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Theory of Statistics - George Mason University

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Preface: Mathematical <strong>Statistics</strong><br />

After teaching mathematical statistics for several years using chalk on a blackboard<br />

(and, later, smelly “dry erase markers” on a whiteboard) mostly doing<br />

pro<strong>of</strong>s <strong>of</strong> theorems, I decided to lecture from computer slides that provide<br />

an outline <strong>of</strong> the “big picture”. Rather than spend class time “doing” pro<strong>of</strong>s<br />

that are given in standard texts, I decided that time would be better spent<br />

discussing the material from a different, higher-level perspective.<br />

While lecturing from canned slides, I cannot, however, ignore certain details<br />

<strong>of</strong> pro<strong>of</strong>s and minutiae <strong>of</strong> examples. But what details and which minutiae?<br />

To be effective, my approach depends on an understanding between students<br />

and the instructor, an understanding that is possibly implicit. I lecture; but I<br />

ask “what is ... ?” and “why is ... ?”; and I encourage students to ask “what is<br />

... ?” and “why is ... ?”. I adopt the attitude that there are many things that I<br />

don’t know, but if there’s something that I wonder about, I’ll admit ignorance<br />

and pursue the problem until I’ve attained some resolution. I encourage my<br />

students to adopt a similar attitude.<br />

I am completely dissatisfied with a class that sits like stumps on a log<br />

when I ask “what is ... ?” or “why is ... ?” during a lecture. What can I say?<br />

After writing class slides (in L ATEX2ε, <strong>of</strong> course), mostly in bullet form, I<br />

began writing text around the bullets, and I put the notes on the class website.<br />

Later I decided that a single document with a fairly extensive subject index<br />

(see pages 881 through 899) would be useful to serve as a companion for the<br />

study <strong>of</strong> mathematical statistics. The other big deal about this document is<br />

the internal links, which <strong>of</strong> course is not something that can be done with a<br />

hardcopy book. (One thing I must warn you about is that there is a (known)<br />

bug in the L ATEX package hyperref; if the referenced point happens to occur<br />

at the top <strong>of</strong> a page, the link takes you to the previous page – so if you don’t<br />

see what you expect, try going to the next page.)<br />

Much <strong>of</strong> the present document reflects its origin as classroom notes; it<br />

contains incomplete sentences or sentence fragments, and it lacks connective<br />

material in some places. (The connective material was (probably!) supplied<br />

orally during the lectures.)<br />

<strong>Theory</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Statistics</strong> c○2000–2013 James E. Gentle

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