ST102 One Unit
Elementary Statistical Theory
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Dr James Abdey
Availability
This course is compulsory on the BSc in Actuarial Science, BSc in Actuarial Science (with a Placement Year), BSc in Data Science, BSc in Finance, BSc in Financial Mathematics and Statistics, BSc in Mathematics and Economics, BSc in Mathematics with Data Science, BSc in Mathematics with Economics and BSc in Mathematics, Statistics and Business. This course is available on the BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with a Year Abroad), Erasmus Reciprocal Programme of Study and Exchange Programme for Students from University of California, Berkeley. This course is freely available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. It does not require permission. This course is freely available to General Course students. It does not require permission.
This course cannot be taken with ST107 Quantitative Methods (Statistics), ST109 Elementary Statistical Theory I or ST110 Elementary Statistical Theory II.
Requisites
Mutually exclusive courses:
This course cannot be taken with ST109 or ST107 or ST110 at any time on the same degree programme.
Additional requisites:
A-level Mathematics.
No previous knowledge of statistics is assumed.
Course content
The course provides a precise and accurate treatment of introductory probability and distribution theory, statistical ideas, methods and techniques. Topics covered are data visualisation and descriptive statistics, probability theory, random variables, common distributions of random variables, multivariate random variables, sampling distributions of statistics, point estimation, interval estimation, hypothesis testing, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and linear regression.
Teaching
2 hours of lectures in the Spring Term.
15 hours of classes, 10 hours of workshops and 20 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.
15 hours of classes, 11 hours of workshops and 20 hours of lectures in the Autumn Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn and Winter Term.
This course will be delivered through a combination of lectures, workshops and classes, totalling a minimum of 90 hours across Autumn Term and Winter Term.
Formative assessment
Weekly exercises will be set and students are expected to submit solutions to their class teacher each week for feedback.
Indicative reading
All course materials are made available via Moodle, including notes to accompany the lectures, but this can be supplemented with additional background reading. The recommended supplementary text is:
Larsen R.J. and M.L. Marx (2017) Introduction to Mathematical Statistics and Its Applications (sixth edition), Pearson (earlier editions are also fine).
Assessment
Exam (50%), duration: 120 Minutes, reading time: 10 minutes in the January exam period
Exam (50%), duration: 120 Minutes, reading time: 10 minutes in the Spring exam period
Key facts
Department: Statistics
Course Study Period: Autumn, Winter and Spring Term
Unit value: One unit
FHEQ Level: Level 4
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 385
Average class size 2024/25: 20
Capped 2024/25: NoCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Problem solving
- Application of numeracy skills