STA1SS: Statistical Science

(Outline the various assessments which make up the subject and how much each counts for)

Weekly assignments - 40%
Each week you are issued the assignment before the topic is covered. You have two weeks to do each assignment - however they start to pile up if you don't complete them rapidly - this tests your time management skills, definitely.

LS Assignments are worth 3% each
SS Assignments are worth 5% each

5 assignments for each category totalling 40%.

Exam (60%)
The exam consists of 32 multiple choice worth 2 marks each with five options for each question. There is also a short answer section which comprises an additional 26 marks. The total marks for this exam is 90 marks.

This is a difficult exam! The problem here is that people assume because you're allowed a "cheat sheet" then there is no need to properly study for it. If you are like me and attempt to cover most of the course on a cheat sheet, then you won't have much room. Consider 13 weeks of lectures, with 50+ slides for each presentation. There are heaps of formulas so think wisely when you are writing your cheat sheet.

Most of the questions attempt to trick you by providing a very similar answer to the correct one. It definitely tests if you know your content or not.

This subject is co-taught with STA1LS (Statistics for Life Sciences) and there are very significant differences between the two subjects. The first three lectures each week consist of LS lectures where Dr David Farchione lectures. For five weeks during the semester there is an additional fourth lecture specifically for SS students lectured by Dr Andriy Olenko, where it is shown how mathematics can be used for statistics - and more topics are learnt!

This is definitely a very difficult subject and if you want an easier option, choose LS. I will explain why:

a) LS is only a 45 mark multiple choice examination. There is no short answer component like there is for SS.
b) More theory in SS than LS - You will be expected to cover five additional lectures of content than LS.


Areas covered:
* Descriptive statistics
* Probability
* Statistical inference


To sum up: Want a mathematical challenge, choose SS. If you want knowledge purely from Statistics, or want an easy multiple choice exam at the end, choose LS.

Yes, with screen capture.

Dr David Farchione (Life Sciences lectures), Dr Andriy Olenko (Statistical Science lectures)

Yes, 1 LS exam and 1 SS exam was available with solutions

3/5

REQUIRED TEXT: You must purchase the 'Computer Lab' textbook from the La Trobe Bookstore on campus. It's not that expensive, however it's vital to do the computer labs as the questions come from there.

No other texts.

3 x 1 hour lectures (every Wednesday there is a 'practical' lecture where examples are discussed and solved).
For five weeks, there is a fourth lecture for SS only which goes through the mathematical application of statistics.

1 x 1 hour computer laboratory

1 x practical class

Total: Up to 6 hours per week.

2013 Semester 2