University holds a site license to the SAS system which allows students and faculty to install it on their home computer for university business. To get SAS, take blank, recordable CDs (for computers) to the Help Desk (Building 1, Room 100). Do this as soon as possible, as it will probably take a while to get your copy.
SAS on Windows
Dr. M. has never installed or dealt with SAS on a Mac. If you get SAS for the Mac, you'll get version 6.12, which will be fine for the course. However, you're on your own for installing and running SAS.
For Windows, you'll get SAS 9.1 (requires 10 CDs). Note: One of the CDs is not actually used during the installation. However, the HelpDesk may give you all 10 CDs.
Installing SAS should be done by someone comfortable with installing complex software. Here are a few tips for Windows users:
• Start with the first step, where SAS checks the Windows runtime components. SAS will want to update these components. This has never caused a problem on any of the computers where Dr. M. has installed SAS.
• Take the default, complete installation, unless you really know SAS well. While it is true that the part of SAS you need is small, it is scattered throughout various components, some of them unexpected.
• SAS will require an enormous amount of disk space. SAS 9.1 for Windows will take up (all values approximate) 1.85 GB, including 8,442 files in 330 folders.
• You may encounter problems with the license. If the license on the CDs is current, SAS should find it and install without any intervention. However, the license that is on the CD may be expired. If you don't get the current license on your CDs (it would be on the first CD, i.e. the “Setup” CD), you can get the license renewal from Dr. M. – either by email or by bringing a USB flash drive to his office. Either way, you'll get a file called sas91_170340.txt which has the license renewal. DO NOT OPEN THIS FILE. If you do open it, DO NOT SAVE IT. SAS is very fussy if it thinks the file may have been altered. If the license on the CD has expired, SAS will want to know where the license renewal is located on the computer. You will be able to “browse” to the license file using standard Windows methods. Once SAS finds the sas91_170340.txt file, things should go fairly smoothly. Leave the sas91_170340.txt file alone until SAS is completely done installing. It accesses the file right after it finds it, and once again at the end of the installation process. After SAS has installed properly, you won't need the sas91_170340.txt file again. You may then open it (just use any text editor – it's in plain, ASCII text) and look at it – but it's not very exciting!
Dr. M. will try to answer your questions, but it may be difficult to help you without seeing exactly what is happening on your computer. If you have a laptop, by all means bring it with you.
If you are a Bio TA and have a computer in your office, Dr. M. will help you install SAS on that computer if you encounter problems. It will be necessary to get administrative access to the computer - contact Kevin Franke
Successful access to the program is ultimately the responsibility of the student. SAS is not available on computers in open access labs (such as in the CLA or by the Career Center). If can't get access to SAS, you may have to drop the class.
IMPORTANT: Obtain SAS and start working on the installation immediately. Don't wait until near the time when the first assignment is due. The probability of encountering problems on installing SAS is high, and you must allow time to solve those problems. You must submit your assignments on time. Having problems with SAS installation/execution will not be allowed as an excuse for missing assignment deadlines.
The following files are available to help you get started with SAS. Hint: I recommend saving the file, then running SAS, and then loading the file. Although I haven't really experimented, I'm concerned that running SAS from "within" your web browser might cause problems.
Template : This file (only 1 KB) contains a header that you can put at the top of all your SAS files. The header contains commands that clear the log and output screens every time you submit the job (i.e. click little running man); sets the underscore character as the page delimiter (this reduces the number of pages it would take SAS to print your output); sets line widths and lines per page; and forces SAS to use "Word friendly" characters when preparing output. Put the header at the top of your SAS file, before the DATA statement.
Example : This file (only 2 KB) has the smoking status/baby weight/mom weight data that are used in Biometrics (BIO 211) and in this class. The example SAS program prints the data; does descriptive statistics for babies and moms for each of the smoking groups; does the one-factor ANOVA presented in BIO 211; and the simple linear regression presented in BIO 211.
UCLA Academic Technology Services
The UCLA Academic Techonology Services SAS site is a real treasure for somebody trying to learn SAS. In the "SAS Starter Kit" they have an entire course (with downloadable movies!) which introduces SAS. There's a great FAQ; examples of annotated output; web books (for example, there's one on regression); textbook examples done on SAS - just lots of stuff! There is information on "Installing, Customizing, Updating, Renewing SAS", and a page for installation help . However, these pages are for the previous version (version 8) of SAS.
The Little SAS Book
The Little SAS Book: A Primer, third edition, by Lora D. Delwiche and Susan J. Slaughter, is a nice, simple introduction to SAS. Although it's a very large file (1.15 MB), you can actually download the first chapter (pdf file, 28 pages) for free. This chapter is "Getting Started Using SAS Software" and will help you get going with SAS. You may order the book directly from Amazon for $40.44 + tax + shipping.
