ST206 Half Unit
Probability and Distribution Theory
This information is for the 2017/18 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Miltiadis Mavrakakis-Vassilakis
Availability
This course is available on the BSc in Business Mathematics and Statistics. This course is not available as an outside option nor to General Course students.
Pre-requisites
Students must have completed Elementary Statistical Theory (ST102) and Mathematical Methods (MA100).
Course content
The course covers the probability and distribution theory needed for third year courses in statistics and econometrics.:
Events and their probabilities. Random variables. Discrete and continuous distributions. Moments, moment generating functions and cumulant generating functions. Joint distributions and joint moments. Marginal and conditional densities. Independence, covariance and correlation. Sums of random variables and compounding. Multinomial and bivariate normal distributions. Law of large numbers and central limit theorem.
Teaching
20 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the MT. 2 hours of lectures in the ST.
Formative coursework
Students will be expected to produce 4 pieces of coursework which will consist of written exercises aimed at practising calculations and understanding of theory.
A formative in class exam-style assessment will be done in Week 6.
Indicative reading
G C Casella & R L Berger, Statistical Inference (primary reading); R Bartoszynski & M Niewiadomska-Bugaj, Probability and Statistical Inference (stresses comprehension of concepts rather than mathematics, complimentary reading only); J Jacod & P Protter, Probability Essentials (for further reading, a more advanced text on probability, using measure theoretic concepts and tools, still very accessible).
Assessment
Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.
Key facts
Department: Statistics
Total students 2016/17: Unavailable
Average class size 2016/17: Unavailable
Capped 2016/17: No
Value: Half Unit
PDAM skills
- Self-management
- Problem solving
- Application of numeracy skills
- Specialist skills