The goal of the course is to learn how to use statistics and econometrics to address policy questions. This means, on the one hand, becoming an intelligent reader of the work of others and on the other hand doing analysis of one's own. Our goal here is to become comfortable with the methods that economists and political scientists actually use.  Therefore, especially in our early review of statistics, we will not aim to be comprehensive. Rather we will try to master core concepts that are used extensively. You will encounter the techniques we discuss in many other courses as well. The course will also teach you how to use the statistical software Stata.