menu
Give now
About OCW
help & faqs
contact us
Course Info
Introduction to Probability and Statistics
Hide Course Info

Readings

Listed in the following table are assigned readings and reading questions that students were expected to complete prior to attending class sessions. The reading questions are multiple choice or numerical answer questions. Students received instant feedback and could make multiple attempts. Another form of interactive assessment used in the course, Problem Set Checker, can be viewed on the Assignments page.

WEEK # SES # READINGS INTERACTIVE Reading QUESTIONS
Probability
      
1 C1

1a: Introduction (PDF)

1b: Counting and Sets (PDF)

Reading Questions for 1b

Reading Questions for R Intro
C2

2: Probability: Terminology and Examples (PDF)

R Tutorial 1A: Basics

R Tutorial 1B: Random Numbers

 Reading Questions for 2
2 C3 3: Conditional Probability, Independence and Bayes’ Theorem (PDF) Reading Questions for 3
C4

4a: Discrete Random Variables (PDF)

4b: Discrete Random Variables: Expected Value (PDF)

Reading Questions for R

Reading Questions for 4a

Reading Questions for 4b
3 C5

5a: Variance of Discrete Random Variables (PDF)

5b: Continuous Random Variables (PDF)

5c: Gallery of Continuous Random Variables (PDF)

5d: Manipulating Continuous Random Variables (PDF)

Reading Questions for 5a

Reading Questions for 5b

Reading Questions for 5c

Reading Questions for 5d
4 C6

6a: Expectation, Variance and Standard Deviation for Continuous Random Variables (PDF)

6b: Central Limit Theorem and the Law of Large Numbers (PDF)

6c: Appendix (PDF)

Reading Questions for 6a

Reading Questions for 6b
C7

7a: Joint Distributions, Independence (PDF)

7b: Covariance and Correlation (PDF)

Reading Questions for 7a

Reading Questions for 7b
5 C8

Class 8: Exam Review (PDF)

Class 8: Exam Review Solutions (PDF)

  
  C9 No readings assigned  
Statistics: Bayesian Inference
      
5 C10

10a: Introduction to Statistics (PDF)

10b: Maximum Likelihood Estimates (PDF)

Reading Questions for 10a

Reading Questions for 10b
6 C11 11: Bayesian Updating with Discrete Priors (PDF) Reading Questions for 11
C12

12a: Bayesian Updating: Probabilistic Prediction (PDF)

12b: Bayesian Updating: Odds (PDF)

Reading Questions for 12a

Reading Questions for 12b
7 C13

13a: Bayesian Updating with Continuous Priors (PDF)

13b: Notational Conventions (PDF)

Reading Questions for 13a
C14

14a: Beta Distributions (PDF)

14b: Bayesian Updating with Continuous Data (PDF)

Reading Questions for 14a and 14b
8 C15

15a: Conjugate Priors: Beta and Normal (PDF)

15b: Choosing Priors (PDF)

Reading Questions for 15a
C16 16: Probability Intervals (PDF) Reading Questions for 16
Statistics: Frequentist Inference—Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST)
      
9 C17

17a: The Frequentist School of Statistics (PDF)

17b: Null Hypothesis Significance Testing I (PDF)

Reading Questions for 17b
C18 18: Null Hypothesis Significance Testing II (PDF) Reading Questions for 18
10 C19 19: Null Hypothesis Significance Testing III (PDF) Reading Questions for 19
C20 20: Comparison of Frequentist and Bayesian Inference (PDF)  
11 C21 No readings assigned  
Statistics: Confidence Intervals; Regression
      
12 C22 22: Confidence Intervals Based on Normal Data (PDF) Reading Questions for 22
C23

23a: Confidence Intervals: Three Views (PDF)

23b: Confidence Intervals for the Mean of Non-normal Data (PDF)

  
13 C24 24: Bootstrap Confidence Intervals (PDF) Reading Questions for 24
C25 25: Linear Regression (PDF) Reading Questions for 25
14 C26 No readings assigned  
C27 No readings assigned

Topics

Course Features

assignment_turned_in Assignments - problem sets with solutions
grading Exams - Solutions
assignment_turned_in Interactive assessments
record_voice_over AV selected lectures - Video