STA1610/101/0/2023

Tutorial Letter 101/0/2023

Introduction to Statistics
STA1610

Year Module

Department of Statistics

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Please register on myUnisa, activate your myLife e-mail account and

make sure that you have regular access to the myUnisa module
website, STA1610-23-Y, as well as your group website.

Note: This is a fully online module. It is, therefore, only available on myUnisa.

BARCODE
 CONTENTS
Page

1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ 4
2 MODULE OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................... 5
2.1 Purpose.............................................................................................................................. 5
2.2 Outcomes ........................................................................................................................... 5
3 CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION ................................................................................ 6
4 LECTURER(S) AND CONTACT DETAILS ........................................................................ 6
4.1 Lecturer(s) .......................................................................................................................... 6
4.2 Department ........................................................................................................................ 6
4.3 University ........................................................................................................................... 6
5 RESOURCES .................................................................................................................... 7
5.1 Prescribed book(s) ............................................................................................................. 7
5.2 Recommended book(s) ...................................................................................................... 7
5.3 Electronic reserves (e-reserves) ......................................................................................... 7
5.4 Library services and resources ........................................................................................... 7
6 STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES ..................................................................................... 8
6.1 First-Year Experience Programme .................................................................................... 9
7. STUDY PLAN .................................................................................................................... 9
8 HOW TO STUDY ONLINE ............................................................................................... 11
8.1 What does it mean to study fully online? .......................................................................... 11
9. ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................................ 11
9.1 Assessment criteria .......................................................................................................... 11
9.2 Assessment plan .............................................................................................................. 12
9.3 Assessment due dates ..................................................................................................... 12
9.4 Submission of assessments ............................................................................................. 13
9.5 The assessments ............................................................................................................. 14
9.6 Other assessment methods ............................................................................................. 14
9.7 The examination............................................................................................................... 14
9.7.1 Invigilation/proctoring ....................................................................................................... 14
9.8 Supplementary ................................................................................................................. 15
10. ACADEMIC DISHONESTY .............................................................................................. 15

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10.1 Plagiarism ........................................................................................................................ 15

10.2 Cheating........................................................................................................................... 15
10.3 For more information about plagiarism, follow the link below: ........................................... 16
11. STUDENTS LIVING WITH DISABILITIES ....................................................................... 16
12. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS .............................................................................. 16
13. SOURCES CONSULTED ................................................................................................ 16
14. IN CLOSING .................................................................................................................... 16
15. ADDENDUM A: MODULE SYLLABUS .......................................................................... 17
16. ADDENDUM B: STATISTICAL TABLES ....................................................................... 19

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1 INTRODUCTION
Dear Student

Unisa is a comprehensive open distance e-learning (CODeL) higher education institution.

The comprehensiveness of our curricula encapsulates a range of offerings, from strictly
vocational to strictly academic certificates, diplomas and degrees. Unisa's "openness" and its
distance eLearning character result in many students registering at Unisa who may not have
had an opportunity to enrol in higher education. Our CODeL character implies that our
programmes are carefully planned and structured to ensure success for students ranging
from the under-prepared but with potential to the sufficiently prepared.

Teaching and learning in a CODeL context involve multiple modes of delivery ranging from
blended learning to fully online. As a default position, all post graduate programmes are
offered fully online with no printed study materials, while undergraduate programmes are
offered in a blended mode of delivery where printed study materials are augmented with
online teaching and learning via the learner management system – myUnisa. In some
instances, undergraduate programmes are offered fully online as well.

Furthermore, our programmes are aligned with the vision, mission and values of the
University. Unisa's commitment is to serve humanity and shape futures combined with a clear
appreciation of our location on the African continent. Unisa's graduates have distinctive
graduate qualities which include

• independent, resilient, responsible and caring citizens who are able to fulfil and serve in
multiple roles in their immediate and future local, national and global communities.

• having a critical understanding of their location on the African continent with its histories,
challenges and potential in relation to globally diverse contexts.

