It is therefore exceedingly appropriate and important for all liberally educated citizens to undertake study of fundamental principles and methods of statistics. Contrary to its popular perception as a black box collection of arcane magic tricks, statistics involves much more than numerical computations. The emphasis of the course will be on understanding statistical concepts and on interpreting and communicating the results of statistical analyses. In other words, you will be expected to learn to construct and analyze numerical arguments. To alleviate the computational burden, we will often use the computer program Minitab to perform calculations and produce visual displays.
Statistics involves the analysis of genuine data.
Supporting my contention that statistics is applicable in everyday life and in most fields of academic endeavor, you will analyze genuine data from a wide variety of applications throughout the course. Understanding results from investigation and discovery. As opposed to passively taking notes while I lecture, you will spend the vast majority of class time actively engaged with the material. You will work through activities carefully designed to lead you to discover fundamental statistical ideas for yourself. You will be encouraged to work collaboratively with a partner on most of these activities, and some will require the use of the computer.