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Back to Probability and Statistics: To p or not to p?

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Probability and Statistics: To p or not to p? by University of London

4.6
stars
1,460 ratings

About the Course

We live in an uncertain and complex world, yet we continually have to make decisions in the present with uncertain future outcomes. Indeed, we should be on the look-out for "black swans" - low-probability high-impact events. To study, or not to study? To invest, or not to invest? To marry, or not to marry? While uncertainty makes decision-making difficult, it does at least make life exciting! If the entire future was known in advance, there would never be an element of surprise. Whether a good future or a bad future, it would be a known future. In this course we consider many useful tools to deal with uncertainty and help us to make informed (and hence better) decisions - essential skills for a lifetime of good decision-making. Key topics include quantifying uncertainty with probability, descriptive statistics, point and interval estimation of means and proportions, the basics of hypothesis testing, and a selection of multivariate applications of key terms and concepts seen throughout the course....

Top reviews

TS

Apr 30, 2020

I would like to thank Dr. James Abdey for his wonderful explanation of probability and statistics in a short time. I definitely learnt many things which I can make use in my further courses. Thank you

RC

Sep 19, 2024

Amazingly well explained concepts connected with a nice mix of real-life applications in the lectures! Enjoyed the occasional humour that made the course easy to digest! Thanks much for the course!

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376 - 400 of 480 Reviews for Probability and Statistics: To p or not to p?

By Grigory S

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Nov 8, 2018

The first course I've paid for to get a certificate.

For me it's VERY hard to understand any theoretical math-related concept from video-lectures. I need to read paper for it and there are paper for every video in this course.

I am very thankful about it but the main purpose of video is missed: VISUALISATION very important in teaching math concepts especially such practival one as statistics. I wish there'd be more videos with lovely visialusation of sample data and it's statisitcs to get students a general feeling of what all this 'boring' calculations looks like.

I also understand that one course is not enough to have good knowlegde of statistics and read books while completing this.

By Gloria P

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May 7, 2022

El curso me resultó muy interesante para recordar algunos aspectos de Probabilidades y Estadística y también para conocer algunos aspectos que desconocía. La forma de enfocar el curso me pareció muy innovadora.

La única observación que tengo es que aunque el curso se ofrece en otros idiomas, tanto el material escrito como las evaluaciones son en inglés. Para el material escrito no es tan problemático, lo delicado son las evaluaciones donde a veces la mal interpretación puede ser un problema pues agrega otro nivel de dificultad a la propia evaluación.

By Eleanor H

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Apr 29, 2021

I enjoyed the course very much. It is a good introduction to probability and statistics and motivated me to want to go deeper into the subjects. Dr. Abdey, the instructor, was very energetic and his enthusiasm for the topic topic was evident and contagious. The pace and length of each video and reading was right for me. I think there could have been more exercises and quizzes that required work rather than just reading to answer multiple choice questions.

By dave w

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Mar 19, 2019

The course material was top notch I learned a lot. It was an excellent crash course, and beautifully explained. I took off a star because the failure of the grading system in Assignment #2 / Week 5 cost me a lot of time, and likely affected many of my peers as well. That type of technical glitch is unacceptable in MOOC, particularly because there doesn't seem to be anyone around to support the students. Thanks for resolving it, though, whoever you are!

By Melissa C

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Jun 25, 2020

The PDFs were very difficult to understand based on what we learned on the videos, the document included additional information that made no sense unless you had previously studied this. Also, the first peer-reviewed assignment had very weird wording (because I assume it was difficult to type in all the symbols) but that left the students confused and we had to ask others on the chat to help us decode the meaning.

By `Arif A b A P

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Jul 1, 2021

The course is enjoyable and Dr Abdey does a great job making the subject interesting and approachable. Some advanced concepts are also introduced but I would advise beginners to gloss over them and not worry too much on completely understanding them. Unfortunately, the Discussion Forums do not appear to have been updated recently and there are viewing issues in some of the graded assignments.

