ST102     
Elementary Statistical Theory

This information is for the 2024/25 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr James Abdey COL.8.07

Availability

This course is compulsory on the BSc in Actuarial Science, 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 Data Science, BSc in Mathematics with Economics, BSc in Mathematics, Statistics and Business and BSc in Politics and Data Science. This course is available on the BSc in Accounting and Finance, BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with a Year Abroad). 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), 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 AT. 20 hours of lectures, 15 hours of classes and 10 hours of workshops in the WT. 2 hours of lectures in the ST.

This course will be delivered through a combination of lectures, workshops and classes, totalling a minimum of 90 hours across Autumn Term and Winter Term. 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 spring exam period.

Key facts

Department: Statistics

Total students 2023/24: 405

Average class size 2023/24: 21

Capped 2023/24: No

Value: One 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