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Difficulty of Into to Statistics.

Lelandh27296Lelandh27296 Registered User Posts: 2 New Member
in College Life
I have a rough background in math. I'm not all that good but i'm not bad either. However the prerequisite to get this course for people with math is harder than the class itself from what I heard and felt. I was put into a not credit class for people who struggle and scored low on accuplacer in order to get this class. I heard stats is relatively easy. Overall my grades for math from high school into my up coming second year of college is mostly Cs to B+ however my remedial class was the most difficult math class I have ever taken and I passed it with a D+ because I couldn't pass the last section. If I did it would have been a C+ which was I failed in College level Quadratics. I just want to know how hard intro to stats is. Its my last math class I have to take for my CJ major. If it makes any difference its at a community college.
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Replies to: Difficulty of Into to Statistics.

  • OhWhatsHerNameOhWhatsHerName Registered User Posts: 816 Member
    Stats was hard for me and I struggle in math. But, I came away with a B. If you go to office hours, get tutoring if it’s available, and really maximize the help available it’s possible.

    I did poorly on remedial algebra and that was much more difficult than stats.
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  • Lelandh27296Lelandh27296 Registered User Posts: 2 New Member
    I'm getting mixed feelings from so many people. Some people say its too easy and others says its hard as can be. It worries me.
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  • juilletjuillet Super Moderator Posts: 12,653 Super Moderator
    Whenever you "hear" that a specific class was easy (or hard), you have to take into account who you hear it from. A student who's not a strong writer with a mediocre work ethic may say that a freshman composition class was "hard," whereas another student who took AP English language and literature in high school may find it "easy." Similarly, a student who has the proper preparation and mindset might find statistics "easy" whereas another might not.

    I'm guessing that this is a non-calculus-based statistics class, probably offered by some social science department. That kind of statistics only uses basic algebra to teach you statistical concepts. If you struggled in basic algebra, then you might also struggle in a statistics class because you need to use those concepts to learn the statistics. If you struggle with relatively abstract concepts in math (so things that are not "1+1" but have to do with variables and unknown values), then you will probably also struggle with statistics. I used to teach college-level statistics and I had some very smart students who were usually pretty good in other kinds of math struggle with the material.
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  • zannahzannah Registered User Posts: 1,088 Senior Member
    Statistics uses math to calculate data and is often done in a computer. Statistics involves logic and problem solving using numerical data rather than gut or assumptions. Statistics allows you to gather and interpret information to enable decision making. Statistics helped me to understand that data was not not tatty stretched to support predetermined decisions and that statistical significance is not the same as the value and cost of change. Statistics may change how you organize information when thinking.
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  • lemonlululemonlulu Registered User Posts: 200 Junior Member
    most intro stat only requires arithmetic. lot of calculation can be done with scientific calculator. you may struggle with probability, those require some discrete math. Main point: Intro stat is not Math, you need to worry about if you can absorb the concept of Stat. Like one not good at Physics, can't blame their math is not good alone. Each subject has their own philosophy and materials. hope it helps.
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  • bjkmombjkmom Registered User Posts: 7,522 Senior Member
    I think a lot of kids enter a basic stats course thinking they know it all.. hey, they know mean, median, mode and standard deviation.

    it's a LOT MORE than that. Lots of kids struggle with it far more than they expect to.
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  • RedLariRedLari Registered User Posts: 105 Junior Member
    I just finished my stats requirements for my BA and I will tell you the hardest class was that remeidal pre-algebra class I had to take as a pre-rec. Math is not my friend so I feel ya. With stats, its the detail. It has many steps but the math isn’t impossible. It’s actually kind of interesting, esp if you get a professor who really enjoys the subject.

    For my major (psych), stats is a pre-rec for a research class (even though they use SPSS in that course which makes life easier when you have to do something like factorial anova).
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