Course goals and philosophy
At the
end of the course I hope that the students:
·
Will be able to
analyze data effectively, either for getting closer to truth (if working in
basic science) or for making correct decisions (if working in applied science).
·
Will recognize
when others have used or interpreted statistics incorrectly (as happens often),
and hence reinterpret data more correctly.
See Parkhurst (2001).
·
Will understand
the major concepts underlying statistical analysis, to aid in the first two
goals. (This will also help them to
know when they can carry out an analysis themselves, and when they should seek
help from a more knowledgeable statistician.)
·
Will know how
to carry out some of the more common kinds of statistical computations, to aid
in the first goal. (When done by hand
with small datasets, such computations can aid in conceptual understanding; knowing how to use computer software for
computations with larger datasets will also be useful.)
In general, I think it is most important that students understand the
fundamental ideas of statistics, so they can perform the simpler kinds of
analysis themselves, but equally importantly, so they can understand and be
critical of statistical analyses and interpretations performed by others.