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Faculty of Health, Arts and Design

Unit Outline
STA10003
Foundations of Statistics
Study Period 4 2014

Please read this Unit Outline carefully. It includes:

PART A

Unit summary

PART B

Your Unit in more detail

PART C

Further information

PART A:

Unit Summary

Unit Code(s)

STA10003

Unit Title

Foundations of Statistics

Duration

13 Weeks

Total Contact Hours

Requisites:
Pre-requisites

None

Co-requisites

None

Concurrent pre-requisites
Anti-requisites

STA102

Assumed knowledge

N/A

Credit Points

12.5

Campus/Location

Open University of Australia

Mode of Delivery

Online

Assessment Summary

20% Assignment
30% Topic Tests (10 x 3%)
50% Exam

Aims
The aim of Foundations of Statistics is to develop the capacity to carry out
independent statistical investigation, together with an awareness of the assumptions
and limitations involved with the generalisation of the results of such investigations.
Students are expected to summarise data, identify research questions, determine
and identify appropriate research designs, analyse the data using the statistical
package SPSS for Windows and interpret the results in a report writing format.

Key Generic Skills


This unit will provide discipline-based knowledge and professional capabilities and
experiences contributing to students progress in attaining generic skills such as:

data analysis skills,

problem solving skills,

communications skills,

ability to tackle unfamiliar problems

ability to work independently.

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Unit Learning Outcomes


After successfully completing this unit, students will be able to:

1. Make a clear statement of the objectives of a study


2. Specify and classify according to level of measurement the variables of interest in
a study
3. Identify the research design (observational study/experiment) used in a study
4. Be familiar with some appropriate methods of sample selection
5. Describe and illustrate the distribution of variables for collected data appropriately
6. Estimate population parameters (proportions, means) using appropriate statistics
and confidence intervals
7. Perform appropriate hypothesis tests for various population parameters
(proportions, single sample means, difference of means for matched and
independent samples)
8. Describe appropriately the relationships between variables (correlations, line of
best fit, crosstabs) and test the significance of these relationships.
9. Use the outcomes of data analysis to answer a research question and write a
report on the results

Content

Critical thinking in statistics; confounding and sources of bias.


Ordering and grouping data: interpretation frequency tables and histograms;
summarising data: median, IQR and boxplots; the mean and standard deviation;
levels of measurement.
Describing and displaying relationships; Pearson's r; introduction to regression;
relationships in tabulated data; correlation and causality.
Producing data; experiments; population and samples; density curves and normal
distribution.
Introduction to estimation, confidence intervals for proportions, means and
correlations.
Making decisions about means, the Binomial test, t-tests; testing relationships;
Pearson's r and the Chi-square test of independence, using SPSS.

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PART B:

Your Unit in more detail

Unit Improvements
Feedback provided by previous students through the Student Survey has resulted in
improvements that have been made to this unit. Recent improvements include:

Improvements to teaching videos


Restructure of assessment
Reformatting of Blackboard site

Unit Teaching Staff


Name

Role

Room

Phone

Email

Consultation
Times

Jessica Sharp

Unit Convenor

N/A

N/A

sta10003@swin.edu.au

N/A

See Blackboard

Tutors

Learning and Teaching Structure


Activity

Teaching Period Weeks

See Blackboard for weekly task list and timeline

Weeks 1 to 13

Tasks include readings, textbook and online exercises,


YouTube videos, tests, and games.

Week by Week Schedule

Week
1

Week
Beginning
01 December

Teaching and Learning Activity

Student Task or Assessment

Module 1: Introduction to Critical Thinking in


Statistics

Topic Test 1
Recommended due date
Sunday 07 December / 11.59pm

1.1 Statistics in Everyday Life


1.2 Detecting Bias
1.3 Percentages and Proportions
2

08 December

Module 1: Introduction to Critical Thinking in


Statistics continued
1.4 Summarising data
1.5 Whats normal?

