Unit STATISTICS

Course
Political sciences and international relations
Study-unit Code
10001609
Curriculum
In all curricula
Teacher
Maria Giovanna Ranalli
Teachers
  • Maria Giovanna Ranalli
  • Marco Doretti (Codocenza)
Hours
  • 21 ore - Maria Giovanna Ranalli
  • 42 ore (Codocenza) - Marco Doretti
CFU
9
Course Regulation
Coorte 2021
Offered
2021/22
Learning activities
Base
Area
Formazione interdisciplinare
Academic discipline
SECS-S/01
Type of study-unit
Obbligatorio (Required)
Type of learning activities
Attività formativa monodisciplinare
Language of instruction
Italian. International and Erasmus students are invited to take the course. Readings and other course materials are also available in English; written and/or oral exams, as detailed in the course program, may be taken in English. Please contact the lecturer for further details and to schedule an appointment during the first week of the Spring semester.
Contents
Statistics and the methodology of scientific research. Historical evolution of the discipline. The role of Statistics in economic and social research. The National Statistical System and international sources. Populations, Characters, Responses, and Frequencies. The phases of statistical surveys and data collection. Statistical distributions and graphical representations. Average indices and variability indices. Statistical ratios and index numbers. Statistical dependence, dependency on average, regression and correlation. Probability, Sampling and Statistical Inference. Point estimation, interval estimation, and statistical hypotheses testing.
Reference texts
G.E. MONTANARI: Elementi di Statistica descrittiva e inferenziale. Morlacchi Editor, Perugia, 2002 (available at Libreria Morlacchi, Morlacchi square, Perugia). Additional bibliography and English textbooks are available on request.
Educational objectives
The aim of the course is to make the student aware of the role and function of statistical information in modern societies. It provides the necessary abilities to find, read, analyze, interpret and critically evaluate statistical data relating to economic and social phenomena that are available from many sources.
Prerequisites
For an easier understanding of the course it is important to know concepts and skills that are usually acquired in the first two years of high school (examples: arithmetic, proportions, percentages, literal calculus, first-degree equations, Cartesian plane, equation of the line, etc.).
Teaching methods
The course is organized in lectures (about 63 hours) and laboratory activities (about 24 hours). The latter are part of the course, essential for acquiring the skills of computing and interpreting the statistical tools introduced in the course.
Other information
Frequency is optional but strongly recommended. Studying alone without attending the course makes the passing of the exam much more difficult.
Learning verification modality
The exam consists of a two-hour written test and an oral test of approximately half an hour. In the written part of the exam, exercises of the kind discussed in the course are proposed and the student is called to use the statistical tools appropriate to analyze the proposed data and to meet the cognitive objectives formulated by the text. The oral exam is aimed at verifying the degree of knowledge of the theoretical concepts and methodologies underlying the statistical tools introduced in the course, as well as the ability of reading and interpreting the results that such tools offer. Attending students have the opportunity to replace the written test with two partial tests of the same type, placed in the middle and at the end of the course, each one dealing with topics discussed in the first half and the second half of the course, respectively.
In case the health emergency will require hybrid teaching, the exemptions and the written test will be held on the online platform LibreEol. Oral examinations will be held online via Teams.
Extended program
Statistics and the methodology of scientific research. Historical evolution of discipline. The role of Statistics in economic and social research. The National Statistical System and the international sources. Collectives, Characters, Responses, and Frequencies. The phases of statistical survey and data collection. Statistical distributions and graphical representations. Average indices and variability indices. Statistical ratios and index numbers. Statistical dependence, Dependence on average. Regression and correlation. Calculus of probabilities. Random variables. The Normal distribution. Linear combinations of random variables. Sampling and sampling distributions. Parameter Point Estimation. Interval estimation. Test of statistical hypotheses.
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