• the ability to critically analyse and evaluate the credibility and usefulness of information
and data from multiple sources in a globalised world with its ever-increasing information
and data flows and competing worldviews.

• how to apply their discipline-specific knowledges competently, ethically and creatively to

solve real-life problems.

• an awareness of their own learning and developmental needs and future potential.

Whether a module is offered either as blended (meaning that we use a combination of printed
and online material to engage with you) or online (all information is available via the internet),
we use myUnisa as our virtual campus. This is an online system that is used to administer,
document and deliver educational material to you and support engagement with you. Look
out for information from your lecturer as well as other Unisa platforms to determine how to
access the virtual myUnisa module site. Information on the tools that will be available to
engage with the lecturer and fellow students to support your learning will also be
communicated via various platforms.

You are encouraged to log into the module site on myUnisa regularly (that is, at least twice per
week).

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The module STA1610 – Introduction to Statistics is offered online only.

Because this is a fully online module, you will need to use myUnisa to study and complete the
learning activities for this module. Visit the website on myUnisa frequently. The website for your
module is STA1610-23-Y.

We wish you every success with your studies!

2 MODULE OVERVIEW
2.1 Purpose

The purpose of this module is to have students credited with this unit standard familiar with
introductory statistics concepts and its applications in industry. After completion students should
produce different visual descriptions of data, including graphical and tabular techniques, and
measures of central location, dispersion, and association. They should be able to solve
problems on probability as a tool to create discrete and continuous probability distributions,
used extensively in statistical inference; determine confidence intervals and perform hypothesis
testing involving a sample mean and proportion; apply different forms of Chi-square testing;
solve problems on simple linear regression and correlation.

2.2 Outcomes

For this module, you will have to master several outcomes:

Specific outcome 1: Visualise data considering different types of data and how they relate to
relevant graphical and tabular presentations e.g., pie charts, bar charts, histograms, stem-and-
leaf displays, line charts, scatter diagrams and box-and-whisker plots.

Specific outcome 2: Analyse data by calculating accurate numerical measures of central

location, variability, and relative standing.

Specific outcome 3: Describe the different concepts and laws of probability and apply
definitions of joint, marginal, and conditional probability. Apply the complement, multiplication,
and addition rules.

Specific outcome 4: Describe the role of probability in decision making and the application in
basic statistical inference.

Specific outcome 5: Describe random variables and the probabilities associated with them in
the form of a table, formula, or graph and in terms of its parameters, usually the expected value
and the variance.

Specific outcome 6: Describe different probability distributions as either discrete or continuous

and derive the parameters of expected value and variance.

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Specific outcome 7: Construct small-sample tests and confidence intervals for population
means and proportions.

3 CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION
Unisa has implemented a transformation charter, in terms of which the university has placed
curriculum transformation high on the teaching and learning agenda. Curriculum transformation
includes student-centred scholarship, the pedagogical renewal of teaching and assessment
practices, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and the infusion of African epistemologies
and philosophies. All of these will be phrased in at both programme and module levels, and as a
result of this you will notice a marked change in the teaching and learning strategy implemented
by Unisa, together with the way in which the content is conceptualised in your modules. We
encourage you to embrace these changes during your studies at Unisa in a responsive way
within the framework of transformation.

4 LECTURER(S) AND CONTACT DETAILS

4.1 Lecturer(s)

The primary lecturer for this module is:

Department: Phuti Sebatjane
Telephone: 011 670 9472
E-mail: [email protected]

[Since sometimes module lecturers change, please go to the module’s myUnisa web site to
check the latest information and contact details of your module lecturer.]

4.2 Department

You can contact the Department of Statistics as follows:

Telephone number: (011) 670 9255
E-mail: [email protected]

4.3 University

To contact the University, follow the instructions on the Contact us page on the Unisa website.
Contact addresses of the various administrative departments appear on the Unisa website:
http://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Contact-us/Student-enquiries.

