Objective:

The course introduces basic ideas and concepts of statistics. The purpose is to provide a gentle way into the subject for those without a statistical background. The course acquaints students with graphical and numerical methods of data presentation, and basic data analytic techniques based on statistical inference.

The aim:

To acquaint students with methods of data presentation and description.
To present the most-used methods of basic statistics.

Acquired knowledge:

Knowledge of basic methods of displaying data.
Knowledge of basic statistical inference.

Acquired skills:

Collecting, describing and analyzing data at primary level.
Using basic statistical inference methods.

Developed reflection:

Ability of critical judgment based on data analysis.

Assessment:

The final grade consists of: exam ( 40%), term papers ( 40% ), class activity ( 20% ).

Contents:

Describing and displaying data with graphs and numbers. Density curves, normal distribution.
Relationships in data: scatterplots correlation, least- squares regression.
Producing data -experiments design and survey sampling.
Introduction to probability. Random variables and sampling distributions.
Introduction to inference; estimation with confidence, tests of significance.

Recommended reading:

• Introduction to the Practice of Statistics, Moore,D.S., . McCabe,G.P., Craig, B.A. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, 2009.
• Basic statistics for business & economics Lind, D.A.,, Marchal,W. G., Wathen, S. A., The McGraw-Hill Companies. McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Boston, 2006.