Module Information
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 22 x 1 Hour Lectures |
| Practical | 2 x 1 Hour Practicals |
| Tutorial | 2 x 1 Hour Tutorials |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Exam | 1.5 Hours (Written Examination) | 80% |
| Semester Assessment | Continuous assessment | 20% |
| Supplementary Exam | 2 Hours (Written Examination) | 100% |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. summarise and present a data set;
2. calculate various summary measures for grouped and ungrouped data;
3. construct and interpret statistical diagrams;
4. fit a straight line to suitable data;
5. calculate and interpret correlations;
6. describe and illustrate basic probability concepts;
7. use statistical tables;
8. carry out and interpret the results of basic statistical tests;
9. use and interpret the output from statistical software.
Brief description
This module introduces statistical methods and their application, together with the use of statistical computer software. The software package MINITAB is used in practical classes.
Aims
To introduce students to statistical methods and to appreciate their importance.
Content
2. SUMMARY MEASURES. Minimum, maximum, median, quartiles, percentiles; five number summaries and box-and-whisker plots; mean and mode; variance and standard deviation; calculations from grouped data.
3. SCATTERPOLTS, REGRESSION AND CORRELATION. Scatterplots; the idea of a line of best fit; importance of the mean point; least squares regression; the existence of two regression lines for bivariate data; correlation and its measurement; the (product moment) correlation coefficient; Spearman’s rank correlation.
4. PROBABILITY. Definition and properties; unions and intersections; mutually exclusive events; the addition law; independent events; the multiplication law; equally likely outcomes; conditional probability; Bayes’s theorem; the Central Limit theorem; the Normal distribution.
5. STATISTICAL INFERENCE. Basic ideas; informal inference based on two standard deviations; formal p-values; goodness of fit; the idea of a confidence interval.
6. TIME SERIES DATA. Plotting time series; the idea of a moving average; smoothing.
The computer package MINITAB: introduction, producing and interpreting diagrams and tables, producing and interpreting summary measures; regression and correlation; output from formal procedures such as z-,t-,chi-squared- and F-tests.
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | Required throughout the course. |
| Communication | Written answers to exercises must be clear and well structured. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Students are expected to develop their own approach to time-management regarding the completion of assignments on time and preparation between lectures. |
| Information Technology | Use of Blackboard and Minitab. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Completion of task (assignments) to set deadlines will aid personal development. |
| Problem solving | The assignments will give the students opportunities to show creativity in finding solutions and develop their problem solving skills. |
| Research skills | N/A |
| Subject Specific Skills | Broadens exposure of students to topics in mathematics. |
| Team work | Students will be encouraged to work together on questions during tutorials and computer practicals. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 3