奧塔哥大學

The Bachelor of Arts (BA) is Otago's most flexible undergraduate degree programme, enabling students to study from a selection of more than 40 arts and social science subjects, as well as papers offered elsewhere in the University. Academic breadth is complemented by in-depth knowledge gained through majoring in one or two subjects with the option of minors in one or two others.

Students are taught by research-active scholars, are expected to undertake a diverse range of learning tasks and are challenged to develop their intellectual independence. Graduates of the programme are well-informed, versatile, independent thinkers with the information literacy, communication, research and interpersonal skills necessary for a career or further academic study. The completed BA is an entry qualification for the PGDipArts in the major subject of the degree.

Statistics

Statistics as a field of study is concerned with the collection, analysis and interpretation of numerical data. The main emphasis is on the role of random variation in observations that are made, which is why statistical theory is built on the concepts of probability.

Although the study of statistics in any depth requires some proficiency in algebra and calculus, it is not just another branch of mathematics. The use of statistical methods requires skills in problem formulation, computing and the assessment of evidence that are not always closely related to mathematical ability. Furthermore, a key ingredient for being a successful statistician is the ability to communicate complex ideas to other people in written and verbal reports.

Statistics can be studied at all undergraduate levels at the University of Otago. Many students take a first year Statistics paper as a prerequisite for their main subject of interest, or just because it is generally useful to have some knowledge of basic quantitative methods. Often these students then continue the subject with papers at 200-level and 300-level while majoring in disciplines like Botany, Ecology, Economics, Finance, Geography, Marketing Management, Psychology or Zoology.

Other students study Statistics as their major subject because they:

• are looking for a practical and useful application of their mathematical abilities, with good employment prospects
• would like to work with researchers, in a wide range or disciplines, in solving important problems
• want a job which involves them in contributing to policy or management decisions for government or private industry
• have a concern for social or environmental issues and want to use their skills in biological, environmental or medical research.

Programme Requirements

100-level

STAT 110 Statistical Methods or STAT 115 Introduction to Biostatistics; MATH 160 Mathematics 1; MATH 170 Mathematics 2

200-level - STAT 210 Applied Statistics or STAT 241 Regression and Modelling 1; STAT 260 Visualisation and Modelling in R (not required if STAT 380 passed previously); STAT 261 Probability and Inference 1 or STAT 270 Probability and Inference; MATH 202 Linear Algebra or MATH 203 Calculus of Several Variables.

300-level - STAT 370 Statistical Inference. Three of: STAT 311 Design of Research Studies; STAT 341 Regression and Modelling 2; STAT 342 Multivariate Methods; STAT 352 Applied Time Series; STAT 372 Stochastic Modelling; STAT 399 Special Topic.

Plus

• 162 further points; must include 36 points at 200-level or above.
• Up to 90 points may be taken from outside Science