What influences consumer choices? Why are some people healthier, academically more successful, or more athletic than others? Are you interested in understanding how climate change is impacting communities in your home country? How can the vast amount of data collected and stored online be used to improve our quality of life? The discipline of statistics seeks to turn data into useful information that can help answer these and many other questions that may pique your interest.

In this course, learning statistics will be motivated by using real data to answer questions that YOU are passionate about. Each student will: (1) generate a testable hypothesis from real data; (2) understand how large datasets are structured; (3) format and manage data; (4) conduct descriptive and inferential statistical analysis; and (5) communicate the results of their research to expert and novice audiences. The process of converting data into useful information draws on the following statistical foundation skills taught in the course such as producing data, exploratory data analysis, probability and inference.

Statistical computing software is the essential tool that ties the quantitative research process together. In this course, you will use R and R Studio to manage data, carry out statistical analysis, conduct simulations, and create graphs and charts to represent data visually – all in the service of answering your own interesting research question!