Postgraduate Module Descriptor


POLM030: Mathematics and Programming Skills for Policy Analytics

This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content and order of syllabus coverage may vary, it is envisaged that it will include the following topics:

  • Introduction to R
  • Introduction to Python
  • Data Analysis in R
  • Linear Algebra
  • Big data
  • Probability and frequentist inference
  • Multilevel modelling
  • Bayesian inference
  • Advanced data visualisation
  • Web scraping 

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
201300

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Lectures with lab2010 x 2 hours of lectures and labs. These lectures cover the main concepts of the course. Sessions will sometimes include group and lab work.
Independent study130A variety of independent study tasks directed by module leader. These tasks may include (with an indicative number of hours): • Assigned readings (40 hours) • Preparation for and completion of practical assessments (60 hours) • Practicing techniques used in computer tutorials (30 hours)

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

Big Data and Social Science (Ian Foster, Rayid Ghani, Ron S. Jarmin, Frauke Kreuter, and Julia Lane): https://textbook.coleridgeinitiative.org

Maths Refresher Course (Gary King) http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/prefresher

UK Data Services - https://www.ukdataservice.ac.uk

NCRM - http://www.ncrm.ac.uk