Remember to have your student number available whenever you contact the University.

Whenever you contact a lecturer via e-mail, use your student email address to enable the
lecturer to help you more effectively.

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5 RESOURCES
5.1 Prescribed book(s)

The prescribed textbook for this module is Statistics

for Business and Economics from Cengage
Learning, ISBN no. 9781473768451 by Anderson,
Sweeney, Williams, Camm, Cochran, Freeman &
Shoesmith (2020, 5th edition). Please consult the list
of official booksellers, their addresses listed in
Study@Unisa. Prescribed books can be obtained from
the University’s official booksellers. If you have difficulty
locating your book(s) at these booksellers, please
contact the Prescribed Books Section at 012 429 4152
or e-mail [email protected]
Alternative an electronic copy of the book can be
bought online at:

https://www.vitalsource.com/za/products/3i-ebook-statistics-
for-business-amp-economics-5e-james-freeman-eddie-
v9781473768475

5.2 Recommended book(s)

This module has no recommended books.

5.3 Electronic reserves (e-reserves)

This module has no e-reserves.

5.4 Library services and resources

The Unisa library offers a range of information services and resources:

• For brief information, go to https://www.unisa.ac.za/library/libatglance

• For more detailed library information, go to
http://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Library
• For research support and services (e.g. the services offered by personal librarians and the
request a literature search service offered by the information search librarians), go to
http://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Library/Library-services/Research-support
• For library training for undergraduate students, go to
https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Library/Library-services/Training
• The library has created numerous library guides, available at http://libguides.unisa.ac.za

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Recommended guides:

• Request and find library material/download recommended material:

http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/request/request
• Postgraduate information services: http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/request/postgrad
• Finding and using library resources and tools:
http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/Research_skills
• Frequently asked questions about the library:
http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/ask
• Services to students living with disabilities:
http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/disability
• A–Z of library databases:
https://libguides.unisa.ac.za/az.php

Important contact information:

• Ask a librarian: https://libguides.unisa.ac.za/ask
• Technical problems encountered in accessing library online services: Lib-
[email protected]
• General library-related queries: [email protected]
• Queries related to library fines and payments: [email protected]
• Social media channels: Facebook: UnisaLibrary and Twitter: @UnisaLibrary

6 STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

The Study @ Unisa brochure is available on myUnisa: www.unisa.ac.za/brochures/studies

This brochure contains important information and guidelines for successful studies through
Unisa.

If you need assistance with regard to the myModules system, you are welcome to use the
following contact details:

• Toll-free landline: 0800 00 1870 (Select option 07 for myModules)

• E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

You can access and view short videos on topics such as how to view your calendar, how to
access module content, how to view announcements for modules, how to submit assessment
and how to participate in forum activities via the following link: https://dtls-
qa.unisa.ac.za/course/view.php?id=32130

Registered Unisa students get a free myLife e-mail account. Important information, notices
and updates are sent exclusively to this account. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours
for your account to be activated after you have claimed it. Please do this immediately after
registering at Unisa, by following this link: [email protected]

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Your myLife account is the only e-mail account recognised by Unisa for official
correspondence with the university, and will remain the official primary e-mail address on
record at Unisa. You remain responsible for the management of this e-mail account.

6.1 First-Year Experience Programme

Many students find the transition from school education to tertiary education stressful. This is
also true in the case of students enrolling at Unisa for the first time. Unisa is a dedicated open
distance and e-learning institution, and it is very different from face-to-face/contact institutions. It
is a mega university, and all our programmes are offered through either blended learning or fully
online learning. It is for this reason that we thought it necessary to offer first-time students
additional/extended support to help them seamlessly navigate the Unisa teaching and learning
journey with little difficulty and few barriers. We therefore offer a specialised student support
programme to students enrolling at Unisa for the first time – this is Unisa’s First-Year
Experience (FYE) Programme, designed to provide you with prompt and helpful information
about services that the institution offers and how you can access information. The following FYE
services are currently offered:

• FYE website: All the guides and resources you need in order to navigate through your first
year at Unisa can be accessed using the following link: www.unisa.ac.za/FYE

• FYE e-mails: You will receive regular e-mails to help you stay focused and motivated.

