Social statistics
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Bibliography
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
Prerequisites
Basic notions of math are required (at the level of the second year of a secondary school) to attend the course. All concepts will however be reviewed during the course.
The assessment consists of a written exam, in two parts, followed by an oral exam.
- the first written part is made by 3 exercises linked to the three course main sections and give a maximum score of 19/31 points; available time: 90 minutes.
- the second written part is a test consisting of 6 questions, each with three possible answers; 2 points are given to each correct answer; a penalty of -0.5 points is assigned to each wrong answer; no given answers have no points and no penalty. The maximum score is 12/31 points; available time: 18 minutes.
The oral exam can be made only if the score of the first written part is no lower than 10/19 and the total score of the written exam is no lower than 17/31 points.
The oral exam consists of only one question and gives a score in the interval between -4 and +4 points.
In order to be admitted to the oral exam one has to answer correctly to a filter question about statistical ratios or the computation of a percentage.
Aim of the exam is to assess reasoning analytic abilities on the course subjects. Language properties and communication abilities are also assessed.
The aim of the course is to provide students with the quantitative instruments for interpreting summary indicators of data describing economic, business and social phenomena, with reference to problems pertaining the Tourism and Art management.
The course deals with both methodological and applied subjects, and also with subjects which are specific to the curriculum and gives the tools necessary to run quantitative analyses necessary for the courses which take place in the second term of the first year and in the second and third years of the curriculum.
The ability to read and interpret data from a statistical point of view is an expertise useful to all career opportunities opened by the curriculum programme.
The following learning abilities are provided:
- knowledge and ability to apply correctly concepts, terms and methods of Descriptive Statistics;
- ability to classify data by means of tables;
- ability to summarise data by means of appropriate location and variability indices;
- ability to build and interpret index numbers;
- ability to study the relationships between two variables by means of association measures and regression models.
The first part of the course deals with univariate statistical analyses (about one half of the course) then index numbers are presented (about one sixth of the course); the course ends with bivariate statistical analysis.
Introduction and Univariate Statistical Analysis
(about 18 hours, that is about 3 credits)
Statistical methodology and scientific research.
- Statistical approach in natural and social sciences.
- The statistical analysis process: data gathering, classifying, examining and processing (statistical units, variables, frequency distributions).
- Deductive and inductive approach.
Univariate analysis.
- Measurement scales.
- Graphical displays of data.
- Definition and properties of location indices.
- Non-analytical mean values (mode, percentage points).
- Algebraic means (arithmetic, quadratic, geometric, harmonic).
- Mean selection criteria.
- Variability and dissimilarity measures.
- Indices of variability (variance, average differences).
- Indices of dissimilarity (mutability/heterogeneity).
- Absolute, relative and normalised indices.
- Skewness indices.
Index numbers.
(about 6 hours, that is about 1 credit)
- Definition and properties of index numbers
- Simple and weighted, fixed base and changing base index numbers.
- Consumer price indices.
Bivariate Statistical Analysis
(about 11 hours, that is about 2 credits)
- Analysis of conditional distributions.
- Definition of stochastic independence.
- Association, dependence and correlation.
- Measures of association (between two categorical variables).
- Measures of dependence.
- Study of the average relationship between two variables.
- The regression function.
- Analysis of variance and the correlation ratio.
- Statistical interpolation by using conditional mean values.
- Measures of linear dependence.
- The regression line and the Pearson linear correlation coefficient.
- An introduction to forecast.
Lecture notes
Boari G., Cantaluppi G. (2018) Notes of descriptive statistics and probabily, EDUCATT, Università Cattolica del S. Cuore, Milano. ISBN 978-88-9335-314-4.
Syllabus: Sections 1-10,11 (reading),12-14,15 (only final exercises),16-17,18 (up to slide 18.31), 19 (only slides 19.5 and 19.11), 21 (only slides 21.1-21.8), 22 (only slides 22.1-22.8)
Further readings
Frosini B.V. (2009) Metodi statistici: teoria e applicazioni economiche e sociali, Carocci, Roma. ISBN: 978-88-430-4763-5
Zanella A. (2000) Elementi di statistica descrittiva, CUSL, Milano. ISBN: 9788881322732
Advised texts
European Union, Eurostat (2012) Methodological manual for tourism statistics, Eurostat, Methodologies and Working papers, Publication office of the European Union, Luxembourg. ISBN: 9789279347641
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3859598/5923373/KS-RA-11-021-EN.PDF
Pasetti P. (2002) Statistica del turismo, Carocci, Roma. ISBN: 9788843022694
Predetti A. (1996) I Numeri Indici. Teoria e pratica dei confronti temporali e spaziali, Giuffrè, Milano. ISBN: 9788814133121
Databases
Istat: dati.istat.it see Servizi-Turismo
Eurostat:http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/tourism/data
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/tourism/statistics-illustrated
Other teaching material is available on the e-learning platform.
The course is based on 35 class hours, inclusive of exercises and solution to homeworks.