Programme: BComHons (Statistics and Data Science)

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Code Faculty Department
07240062 Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences Department: Statistics
Credits Duration NQF level
Minimum duration of study: 1 year Total credits: 120 NQF level:  08

Admission requirements

  1. Relevant BCom degree
  2. Weighted average of at least 65% for Statistics or equivalent at final-year level

 

Examinations and pass requirements

Subject to the provisions of General Academic Regulation G26, a head of department determines, in consultation with the Dean when the honours examinations in his/her department will take place, provided that:

  • honours examinations which do not take place before the end of the academic year must take place before the closing date of the special exam period in the beginning of the following academic year, and all examination results must be submitted to Student Administration before the closing date of submission of marks; and
  • honours examinations which do not take place before the end of the first semester may take place no later than the closing date of the exam period, and all examination results must be submitted to Student Administration on or before the closing date of submission of marks.

The head of the department determines:

  • whether a candidate will be admitted to a supplementary examination, provided that a supplementary examination is granted, only once in a maximum of two prescribed semester modules or once in one year module.
  • the manner in which research reports are prepared and examined in his/her department.

Supplementary examinations (if granted) cover the same subject matter as was the case for the examinations.
A student may not enrol for the same module more than once, unless the dean has approved a second enrolment based on an application supported by a valid reason or motivation. Also refer to General Academic Regulation G18.3.

NB: Full details are published in each department's postgraduate information brochure, which is available from the relevant head of department. The minimum pass mark for a research report is 50%.

Subject to the provisions of G26, the subminimum required in subdivisions of modules is published in the study guides, which are available from the relevant head of department.

Minimum credits: 120

  • All honours students in Statistics/Mathematical Statistics should enrol for STK 796 which is a compulsory but non-credit-bearing module. The satisfactory completion of this module is a prerequisite for embarking on the research component of the degree programme.
  • Select 2 modules from the list of electives.
  • A student cannot get credit for either RAL 780 or MET 720 with a WST undergraduate major.

Core modules

  • Module content:

    The emphasis is on the theoretical understanding and practical application of advances in statistical modelling. The following topics are covered: Single equation models: Nonparametric regression. Bootstrap procedures within regression analysis, k-nearest neighbour classification. Modelling categorical dependent variables - Logit/Probit models. Multiple outputs. Linear regression of an indicator matrix. Ridge regression. Non-linear regression modelling.  Some new developments in regression and classification.
    Simultaneous equation models: Specification, identification and estimation of simultaneous equation models.

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  • Module content:

    Point and Interval estimation. Sampling distributions, central limit theorem, simulations and Bootstrap. Bayesian inference, posterior distribution. Hypotheses testing using confidence intervals, ratio tests, simulated null distributions and power function. A student cannot get credit for this module with a WST undergraduate major.

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  • Module content:

    Matrix methods in statistics. Simple and multiple regression models. Sums of squares of linear sets. Generalised t- and F-tests. Residual analysis. Diagnostics for leverage, influence and multicolinearity. Indicator variables. Regression approach to analysis of variance. Weighted least squares. Theory is combined with practical work. A student cannot get credit for this module with a WST undergraduate major.

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  • Module content:

    Refer to the document: Criteria for the research management process and the assessment of the honours essays, available on the web: www.up.ac.za under the Department of Statistics: Postgraduate study.

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  • Module content:

    A compulsory bootcamp must be attended as part of this module – usually presented during the last week of January each year (details are made available by the department ). The bootcamp will cover the basics of research to prepare students for the research component of their degree. The bootcamp should be done in the same year as registration for STK 795/WST 795. Each year of registration for the honours degree will also require the attendance of three departmental seminars. Students should ensure that their attendance is recorded by the postgraduate co-ordinator present at the seminars. The department approves the seminars attended. In addition, students are required to present their STK 795/WST 795 research in the department during the year of registration for these modules.

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Elective modules

  • Module content:

    Mixtures of distributions and regressions, frequentist and Bayes estimation. Latent components, soft allocation and belongings. Applications in unstructured data, including text data. Identification and interpretation of behavioural patterns.

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  • Module content:

    This module will cover the core theoretical concepts of macroeconomics focussing specifically on labour and goods markets as well as intertemporal issues, such as capital markets. Topics will include economic growth, exogenous and endogenous, business cycles, monetary economics, stabilization policies and structural policies.

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  • Module content:

    The core concepts of microeconomic theory will be the focus of the module, including: demand and supply, consumer theory, firm theory, markets and market structure, general equilibrium, information economics and behavioural economics. Applications of this theory will feature prominently.

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  • Module content:

    Simple random sampling. Estimation of proportions and sample sizes. Stratified random sampling. Ratio and regression estimators. Systematic and cluster sampling. Introduction to spatial statistics. Spatial sampling – both model and design based approaches.

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  • Module content:

    Quality control and improvement. Shewhart, cumulative sum (CUSUM), exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) and Q control charts. Univariate and multivariate control charts.  Determining process and measurement systems capability. Parametric and nonparametric (distribution-free) control charts. Constructing control charts using Microsoft Excel and/or SAS. Obtaining run-length characteristics via simulations, the integral equation approach, other approximate methods and the Markov-chain approach.

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  • Module content:

    Efficient programming, Monte Carlo simulation, sampling of discrete and continuous probability models, General transformation methods, Accept-reject methods, Monte Carlo integration, importance sampling, numerical optimisation, Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, GIBBS sampling.

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  • Module content:

    This module considers specific topics from the diverse field of statistics as deemed supportive towards the training of the cohort of scholars.

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  • Module content:

    Specification of linear mixed model, model assumptions, estimation (REML and ML), diagnostics, hypothesis tests, interpretation of parameter estimates, calculating predicted values. Specific models: two- and three-level models for clustered data, intraclass correlation coefficients, repeated measures data, random coefficient models for longitudinal data, models for clustered longitudinal data, models for data with crossed random factors. Using statistical software to analyse LMMs.

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The regulations and rules for the degrees published here are subject to change and may be amended after the publication of this information.

The General Academic Regulations (G Regulations) and General Student Rules apply to all faculties and registered students of the University, as well as all prospective students who have accepted an offer of a place at the University of Pretoria. On registering for a programme, the student bears the responsibility of ensuring that they familiarise themselves with the General Academic Regulations applicable to their registration, as well as the relevant faculty-specific and programme-specific regulations and information as stipulated in the relevant yearbook. Ignorance concerning these regulations will not be accepted as an excuse for any transgression, or basis for an exception to any of the aforementioned regulations.

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