ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳

 

ST102     
Elementary Statistical Theory

This information is for the 2021/22 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr James Abdey COL.5.10

Availability

This course is compulsory on the BSc in Actuarial Science, BSc in Business Mathematics and Statistics, BSc in Data Science, BSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics, BSc in Finance, BSc in Financial Mathematics and Statistics, BSc in Mathematics and Economics, BSc in Mathematics with Economics and BSc in Mathematics, Statistics and Business. This course is available on the BSc in Accounting and Finance, BSc in Philosophy and Economics and BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

This course cannot be taken with ST107 Quantitative Methods (Statistics), ST108 Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences, ST109 Elementary Statistical Theory I or ST110 Elementary Statistical Theory II.

Pre-requisites

A-level Mathematics.

No previous knowledge of statistics is assumed.

Course content

The course provides a precise and accurate treatment of introductory probability and distribution theory, statistical ideas, methods and techniques. Topics covered are data visualisation and descriptive statistics, probability theory, random variables, common distributions of random variables, multivariate random variables, sampling distributions of statistics, point estimation, interval estimation, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and linear regression.

Teaching

22 hours of lectures, 15 hours of classes and 10 hours of workshops in the MT. 20 hours of lectures, 15 hours of classes and 10 hours of workshops in the LT. 2 hours of lectures in the ST.

This course will be delivered through a combination of lecutres, workshops and classes, totalling a minimum of 90 hours across Michaelmas Term and Lent Term. This year, some or all of this teaching may be delivered through a combination of virtual classes and flipped-lectures/workshops delivered as short online videos. This course does not include reading weeks.

Formative coursework

Weekly exercises will be set and students are expected to submit solutions to their class teacher each week for feedback. 

Indicative reading

All course materials are made available via Moodle, including notes to accompany the lectures, but this can be supplemented with additional background reading. The recommended supplementary text is:

Larsen R.J. and M.L. Marx (2017) Introduction to Mathematical Statistics and Its Applications (sixth edition), Pearson (earlier editions are also fine).

Assessment

Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours, reading time: 10 minutes) in the January exam period.
Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours, reading time: 10 minutes) in the summer exam period.

Course selection videos

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.

Student performance results

(2018/19 - 2020/21 combined)

Classification % of students
First 49.9
2:1 20
2:2 13.5
Third 9.6
Fail 7

Important information in response to COVID-19

Please note that during 2021/22 academic year some variation to teaching and learning activities may be required to respond to changes in public health advice and/or to account for the differing needs of students in attendance on campus and those who might be studying online. For example, this may involve changes to the mode of teaching delivery and/or the format or weighting of assessments. Changes will only be made if required and students will be notified about any changes to teaching or assessment plans at the earliest opportunity.

Key facts

Department: Statistics

Total students 2020/21: 665

Average class size 2020/21: 26

Capped 2020/21: No

Value: One Unit

Personal development skills

  • Problem solving
  • Application of numeracy skills