B1967 - Foundations of Statistics P

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will be familiar with the fundamental topics of statistics from both a methodological and an applied perspective. In particular, the student will be able to:

• summarize information using statistical distributions and graphs

• choose and compute the most appropriate measures of central tendency and variability for specific empirical problems

• assess the strength of the relationship between variables, even of different types.

Course contents

The course integrates basic statistical knowledge with more specific content related to the degree program in which it is included, particularly concerning statistical methods for product quality control.

In particular, the course aims to cover the following topics:

1. Introduction to statistics and quality control. Terminology and notation

2. Measures of central tendency: mode, median, arithmetic mean

3. Measures of variability: range, deviation, variance, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation

4. Covariance and linear regression

5. Introduction to control charts for process quality. Presentation of the necessary preliminary concepts

6. Discrete probability distributions for control charts: Bernoulli and binomial distributions

7. Construction of an attribute control chart and hypothesis testing in control charts

8. Continuous probability distributions for control charts: uniform and normal distributions

9. Control charts for variables: charts for the nominal value and for variability

Readings/Bibliography

Suggested reference texts:

Montgomery, D.C. (2009). Introduction to Statistical Quality Control, 6th Edition, Wiley [Chapters 1, 3, 4, 6, 7]
Montgomery, D.C. (2006). Controllo statistico della qualità, Second Edition, McGraw-Hill, Milan

Not mandatory (students may choose a different textbook or work exclusively with the materials provided by the instructor)
Useful for further insights/clarifications
Useful for additional exercises

Teaching methods

Lectures will be delivered with the support of slides. The topics will be addressed using a practical approach, developing the theory starting from exercises.

Exercises will be carried out using Excel software.

During the course, students will be asked to complete homework exercises to better follow the upcoming lessons.

Each week, the instructor will be available during office hours to discuss any questions or doubts.

It is possible that, following a decision by the Degree Program aimed at supporting working students, part of the lessons will be held remotely via MS Teams. Please check the Degree Program website for updates.

Assessment methods

The exam is the same for all students, whether attending or not, and is oral.

To access the exam, students must submit an “exercise notebook,” which consists of a folder containing Excel files where the student has completed a set of exercises assigned by the instructor during the course. These exercises will be made available in a dedicated section on the course’s Virtuale page.

The exercise notebook must be submitted by email two days before the exam date (if the exam is on Monday, the notebook must be submitted the previous Friday).

The oral exam will begin with a discussion of the exercise notebook. Students must be able to explain their solutions, justify their approach, reflect on any errors, and answer theoretical questions related to the exercises.

Teaching tools

All course materials are made available in advance on the course’s Virtuale page:

• lecture slides

• slides with the instructor’s notes taken during class

• homework exercises

Unless technical issues occur, the lessons will be recorded and made available on Panopto (accessible through the course’s Virtuale page).

Office hours

See the website of Linda Altieri