Statistics Minor

Course Overview

The minor consists of six courses. A two semester introductory statistics course, two upper level applied statistics courses, a research methods course, and an internship or honors thesis.

The professors in the math department are very accessible to help the students with their research as well as coursework. Tutors are available for students that need extra assistance or refreshing with course materials. Actually, many students with a minor in statistics become tutors in the lower division courses.

Goals

Students that complete the statistics minor should be able to:

• Pick the appropriate test to use for a wide range of situations and draw conclusions from statistical tests.
• Communicate their results both orally and in written form.
• Proficiently use a statistical package such as SPSS.

Program

The statistics minor consists of six units: two introductory courses, a core course, an elective, a research methods course and an internship. For several departments, two or more of these courses are already required courses.

A. Introductory Statistics Sequence (2 units)

Select one of the following groups of courses:

• MAT 102/MAT 202
• MAT 201/BUS 231
• MAT 335/MAT 336*
• MAT 102/PSY 221

*Note: MAT 335/336 requires MAT 111/112

B. Applied Advanced Statistics Course (2 units)

• STA 301 Linear Models
• STA 305 Nonparametric Data Analysis

C. Research Methods Course (1 unit)

Select one of the following courses:

• POL 390
• CMS 330
• CRJ 300
• PSY 222
• MKG 311
• BIO 499
• GIS 100

*Or other research methods courses with permission of the supervisor of the statistics minor.

D. Internship (1 unit)

STA 499

* With permission of the supervisor of the statistics minor, this course may be substituted with a 300-400 level course in the student’s major, provided the student will be completing a project or thesis that contains statistical research.  This project can be a requirement for the course or it can be an extra project. The project/thesis should be presented publicly, and a member of the STA faculty should be informed of the presentation.