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Why do you charge more for Statistics?


Statistics is far more difficult subject matter to teach than Pure Mathematics. A better than average command of Algebra (including written computation) is necessary before a student is ready to start understanding the concepts encountered in a statistics class. I come across many students who have somehow managed to satisfy the pre-requisite math classes, as set by the educational institution they attend, necessary to enroll in a statistics class but whose grasp of Algebra is less than adequate for a student entering a statistics class. This puts both the student and the tutor, me, in a tricky situation. I find myself teaching the student material that both should have already been learned and is outside the focus of the course material for the class they are enrolled in. It's necessary to catch them up in areas of Algebra before they are able to do the problems they run into a statistics class. Many times this turns into a struggle for both the student and the tutor.

Statistics is also far reaching in subject matter. Different books and different instructors emphasize different areas of Statistics. And some books apply rules used in Statistics differently. Frankly, I often find a student studying an area of Statistics that I'm not practiced with. Fortunately, I am in a position where I can assimilate the new information quickly and relay it to the student. Also, fortunately, the areas of statistics I am practiced with is the vast majority of the course material in the classes I tutor.

This is in contrast to a class in Pure Math. I know 99% of what students encounter in Algebra through Calculus like the back of my hand. And that material doesn't change from book to book or instructor to instructor. It's the same material and the same rules apply. There's very little to no variation in Math from Algebra I through Calculus III - it's all the same principles applied the same way no matter what book is used or who the instructor is. In the academic world Calculus and below is considered elementary mathematics - it's all about learning the language of mathematics. When you've finished Calculus you are considered conversant in math.

Here is a list of the big ticket items found in a statistics class that I am practiced with:

Probability
  • Sample Spaces
  • Probability Functions (discrete and continuous)
  • Conditional Probability
  • Independance
  • Repeated Independant Trials
  • Conbinatorics
  • Conbinatorial Probability

Random Variables
  • Densities and Distributions
  • Joint Densities
  • Independant Random Variables
  • Combining and Transforming Random Variables
  • Conditional Densities
  • Expected Values
  • Properties of Expected Values
  • Variance
  • Chebyshev's Inequality

Distributions
  • Uniform
  • Normal
  • Student t
  • Binomial
  • Normal approximation to the Binomial with Continuity Correction
  • Poisson
  • Exponential
  • Chi Squared
  • F

Hypothesis Testing
Confidence Intervals

Regression
  • Covariance and Correlation
  • Simple Linear Regression
  • Least Squares Method

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
  • The F Test
  • Computing Formulas for the F Test
  • Multiple Comparisons: Tukey's Method
Unfortunately, the above list only barely scratches the iceberg that is Statistics. Fortunately, the above list goes further into Statistics than what most students will encounter in their study of the subject.


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