ST206      Half Unit
Probability and Distribution Theory

This information is for the 2019/20 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Miltiadis Mavrakakis-Vassilakis

Availability

This course is available on the BSc in Business Mathematics and Statistics and BSc in Mathematics, Statistics, and Business. This course is not available as an outside option. This course is available to General Course students.

Pre-requisites

Students must have completed Elementary Statistical Theory (ST102) and Mathematical Methods (MA100).

Course content

The course covers the probability and distribution theory needed for third year courses in statistics and econometrics.:

Events and their probabilities. Random variables. Discrete and continuous distributions. Moments, moment generating functions and cumulant generating functions. Functions of Random Variables. Monte Carlo Simulation in R. Joint distributions and joint moments. Marginal and conditional densities. Independence, covariance and correlation. Sums of random variables and compounding. Multinomial and bivariate normal distributions. Law of large numbers and central limit theorem.

Teaching

20 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the MT. 2 hours of lectures in the ST.

Formative coursework

Students will be expected to produce 4 pieces of coursework which will consist of written exercises aimed at practising calculations and understanding of theory.

A formative in class exam-style assessment will be done in Week 6.

Indicative reading

G C Casella & R L Berger, Statistical Inference (primary reading); R Bartoszynski & M Niewiadomska-Bugaj, Probability and Statistical Inference (stresses comprehension of concepts rather than mathematics, complimentary reading only); J Jacod & P Protter, Probability Essentials (for further reading, a more advanced text on probability, using measure theoretic concepts and tools, still very accessible).

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the summer exam period.

Key facts

Department: Statistics

Total students 2018/19: 9

Average class size 2018/19: 3

Capped 2018/19: No

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Personal development skills

  • Self-management
  • Problem solving
  • Application of numeracy skills
  • Specialist skills