Introduction to Statistical Methods

This course is designed for people who will need to use statistics themselves, or understand statistical results. The course concentrates heavily on design of experiments and on inference. The theoretical background from probability theory is limited to those few ideas which are essential for using statistics in practice. The first half of the course focuses on studies where responses fall into one of two categories: yes/no, pass/fail, make a sale/not make a sale, etc. We learn to carry out the fundamental tasks of statistics, inference and hypothesis testing, in this context. In the second half of the course, we study inference and hypothesis testing for numerical responses: percentage choosing yes, exam score, dollar amount of sale, etc.

Prerequisites: A good understanding of high-school algebra, or Math 101 (Intermediate Algebra), or equivalent.

Course Materials

• Statistics: Learning in the Presence of Variation, Robert L. Wardrop, 1995, Wm. C. Brown publishers, ISBN: 0-697-21593-8. Available through MBS at direct.mbsbooks.com/uwlearning.htm (choose "Buy Books", then "Independent Learning") or 800-325-3252.
• Revised Student Study Guide, Wardrop. Available through MBS, or download free from www.stat.wisc.edu/~wardrop/ssg/file.html.
• Course Guide for Statistics 301, Gusowksi, 2002, UW-Extension Independent Learning.
• Student Handbook, available at learn.wisconsin.edu/il/studenthandbook/studenthandbook.pdf, or on paper by request to Learner Services, toll-free 1-877-UW-LEARN (877-895-3276).

Format of Course

The course consists of 12 lessons, one research project, and 2 exams. Each lesson consists of:

• A reading assignment from the text.
• Exercises to test your understanding of the material. (Solutions to these self-test problems are provided in the Student Study Guides and the course guide.)
• A written assignment, from the text, to submit for grading and feedback.

The research project requires you to design and conduct a study, and write a report on your conclusions. Examples of student projects from the past are available on Dr. Wardrop's web site: www.stat.wisc.edu/~wardrop/courses/modelproj.pdf.

The Student Study Guide contains sample exam questions, with solutions provided. The actual exams are mailed to a proctor selected by the student in accordance with Independent Learning's guidelines. Students are permitted to retake each exam a second time if they so choose. A request for a retake must be received within one month of the time you get back the graded exam.

Grading

Each lesson and each exam is graded on a 100-point scale. The final score is computed as a weighted average, with the average of the lessons counting for 40%, research project 5%, midterm exam 20%, and final exam 35%. The exam average must be at least 70 for a passing grade. Assuming this is the case, the average of all your work is converted to a letter grade according to the table.

Course Outline

• Unit 1: The Completely Randomized Design
• Unit 2: Hypothesis Testing
• Unit 3: Approximating a Sampling Distribution
• Unit 4: One-Population Models
• Unit 5: Inference for a Population
• Unit 6: Comparing Two Populations
• Research Project.
• Midterm Exam
• Unit 7: Two Dichotomous Responses
• Unit 8: Multicategory Response
• Unit 9: Describing One Numerical Response
• Unit 10: Correlation and Regression
• Unit 11: Inference for One Numerical Population
• Unit 12: Numerical Data from Two Sources
• Final Examination