Lecture 1
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Lecture 1 Goals:

  1. Introductions (5 min)
  2. What is statistics? (10 min)
  3. Why study statistics? (25 min)
  4. The structure of the class (10 min)

 

What is Statistics - definitions

Montgomery and Runger, Applied Statistics and Probability for Engineers (your textbook):

"The field of statistics deals with the collection, presentation, analysis, and use of data to make decisions, solve problems and design products and processes." p. 2

Jon Kettering, American Statistical Association Web Page:

"I like to think of statistics as the science of learning from data. This definition needs to be interpreted broadly. It should include everything from planning for the collection of data and subsequent data management to end-of-the-line activities such as drawing inferences from data and presentation of results."

Hyperstat Online, an online statistics textbook:

"Statistics refers to a range of techniques and procedures for analyzing data, interpreting data, displaying data, and making decisions based on data."

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Guidelines:

"Statistics can be viewed as a branch of mathematics dealing with the collection, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of sets of data, where a statistic is a quantity or form of representation based on quantities derived from those sets of data."

 

 

Why Statistics - Class Participation Activity 1


Goal: To illustrate the diversity of domains in which statistics is used.

Questions: Consider the following questions:

What domains make use of statistics?
What types of data might be analyzed?
What types of questions might be asked?

Example:

Domain:  First Jobs
Data:  Starting salaries
Questions:  (1) What is the average starting salary for a UWa IE graduate?, (2) Are UWa ME graduate starting salaries higher or lower than those at Georgia Tech?, (3) What is the probability that a graduating civil engineer will receive greater than 40K?

Task:

  1. Find a partner.
  2. Format a sheet of paper according to the example, including your name and your partner’s name.
  3. Identify 3 additional domains including types of data and questions that might be asked in those domains.

 

 

Results from Class Participation Activity 1