MX36510 - STATISTICAL METHODS

Module Identifier	MX36510
Module Title	STATISTICAL METHODS
Academic Year	2001/2002
Co-ordinator	Dr J Lane
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-Requisite	MA11310
Mutually Exclusive	MA26510
Course delivery	Lecture	11 x 1 hour lectures
	Practical	11 x 2 hour practical classes
Assessment	Course work		40%
	Exam	3 Hours (practical examination)	60%
	Resit assessment	3 Hours (practical examination)	100%

General description

There is an increasing demand in the workplace for personnel skilled in the analysis and interpretation of data. This module covers the basic skills of a practising statistician and includes also the preparation of reports.

Aims

This module will give students a thorough grounding in methods used by a practising statistician.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, a student should be able to:

summarise effectively a set of data;
identify the statistical techniques appropriate to analysing a given situation;
carry out standard statistical procedures;
draw conclusions from an analysis of data and write reports concerning these conclusions.

Syllabus

1. BASIC IDEAS: Interpretation of data presented in numerical and graphical forms. Standard errors of means, proportions, sums and differences.
2. CONFIDENCE STATEMENTS: Construction and interpretation of confidence limits for means, rates and proportions. Confidence limits for the difference between parameters.
3. HYPOTHESIS TESTING: Hypothesis tests; interpretation of p-values. Paired and unpaired two sample tests.
4. NONPARAMETRIC METHODS: Use of non-parametric and distribution-free significance tests for paired and unpaired data.
5. ANALYSIS OF COUNTS: Analysis of two way contingency tables and interpretation of the results.
6. STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL: Basic ideas.

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
F Daly, D J Hand, M C Jones, A D Lunn & K J McConway. (1995) Elements of Statistics. Addison-Wesley 0201422786
** Supplementary Text
W Mendenhall, D D Wackerly & R L Scheaffer. (1996) Mathematical Statistics with Applications. 2nd. PWS-Kent 0534209165