STA2007S - Study Design & Data Analysis For Scientists

Course Outline:

The course aims to equip students with practical experience and skills in analysing data, using statistical techniques frequently used in the sciences. The skills include designing experiments, choosing appropriate statistical methods for visual display and statistical modelling of data, model checking, interpretation and reporting of statistical results, and understanding of limitations of statistical methods and data. By the end of the course the student should have gained enough confidence to transfer these skills to new problems or data sets in their own profession. Topics covered include: Introduction to statistical notation, linear regression, design and analysis of experiments, generalized linear models. There will be strong emphasis on the practical application of the above methods, using open-source statistical software such as R. There will be a one-day face-to-face workshop at the beginning of the first semester and a one-day face-to-face workshop at the beginning of the second semester. Students must attend one of these workshops before being given access to the online material. They can elect to do the online material in their own time and at their own pace subject to assignment and quiz deadlines being met. Communication with lecturers will be through an online forum.