1H Introduction to Statistics for Undergraduates
Daina Chiba , University of Essex
08 - 19 July (two week course / 35 hrs)
Detailed Course Outline [PDF]
Course Content
This course offers an introduction to applied statistics as practiced in the social sciences. It provides an overview of quantitative data analysis
and seeks to answer the following questions: What is data and how can it be summarized? What does it mean to analyse data? What are the techniques
used for data analysis and how do these techniques work?
Course Objectives
The purpose of this course is to provide students with an intuitive understanding of the logic of data analysis and the tools to engage in q
uantitative research in the social sciences. After completing this course, successful students should be able to interpret data analyses published in scholarly work,
conduct their own statistical analyses, and to communicate their findings in a scientific way
Course Prerequisites
This course is intended for undergraduate students who haven’t previously attended an introductory level module on statistics at their home university but want to
learn the basics of quantitative data analysis. As such, the course requires no formal prerequisites. That said, this course is computing intensive with a lot of
basic algebra and mathematical notation. Participants should be willing to engage with mathematics,
computer programming, and the practice of social scientific thinking
Required Texts
Philip H. Pollock III. 2012. The Essentials of Political Analysis, 4th ed. Washington, DC: CQ Press
In 2013
this course is exclusively open for British Academy scholarship holders. Note
however, that scholarship holders are not restricted to this course