MY459 Half Unit
Special Topics in Quantitative Analysis: Applied Statistical Computing
This information is for the 2013/14 session.
Teacher responsible
Dr Benjamin Lauderdale COL8.10
Availability
This course is available on the MSc in Political Science and Political Economy, MSc in Social Research Methods, MSc in Statistics, MSc in Statistics (Financial Statistics), MSc in Statistics (Financial Statistics) (Research) and MSc in Statistics (Research). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.
The course is also available to research students, as MY559.
Pre-requisites
Students must have completed Applied Regression Analysis (MY452).
Course content
The aim of the course is to introduce students to advanced analytic methods frequently used in leading-edge social research. The content of the course will change from year to year. In the 2013/2014 session, this course will cover computer programming for social science research and some of the advanced data analysis methods that require significant computation. The main topics covered are data collection and management, nonparametric density estimation and regression, additive models, the lasso, cross-validation, the bootstrap, and permutation/randomization inference. Lectures, class exercises and homework will be based on the use of the R statistical software package but will assume no background knowledge of that language.
Teaching
20 hours of lectures and 10 hours of computer workshops in the LT.
Formative coursework
Exercises from the computer classes can be submitted for marking.
Indicative reading
Matloff, N. The Art of R Programming; Shalizi, CR. Advanced Data Analysis from an Elementary Point of View.
Assessment
Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.
Coursework (50%, 2500 words) in the ST.
Student performance results
(2011/12 combined)
Classification | % of students |
---|---|
Distinction | 20 |
Merit | 40 |
Pass | 40 |
Fail | 0 |
Key facts
Department: Methodology
Total students 2012/13: 14
Average class size 2012/13: 13
Value: Half Unit
Personal development skills
- Problem solving
- Application of numeracy skills
Course survey results
(2011/12 - 2012/13 combined)
1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" scoreThe scores below are average responses.
Response rate: 86.2%
Question |
Average | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reading list (Q2.1) |
1.8 | ||||||
Materials (Q2.3) |
1.4 | ||||||
Course satisfied (Q2.4) |
1.4 | ||||||
Lectures (Q2.5) |
1.2 | ||||||
Integration (Q2.6) |
1.4 | ||||||
Contact (Q2.7) |
1.3 | ||||||
Feedback (Q2.8) |
1.7 | ||||||
Recommend (Q2.9) |
|