Foundations of Statistics
36 hours per semester
One Semester or equivalent
Hawthorn, Online
Available to incoming Study Abroad and Exchange students
Overview
This unit of study enables students to develop the capacity to undertake independent statistical investigations, including the assumptions and limitations of their application. The unit will provide practical skills to allow students to meaningfully interpret the results of various hypothesis tests, as well as to understand probability distributions and sampling methods commonly applied when collecting data.
Requisites
Equivalent units
FIN10002
Financial StatisticsSTA60001 Statistical Practice 1
Other equivalents
- HAYG411 - Statistics and Research Methods;
- HMA103 - Statistics and Research Methods;
- HMS102 - Introduction to Statistics; LCR102(KS) - Foundations of Statistics;
- LCR102Y - Foundations of Statistics; LCR502 - Foundations of Statistics;
- LCR102 - Foundations of Statistics; STA10008 - Statistics 101;
- STA102(C)(Y) - Foundations of Statistics;
- STA15 - Statistics and Research Methods(Software)
Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Teaching Period 3
Location
Online
Start and end dates
04-November-2024
09-February-2025
09-February-2025
Last self-enrolment date
17-November-2024
Census date
29-November-2024
Last withdraw without fail date
27-December-2024
Results released date
04-March-2025
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
03-March-2025
01-June-2025
01-June-2025
Last self-enrolment date
16-March-2025
Census date
31-March-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
24-April-2025
Results released date
08-July-2025
Teaching Period 1
Location
Online
Start and end dates
10-March-2025
08-June-2025
08-June-2025
Last self-enrolment date
23-March-2025
Census date
04-April-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
02-May-2025
Results released date
Semester 2
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
04-August-2025
02-November-2025
02-November-2025
Last self-enrolment date
17-August-2025
Census date
31-August-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
19-September-2025
Results released date
09-December-2025
Teaching Period 3
Location
Online
Start and end dates
03-November-2025
08-February-2026
08-February-2026
Last self-enrolment date
16-November-2025
Census date
28-November-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
02-January-2026
Results released date
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Specify the objectives of an investigation in statistical terms
- Identify the level of measurement of a variable, appropriate sampling methods, and research design of a study
- Produce appropriate descriptions and visualisations of data distributions
- Estimate population parameters (proportions, means) using appropriate statistics and confidence intervals
- Select and conduct appropriate hypothesis tests for different population parameters (proportions, single sample means, difference of means for matched and independent samples)
- Describe the relationships between variables (correlations, crosstabs, relative risk and odds ratios) and test the significance of these relationships
- Interpret the outcomes of data analysis to write a concise report on findings
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Lecture | 2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| On-campus Class | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Specified Activities Various | 3.00 | 12 weeks | 36 |
| Unspecified Activities Various | 6.50 | 12 weeks | 78 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
All Applicable Locations
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-campus Lecture | 2.00 | 12 weeks | 24 |
| On-campus Class | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Specified Activities Various | 3.00 | 12 weeks | 36 |
| Unspecified Activities Various | 6.50 | 12 weeks | 78 |
| Live Online Class | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Online Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning | 11.50 | 12 weeks | 138 |
| TOTAL | 300 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment | Individual | 40% | 1,3,4,5,6,7 |
| Online Quiz | Individual | 20% | 2,3,4,5,6,7 |
| Test | Individual | 40% | 1,2,6,7 |
Content
- Critical thinking in statistics; confounding and sources of bias
- Ordering and grouping data: interpretation frequency tables and histograms; summarising data: median, IQR and boxplots; the mean and standard deviation; levels of measurement
- Describing and displaying relationships; Pearson's; introduction to regression; relationships in tabulated data; correlation and causality
- Producing data; experiments; population and samples; density curves and normal distribution
- Introduction to estimation, confidence intervals for proportions, means and correlations
- Making decisions about means, the Binomial test, t tests; testing relationships; Pearson's r and the Chi-square test of independence.
- Relative Risk and Odds Ratios
- Graduate Attribute 2 (Communication 2 - Communicating using different media)
- Graduate Attribute 5 (Digital Literacies 1 - Information literacy)
- Graduate Attribute 6 (Digital Literacies 2 - Technical literacy)
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.