HELP ACADEMY

UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PROGRAMMES

COURSE OVERVIEW

ST104A STATISTICS 1

Lecturer/Tutor: Mr Thayaparan Sabapathy

Aims & objectives of the unit

The emphasis of the unit is on the application of statistical methods in management,
economics and the social sciences. The main focus is on the interpretation of tables and
results and the appropriate way to approach statistical problems. The treatment is at the
elementary mathematical level. Ideas of probability, inference and multivariate analysis
are introduced.

Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module, you should be able to:

• Be familiar with the key ideas of statistics that are accessible to a person with
a moderate mathematical competence.
• Be able to apply a variety of methods for explaining, summarizing and
presenting data and interpreting results clearly using appropriate diagrams,
titles and labels when required.
• Understand the ideas of randomness and variability and the way in which
these link to probability theory to allow the systematic and logical collection
of statistical techniques of great practical importance in many applied areas.
• Have a grounding in probability theory and some grasp of the common
statistical methods.
• Be able to use inference to test the significance of common measures such as
means and proportions and carry out chi-squared tests of contingency tables
• Be able to carry out simple regression and correlation analysis and know when
it is appropriate to do so.

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Essential Reading

▪ Newbold, Paul, William L. Carlson, and Betty Thorne (2012): Statistics for
Business and Economics. 8th ed. London: Prentice-Hall.
▪ Lindley, D.V. and W.F. Scott: New Cambridge Statistical Tables. 2nd ed.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Further Reading
▪ Aczel, A.D. (2009): Complete Business Statistics. 7th ed. London: McGraw-Hill
Higher Education.

▪ Anderson, D.R., D.J. Sweeney, T.A. Williams, J. Freeman and E.Shoesmith

(2010): Statistics for Business and Economics. 11th ed. South-Western Cengage
Learning

▪ Lind, D.A., W.G. Marchal and S.A. (2009): Statistical Techniques in Business and
Economics. 14th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

▪ Wonnacott, T.H. and R.J. Wonnacott (1990): Introductory Statistics for Business
and Economics. 4th ed. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

Assessment & Examinations

The Statistics 1 module will be conducted in the first term of the academic year.
Lectures and tutorials will be conducted on a regular basis as specified in the
academic schedule. The assessment shall consist of (a) Term 1 examination and (b)
Final examination (University of London).

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Course Schedule (Reference: Subject Guide)

Lectures
Semester I

Week Topic

1 Basic Statistical Concepts and maths revision - especially involving the

summation: ∑

2 Using Tables and Graphs for Data Presentation for both Grouped and Ungrouped Data-
Frequency Distribution, Histograms, Ogives and Stem-and-Leaf

3 Using Numerical Measures to Describe Data-Measures of Central

Tendency and Variability (Dispersion), Box-Plot Diagram

4 Basic concepts of probability, Addition rule, Venn diagram, Conditional

Probability - Multiplication Rule. Probability Tree.

5 Continuation of the above week's topic in Probability

6 Random variables and Probability distributions (discrete and continuous)

Normal distribution

7 Continuation of the above week's topic in Normal Distribution

8 Estimation - point and interval (confidence interval)

9 Continuation of the above week's topic in Estimation

10 Hypothesis testing

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11 Continuation of the above week's topic in Hypothesis testing

12 Contingency Tables and Chi-Squared Tests

13 Regression and Correlation

14 Survey (stages and sources of errors), Sampling Methods, Data Collection