Lecture 1 Introduction

Lecture outline

“Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write”

Chair: if “good” requires pupil performance to exceed the national average, and if all schools must be good, how is this mathematically possible?

Michael Gove: By getting better all the time.

Chair: So it is possible, is it?

Michael Gove: It is possible to get better all the time.

Chair: Were you better at literacy than numeracy, Secretary of State?

Michael Gove: I cannot remember.

Doing a histogram in R

hist(mtcars$mpg)

Why do we do statistics? Separating signal from noise
R is a useful thing to learn
A properly designed experiment can always be analysed, no amount of stats will save a poor experiment
A few statistical techniques to get you started
A burning desire to come and do the second year course

Taught over BS1040 and BS1070/MB1080
Tested by continous assessment and in the exams
BS1040
- Today: Getting started
- Central tendency and variation
- Single samples
- Two samples
BS1070/MS1080
- Regression
- Analysis of variance
- Reproducible science / Looking forward to second year