• FYE broadcasts: You will receive e-mails with links to broadcasts on various topics related
to your first-year studies (e.g. videos on how to submit assessments online).

• FYE mailbox: For assistance with queries related to your first year of study, send an e-mail
to [email protected].

7. STUDY PLAN
Distance learning is not easy, and you should not underestimate the time and effort involved.
Once you have received your study material, please plan how you will approach and complete
this module. Consult my Studies @ Unisa for suggestions about general time management and
planning skills.
This is a year module offered over 30 weeks and requires at least 120 hours of study time. This
means that you will have to study at least 4 hours per week for this module. Here is a suggested
schedule that you could use as a guideline for studying this module.

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 LEARNING PLAN (STA1610)
Time Activities

2023/02/13 – 2023/02/26 • Read and re-read Tutorial Letter 101.

• Skim through all the Chapters in the textbook and all
(2 weeks, 8 study hours) the Learning Units in the study guide, forming a
general impression of the whole module.

2023/02/27 – 2023/03/19 • First reading of Chapter 1 (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5),
Chapter 2 (2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4), Chapter 3 (3.1, 3.2,
(3 weeks, 12 study hours) 3.3, 3.4, 3.5).

• Read the units in the study guide that correspond

to Chapters 1, 2 & 3 in the textbook.

2023/03/20 – 2023/04/30 • In-depth study of Chapter 1 (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5),
Chapter 2 (2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4), Chapter 3 (3.1, 3.2,
(6 weeks, 24 study hours) 3.3, 3.4, 3.5).

2023/05/01 – 2023/05/14 • Assignment 1 opens for submissions 2023/05/09.

(2 weeks, 8 study hours) • First reading of Chapter 4 (4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4) and
Chapter 5 (5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.5, 5.6).

• Read the units in the study guide that correspond

to Chapters 4 & 5 in the textbook.

2023/05/15 – 2023/06/11 • In-depth study of Chapter 4 (4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4) and
Chapter 5 (5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.5, 5.6).
(4 weeks, 16 study hours)
• Assignment 1 closes for submissions 2023/05/22.

• Assignment 2 opens for submissions 2023/06/09.

2023/06/12 – 2023/06/25 • Assignment 2 closes for submissions 2023/06/19.

(2 weeks, 8 study hours) • First reading of Chapter 6 (6.2, 6.3) & Chapter 7
(7.4, 7.5, 7.6).

• Read the units in the study guide that correspond

to Chapters 6 & 7 in the textbook.

2023/06/26 – 2023/07/09 • Mid-year recess

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2023/07/10 – 2023/08/20 • In-depth reading of Chapter 6 (6.2, 6.3) & Chapter

7 (7.4, 7.5, 7.6).
(6 weeks, 24 study hours)
• Assignment 3 opens for submissions 2023/07/01
and closes 2023/07/24.

• First reading of Chapter 8 (8.1,8.2, 8.3,8.4) &

Chapter 9 (9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5).

• Read the units in the study guide that correspond

to Chapters 6 & 7 in the textbook.

• In-depth reading of Chapter 8 (8.1,8.2, 8.3,8.4) &

Chapter 9 (9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5).

• Assignment 4 opens for submissions 2023/08/08.

2023/08/21 – 2023/09/03 • First reading of Chapter 12 (12.3) & Chapter 14

(14.1, 14.2, 14.3).
(2 weeks, 8 study hours)
• Assignment 4 closes for submissions 2023/08/21.

2023/09/04 – 2023/09/29 • In-depth reading of Chapter 12 (12.3) & Chapter

14 (14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 14.4, 14.6).
(4 weeks, 16 study hours)
• Assignment 5 closes for submissions 2023/09/06
and closes 2023/09/18.

