Statistical methods are crucial in many fields, and are applied in virtually all areas of human inquiry. Any education in statistics should include exposure to the use of statistical ideas and applications in subject-area contexts. Therefore, students in the B.Sc. Major in Statistics program are required to fulfill a nine-credit "thematic concentration".
Details
The requirement is that a student take 9 upper-level (300 or above) credits in a theme area, with at least most of these courses having clear statistical or probabilistic content. The lists below show courses that are considered acceptable for the thematic concentration in the statistics major for computer science, economics, psychology, commerce, life sciences, environmental science, and philosophy:
Computer Science
CPSC 302, 303, 304, 310, 312, 320, 322, 330, 340, 344, 368, 402, 404, 406, 420, 422, 425, 440, 444, 445
Economics
ECON 301, 302, 310 or 311, 320, 323, 345, 355, 356, 367, 370, 398, 420, 421, 425, 426, 447, 456, 473
Psychology
PSYC 303, 304, 305, 305A, 314, 325, 359, 401, 402, ASTU 402
Commerce
COMM 414, 457, 458, 465, 473, 486I (or any COMR equivalents)
Life Sciences
SPPH 302, BIOC 306, 410, BIOL 320, 335, 336, 413, 434
Environmental Science
EOSC 325, 340, 345, 410, 440, 442, BIOL 301, ENVR 440
Philosophy
PHIL 321, 322, 337, 360, 369
The above lists are not exhaustive, in that there may be acceptable courses within each field that are not listed above. It may also be possible to pursue the thematic concentration in other fields. Students wishing to suggest a thematic concentration using courses other than those listed should contact the undergraduate advisor in the Department of Statistics.
For many students, all 9 theme credits will be taken from the same department. This need not always be the case, however. For instance, a student may be able to design a broad social science or life science theme, with courses from more than one department. For the theme to be approved, however, there must be a clear link between the selected courses.
Students should think early about their theme choice, as the upper-level courses in the theme area will likely have lower-level (100 and/or 200) prerequisites. There may be some instances of courses with statistical content where the instructor would give permission to enroll to a Statistics student who does not have the official prerequisite.
For the popular choices of Economics and Computer Science, by taking a few more courses in the other area, you could instead get a Combined Major degree (with one of Economics or Computer Science). Currently, students in a B.Sc. program within the Faculty of Science can earn a Minor in Arts, a Minor in Commerce, or a Minor in another branch of Science. For more information about Minors, see the Faculty of Science section of the Calendar.