15 December

Module 2: Reporting Information about a Single


Variable
2.1 Choosing the Right Analysis
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5

STA10003_Unit Outline_SP4_2014

Topic Test 2
Recommended due date
Sunday 14 December / 11.59pm

Topic Test 3
Recommended due date
Sunday 21 December / 11.59pm

Describing Distributions [Pt.1]


Generalising from the Sample Mean
Describing Distributions [Pt.2]
Generalising from the Sample Proportion

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Week
4

Week
Beginning

Teaching and Learning Activity

Student Task or Assessment

22 December

Module 3: The Theory Behind Significance

Topic Test 4
Recommended due date
Sunday 28 December / 11.59pm

3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4

Population to Samples [Proportion]


Sample to Possible Populations [Proportion]
Population to Samples [Mean]
Sample to Possible Populations [Mean]

22 December Census Date (last day to withdraw without Financial or Academic Penalty)
5

29 December

Module 4: Looking for Relationships


4.1 Collecting Data
4.2 Designing Experiments
4.3 Selecting Samples

05 January

Module 5: Is ours Bigger than Yours?: The


Difference between Two Independent Groups
5.1 Comparing two groups

Assignment Practice Exercise


No due date. Recommended to
be completed before the real
Assignment
Topic Test 5
Recommended due date
Sunday 11 January / 11.59pm

5.2 Samples to Populations


- The Independent Samples t-test
7

12 January

Assignment/Revision/Catch up week
EXAM VENUE SELECTION OPENS

19 January

Module 6: Is it different now?: Comparing Two


Measures of the Same Thing
6.1 The Paired Samples t-test
6.2 Assumptions underlying the
Paired samples t-test
6.3 Advantages of Repeated Measures
Revisited
6.4 Review
6.5 Choosing the appropriate sample size

STA10003_Unit Outline_SP4_2014

Assignment Due
Monday 19 January / 11.59pm

Topic Test 6
Recommended due date
Sunday 25 January / 11.59pm

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Week
9

Week
Beginning
26 January

Teaching and Learning Activity


Module 7: Does More of this Mean More (or
Less) of That?:
Relationships between Metric Variables
7.1 Scatterplots
7.2 Pearsons Correlation Coefficient
7.3 Testing for Significance Using Pearsons
Correlation Coefficient
7.4 The 95% Confidence Interval for the
Correlation Coefficient
7.5 Correlation Doesnt Always Mean Causation

Student Task or
Assessment
Topic Test 7
Recommended due date
Sunday 01 February /
11.59pm

10

02 February

Module 7: Does More of this Mean More (or


Less) of That?:
Relationships between Metric Variables continued
7.6 The Regression Equation
7.7 Writing the report
7.8 Correlation, t-test? When do I Use What?

Topic Test 8
Recommended due date
Sunday 08 February /
11.59pm

11

9 February

Module 8: Are We More Likely than You?:


Relationships between Categorical variables

Topic Test 9
Recommended due date
Sunday 15 February /
11.59pm

8.1 Cross-tabulations
8.2 Describing the Relationship between
Two Categorical Variables
8.3 Samples to Population - 2 test
8.4 Writing the Report
8.5 The basis for the 2 test
12

16 February

Revision

13

23 February

Revision

Topic Test 10
Recommended due date
Sunday 22 February /
11.59pm

Exam Period: 02 13 March 2015


Note: All times shown are Australian Eastern Time [Melbourne time]

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Assessment
a)

Assessment Overview
Unit Learning
Outcomes that
this assessment
task relates to

Individual
or Group

Weightin
g

1. Assignment

Individual

20%

All

Mon 19 January
11:59pm

2. Topic Tests (10 x 3%)

Individual

30%

All

See weekly
schedule and
Blackboard.

