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I got the chance to casually work through this course while stuck at home during COVID-19. I highly recommend it to anybody who has a surface-level understandin

I got the chance to casually work through this course while stuck at home during COVID-19. I highly recommend it to anybody who has a surface-level understanding of statistics and wants to dive deep. This is NOT a course for absolute beginners. It is rigorous and thorough. Overall a great resource, especially the notes, but the lecturer is entertaining too.

KurtMueller 6y ago
Anybody have a recommendation for courses geared toward absolute beginners? Maybe one that would be a good segue to this course?
- nickel_8448 6y ago
  I would be interested in a beginner course too.
  - melling 6y ago
    Maybe Stats 110 from Harvard? YouTube videos: https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/stat110/youtube https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/stat110/youtube Professor Blitzstein summarizes top 10 ideas on Quora: https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-top-10-big-ideas-in-Statistics-110-Introduction-to-Probability-at-Harvard https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-top-10-big-ideas-in-Stati... Cheatsheet for the class: http://www.wzchen.com/probability-cheatsheet http://www.wzchen.com/probability-cheatsheet Book is also online: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VmkAAGOYCTORq1wxSQqy255qLJjTNvBI/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VmkAAGOYCTORq1wxSQqy255qLJj...
slooonz 6y ago
> This is NOT a course for absolute beginners I disagree with that, as long as you have some mathematics background (calculus, a bit of linear algebra), and an understanding of probability theory (which can be taken from the prerequisite course https://www.edx.org/course/probability-the-science-of-uncertainty-and-data https://www.edx.org/course/probability-the-science-of-uncert...), this course is self-sufficient and does not need prior knowledge of the subject. I was a complete beginner in the subject and I am able to follow the course without too much difficulties.
- wenc 6y ago
  I took a look at the material (the slides on Method of Moments, in particular) and my feeling is that it is a particularly mathematically-heavy treatment of statistics. As it states in its goals, it aims to introduce the mathematical theory of statistics. On the course's main page, it is listed as a senior undergraduate/graduate course. The style tends toward being expository rather pedagogical -- it's a very French/European approach to teaching mathematics. It does seem to require mathematical maturity beyond the basics, and in my opinion this is likely not accessible to most beginners without some advanced mathematical training. If you find it accessible as a beginner then I congratulate you on your mathematical prowess.
  - int3 6y ago
    "Basic" is ill-defined, but I think sloonz is right about it only requiring calc + linalg, which most CS / Eng majors will have taken.
    - wenc 6y ago
      So I've taught undergrad courses, and my sense is, the average US college engineering sophomore with linalg and say Calculus II (but no Real Analysis) might struggle with this material somewhat. They may know the material for linalg and calculus (and may have gotten As), but my feeling is that many would not have reached the mathematical maturity to truly internalize concepts. I would place this course maybe at the senior level (with graduate level cross-registration)...400-500 level elective. What is your sense? -- Side note: it's interesting in that in other countries, e.g. say France, the math curriculum is so darned advanced. In undergrad Year 1 at École Polytechnique, real analysis and variational methods are already covered in common courses. https://programmes.polytechnique.edu/en/ingenieur-polytechnicien-program/program-details/year-1-of-the-ingenieur-polytechnicien-program https://programmes.polytechnique.edu/en/ingenieur-polytechni... Functional analysis in Year 2. https://programmes.polytechnique.edu/en/ingenieur-polytechnicien-program/program-details/year-2-of-the-ingenieur-polytechnicien-program https://programmes.polytechnique.edu/en/ingenieur-polytechni... Then again the top French schools filter out non-math folks via classes prépas and exams.
jp0d 6y ago
I agree with this. I'm currently taking the Statistics and Data Science MicroMasters from MIT on the EDX platform. When you see a course titled "Introduction to .... ", it's never really an introductory material. They go really deep. I've taken the "Probability and the uncertainty of data". Granted, it starts with introducing very basic concepts, however quickly delves deep into very advanced topics. I must admit, Prof. John Tsitsiklis has done an awesome job in the course and even a beginner can take it. It's not an easy course to complete under deadlines.
- justplay 6y ago
  how was your experience ? I am thinking to take micromaster. please do mention your background and what was your goal before taking the couse and what you achieved? thanks
  - jp0d 6y ago
    Hey mate.. the probability course was really rigorous and I found the difficulty to be hard, especially with a full time job. I failed the first time, but mostly because I didn't have enough time to study. It's awesome deep dive into the world of probability and lays a solid foundation to get into statistics. I'm currently taking the "Data Analysis for social scientists" course right now. It's ambitious and has a lot of content. However, the material only covers the subject at a very shallow level and expects a lot from the students when it comes to home work exercises. Also, make sure you learn R before you start the course, that'd help a lot. I completed my bachelors in Electrical Engineering 14 years ago. I'd been looking to get some formal education in Statistics as I work as a data analyst. The course has been really good and I'm learning a lot of the theoretical aspects of Data analysis that I otherwise would never have learnt thought DataCamp or Udemy or others. I'm glad to have started it, however, it's not practical and it won't help you get a job immediately. It's very much academic in nature, however you can learn the practical stuff from other sources if you need to or learn it on the job. Depends on what you're after. I'm not doing it to get a job, rather doing it to get into academia. Hope that helps.

