Intro Statistics

Statistics is the ability to think rigorously about data, no matter what the data is. And since you deal with data every day, whether you know it or not, being able to think statistically is a critical skill, not only in business, but in life. It’ll help you understand the world, make better decisions, and spot when people are trying to deceive you. This class will introduce you to basic statistical concepts and tools, and give you a solid intuition that you can apply to any data in your life.

The class is particularly focused on building statistical intuition (rather than just the mechanical application of formulas), and the ability to spot deceptive uses of statistics (prioritizing bad examples of statistics alongside good examples).

Class Structure

1. Data and Sampling (sources, types)
2. Descriptive statistics (mean, percentile, variance, standard deviation)
3. Probability (combinatorics, notation, sample spaces)
4. Discrete distributions (binomial, geometric, hypergeometric, Poisson)
5. Continuous distributions (uniform and exponential, PDF and CDF)
6. The normal distribution and the central limit theorem
7. Confidence intervals
8. Hypothesis testing in single populations (1- & 2-tailed, power, false positives & negatives)
9. Hypothesis testing in two populations (dependent and independent samples, proportions)
10. The chi-squared distribution (tests of variance, goodness-of-fit)
11. ANOVA (time permitting)