STAT0001 Statistics in Our Society

Course Code STAT0001  
Course Title Statistics in Our Society
  
Class Date 15, 16, 17, 18, 21 and 22 July 2025

(23 July 2025 is reserved for class make-up in case there is any cancellation of classes due to bad weather or other unexpected factors.)

(24 July 2025 is reserved for class assessment.)

  
Class Time 9:00am – 11:30am  

 
Teacher Dr. HO Kwok Wah

Lecturer
Department of Statistics
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

  

 
  More about Department of Statistics, CUHK:
Medium of Instruction English
Pre-requisite Basic skills in arithmetic and counting, and some experience in Excel will be required. Some knowledge in probability and statistics will be helpful but is not required.
Course Description A good grasp of statistical literacy is essential for retrieving useful information from raw data.  This course aims at introducing the ideas of statistical reasoning and the characteristics of different types of data.  Through lectures, in-class discussions and computer exercises, students will learn to draw scientific conclusions using hypothesis testing, summarize data using statistical plots and tables, identify the properties of various statistical studies, and assess the reliability of statistical studies reported in the media.
Course Content The course covers topics including uses and misuse of statistics, hypothesis testing, types of statistical studies, numerical and graphical summaries of variables, uses and misuses of scatterplots, regression lines, and contingency tables.
Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

  1. Learn about collecting and summarizing the data;
  2. Draw scientific conclusions using hypothesis testing;
  3. Identify various types of statistical studies and their properties;
  4. Apply statistical tools to visualize various types of data; and
  5. Identify the misuse of statistics in everyday life.

This course will lay a solid foundation for students to start the statistics courses at the university level.
Recommended Reading(s) / Reference(s) David Spiegelhalter, The Art of Statistics: How to Learn from Data, New York: Basic Books 2019.

Robert S. Witte, John S. Witte, Statistics, 11th edition, Wiley 2017.

David Salsburg, The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the Twentieth Century, New York : Henry Holt and Co. 2002.

Stigler, Stephen M., The seven pillars of statistical wisdom, Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press 2016.
Course Assessment Class participation (25%)

Three in-class short tests (75%)
The above course information is subject to change and approval.
  Last updated on 25 February 2025
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