3. Examination

Individual

50%

All

Formal Exam
Period

Tasks and Details

Assessment Due
Date

b) Minimum requirements to pass this Unit


To pass this unit, you must:
achieve an aggregate mark for the subject of 50% or more, and
achieve at least 40% in the final exam
If you do not achieve at least 40% of the possible marks in the final exam you will receive
a maximum of 40% as your total mark for the unit.
c)

Examinations
If the unit you are enrolled in has an official examination, you will be expected to be
available for the entire examination period including any Special Exam period.
The exam is closed book but you will be allowed to take one A4 page of notes. They
may be typed or handwritten. You may write on both sides this page but must not stick
two sheets of paper together or attach anything to your page of notes.
You may also take a non-programmable non-transmitting calculator to the exam.

d) Submission Requirements
Assignments and other assessments must be submitted through the Blackboard
assessment submission system (Turnitin).
Please ensure you keep a copy of all assessments that are submitted.
e)

Extensions and Late Submission


Due dates for topic tests are recommended dates. Extensions are not required. The
final date for completion of these tests will be the day before the exam.
If you require an extension for the assignment you should email the convenors
(sta10003@swin.edu.au) as early as possible.
Late Submissions (Assignment only) - Unless an extension has been approved, late
submissions will result in a penalty. You will be penalised 10% of the assessments
worth for each calendar day the task is late, up to a maximum of 5 working days. After 5
working days a zero result will be recorded.

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f)

Referencing
To avoid plagiarism, you are required to provide a reference whenever you include
information from other sources in your work. Further details regarding plagiarism are
available in Section C of this document.
Helpful information on referencing can be found at
http://www.swinburne.edu.au/lib/studyhelp/harvard-quick-guide.pdf

Required Textbook(s)
Francis, G., Garing A., Weiss. V., & Wyatt, S. Foundations of Statistics,3rd Edition, 2014,
Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest.
IBM SPSS Statistics Base Grad Pack v22 (6 or 12 month license). ISBN 5099067821210

Recommended Reading Materials


The Library has a large collection of resource materials, both texts and current journals. Listed
below are some references that will provide valuable supplementary information to this unit. It
is also recommended that you explore other sources to broaden your understanding.
Francis, G. (2007). Introduction to SPSS for Windows, 5th edition. Australia, Frenchs Forest:
Pearson Education.
Moore, D. (2010). The basic practice of statistics, 5th edition. New York: W. H. Freeman and
Co.
Peck, R., Devore, J., & Olsen, C. (2005). Introduction to statistics and data analysis, 2nd
edition. California: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Utts, J. (2005). Seeing through statistics, 3rd edition. California: Thomson Brooks/Cole.

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PART C:

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information on any of the below topics, refer to Swinburnes


Current Students web page http://www.swinburne.edu.au/student/.

Student Charter
Please familiarise yourself with Swinburnes Student Charter. The charter describes what students
can reasonably expect from Swinburne in order to enjoy a quality learning experience. As students
contribute to their own learning experience to that of their fellow students, the charter also defines the
University's expectations of students.

Student behaviour and wellbeing


Swinburne has a range of policies and procedures that govern how students are expected to conduct
themselves throughout the course of their relationship with the University. These include policies on
expected standards of behaviour and conduct which cover interaction with fellow students, staff and
the wider University community, in addition to following the health and safety requirements in the
course of their studies and whilst using University facilities.
All students are expected to familiarise themselves with University regulations, policies and
procedures and have an obligation to abide by the expected guidelines. Any student found to be in
breach may be subject to relevant disciplinary processes. Some examples of relevant expected
behaviours are:

Not engaging in student misconduct

Ensuring compliance with the Universitys Anti-Discrimination, Bullying and Violence and
Sexual Harassment requirements

Complying with all Swinburne occupational health and safety requirements, including
following emergency and evacuation procedures and following instructions given by
staff/wardens or emergency response.
In teaching areas, it is expected that students conduct themselves in a manner that is professional
and not disruptive to others. In all Swinburne laboratories, there are specific safety procedures which
must be followed, such as wearing appropriate footwear and safety equipment, not acting in a manner
which is dangerous or disruptive (e.g. playing computer games), and not bringing in food or drink.