Oct/Nov 2023 • General revision & examination

8. HOW TO STUDY ONLINE

8.1 What does it mean to study fully online?

See section 9.4

9. ASSESSMENT
9.1 Assessment criteria

The outcomes of this module are given in section 2.2 of this tutorial letter. These outcomes
describe what you should be able to do in order to successfully complete this module.
Assignments and an examination are ways we use to assess whether you have reached the
outcomes. The criteria we use to assess your work can be summarized as follows:

• You must apply the correct and appropriate formulas, presentations, methods, rules, laws,
values from the tables, and so on, as required by the question(s).

• Applying of formulae, methods etc must be done correctly.

• Results, statistical tests, computer printouts, etc must be interpreted correctly when asked
to do so.
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• Calculations must be correct and accurate.

9.2 Assessment plan

• To complete this module, you will be required to submit 5 assessments.

• All information about when and where to submit your assessments will be made available
to you via the myModules site for your module.
• The exact due dates for assignments are available on the myUnisa site for this module.
The actual assignment questions will also be made available on the myUnisa site for the
module.
• To gain admission to the examination, you will be required to submit 5 assignments.
• To gain admission to the examination, you need to obtain a year mark average of 40% for
the assignments.
• The assignment weighting for the module is 30%.
• The examination will count 70% towards the final module mark.
• You will receive examination information via the myModules sites. Please watch out for
announcements on how examinations for the modules for which you are registered will be
conducted.
• The best 4 of 5 assignments will be used towards calculation of your year mark.
Each of the 4 assignments will contribute 25% towards the year mark.

9.3 Assessment due dates

• There are no assignment due dates included in this tutorial letter. The approximate due
dates of the assignments are as follows:

Assignment no. Due on:

Assignment 1 Fourth week of May.

Assignment 2 Third week of June.

Assignment 3 Fourth week in July.

Assignment 4 Fourth week in August.

Assignment 5 Third week of September.

• Assignment due dates will be made available to you on the myUnisa landing page for this
module. We envisage that the due dates will be available to you upon registration.

• Please start working on your assessments as soon as you register for the module.

• Log on to the myUnisa site for this module to obtain more information on the due dates for
the submission of the assessments.

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9.4 Submission of assessments

• Unisa, as a comprehensive open distance e-learning institution (CODeL), is moving

towards becoming an online institution. You will therefore see that all your study material,
assessments and engagements with your lecturer and fellow students will take place
online. We use myUnisa as our virtual campus.

• The myUnisa virtual campus will offer students access to the myModules site, where the
learning material will be available online and where assessments should be completed.
This is an online system that is used to administer, document, and deliver educational
material to students and support engagement between academics and students.

• The myUnisa platform can be accessed via https://my.unisa.ac.za. Click on the

myModules 2023 button to access the online sites for the modules that you are registered
for.

• The university undertakes to communicate clearly and as frequently as is necessary to

ensure that you obtain the greatest benefit from the use of the myModules learning
management system. Please access the announcements on your myModules site
regularly, as this is where your lecturer will post important information to be shared with
you.

• When you access your myModules site for the module/s you are registered for, you will
see a welcome message posted by your lecturer. Below the welcome message you will
see the assessment shells for the assessments that you need to complete. Some
assessments may be multiple choice, some tests, others written assessments, some
forum discussions, and so on. All assessments must be completed on the assessment
shells available on the respective module platforms.

• To complete quiz assessments, please log on to the module site where you need to
complete the assessment. Click on the relevant assessment shell (Assessment 1,
Assessment 2, etc.). There will be a date on which the assessment will open for you.
When the assessment is open, access the quiz online and complete it within the time
available to you. Quiz assessment questions are not included in this tutorial letter (Tutorial
Letter 101) and are only made available online. You must therefore access the quiz online
and complete it online where the quiz has been created.

