EC 285 - Thu Sep 10, 2026 - Lecture 01

Before class

• Nothing - just show up

In class

Lecture notes

• Sample (n)
  • Value from a sample is called a statistic
• Population (N)
  • Value from population is called a parameter
• Samples are part of a population, take less time, resources, money and can be very accurate if it's an accurate representation of your population
• Uncertainty is all around us, so we are constantly making assumptions based on the little information we have
  • Therefore, you can never be 100% sure
• Statistical significance - What makes a study credible, reliable, and what makes your research publishable. Basically, your results must make sense
• Statistics is a tool that helps us learn from data
• Lots of math coming up

Descriptive statistics - Graphical and numerical procedures to summarize and process data

• Allows you to easily visualize outliers because they stand out from the rest (Could even be a human error)

Inferential statistics - Using data to make predictions, forecasts and estimates to assist decision making

After class

• Tutorial problems (graded: 0.5 submit / 1 correct)