Program Overview

Course Overview

The Statistical Modelling for Data Science course, denoted as DATA 473, is designed to uncover the role of Statistics in Data Science. With a focus on understanding relevant statistical methods and their practical applications, this course helps students consolidate key data science skills.

Course Details

• Course Code: DATA 473
• Duration: 17 weeks
• Start Date: 23 February 2026
• End Date: 21 June 2026
• Trimester: Trimester 1
• CRN: 33156
• Campus: Kelburn
• Fees:
  • Domestic students: NZ$1,376.40
  • International students: NZ$5,679.00
• Lecture Times:
  • Monday: 2.10pm
  • Thursday: 2.10pm
  • Friday: 2.10pm
• Estimated Workload: Approximately 150 hours or 8.8 hours per week
• Points: 15

Entry Restrictions

• Prerequisites: 30 300-level points from (COMP, AIML, DATA, NWEN, SWEN); STAT 292 or comparable background in Statistics
• Corequisites: None
• Restrictions: DATA 303

Course Objectives

Students who pass this course will be able to:

1. Formulate data models in statistical terms for binary, count, and continuous data.
2. Estimate model parameters and standard errors using statistical software.
3. Correctly identify statistical modelling approaches under inference and prediction settings.
4. Interpret statistical models and report conclusions in the context of hypothesis testing and decision-making.
5. Evaluate data for a problem, apply appropriate statistical modelling techniques, and report on investigation and findings.

How the Course is Taught

This course is taught via lectures and tutorial labs, designed for in-person study. Some assessment items require in-person attendance.

Assessment

• Test: 35%
• Assignments (1-4): 30% (7.5% each)
• Project: 35%
• Mandatory Requirements: Achieve at least 40% on the combined marks from the test and project, and an overall pass mark of at least 50%.

What You'll Need

• Use of the freely available computing software R is required.
• A laptop with RStudio installed is sufficient.
• For in-person tests and exams, a simple scientific calculator or graphics calculator is needed.
• For remote tests, access to a computer with a camera, microphone, and reliable high-speed internet connection is required.

Taught By

• School: School of Mathematics and Statistics — Faculty of Science and Engineering
• Course Coordinator: Dr. Nokuthaba Sibanda
• Lecturer: Dr. Ryan Admiraal