Statistical Methods for Economics
Dr. G. Samuel Aravind & Dr. G. Pavani Devi
This course builds the statistical toolkit an economics student needs to work with real data — from collecting it honestly, to visualising it clearly, summarising it accurately, relating variables to one another, and tracking change over time. Every concept is taught through worked examples and interactive charts grounded in the Indian economy, so the ideas connect directly to the data you’ll encounter in policy, business and research.
What you’ll be able to do
- Understand the nature of statistics and collect data using questionnaires and schedules
- Draw appropriate diagrams and graphs to present data effectively
- Calculate and interpret averages and measures of dispersion for any dataset
- Explain and apply correlation, simple regression and time series analysis
- Calculate index numbers and interpret them correctly
The five units
Introduction to Statistics
Meaning, scope and limitations of statistics; primary vs secondary data; census vs sample; schedule vs questionnaire.
UNIT 2Diagrammatic Analysis
Frequency distributions and tabulation; interactive histograms, frequency polygons, ogives, line graphs, bar diagrams and pie charts.
UNIT 3Central Tendency & Dispersion
Mean, median and mode; range, mean deviation, standard deviation and coefficient of variation — worked for both discrete and continuous data.
UNIT 4Correlation, Regression & Time Series
Scatter diagrams, Karl Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation, simple regression, time series components and moving averages.
UNIT 5Index Numbers
Price and quantity relatives, Laspeyres’, Paasche’s and Fisher’s Ideal Index Numbers, and their real-world uses and limitations (CPI, WPI, Dearness Allowance).
Each unit is a self-contained, swipeable card carousel with worked numerical examples, interactive charts, and knowledge-check quizzes. All example datasets are clearly labelled as illustrative practice data.