Statistics are heavily used in any number of disciplines in order to
(try to) discover interesting and important things about the world.
Newspapers constantly report some of the studies that result from
these efforts. Yet it has been known for a long time that statistics
are not only subject to abuse, but also unwitting and prevalent
misuse. The mathematics behind the most common statistics used is
not the source of error. Rather, it is the connection between theory
and reality. Statistics require interpretation.

This course is for students who have had an introduction to
probability at the level of M463 and are interested in learning
about some basic and heavily used statistics. Note that linear
algebra is a prerequisite for M463 and will be used heavily in M466.
We will focus on both theory and application, including the
assumptions that relate the theory to the real world. Several famous
research papers will be read as case studies; they are part of the
textbook.

Students will also write (in groups)a review of a research paper of
their choosing. The course will use MATLAB to compute statistics.
Topics will include observational studies, sampling, hypothesis
testing,simple and multiple regression, path models, maximum
likelihood, and simultaneous equations.

The course will be intellectually challenging, both in critical
thinking and in mathematics. In fact, this course will train you to
be a much better critical thinker. It will be unlike any other
course you have had in mathematics. Auditors are welcome.

Whether you intend to create statistics yourself or not, the kind of
statistical thinking that we will study will be useful to you
throughout your life.

Questions about the course will be happily answered; email rdlyons or
call 855-1645.