• It is not advisable to use a cell phone to complete the quiz. Please use a desktop
computer, tablet or laptop when completing the quiz. Students who use a cell phone find it
difficult to navigate the Online Assessment tool on the small screen and often struggle to
navigate between questions and successfully complete the quizzes. In addition, cell
phones are more vulnerable to dropped internet connections than other devices. If
possible, please do not use a cell phone for this assessment type.

• For written assessments, please note the due date by which the assessment must be
submitted. Ensure that you follow the guidelines given by your lecturer to complete the
assessment. Click on the submission button on the relevant assessment shell on

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 myModules. You will then be able to upload your written assessment on the myModules
site of the modules that you are registered for. Before you finalise the upload, double
check that you have selected the correct file for upload. Remember, no marks can be
allocated for incorrectly submitted assessments.

9.5 The assessments

As indicated in section 9.2, you need to complete 5 assignments for this module. The
assignment questions will be gradually be made available on myUnisa under “Activities” after
registration.

9.6 Other assessment methods

There are no other assessment methods.

9.7 The examination

Examination information and details on the format of the examination will be made available to
you online via the myUnisa site. Look out for information that will be shared with you by your
lecturer and e-tutors (where relevant) and for communication from the university.

9.7.1 Invigilation/proctoring

Since 2020 Unisa conducts all its assessments online. Given stringent requirements from
professional bodies and increased solicitations of Unisa’s students by third parties to unlawfully
assist them with the completion of assignments and examinations, the University is obliged to
assure its assessment integrity through the utilisation of various proctoring tools: Turnitin,
Moodle Proctoring, the Invigilator App and IRIS. These tools will authenticate the student’s
identity and flag suspicious behaviour to assure credibility of students’ responses during
assessments. The description below is for your benefit as you may encounter any or all of these
in your registered modules:

Turnitin is a plagiarism software that facilitates checks for originality in students’ submissions
against internal and external sources. Turnitin assists in identifying academic fraud and ghost
writing. Students are expected to submit typed responses for utilisation of the Turnitin software.

The Moodle Proctoring tool is a facial recognition software that authenticates students’ identity
during their assessments. This tool requires access to a student’s mobile or laptop camera.
Students must ensure their camera is activated in their browser settings prior to their
assessments.

The Invigilator “mobile application-based service does verification” of the identity of an

assessment participant. The Invigilator Mobile Application detects student dishonesty-by-proxy
and ensures that the assessment participant is the registered student. This invigilation tool

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requires students to download the app from their Play Store (Google, Huawei and Apple) on
their mobile devices (camera enabled) prior to their assessment.

IRIS Invigilation software verifies the identity of a student during assessment and provides for
both manual and automated facial verification. It has the ability to record and review a student’s
assessment session. It flags suspicious behaviour by the students for review by an academic
administrator. IRIS software requires installation on students’ laptop devices that are enabled
with a webcam.

Students who are identified and flagged for suspicious dishonest behaviour arising from the
invigilation and proctoring reports are referred to the disciplinary office for formal proceeding.

Please note:

Students must refer to their module assessment information on their myModule sites to
determine which proctoring or invigilation tool will be utilised for their formative and summative
assessments.

9.8 Supplementary

Supplementary examinations are provided to qualifying students during a specified period. The
type and scope are the same as for the initial examination, but the contents of the question
papers are expected to be new.

10. ACADEMIC DISHONESTY

10.1 Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of taking the words, ideas and thoughts of others and presenting them as
your own. It is a form of theft. Plagiarism includes the following forms of academic dishonesty:

• Copying and pasting from any source without acknowledging the source.
• Not including references or deliberately inserting incorrect bibliographic information.
• Paraphrasing without acknowledging the original source of the information.

10.2 Cheating

Cheating includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Completing assessments on behalf of another student, copying the work of another

student during an assessment, or allowing another student to copy your work.
• Using social media (e.g. WhatsApp, Telegram) or other platforms to disseminate
assessment information.
• Submitting corrupt or irrelevant files, this forms part of examination guidelines.
• Buying completed answers from so-called “tutors” or internet sites (contract cheating).