KurtMueller 6y ago

Anybody have a recommendation for courses geared toward absolute beginners? Maybe one that would be a good segue to this course?

nickel_8448 6y ago
I would be interested in a beginner course too.
- melling 6y ago
  Maybe Stats 110 from Harvard? YouTube videos: https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/stat110/youtube https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/stat110/youtube Professor Blitzstein summarizes top 10 ideas on Quora: https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-top-10-big-ideas-in-Statistics-110-Introduction-to-Probability-at-Harvard https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-top-10-big-ideas-in-Stati... Cheatsheet for the class: http://www.wzchen.com/probability-cheatsheet http://www.wzchen.com/probability-cheatsheet Book is also online: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VmkAAGOYCTORq1wxSQqy255qLJjTNvBI/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VmkAAGOYCTORq1wxSQqy255qLJj...

slooonz 6y ago

> This is NOT a course for absolute beginners I disagree with that, as long as you have some mathematics background (calculus, a bit of linear algebra), and an understanding of probability theory (which can be taken from the prerequisite course https://www.edx.org/course/probability-the-science-of-uncertainty-and-data https://www.edx.org/course/probability-the-science-of-uncert...), this course is self-sufficient and does not need prior knowledge of the subject. I was a complete beginner in the subject and I am able to follow the course without too much difficulties.

wenc 6y ago
I took a look at the material (the slides on Method of Moments, in particular) and my feeling is that it is a particularly mathematically-heavy treatment of statistics. As it states in its goals, it aims to introduce the mathematical theory of statistics. On the course's main page, it is listed as a senior undergraduate/graduate course. The style tends toward being expository rather pedagogical -- it's a very French/European approach to teaching mathematics. It does seem to require mathematical maturity beyond the basics, and in my opinion this is likely not accessible to most beginners without some advanced mathematical training. If you find it accessible as a beginner then I congratulate you on your mathematical prowess.
- int3 6y ago
  "Basic" is ill-defined, but I think sloonz is right about it only requiring calc + linalg, which most CS / Eng majors will have taken.
  - wenc 6y ago
    So I've taught undergrad courses, and my sense is, the average US college engineering sophomore with linalg and say Calculus II (but no Real Analysis) might struggle with this material somewhat. They may know the material for linalg and calculus (and may have gotten As), but my feeling is that many would not have reached the mathematical maturity to truly internalize concepts. I would place this course maybe at the senior level (with graduate level cross-registration)...400-500 level elective. What is your sense? -- Side note: it's interesting in that in other countries, e.g. say France, the math curriculum is so darned advanced. In undergrad Year 1 at École Polytechnique, real analysis and variational methods are already covered in common courses. https://programmes.polytechnique.edu/en/ingenieur-polytechnicien-program/program-details/year-1-of-the-ingenieur-polytechnicien-program https://programmes.polytechnique.edu/en/ingenieur-polytechni... Functional analysis in Year 2. https://programmes.polytechnique.edu/en/ingenieur-polytechnicien-program/program-details/year-2-of-the-ingenieur-polytechnicien-program https://programmes.polytechnique.edu/en/ingenieur-polytechni... Then again the top French schools filter out non-math folks via classes prépas and exams.

jp0d 6y ago

I agree with this. I'm currently taking the Statistics and Data Science MicroMasters from MIT on the EDX platform. When you see a course titled "Introduction to .... ", it's never really an introductory material. They go really deep. I've taken the "Probability and the uncertainty of data". Granted, it starts with introducing very basic concepts, however quickly delves deep into very advanced topics. I must admit, Prof. John Tsitsiklis has done an awesome job in the course and even a beginner can take it. It's not an easy course to complete under deadlines.

justplay 6y ago
how was your experience ? I am thinking to take micromaster. please do mention your background and what was your goal before taking the couse and what you achieved? thanks
- jp0d 6y ago
  Hey mate.. the probability course was really rigorous and I found the difficulty to be hard, especially with a full time job. I failed the first time, but mostly because I didn't have enough time to study. It's awesome deep dive into the world of probability and lays a solid foundation to get into statistics. I'm currently taking the "Data Analysis for social scientists" course right now. It's ambitious and has a lot of content. However, the material only covers the subject at a very shallow level and expects a lot from the students when it comes to home work exercises. Also, make sure you learn R before you start the course, that'd help a lot. I completed my bachelors in Electrical Engineering 14 years ago. I'd been looking to get some formal education in Statistics as I work as a data analyst. The course has been really good and I'm learning a lot of the theoretical aspects of Data analysis that I otherwise would never have learnt thought DataCamp or Udemy or others. I'm glad to have started it, however, it's not practical and it won't help you get a job immediately. It's very much academic in nature, however you can learn the practical stuff from other sources if you need to or learn it on the job. Depends on what you're after. I'm not doing it to get a job, rather doing it to get into academia. Hope that helps.