By Kristoffer H

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Apr 5, 2020

Great course that makes it not too difficult to pick up some basic statistics knowledge. The hardest thing in the course is reading some of the questions they want you solve in first assignment as it seems no effort was put into making equations human readable and for the second assignment they provide an Excel formula that doesn't work. Don't use Excel? Figure it out yourself.

By Jordi A

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Nov 26, 2018

Basic introduction to the world of statistics, well structured and supplied with reading materials. Quite elementary, I'd say at most it's a HS/pre-college level overview of different fields and concepts. The lecturer conveys a strong appreciation for the subject. Recommended for those who want a first approximation to the subject.

By David Y

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Sep 19, 2021

a very introductory approach, lacks exercises for practice, assignments are not clearly written, for example, you'd see textboxes of the type: Find the $[pval$\-2 if given \bar[x] and etc etc, it's as if the initial layout was written in a programming language but when put together in the coursera platform the format is lost.

By Ryan P

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May 18, 2022

A very solid basic introduction to Probability and Statistics. Definitely on the easier side but that's okay as I do think that's what it was aiming for. From a quantitative background in Science, there's a lot of concepts that I didn't learn before as I've never taken a statistics course, so this is good for future study!

By Karthikeyan R

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Jul 19, 2020

The course covers a good amount of theory and is explained very eloquently in great detail. However, I would've liked more math to be included. More problems solved during lectures, given as homework as well as tested during quizzes/assignments. This would've enhanced the hold on the subject for students.

By Giovanni B

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May 23, 2019

Very interesting course, well explained, I found the material useful. The reason I do not give 5 stars is that I found the course somewhat slow, it took a long time to explain certain concepts, and not broad enough, concentrating on a few very specific areas of probability and statistics.

By Lauren H

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Sep 22, 2020

This is a good course, I like the format with short videos and written summaries that reiterate the same concepts and a bit more, it helps the learning sink in. Didn't give it 5 stars because there weren't quite enough practical exercises (just 2 throughout the 6 weeks).

By Olivera M

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Jun 12, 2019

I really liked the course, I would just say that this is for complete and absolute beginners who haven't had any interactions with statistics and that it wont leave you with a lot of practical knowledge, more of a broad idea of what statistics could do for you.

By Josh V

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Apr 13, 2020

For an "introductory" course on Probability and Statistics, this one's really good. It would have been better should this course contain at least one practical application per module so that at least the students can have a hands-on experience with Statistics.

By Latoya G

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May 12, 2020

I thought the course was comprehensive and I thoroughly appreciated Dr Abney's eloquence. However, not simplistic enough for a student doing probability and statistics for the first time or for a student who is not mathematically savvy.

By Douglas b

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Aug 21, 2021

Excellent iinstructor! Definitely 5 stars for knowledge and presentation. Course layout also top-notch. Very good introduction to statistics. Course assignments and grading were very clunky so overall course rating dropped to 4 stars

By Linh S

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Feb 23, 2020

A pretty solid introductory course. The readings covered everything that the lectures covered, and sometimes more. One could get through the entire course by only doing the readings, and not bothering to watch the lectures.

By CHARIS K J

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May 25, 2020

Lecturer discussed the materials well. Related abstract concepts to real world situations. However, there are some concepts I still cannot grasp well.One has to diligently learn the concepts or you'll get lost sometimes.

By Debroop S

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Nov 22, 2020

Gained some good insights into probability and statistics. This can be a good starting point for people intending to brush up on this topic with the intention for future practical use. eg: predict stock price movements.

By Mathias A R G

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May 27, 2020

It was a really nice course, very useful and recomended to people who wants to remember some statics concepts. Perhaps it it would be better, if the course has more practice and no so much theory. But this was great!

By Bill

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Aug 15, 2020

Although the linear programming, and simulation sections were interesting, I would have rather delved a little more deeply into statistics. Perhaps a little more on regression analysis or analysis of variance.

By Sara F V

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May 5, 2020

I confess that what got me into this course was the smart name.

I ended up liking the teacher and his way of teaching. He does a good and brief introduction to the topic in a simple and fun way

By Rina S

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Nov 9, 2022

This course is a great introduction into statistics! Nicely explained in a very clear and even fun way. Also great mix of videos and articles to read. Definitely recommended!