Lecture 2- Intro to stats

Question 1

What is the definition of statistics?

Answer 1

Statistics is the science of learning from data and of measuring, controlling and communicating uncertainty; and it thereby provides a navigation essential for controlling the course of scientific and societal advances.

Question 2

What is the scientific method used for? How is statistics invovled in this process?

Answer 2

Its how we gain knowledge and understanding through the testing of hypotheses.
Statistics is invovled at every stage as data is. Stats is key to how we design a study that is actually investigating what we need to and in analyzing the results we get from experiments/ observations.

Question 3

What is evidence based policy?

Answer 3

An aim to provide the best available evidence gained from the scientific method to policy making.

Question 4

What is evidence based practice?

Answer 4

preferential use of interventions or actions for which systematic empirical research has provided reliable evidence of benefit

Question 5

Reliable of evidence regarded in terms of refining our hypothesis is dependent on…

Answer 5

The quality of the research we have carried out.

Question 6

In statistics what is uncertainty?

Answer 6

Variability, we have to design experiments which limit this as much as possible but you are never going to be able to limit it all. No matter what we do when we repeat an experiment in the exact same way we will never get identical results. Statistics can therefore be used to measure this uncertainty e.g. +- 5%

Question 7

What’s important about research questions?

Answer 7

The answer is not immediately available you need to investigate to figure it out

Question 8

What are the 5 steps in the research process?

Answer 8

1. Developing a research question (what hypotheses will be tested?)
2. Design a study (what methods will be used to select study participants? and how are other variables controlled?)
3. Collection of data
4. Description/ analysis of data
5. Interpretation of the results (are they reliable?)

Question 9

Explain how inference works in studies?

Answer 9

We can’t test an entire population. Therefore we test a small (randomized) representative sample and then use the results (summarized by statistics) to infer stuff about the wider group.

Question 10

In statistics what is a model? What does the gradient of the line tell us?

Answer 10

A model describes the relationship between quantities of interest. This relationship can be summarized by calculating the gradient of the line as it is a clear indicator of how changes in factor a (x) effect changes in factor b (y)

Question 11

What happens to uncertainty as sample size increases?

Answer 11

It decreases