Statistical Practice

3 credits · Graduate credit

This course studies the process of statistical investigation. Students will learn to formulate scientific and statistical questions, analyze relevant data, and clearly communicate their findings. The emphasis is not on specific methods, but rather on scientific reasoning, collaboration, communication, and critical evaluation of findings. The course will be project based, using case studies from collaborative research and consulting. Key components of the course include: question formulation, data collection and study design, data cleaning and exploratory data analysis, model selection and validation, assessment of findings, post-hoc analysis, and conclusions, writing, communication and critical assessment, and reproducibility and replicability.