STAC32

Applications of Statistical Methods

Ken Butler

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Welcome to the home page for STAC32. This is the place to look for all things course-related (notes, assignments, announcements etc., linked above) except for assignment hand-ins and marks, which will be on Quercus.

This is an applied course. Expect to be describing the process by which you got your answers, and explaining what the answers mean in the context of the data you are working with: that is to say, using your language skills as well as your statistical skills. Be prepared to show your understanding and insight; this course is about a lot more than “getting the answer”.

In real life, people do Statistics to make decisions or inform actions, and you will be expected to play your full part in that process, both in this course and in your statistical future.

News (most recent at the top):

  • 2025-08-20 15:30: link to planned course schedule, to be updated as we go.

  • 2025-08-20 14:30: updates:

    • if you are in your 4th year of study (by credits completed) and joined the waitlist before today, you should be able to get into STAC32 this fall (and thus complete the program).
    • otherwise, unfortunately we do not have the resources to enlarge the class to accommodate you, so you will have to take your chances with the waitlist.
    • (edited Aug 21) for those that have applied to the program this summer:
      • Applications are now closed. The next application period ends next May.
      • I don’t even get to see the applications until August 28, so do not expect to hear a decision until after then. I plan to get to this, and convey my decisions to the Registrar’s office, as soon as possible.
      • If there are any students in there that are in their 4th year of study, I may be able to squeeze them into STAC32 this fall.
      • Students who have applied this summer and who are in earlier years of study will definitely not be able to take STAC32 this fall and will have to wait a year to complete the program. I realize that this is not the best news, but unfortunately (as I said above) we cannot enlarge STAC32 further this year.
      • The decision on your application might be slower if you are taking a program requirement course in the summer, because I am then waiting for your course instructor to submit grades for that course before I can make a decision.
    • I am about to open up the Quercus page, but (as it says below the bad picture of me) I will only be using that for assignments and marks. News will be here through the course.

  • 2025-07-29 13:00: time to open things up for the fall 2025 edition of this course:

    • I’m aware that there is a long waitlist for this course. The problem is that the department literally does not have resources to make the course any bigger (for example, there is literally no-one to teach another section). Thus, if you are not already in this course, you will need to take your chances with the waitlist. I advise you to have backup plans. For example, if you are in your 3rd or earlier year of study according to your Degree Explorer, you may have to wait until next year to take STAC32 and STAD29. Appealing to me about this will not help you.
    • Other things:
      • Syllabus and detailed course policies. You are expected to attend lectures, take notes, and cite any help you get from outside the course. (The problems you see on assignments and exams will in any case be solvable with the course materials and your brain.)
      • I will be checking prerequisites. To take STAC32, you must have completed (by the time STAC32 starts in September) either STAB27 or PSYC08 or MGEB12, or another equivalent that has already been approved by me. If you have not completed one of these courses by then, you will be removed from STAC32.
      • Program FAQ.