Curricula: Minor in Statistics

Requirements are adjusted to accommodate program emphases.

Emphasis on Statistical Theory

STA 379, 380, 471, 472, and two courses elected from STA 381, 470, and 473.

Emphasis on Statistical Method

STA 379, 380, 381, 470, 473, and one course elected from CS 477, MTH 394, and MTH 396.

A concentration of twelve semester hours is appropriate for students who need an understanding of statistics to augment study in another field but who do not require a minor in statistics. A typical concentration might consist of STA 379 and 380 with two additional courses selected from STA 381, 470, 471, 472, and 473.

STATISTICS COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

STA 169 ELEMENTARY STATISTICS. [MATH 1342] This is a survey course in elementary statistics designed to acquaint students with the role of statistics in society. Coverage includes graphical descriptive methods, measures of central tendency and variation, the basic concepts of statistical inference, the notion of estimators, confidence intervals, and tests of hypotheses. Also offered as MTH 169. Prerequisite: Two years of high school algebra. Credit 3.

STA 379 STATISTICAL METHODS IN PRACTICE. Topics include organization and presentation of data; measures of central tendency, dispersion, and position; probability distributions for discrete and continuous random variables, sampling techniques, parameter estimation, and hypothesis testing. Emphasis will be given to the use of the MINITAB statistics package. Also offered as MTH 379. Prerequisites: Three semester hours of mathematics and consent of instructor. Credit 3.

STA 380 STATISTICAL DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF EXPERIMENTS. Topics include sampling designs and hypothesis testing in analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and regression analysis. Design characteristics, model diagnostics, and hypothesis testing will be emphasized and work will be required on real data. The MINITAB and SAS statistics packages will be applied. Prerequisite: STA 379 or equivalent. Credit 3.

STA 381 SAMPLE SURVEY METHODS. The course treats principles needed in planning and conducting sample surveys. Topics include random, stratified, systematic, and cluster sampling methods as well as subsampling techniques. Prerequisite: STA 379 or equivalent. Credit 3.

STA 470 SPECIAL TOPICS IN STATISTICS. This course is designed to accommodate independent study and research with content determined by mutual agreement of student and supervisor. However, it may also be taught as a special organized class when there is sufficient student interest in a particular project. Such topics as statistical quality control, modeling and analysis, time series analysis, Monte-Carlo techniques and bootstrapping may be included. This course may be taken for Academic Distinction credit. (See Academic Distinction Program in this catalogue.) May be repeated for credit. Prerequisites: Six semester hours of advanced statistics and consent of instructor. Credit 3.

STA 471 THEORY AND APPLICATIONS OF PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS I. Topics include basic concepts and properties of probability, random variables, statistical distributions, measures of central tendency, variance, covariance, correlation, functions of random variables, sampling distributions, and the Central Limit Theorem. Also offered as MTH 471. Prerequisite: MTH 143. Credit 3.

STA 472 THEORY AND APPLICATIONS OF PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS II. Topics include multivariate, conditional and marginal distributions, point and interval estimation, theory of estimation, maximum likelihood estimates, hypothesis testing, likelihood ratio tests, contingency analysis, and nonparametric statistics. Prerequisites: MTH 244 and STA 471. Credit 3.

STA 473 NONPARAMETRIC STATISTICS. Topics include Chi-square goodness-of-fit testing and inferences concerning location and scale. Specific tests include the sign test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, the Kruskal-Wallis test, tests for randomness and trends, and contingency analyses. Prerequisites: STA 379 and consent of instructor. Credit 3.