Statistical Methods for Decision Analysis

Course Coordinator: Dr Tony M T Chan, Grad Dip, MPhil (CUHK); PhD (CityU)

MATH S280 is one of the compulsory courses of the following two programmes:

• BSc and BSc (Hons) in Mathematical Studies
• BSc and BSc (Hons) in Statistics and Decision Science

MATH S280 forms an excluded combination with MATH S245/MATH S246/MATH S248, BUS B171 and BUS B272.

Students will not be expected to follow complicated algebraic arguments in the text nor to produce a great deal of algebra in written work, although familiarity with the use of formulae is necessary. Students are expected to be familiar with the basics of Windows.

Advisory prerequisite(s)
You are advised to have already studied one of the foundation mathematics courses MATH S101, MATH S111, MATH S112, MATH S121 or MATH S122.

Aims
This course aims to:

• Offer a practical introduction to statistics for those who want to understand and perhaps make use of basic statistical concepts.

After the course you should be able to:

• Use a statistical package (Minitab) to produce appropriate numerical and graphical summaries of data; calculate probabilities in order to answer questions involving standard distributions; and carry out a range of statistical techniques (confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, simple linear regression);
• Calculate probabilities and perform statistical calculations using a calculator in simple situations;
• Use statistical tables for the normal distribution;
• Interpret numerical and graphical summaries of data, and comment on the appropriateness of a model;
• Choose an appropriate method for analysing a data set;
• Interpret the results of a statistical analysis;
• Produce a report of a statistical investigation.

Contents
The course covers the following topics:

• Exploring data
• Interpreting data
• Modeling variation
• Samples and populations
• Events occurring at random
• The normal distribution
• The central limit theorem
• Confidence intervals
• Testing hypotheses
• Nonparametrics
• The modeling process
• Estimation
• Regression
• Related variables

Learning support
There will be support via the telephone, tutorials, surgeries and the Internet.

Assessment
There are four assignments, from which the best three scores count towards the final grade, two computer-marked assignments and a final examination. Students are required to submit assignments via the Online Learning Environment (OLE).

Online requirement
This course is supported by the Online Learning Environment (OLE). You can find the course information from the OLE. Through the OLE, you can communicate electronically with your tutor and the Course Coordinator as well as other students. To access the OLE, students will need to have access to the Internet. The use of the OLE is required for the study and assessment of this course.

Equipment
The course contains a substantial computing component. You will need to arrange access to computer systems capable of running the Minitab software package, and connecting to the Internet for accessing the OLE. A calculator with basic statistical functions will be required.

Software
This course will also make use of the software package Minitab.

Set book(s)
There are no set books for this course.

Students with disabilities or special educational needs
If you have difficulties with computer operations, the computing component could be a problem. You are encouraged to seek advice from the Course Coordinator before enrolling on the course.