STA 6166 UNIT 1
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UNIT 1

Statistics, Data and Probabilities

Topics Covered Unit one introduces you to the field of Statistics. We define statistics and you are taken on a short overview of the field. Since statistics deals with obtaining and analyzing data, we next talk about data, data collection, data summarization and data visualization. Computing is a big part of statistics and we begin to discuss computational needs and the uses of computers and their applications in visualizing data. We finish the unit with a short introduction to the concepts of probability and statistical distributions. In particular we will discuss how we derive probabilities of events by examining the statistical distributions associated with the selection methodologies used to generate the data and the characteristics of the underlying populations.
Objectives
  1. To answer the questions "What is statistics?", "Why should I study statistics?", and "What can I expect in this course?"
  2. To introduce the concepts of population, sample, and study design.
  3. To discuss different ways of collecting data.
  4. To introduce the concept of scientific study design.
  5. To briefly introduce common experimental designs.
  6. To review aspects of data management.
  7. To review the concept of probability.
  8. To define what we mean by a probability distribution functions.
  9. To review common probability distributions functions.
  10. To learn how to compute probabilities of event using probability distribution functions.
Sections  
1 What is Statistics?
2 Data, Data Summarization and Visualization, Computing
3 Probability and Probability Distributions.
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