How much calculus is used in statistics?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on a physics major seeking to maintain math skills through a statistical methods course due to a lack of available classes in their major. The course requires prerequisites including Calculus II and a 200-level mathematics course. Key topics covered in the course include data collection, probability, hypothesis testing, and regression, with extensive use of statistical software. It is noted that calculus is integral to the course, particularly for continuous distributions, multivariable distributions, and when applying the central limit theorem. Evaluating integrals is also mentioned, with a reliance on tables for distributions like normal and gamma, rather than closed-form solutions. Overall, the course will involve significant mathematical concepts and applications.
Wm_Davies
Messages
51
Reaction score
0
I am a physics major and unfortunately this semester there is almost no classes that I can take in my major field of study due to not having the proper prerequisites. So I am looking for a course that will keep my math skills honed. I am really interested in taking statistical methods which seems like it will involve calc and certainly matrices. How much calc is generally involved in a statistical methods course?

The course description is as follows:

FYI: MTH 182 is Calculus II and I have taken two 200 level math courses (Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra).

Prerequisites: MTH 182 and a 200-level mathematics course. Issues of data collection, use and misuse, graphical and numerical summary techniques, basic probability, discrete random variables, continuous random variables, central limit theorem, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing of a proportion, hypothesis testing of a mean, 2 sample hypothesis testing, chi square testing, regression. Appropriate statistical software used extensively.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Wm_Davies said:
I am a physics major and unfortunately this semester there is almost no classes that I can take in my major field of study due to not having the proper prerequisites. So I am looking for a course that will keep my math skills honed. I am really interested in taking statistical methods which seems like it will involve calc and certainly matrices. How much calc is generally involved in a statistical methods course?

The course description is as follows:

FYI: MTH 182 is Calculus II and I have taken two 200 level math courses (Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra).

Prerequisites: MTH 182 and a 200-level mathematics course. Issues of data collection, use and misuse, graphical and numerical summary techniques, basic probability, discrete random variables, continuous random variables, central limit theorem, confidence intervals, hypothesis testing of a proportion, hypothesis testing of a mean, 2 sample hypothesis testing, chi square testing, regression. Appropriate statistical software used extensively.

Hey there.

Anything involving continuous distributions will get you using calculus.

Anything involving multivariable distributions will get you using multivariable calculus and as such will get you using matrices.

Also some stuff with discrete will get you using continuous distributions in the case of the central limit theorem and approximating distributions such as large binomial distributions (which are discrete) by using normal approximations with so called "continuity correction".

Some of the time you will have to evaluate integrals, but they won't have closed form analytical expressions so you will use tables especially when you are doing "statistics" over just probability calculations where you use normal, gamma and student t distributions.
 
That definitely makes sense! Thanks! :)
 
Bit Britain-specific but I was wondering, what's the best path to take for A-Levels out of the following (I know Y10 seems a bit early to be thinking about A-levels, but my choice will impact what I do this year/ in y11) I (almost) definitely want to do physics at University - so keep that in mind... The subjects that I'm almost definitely going to take are Maths, Further Maths and Physics, and I'm taking a fast track programme which means that I'll be taking AS computer science at the end...
After a year of thought, I decided to adjust my ratio for applying the US/EU(+UK) schools. I mostly focused on the US schools before, but things are getting complex and I found out that Europe is also a good place to study. I found some institutes that have professors with similar interests. But gaining the information is much harder than US schools (like you have to contact professors in advance etc). For your information, I have B.S. in engineering (low GPA: 3.2/4.0) in Asia - one SCI...
I graduated with a BSc in Physics in 2020. Since there were limited opportunities in my country (mostly teaching), I decided to improve my programming skills and began working in IT, first as a software engineer and later as a quality assurance engineer, where I’ve now spent about 3 years. While this career path has provided financial stability, I’ve realized that my excitement and passion aren’t really there, unlike what I felt when studying or doing research in physics. Working in IT...

Similar threads

Replies
4
Views
2K
Replies
11
Views
7K
Replies
4
Views
4K
Replies
13
Views
7K
Replies
11
Views
2K
Back
Top