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Lecture 1 Goals:
Introductions (5 min)
What is statistics? (10 min)
Why study statistics? (25 min)
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:
- Find a partner.
- Format a sheet of paper according to the example, including your name and
your partner’s name.
- Identify 3 additional domains including types of data and questions that
might be asked in those domains.
Results from Class Participation Activity 1
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