Blackboard
You should regularly access the Swinburne Course Management System (Blackboard) available via
http://ilearn.swin.edu.au. Blackboard is regularly updated with important Unit information and
communications.

Communication
All communication will be via your Swinburne email address. If you access your email through a
provider other than Swinburne, then it is your responsibility to ensure that your Swinburne email is
redirected to your private email address. Information about your student email address can be found
here: http://www.its.swinburne.edu.au/students/guides/email/

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Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the action or practice of taking and submitting or presenting the thoughts, writings or
other work of someone else as though it is your own work. Plagiarism includes any of the following,
without full and appropriate acknowledgment to the original source(s):

The use of the whole or part of a computer program written by another person;
the use, in essays or other assessable work, of the whole or part of a written work from any
source including but not limited to a book, journal, newspaper article, set of lecture notes,
current or past students work, any other persons work, a website or database;
The paraphrasing of anothers work;
The use of musical composition, audio, visual, graphic and photographic models,
The use of realia that is objects, artefacts, costumes, models and the like.
Plagiarism also includes the preparation or production and submission or presentation of assignments
or other work in conjunction with another person or other people when that work should be your own
independent work. This remains plagiarism whether or not it is with the knowledge or consent of the
other person or people. It should be noted that Swinburne encourages its students to talk to staff,
fellow students and other people who may be able to contribute to a students academic work but that
where independent assignment is required, submitted or presented work must be the students own.
Enabling plagiarism contributes to plagiarism and therefore will be treated as a form of plagiarism by
the University. Enabling plagiarism means allowing or otherwise assisting another student to copy or
otherwise plagiarise work by, for example, allowing access to a draft or completed assignment or
other work.
Swinburne University uses plagiarism detection software (such as Turnitin) for assignments submitted
electronically via Blackboard. Your Convenor will provide further details.
The penalties for plagiarism can be severe ranging from a zero grade for an assessment task through
to expulsion from the unit and in the extreme, exclusion from Swinburne. Consequently you need to
avoid plagiarism by providing a reference whenever you include information from other sources in
your work.

Student support
You should talk to your Unit Convenor or Student Services, for information on academic support
services available for Swinburne students.

Special consideration
If your studies have been adversely affected due to serious and unavoidable circumstances outside of
your control (e.g. severe illness or unavoidable obligation) you may be able to apply for special
consideration (SPC).
Applications for Special Consideration will be submitted via the SPC online tool normally no later than
5.00pm on the third working day after the submission/sitting date for the relevant assessment
component.

Special needs
Sometimes students with a disability, a mental health or medical condition or significant carer
responsibilities require reasonable adjustments to enable full access to and participation in education.
Your special needs can be addressed by Swinburne's Disability Services, who can negotiate and
distribute an 'Education Access Plan' that outlines recommendations for university teaching and
examination staff. You must notify the University Disability Liaison Officer of your disability or
condition within one week after the commencement of a unit of study to allow the University to make
reasonable adjustments.

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Review of marks
An independent marker reviews all fail grades for major assessment tasks. In addition, a review of
assessment is undertaken if your final result is a marginal fail (45-49) or within 2 marks of a grade
threshold.
If you are not satisfied with the result of an assessment you can ask the Unit Convenor to review the
result. Your request must be made in writing within 10 working days of receiving the result. The Unit
Convenor will review your result against the marking guide to determine if your result is appropriate.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcomes of the review you can lodge a formal complaint.

Feedback, complaints and suggestions


In the first instance you may discuss any issues with your Unit Convenor. If you are dissatisfied with
the outcome of the discussions with the Unit Convenor or would prefer not to deal with your Unit
Convenor, then you can complete a feedback form.

Advocacy
You are advised to seek advice from the staff at the Swinburne Student Amenities Association
(SSAA) if you require assistance with any academic issues.

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