Syllabus: Statistical Methods in Information Science and Technology

The world contains many phenomena that are variable, complex, and interrelated. The relations among such variables are seldom straightforward: they are typically noisy, causally complex, and characterized by unpredictability. We can examine and measure aspects of the world in order to understand it. When we observe or measure phenomena, we generate so many numbers of many different kinds that it can be difficult to make sense out of them without helpful tools. Quantitative analysis provides the tools that help us understand the variability and inter-relatedness of the world as we measure it. Quantitative analysis includes statistics but is more than just statistics. Graphs, tables, and other data displays are important quantitative analysis tools. Data cleaning, screening, recoding, sorting, and filtering are also important quantitative analysis tools.