Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives The subject aims for students to be able to demonstrate an understanding of basic principles of good experimental design; use numerical or graphical techniques, as appropriate, to summarise data; formulate simple probabilistic models and calculate relevant probabilities as part of a problem solution; make simple inferences from sample data based on point and interval estimation of population means, differences between means, proportions and simple linear regression parameters; use a statistical package and/or statistical calculator for the above tasks.
Synopsis This subject is designed to help form the basis for further study in the area of statistics at second and third-year levels. It develops an understanding of the notions of `chance' and `uncertainty' of random processes. For students in applied science, the subject introduces some useful techniques of statistical data analysis. Topics covered include the nature of statistics; basic concepts of experimental design; collecting and organising data; probability models; discrete distributions and applications including statistical quality control; continuous distributions including the normal distribution and applications; estimation from random samples, discussing point and interval estimation of means, differences between means and proportions; simple linear regression model. For on-campus students, the tutorial program is designed to enhance understanding of material presented in lectures and study guides.
Assessment Assignments and class tests: 40% + Examination (3 hours): 60%