Courses / Modules / STAT6140 Elements of Statistics and Data Science

Elements of Statistics and Data Science

When you'll study it: Semester 1
CATS points: 15
ECTS points: 7.5
Level: Level 7
Module lead: Angela Luna Hernandez
Academic year: 2026-27

Module overview

The aim of this module is to provide a foundation for the more advanced modules in the programme. The first part of the module will provide a revision of the basic elements of statistics that will be relevant to the programme, such as expectation and variance, as well as the theory of estimation and hypothesis testing. The second part of the module will introduce a range of data science concepts such as crossvalidation and the bootstrap. It will discuss the specific issues of dealing with unstructured data and provide a contrast between the data modelling and the algorithmic modelling approaches to inference. The module will close with a closer look to the data sources widely used in official statistics, with special focus on administrative data.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

search out and critically appraise the different types of data available for a particular task
a select range of mathematical methods with wide use within statistics
The principles of statistical inference
analyse simple unstructured datasets, and understand the challenges and risks of using standard analysis with these types of data

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Use basic data science approaches to answer analytical questions

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

The algorithmic modelling and data modelling approaches to inference

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching will be through a combination of lectures, exercise sessions, computer workshops and tutorials, as well as independent study.

Study time
Type	Hours
Teaching	40
Independent Study	110
Total study time	150

Assessment

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Exam	50%
Coursework	50%