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Scientific and Statistical Thinking

Audience: Academic staff, PG research

Date: Thursday 11 September 2025 to Tuesday 30 June 2026

Times: 11.49

Key details: This is an introductory course on statistical and scientific thinking - but not in the way you may have considered it before. The focus will be on how to think about statistical issues in science and in society more generally. There won’t be any statistic

Target audience

The course is for University of St Andrews students matriculated on a doctoral degree or the following research degree programmes – MSc (Res), MSt (Res), and MPhil (by research). The course is also open to all University of St Andrews staff.

Qualifications needed

There are no pre-requisites or entry requirements for this course.

Course pre-work

None

Course information

The module will provide a useful methodological background for anyone intending to use quantitative data. The course is facilitated by St Leonard's Postgraduate College and the Centre for Educational Enhancement and Development (CEED) and delivered by the Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM).

Aims and objectives

Content and Structure

The course material covers:

  • Different definitions of science and pseudoscience
  • Basic logic
  • Experimental design
  • Drawing conclusions
  • Scientific publication
  • The rationale of statistics and modelling
  • The principles of visualising of data
  • Reproducibility
  • The role of science in society
  • Statistics and science in the media

The whole course is spread over semesters 1 and 2 and there will be a guided programme for self-study. Course materials - lecture notes, exercises and tutorials - will be available on Moodle.

The course will start in week 4 (week starting 6 Oct 2025; exact data and time TBC) and there will be regular, one-hour tutorials with the course instructor. These will be held online. Tutorials will cover material not in the lecture notes and so attendance is strongly recommended.

The weekly time commitment is anticipated to be about 1-2 hours which includes learning through the course notes and attending the optional tutorial.

There is an option for participants to obtain a certificate for the course by attempting online assessed quizzes and obtaining a score of at least 60% for each quiz.

Tutors

St Andrews Academic Staff

Course provider

St Leonard's Postgraduate CollegeEmail: stlc@st-andrews.ac.uk