STAT10010 Research Methods

Academic Year 2022/2023

This module is aimed at students who are NOT studying a degree with a significant statistics content but would like to get some exposure to the basic concepts of data collection and analysis. We welcome students studying Medicine, Nursing, Science (excluding Mathematics and Statistics), Veterinary, Agricultural Science, Business, Social Science, Law, Arts, etc.

Students studying for degrees in Statistics, Economics and Finance or Acturarial and Financial Studies should not take this module. Any such students who attempt to register for this module will have difficulty registering for the core modules in these degree programmes.

Pre-requisites: Leaving Certificate Mathematics.

Topics covered:1. Statistics: The Science of variability. 2. Data Sources: Sampling and Opinion Polls, Experiments and Observational Studies 3. Descriptive Statistics: Summarising data, Relationships between variables.4. Inferential Statistics: The Normal Distribution, Simple Linear Regression with applications, How to interpret Hypothesis Tests and Confidence Intervals.

PLEASE NOTE: THIS MODULE CONTAINS A SIGNIFICANT CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT COMPONENT, STUDENTS TAKING THIS MODULE WILL BE ASSESSED FREQUENTLY AND REGULARLY THROUGH THE TRIMESTER.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able to: understand the scope and limitations of statistical techniques and appraise critically statistical analyses performed by others. Students will appreciate the different methods of data collection and be aware of the common biases that can occur with each of the collection methods. Students will compute basic descriptive statistics. Students will draw distinctions between samples and populations and indicate how sample statistics can be used to estimate population characteristics. They will read standard statistical tables and compute probabilities and percentiles for given distributions. Students will also learn how to use standard statistical software.

Indicative Module Content:

Critical Components for Research Studies, Questionnaire Design, Survey Sampling Methodologies, Experimental Design, Descriptive Statistics, Inferential Statistics

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

18
Tutorial

11
Autonomous Student Learning

72
Total

101
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lectures, Tutorials, Group Based Learning, Problem Based Learning, Peer Assisted Learning 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Requirements:

Leaving Certificate Mathematics: Ability to perform arithmetic computations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). Understanding of fractions and ability to manipulate fractions.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Incompatibles:
IS30330 - Quantitative Data Analysis, MATH10130 - Intro to Analysis (E&F), MATH10140 - Advanced Calculus (E&F), MATH10250 - Intro Calculus for Engineers , MATH20130 - Fund. Actuarial Mathematics I, STAT10140 - Research Methods for Science, STAT20110 - Introduction to Probability, STAT20200 - Probability


 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Continuous Assessment: In-class, in term tests. Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

100

Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Assessments will be by MCQ, Once these have been graded feedback will be provided in class not online.

Name Role
Dr Fabian Ofurum Tutor