ST107      Half Unit
Quantitative Methods (Statistics)

This information is for the 2022/23 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr James Abdey COL.5.10

Availability

This course is compulsory on the BSc in Economic History with Economics, BSc in Economics and Economic History, BSc in Environmental Policy with Economics, BSc in Geography with Economics, BSc in International Social and Public Policy and Economics, BSc in Management and BSc in Social Policy and Economics. This course is available on the BSc in Accounting and Finance, BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Politics and Economics and Diploma in Accounting and Finance. 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 ST102 Elementary Statistical Theory (nor its respective half-units ST109 and ST110).

Pre-requisites

A-level Mathematics.

Course content

The elementary statistical tools necessary for further study in management and economics with an emphasis on the applicability of the methods to management and economic problems. Topics covered are data visualisation and descriptive statistics, probability theory, discrete probability distributions, continuous probability distributions, sampling distributions of statistics, point estimation, interval estimation, hypothesis testing, contingency tables and the chi-squared test, correlation and linear regression.

Teaching

This course will be delivered through a combination of classes, lectures and workshops totalling a minimum of 45 hours across Lent Term. This course does not include a reading week in Week 6 of Lent Term.

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:

Newbold, P., W.L. Carlson and B.M. Thorne (2019) Statistics for Business and Economics. (9th edition), Pearson (earlier editions are also fine).

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the summer exam period.

Student performance results

(2019/20 - 2021/22 combined)

Classification % of students
First 51.6
2:1 23.5
2:2 11.7
Third 9.2
Fail 4

Key facts

Department: Statistics

Total students 2021/22: 447

Average class size 2021/22: 20

Capped 2021/22: No

Lecture capture used 2021/22: Yes (LT)

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

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.

Personal development skills

  • Problem solving
  • Application of numeracy skills