96321 - STATISTICS AND PROGRAMMING

Conoscenze e abilità da conseguire

By the end of the course students have acquired knowledge of the main statistical techniques for exploratory data analysis and the fundamental concepts of probability and inference from random samples. Moreover, they have developed skills to formalize and to solve the basic statistics problems using R.

Contenuti

Descriptive Statistics

Basic concepts. Frequency distributions. Describing data by graphs. Descriptive summary statistics: central tendency and variability measures and their properties. Association in contingency tables: distributional and mean dependence. Simple linear regression and correlation.

 

Probability

Basic concepts and Bayes theorem. Random variables. Central Limit theorem.

 

Statistical Inference

Random samples and sampling distribution of statistics. Point and interval estimation. Hypothesis testing.

 

Programming (with R)

Introduction to R: downloading and installing R (RStudio), R language essentials, data entry. Univariate and bivariate descriptive statistics. Probability distributions. Point estimation, confidence intervals and hypotheses testing.

 

During the course, datasets and examples of applications to economics and social sciences will be illustrated.

Testi/Bibliografia

Statistics textbook:

G. Cicchitelli, P. D'Urso, M. Minozzo (2021) "Statistics - Principles and Methods",  first edition. Pearson Italia, Milano-Torino.

 

Programming textbook:

P. Dalgaard (2008) "Introductory statistics with R", second edition. Springer, New York, NY.

Metodi didattici

Lectures and lab sessions.

 

As concerns the teaching methods of this course unit, all students must attend Module 1, 2 [http://www.unibo.it/en/services-and-opportunities/health-and-assistance/health-and-safety/online-course-on-health-and-safety-in-study-and-internship-areas] on Health and Safety online.

Modalità di verifica e valutazione dell'apprendimento

Assessment will take place through written exam (no oral exams).

The written test is aimed at assessing the student's ability to use the learned definitions, concepts and properties and in solving exercises. During the written exam, students can use the formula sheet that is provided on virtuale.unibo.it and a pocket calculator only. Students cannot make use of the textbook, probability distribution tables, personal notes, artificial intelligence tools nor mobile phones (smart watch or similar electronic data storage or communication device are not allowed either).

During the semester, students will have the opportunity to take the full exam in four different appelli through the academic year, or to split assessment by taking a midterm halfway through the course, and then a final during the first regular appelli (the overall grade is the average of the two tests).

The midterm will cover topics of Descriptive Statistics. It will include exercises and short essays.

The final will cover topics of Probability, Statistical Inference and Programming (with R). It will be a mix of multiple choice questions, exercises, and short essays.

The full exam will cover the whole course program.

In order to sit midterm/final or full exam, students must sign up on Almaesami. Lists generally close 4-5 days before the exam; students who do not register will not be allowed to take the exam.

Students that, despite having passed the exam, do not feel represented by the obtained result can ask to have an additional (optional) oral exam on the whole program that can change the grade by +/-3 points. The oral exam is in presence and, generally, within at most 7 days after the written exam; the actual date will be communicated a few days before the written exam.

Cheating or the use of unauthorized device is strictly prohibited. Any violation will result in the annulment of the exam and will be reported to the appropriate Division or Campus authorities in accordance with Article 48 of the University’s Code of Ethics.

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Strumenti a supporto della didattica

Slides available on virtuale.unibo.it

Tutorials.

Orario di ricevimento

Consulta il sito web di Laura Anderlucci

Consulta il sito web di Marco Novelli