Modern scientific research involves making observations and measurements that produce ever-increasing amounts of data. All observations and measurements contain some uncertainty and error. Statistical methods help us quantify and characterise this uncertainty. Data usually contains patterns and trends available for analysis, using a variety of tools in order to derive meaning from them.
Students will develop knowledge, understanding and skills related to the analytical techniques for accessing, storing and analysing high-volume unstructured secondary-sourced publicly available data set(s). Students will be provided with the opportunity to consider limitations and construct plausible inferences while understanding degrees of uncertainty in the data. Students will explore the difference between the concepts of proving that something is true and measuring the probability of a certain result by understanding falsification and statistical levels of confidence.
Inquiry question: What tools are used to describe patterns and trends in data?
Students:
– content and thematic analysis
– descriptive statistics
– spreadsheets
– graphical representations
– models (physical, computational and/or mathematical)
– digital technologies
Inquiry question: How does statistical analysis assist in finding meaning in the trends or patterns in data sets?
Students:
– mean
– median
– standard deviation
– error
– accuracy
– precision
– bias
– data cleansing
– Student’s t-test
– Chi-squared test
– F-test
– correlation coefficient
Inquiry question: How is evidence used to make decisions in the scientific research process?
Students:
– construct a relevant conclusion
– suggest possibilities for further investigation
– gravitational waves on general relativity
– mechanisms of disease transmission and control
– prediction of natural disasters
– effects of chemical pollutants on climate
Inquiry question: How can data modelling help to process, frame and use knowledge obtained from the analysis of data sets?
Students:
– predictive
– statistical
– descriptive
– graphical