Milestone map
Milestone map
2 milestones
Do the problem sets and write them up
7–14 weeks (12–16 hrs/week)
Take Statistics for Applications for free and do the 11 problem sets (estimation, confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, regression, Bayesian statistics). Write every solution up in LaTeX and keep the source and the PDF in one public repo as you go.
Proof required
Link your public repo with the LaTeX source and the PDF of the 11 problem sets (estimation, confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, regression, Bayesian statistics), and show your self-check (Check each result by simulation).
What gets checked
- Every derivation is complete, with each step justified.
- Each key result has a simulation that agrees with it.
- Where a simulation disagreed, the error is found and fixed.
Common mistakes
- Copying posted solutions: verifiers read the reasoning and the history.
- A proof that skips the hard step.
- Asking for review before the self-check.
Powstik Guide
A public repo with your LaTeX write-ups of the 11 problem sets (estimation, confidence intervals, hypothesis tests, regression, Bayesian statistics).
Steps
- Make a public repo for this course.
- Do one problem set at a time; typeset it in LaTeX and commit.
- Self-check: The course posts no solutions. For each estimator or test you derive, simulate it in code and check that it behaves as your maths says (bias, variance, error rate).
- Fix what the self-check shows, and say what you fixed.
- Ask three people who know the topic to check it.
Template
README Course: Statistics for Applications (MIT OpenCourseWare) What is here (problem sets, PDF): Self-check result: The hardest proof and why:
What gets sent back
- Answers with no reasoning.
- Photos of handwriting instead of typeset work.
- Self-check not shown.
Resources
Foundationstart here
Depthgo deeper
What a verifier looks for
- Every derivation is complete, with each step justified.
- Each key result has a simulation that agrees with it.
- Where a simulation disagreed, the error is found and fixed.
- Pick two proofs and check every step: each argument must be correct and complete, not just present.
- Ask about one step; the answer should be clear.
You'll sign in first, then come straight back here.
Derive and test an estimator
1–3 weeks (5–8 hrs/week)
Use what you learned. Make an expository write-up that derives an estimator or test for a real question (a coin's bias, a click rate, a regression slope), proves its main property and checks it on simulated and real data. Typeset it in LaTeX (or a notebook with LaTeX maths) in your public repo.
Proof required
Link an expository write-up that derives an estimator or test for a real question (a coin's bias, a click rate, a regression slope), proves its main property and checks it on simulated and real data, in your public repo.
What gets checked
- The property (unbiased, consistent, level α) is proved, not assumed.
- Simulation agrees with the proof.
- The real data source is named.
Common mistakes
- A gap in the main argument.
- A result stated but not proved.
Powstik Guide
An expository write-up that derives an estimator or test for a real question (a coin's bias, a click rate, a regression slope), proves its main property and checks it on simulated and real data.
Steps
- Write one line: what you will prove or show.
- Draft it, then read it cold the next day.
- Ask someone to read it and mark the first step they doubt.
- Fix it and typeset the final version.
- Ask three people to check it.
Template
Title: What this shows: Main result (statement): Proof: What I would look at next:
What gets sent back
- A main step left unproved.
- Not clearly the person's own work.
- Claims more than it proves.
Resources
Foundationstart here
Depthgo deeper
What a verifier looks for
- The property (unbiased, consistent, level α) is proved, not assumed.
- Simulation agrees with the proof.
- The real data source is named.
- Every argument must be correct and complete; mark the first gap you find.
- Check that the work is the person's own.
You'll sign in first, then come straight back here.