Sneak Peek
An Introduction or refresher of Statistics with this online course
- A broad foundation
- Appreciate the scope and nature of statistics, without getting overly complicated.
You don’t need to have been particularly good at mathematics at school in order to succeed in this course. This is not a mathematically complex course. It is very much designed as a “foundation”, to teach you the minimum needed to appreciate and work with statistical data.
Whats inside the 'Statistics- A Simple Introduction' Course?
LESSON 1 THE LANGUAGE
- Example
- Important Terms in Statistics
- Data Collection Method
- Statistical Method
- Descriptive Statistics
- Inferential Statistics
- Data Point
- Observation
- Data Set
- Research Population
- Data Sample
- Square Root
- Exponents and Roots
- Summation Sign
- Array
- Coefficient
- Constant
- Variable
- Independent and Independent Variable
- Univariate Data
- Bivariate Data
- Frequency Counts
- Frequency Distribution
- Grouped Frequency Table
- Cumulative Frequency
- Total Frequency
- Bi-Variate Frequency
- Class
- Class Interval
- Class Frequency
- Data Types
- Qualitative Data
- Quantitative Data
- Hypothesis
- Responsible Use Of Statistics
- The Use of Statistics in Everyday Life
- Lesson 1 Additional Reading
- More on Research Populations
- The Use of Statistics By Governments and Organisations
- Censuses
- Educational Data
- Developmental Data
- Health Data
- Economy
- Marketing and Analytics
- Review what you have been learning
LESSON 2 DATA COLLECTION
- Tools for Data Collection
- Collecting Data
- Quantity
- Timing
- Time
- Contamination/Bias
- Language
- Ethics
- Cost
- Source Reliability
- Example
- Sources of Data
- Steps in Data Collection
- Designing A Questionnaire
- Lesson 2 additional reading
- Review what you have been learning
LESSON 3 MEASURING THE CENTRE
- Mode, Mean, Median
- Mean
- Mode
- Median
- Range
- Standard Deviation
- Normal Distribution
- Which Measure Of Central Tendency To Use?
- Box and Whisker Plots
- Degrees Of Freedom
- Standard Deviation
- Lesson 3 additional reading
- Review what you have been learning
LESSON 4 DETERMINING LIKELIHOODS (INFERENTIAL STATISTICS)
- Measuring Probability
- Probability Parameters
- Discrete Variables
- Continuous Variables
- P-Values
- Statistical Significance
- Null and Alternate Hypothesis
- Errors in Hypothesis Testing
- Alpha
- Beta
- The T-Test
- Types of T-Tests
- A Review of Box and Whisker Plots Related to T-Tests
- Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
- One-Way ANOVA
- Parametric and Non-Parametric Tests
- Review what you have been learning
LESSON 5 MEASURING CORRELATION
- Correlation
- Coefficient of Variation
- Linear Regression
- Simple Linear Regression Formula
- Conclusion
- Using Correlational Statistics
- So why bother with correlations at all?
- Lesson 5 additional reading
- Review what you have been learning
- Final Assessment
Statistics are a Tool, not a form of Ethics
Statistics may not lie, but they can be used in different ways to improve communication by emphasising one perspective above others. If we look in the news on any given day, we may see a lot of statistics. Even when they are reporting the same figures, newspapers can spin them in a different way, so that the statistics mean different things. Think of the statistics used in a pandemic or in politics. Figures can worse (or better) because of the way that the statistics are gathered or presented.
There are different ways of representing figures, and the choices made about how to analyse and represent figures can lead to emphasis being placed on one perspective over others.
Understanding of the truth can be distorted by the statistical representations included in a paper, how they are represented (For example, selecting certain types of charts or figures), and what is left out when communicating. If the person reading the statistics does not understand them properly, then it can be easier to mislead them.
Why Study this Statistics Course?
- To know how to use the tool of "statistics" better
- So you can identify when statistical data is being used to mislead you
- To use in your job or career
- To refresh old knowledge, or catch up with current studies you are falling behind in
- To fill a gap in your knowledge
- To fill a gap in your qualifications by obtaining a certificate of completion in statistics