First Statistics Exam

Nurse2b7337 · Oct 12, 2012

I think I may have to take this next semester. Can you give a brief overview on what Stats entails?? Thx in advance! Congrats to you!!!

professionalgirl80 · Oct 12, 2012

I think I may have to take this next semester. Can you give a brief overview on what Stats entails?? Thx in advance! Congrats to you!!!

Thank you!! :) So far in Statistics the class learned the difference between descriptive & inferential statistics. Then samples and populations, which is very imperative because later on the sample & populations reappear again in different statistical formulas. After, central tendency would be covered such as the mean, median, mode, range, and standard deviation. Lastly, Chebyshev Rule along with finding the z-score and the dreadful probability that can be confusing. Currently, the professor is getting more in depth with probability. As the semester advances I would provide you with more info on statistics. Hope this helps!! :)

Nurse2b7337 · Oct 13, 2012

Professionalgirl80 OMG!!! It seems like you're speaking a different language. Lol!! Again, congrats to you.

professionalgirl80 · Oct 13, 2012

Professionalgirl80 OMG!!! It seems like you're speaking a different language. Lol!! Again, congrats to you.

Lol, tell me about it. Thanks!!:)

i♥words · Oct 13, 2012

Great job! I got an A on my first one as well. I actually don't mind the class too much. The only tough thing is that it moves pretty fast and if I ever have to miss a day I will be in trouble. But otherwise I like it. We're into lots of probability right now. :)

professionalgirl80 · Oct 13, 2012

Great job! I got an A on my first one as well. I actually don't mind the class too much. The only tough thing is that it moves pretty fast and if I ever have to miss a day I will be in trouble. But otherwise I like it. We're into lots of probability right now. :)

Congrats to you too!! :) I do have to admit the class does move pretty fast. What helping to keep me afloat is Khan's Academy Statistics and Probability Apps, Simple 'N Easy Statistics and Probability, & the tutorials on iTunes U.

Saysfaa · Oct 14, 2012

Cograts professionalgirl!

Nurse2b, I'm half way through stats. Your comment about it looking like a foreign language is funny! That is exactly what the math profs tell us (foreign language without the weird grammar). Either that or that it is more of a language (vocabulary) course than a math course. The words look scary (at least to me, I'm very not mathy - no, I am very non-mathy :barf02: ) but it is much, much more straight-forward than it looks :up: . Anyway, it is if you have a good prof - I'd definately check ratemyprofessor for this class more so than others.

My school does not teach "formula-driven" stats. That means, we do not need to memorize (or even understand, really) how the math works. The prof shows us once, so the mathy people can follow and the nonmathy people can see that there is a method to the madness while we don't really follow it, then it is a matter of knowing which buttons to push on the calculator. The profs explain it like this: no one does the math anymore, computers do that. You need to know what the numbers say and what they don't say rather than how to figure them out.

We learn things like how correlation (when one variable changes, the other changes in a predictable way) does NOT prove causation. Taller elementary students read better but that doesn't prove height causes better reading skills - taller elementary students tend to be older and have more years of study. We learn how to put a number on correlation too (list the data in the calculator and tell it to "calc" "LinReg" if you have a TI-80somthing), and get a feel for whether that number tells us the two variables are highly correlated, somewhat correlated, or not very correlated.

It is like math in that things build on each other, you can't really skip anything (literally or by not fully understanding it) and expect to do well in the rest of the class.

professionalgirl80 · Oct 14, 2012

Cograts professionalgirl!
Nurse2b, I'm half way through stats. Your comment about it looking like a foreign language is funny! That is exactly what the math profs tell us (foreign language without the weird grammar). Either that or that it is more of a language (vocabulary) course than a math course. The words look scary (at least to me, I'm very not mathy - no, I am very non-mathy ) but it is much, much more straight-forward than it looks . Anyway, it is if you have a good prof - I'd definately check ratemyprofessor for this class more so than others.
My school does not teach "formula-driven" stats. That means, we do not need to memorize (or even understand, really) how the math works. The prof shows us once, so the mathy people can follow and the nonmathy people can see that there is a method to the madness while we don't really follow it, then it is a matter of knowing which buttons to push on the calculator. The profs explain it like this: no one does the math anymore, computers do that. You need to know what the numbers say and what they don't say rather than how to figure them out.
We learn things like how correlation (when one variable changes, the other changes in a predictable way) does NOT prove causation. Taller elementary students read better but that doesn't prove height causes better reading skills - taller elementary students tend to be older and have more years of study. We learn how to put a number on correlation too (list the data in the calculator and tell it to "calc" "LinReg" if you have a TI-80somthing), and get a feel for whether that number tells us the two variables are highly correlated, somewhat correlated, or not very correlated.
It is like math in that things build on each other, you can't really skip anything (literally or by not fully understanding it) and expect to do well in the rest of the class.

Thank you Saysfaa!! :)

Nurse2b7337 · Oct 14, 2012

Sasfaa this is awesome and thx! I will definitely take yr advice and look up profs on rate my prof first. So its a whole different world from algebra it sounds. Thx again for taking the time to break stats down.

professionalgirl80 · Oct 14, 2012

That is what I did with Statistics and Public Speaking, looked up who received 4 or 5 stars including a Hotamolly on http://www.ratemyprofessors.com..lol

Saysfaa · Oct 14, 2012

There are several ways to use the info. I don't pay attention to the number of stars in any of the categories because I like some of the things other people tend to complain about and don't like some of the things other people tend to rave about. I just read the comments.