LMATH5215 Understanding Statistical Information Course Descriptor

Course Overview

This is an introductory course for those who wish to understand and use statistical information in the social sciences. The course introduces students to the concept of probability, and to a range of statistical methods and techniques. Moreover, it enables students to begin to appreciate empirical literature in the Humanities and Social Sciences. The course prepares students to recognise the appropriate use and misuse of statistics in publicly available information and to draw valid conclusions from it.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage students  in their studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Lectures/seminars

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1:all sessions in the same sized group

OR

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups. 

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Dedicated mathematics support will be available to all students during teaching weeks.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessment are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE.

Summative Assessments

The course is assessed through a short portfolio exercise, intended to motivate and support students toward their independent study throughout the course, and through a final examination, which enables students to demonstrate their mastery of the statistical techniques taught in the course and their uses.

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is for a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Newbold, P., W.L. Carlson and B.M. Thorne Statistics for Business and Economics. (London: Prentice-Hall, 2009) seventh edition.

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative topics provided below is used as a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Descriptive Statistics
• Probability and Probability Distributions
• Estimation of Population Parameters
• Confidence Intervals
• Hypothesis Testing
• Correlation and Regression