Programme: B.A. Environmental Studies

Credit value: 12

Level: Year 3, Semester 6

General objectives

The Population and Housing Census of Bhutan 2005 has shown that it is very important for a country to have an updated computer database with data on population, including socio-economic data. This module aims at providing students with the skills and methods necessary for statistical analysis of population data and the use of computerized systems for storing and analyzing these data.

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students will have full knowledge of:

• basic statistical methods and tools and their application to analysis of population data.

The students will also be familiar with:

• SPSS as computer applications for storage and analysis of population data.

Approach to learning and teaching

The module will consist of 15 teaching weeks, one self-study week and two examination weeks. Each week will consist of:

• theory lectures during which the theoretical background will be discussed;
• practical classes which will be used for using the SPSS packages for storing and analysing population data;
• guest lectures;
• presentations and group discussions;
• self-study of the theory available, collecting information, and preparing papers and presentations.

Assessment

     ●   End of semester examination           40%

     ●   Individual assignments                    15%

     ●   Practical                                           30%

     ●   Group assignments                          15%

Prerequisite: None

Course content

·         importance of statistical data for planning and management of resources; concept of variables; frequency distribution; measures of central tendency; dispersion; skewness; and kurtosis;

·         introduction to the theory of probability, rules of probability and conditional probability; random variables, binomial Poisson and normal distributions with their properties and application in demographic surveys; fitting of polynomials;

·         correlation and causation, scatter diagram, correlation and regression; two variables; linear correlation; coefficient correlation, lines of regression, concept of multiple and partial correlation; corresponding regression analysis; association of attributes and rates correction in contingency table;

·         meaning of descriptive and inductive statistics, concept of universe and sample, statistic and parameter, concept of sampling distribution and standard error; concepts of statistical hypothesis, critical region, level of significance and two types of errors; problem of testing statistical hypothesis ad tests of significance; small and large sample tests for mean; chi – square test for goodness of fit and independence;

·         definition and type of sampling, introduction, random sampling, sampling distribution, relationship between sample size and standard error.

·         use of computers in survey data analysis; introduction to VAX; statistical package SPSS and other packages in demographic analysis such as Mortpack; modules on computer applications and presentation of demographic statistical data.

Reading list

1.      Blalock, H. M., 1979, Social Statistics, Revised Second Edition (New York: McGraw Hill Book Company).

2.      Chase, Warren and Fred Brown, 1986, General Statistics (New York: John Wiley and Sons).

3.      Cochran, W. G, 1977. Sampling Techniques, Wiley Eastern Limited, New Delhi.

4.      Dillon, W. R. and M. Goldstein, 1984. Multivariate Analysis, John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York.

5.      Dixon, W. S, and F.J. Massey, 1951. Introduction to Statistical Analysis, McGraw Hill Book Company, New York.

6.      Gupta, S. C., 1981. Fundamentals of Statistics, Himalaya Publishing House, Bombay.

7.      Hogg, R. V. and E. A. Taris, 1977. Probability and Statistical Inference, Mac Millan Publishing Co. Inc, New York.

8.      Levin, R. I., 1978, Statistics for Management (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, Prentice Hall Inc.).

9.      Mason, R. D., Douglas A. Lind and William G. Marshal, 1983, Statistics: An Introduction (London: Harcode Brace Jovanavich).

10.  Mendenhall, W., 1983, Introduction to Probability and Statistics (Boston: Duxburg Press

11.  Nie, N. H. et.al, 1975. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, Mc Graw Hill, New York

12.  Swiss, R.S, 1968. Statistics in Social Research: An Introduction, John Wiley & Sons, New York.

13.  Yamance, T., 1967. Elementary Sampling Theory, Prentice – Hall, Inc, London.

14.  Yulle, G. V. and M. G. Kendall, 1965. An Introduction to the Theory of Statistics, Charles Griffin & Co, Ltd, London.