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10.3 For more information about plagiarism, follow the link below:
https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/myunisa/default/Study-@-Unisa/Student-values-and-rules

11. STUDENTS LIVING WITH DISABILITIES

The Advocacy and Resource Centre for Students with Disabilities (ARCSWiD) provides an
opportunity for staff to interact with first-time and returning students with disabilities.

If you are a student with a disability and would like additional support or need additional time for
assessments, you are invited to contact (name and e-mail address of the lecturer must be
inserted) to discuss the assistance that you need.

12. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• Lecturers are not allowed to accept directly emailed assignments and exam scripts. You
must submit your assignments and exam on time through the correct platforms.
• Lecturers are not allowed to give students the “exam scope”. The module syllabus is the
“exam scope”. Your quizzes and assignments are good indicators of the final exam
coverage, the format of the exam questions, and the degree of difficulty of the exam
questions.
• The Study @ Unisa brochure contains the most relevant study information. Please refer to
this brochure for any other questions.

13. SOURCES CONSULTED

No books or other sources were consulted in preparing this tutorial letter.

14. IN CLOSING

Remember that there are no “short cuts” to studying and understanding statistics. You need to
be dedicated, work consistently and practise, practise and practise some more! We trust that
you will find a depth of knowledge in STA1610 that you can apply in many aspects of your life.
Be positive, determined and eager to learn and you will be successful. Do not hesitate to
contact us by e-mail if you are experiencing problems with the content of this tutorial letter or
with any academic aspect of the module. We wish you a fascinating and satisfying journey
through learning the material, and trust that you will complete the module successfully.

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15. ADDENDUM A: MODULE SYLLABUS

1. Data and statistics

1.1 Applications in business and economics

1.2 Data

1.3 Data sources

1.4 Descriptive statistics

1.5 Statistical inference

2. Descriptive statistics: tabular and graphical presentations

2.1 Summarizing categorical data

2.2 Summarizing quantitative data

2.3 Summarizing relationships between two categorical variables

2.4 Summarizing relationships between two quantitative variables

3. Descriptive statistics: numerical measures

3.1 Measures of location

3.2 Measures of variability

3.3 Measures of distributional shape, relative location and detecting outliers

3.4 Exploratory data analysis

3.5 Measures of association between two variables

4. Introduction to probability

4.1 Experiments, counting rules and assigning probabilities

4.2 Events and their probabilities

4.3 Some basic relationships of probability

4.4 Conditional probability

5. Discrete probability distributions

5.1 Random variables

5.2 Discrete probability distributions

5.3 Expected value and variance

5.5 Binomial probability distribution

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5.6 Poisson probability distribution

6. Continuous probability distribution

6.2 Normal probability distribution

6.3 Normal approximation of binominal probabilities

7. Sampling and sampling distributions

7.4 Introduction to sampling distributions

7.5 Sampling distribution of the mean

7.6 Sampling distribution of the proportion

8. Interval estimation

8.1 Confidence interval estimation of the population mean: population standard deviation
known

8.2 Confidence interval estimation of the population mean: population standard deviation
unknown

8.3 Confidence interval estimation of the population proportion

9. Hypothesis tests

9.1 Testing of the population mean with the population standard deviation known: one tailed
test

9.2 Testing of the population mean with the population standard deviation known: two tailed
test.

9.3 Further discussion of hypothesis testing fundamentals

9.4 Testing of the population mean with the population standard deviation unknown

9.5 Testing the population proportion

12. Test of goodness of fit and independence

12.3 Test of independence

14. Simple linear regression

14.1 Simple linear regression model

14.2 Least square method

14.3 Coefficient of determination

14.4 Model assumptions

14.6 Using the estimated regression equation for estimation and prediction.

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Unisa 2022

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