MAT14303 - Basic Statistics

Lecture Notes

Author

dr. Sabine K. Schnabel, and dr.ing. Maikel P.H. Verouden

Published

January 22, 2026

General Introduction

Structure of these Lecture Notes

These are the Lecture Notes to the Basic Statistics course MAT14303. The teaching methods used are tutorials and computer practicals. At the tutorials, a lecturer will explain the subject matter. During and after each tutorial, students are expected to do the exercises as indicated in these Lecture Notes. Feedback on these exercises is provided in Brightspace. At the computer practicals, statistical calculations are carried out with the help of a computer. These Lecture Notes provide an overview of the subjects covered during the tutorials and computer practicals. They also tell you how to prepare for each session.

The information provided for each tutorial gives an overview about the recommended reading as well as the main concepts covered. For some tutorials examples are listed. The exercises for after the tutorials are also mentioned. The recommended reading refers to An Introduction to Statistical Methods and Data Analysis by R. Lyman Ott and Michael Longnecker (hereafter abbreviated as ‘O&L’). This is the same textbook as used in the Statistics 1, Statistics 2 and the continuation course Advanced Statistics and its variations.

The O&L page numbers, mentioned in these Lecture Notes, refer to the 7th edition of this textbook; page numbers referring to its 6th edition are also given. At the end of these Lecture Notes you will find the tables of the binomial distributions, instructions for the use of graphing calculators as well as other annexes.

Educational aids

  • Book: An Introduction to Statistical Methods and Data Analysis by R. Lyman Ott and Michael Longnecker, 7th edition, CENGAGE Learning. The book is available from Acco in printed version. There is also an online version available (not admitted to the exam). The 6th edition, Brooks/Cole, may also be used.
  • MAT14303 Basic Statistics Lecture Notes
  • PowerPoint presentations of the tutorials (available as handouts via Brightspace, see below)
  • Calculator: a simple pocket calculator or a graphing calculator. However, a graphing calculator is not essential, neither at tutorials or practicals nor at the exam.

Brightspace site of MAT14303

On Brightspace, you will find, among other things, the answers to exercises treated during tutorials, handouts of the PowerPoint presentations given at the tutorials, clips, and other material where applicable.

The easiest way to access this site is usually from your personal myWURtoday page or app. You need to have an account and to be registered for the course. The URL for Brightspace is https://brightspace.wur.nl/

Learning outcomes

The learning outcomes describe what a student is expected to know and to be able to do. They specify in detail what is expected of the students, and therefore what subject matter they may get questions about at the exam. The learning outcomes can be used by students as a checklist to check whether all subject matter relevant to Basic Statistics has been understood and processed. The detailed tutorial learning objectives can be found at the beginning of each respective tutorial section.

In general, the learning objectives of Basic Statistics can be described as:

  • remember and understand basic ideas of statistical inference and data collection
  • determine and explain the appropriate statistical procedure, given the description of the experiment, the research question, and the type of data
  • carry out the needed analyses for the discussed standard situations and assess the results in terms of the problem
  • perform a hypothesis test for intercept and slope and validate the model assumptions of a simple linear model
  • independently analyze data with the computer software R Commander

Procedure of the tutorials

The purpose of the tutorials is:

  1. to introduce the topic with a practical application,
  2. to explain the relevant subject matter, and
  3. to put the subject matter in perspective and connect it to the material in other tutorials.

Self-study, clips and exercises

For each tutorial, the Lecture Notes indicates what students need to do in terms of self-study (reading in the O&L textbook and in these Lecture Notes) and watching knowledge clips on Brightspace before and/or after the tutorial. The Lecture Notes also indicate which exercises the students are expected to do.

Students can raise questions at the question hours that are organized during the teaching period. See Brightspace for the schedule.

Compulsory computer practicals

Attendance of the practicals is compulsory. The reason for this is that this is the only way for us to make sure that you will acquire some basic statistical computer skills. You will not be allowed to use a computer for calculations at the exam – only tables and/or an ordinary or graphing calculator are allowed.

Your attendance of the computer practicals will be registered. Apart from attending them, you will also be required to participate actively in the practicals and to follow directions correctly; your practical teacher will assess your involvement and performance.

You will work on exercises in a fixed ‘team’ of two persons, as far as possible. As a team, you shall save all edited files, preferably on your own OneDrive; your teacher can ask you to show these files.

Assessment and written examination

  1. The assessment is based on a written exam and conditional on a pass for the computer practicals.

  2. The examination lasts 3 hours and consists of multiple-choice questions as well as open questions about the subject matter of the tutorials and computer practicals. The only aids allowed at the exam are:

    1. the textbook by Ott and Longnecker, and
    2. the Basic Statistics Lecture Notes, provided that the latter does not include any complete computations and/or answers to exercises.
    3. Also allowed is a self-written summary of not more than one double-sided A4 sheet of paper. Writing a summary is recommended, as it forces you to reduce the subject matter to its most important elements. We consider this a great help when preparing for the exam. Therefore, only self-written summaries may be used. To facilitate checks on this, only hand-written summaries are allowed. Summaries produced with the help of a text editor and photocopies of summaries are not allowed. Your summary shall not include any complete or partial computations.
    4. You will need to bring a calculator to use at the examination.

  3. After the examination, you will find on Brightspace (https://Brightspace.wur.nl) under MAT14303 information on an opportunity for you to inspect your marked work. This inspection is primarily meant as an opportunity for students who failed the examination to learn which elements require special attention when preparing for re-examination.

  4. You will get a pass for the computer practical only if, according to your teacher, you have attended and actively participated in all 6 practicals. The mark granted for the final examination will only be valid once your computer practical, the attendance of which is compulsory, has resulted in a pass.

  5. If you failed the computer practical but passed the written examination, you will be awarded an ‘incomplete’ as mark; this mark will remain valid for 2 years. If you failed the written examination, you will be awarded an ordinary mark, no matter whether you passed the computer practical or not.

Coordinators

Name Building/Floor E-mail
dr. S. (Sabine) K. Schnabel Radix West (107) / 4th floor sabine.schnabel@wur.nl
dr. M. (Maikel) P.H. Verouden Radix West (107) / 4th floor maikel.verouden@wur.nl