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Back to Bayesian Statistics: From Concept to Data Analysis

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Bayesian Statistics: From Concept to Data Analysis by University of California, Santa Cruz

4.6
stars
3,124 ratings

About the Course

This course introduces the Bayesian approach to statistics, starting with the concept of probability and moving to the analysis of data. We will learn about the philosophy of the Bayesian approach as well as how to implement it for common types of data. We will compare the Bayesian approach to the more commonly-taught Frequentist approach, and see some of the benefits of the Bayesian approach. In particular, the Bayesian approach allows for better accounting of uncertainty, results that have more intuitive and interpretable meaning, and more explicit statements of assumptions. This course combines lecture videos, computer demonstrations, readings, exercises, and discussion boards to create an active learning experience. For computing, you have the choice of using Microsoft Excel or the open-source, freely available statistical package R, with equivalent content for both options. The lectures provide some of the basic mathematical development as well as explanations of philosophy and interpretation. Completion of this course will give you an understanding of the concepts of the Bayesian approach, understanding the key differences between Bayesian and Frequentist approaches, and the ability to do basic data analyses....

Top reviews

GS

Aug 31, 2017

Good intro to Bayesian Statistics. Covers the basic concepts. Workload is reasonable and quizzes/exercises are helpful. Could include more exercises and additional backgroung/future reading materials.

JB

Oct 16, 2020

An excellent course with some good hands on exercises in both R and excel. Not for the faint of heart mathematically speaking, assumes a competent understanding of statistics and probability going in

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551 - 575 of 813 Reviews for Bayesian Statistics: From Concept to Data Analysis

By Vadim F

Feb 16, 2024

The information within the course was delivered in a very clear manner and is useful. However, the quizzes left me a bit disappointed: most of the questions are structured in a "follow along" way where most of the information is described within the question and you just have to make a singular observation. While it might be fine for some intra-week quizzes, I definitely expected more from the "Honours" ones. When I join a Coursera specialization, I'm coming not just for the information, but also for a challenge which will help to digest and live through that information.

By black s

May 7, 2020

Really enjoyed weeks 1-3 of the course. It was well done and I felt like I had a good grasp of the materials, and the tests reflected that. The lecturer gave good intuition of what was going on with the math. Week 4 on the other hand was a bit hectic. I didn't feel like I had a good grasp of the material or the underlying math, and lots of it was rushed through. I also didn't feel like the quizzes in week 4 helped me understand the material more. I was able to complete them correctly just by using R, with little understanding of what's going on behind the scenes.

By Darjo

Jul 9, 2019

Most of the stuff is explained quite well and I managed to understand it. I am quite satisfied overall and I am glad I completed the course. The exercises, however, were somewhat boring. I wish there were some optional exercises that are more challenging and require you to solve more realistic problems. I also wish there were more additional materials with more in depth theory and examples of how they use these concepts for solving problems that are actually of some use. I feel like these improvements would make the course much more interesting and engaging.

By Larry B

May 13, 2021

I liked the course. It was a lot of work. It was probably beyond my skill levels. A few more plug in the value examples would have been a great benefit to me. I did not have an recent experience in Calculus and statistics, and I had never used R. However, I got through the course with the chance to retake the quizzes multiple times. That was a good learning experience for me because I could start to figure out how to fill in the blanks, so to speak. I think some more information on course prerequisites would have been helpful.

By Oleg

Nov 9, 2018

It was my first Bayesian course. Good introduction! However more accent should be placed on intuitive understanding rather than mathematical formalism. To be fair that the issue not only with this course, that the issue with 90% of all stat courses/books. As for me, I find mathematical formalism is hard to digest, intuitive understanding should come first ... May be it's just because of my limited knowledge of stats. I'll update my belief once I get better understanding of stats:) Thank you very much Dr Lee!

By Matúš F

Apr 26, 2020

I would highly recommend this course to everyone, who wishes to learn basics of Bayesian statistics. I very much appreciate quizzes, videos and reading material. Few things I recommend to improve: Provide reading material for the theory presented in videos, it would be helpful to have this when I will come back to material later. Also for some quizzes and questions in videos (W2 and W4) latex didn't interpret correctly, so I had to do it on my own by copying it to latex interpreter, which was irritating.

By Muhammad Y

Jul 30, 2017

The course helped me get started with Bayesian stats. This course is good if you have seem probability and stats (distributions, pdf, cdf etc.) and want to learn about the Bayesian interpretation. The course picks up pace from 3rd week and the final week seem a bit rushed. I thing more examples of explicit frequentist vs. bayesian interpretation will benefit the learners. Also, 4th week could really use some additional explanatory content. Thanks for this course, I learned something fun and useful! :)

By Paulo G S

Aug 18, 2020

The course is very well explained, one can learn a lot. Although, I missed more texts to guide throughout the classes. I acknowledge the option to make annotation and access the transcript of the classes was very useful, but even so I would like more material, even to summarize some of the most important content of the classes and expressions developed. Apart from that, I felt very satisfied with the course and look forward to learn more and more about Bayesian Statistics!

By Asinus

Sep 19, 2022

It is an excellent introductory course, clear and logical. However, there is some room for improvemnt.

Math could have been more detailed. (However, it is not a problem here since the material is easy - one can complete the missing derivations based on hints given in the lectures.)

Lecture notes would be welcome.

I would also like a better justification for using Bayesian methods: examples of practical applications where the methodology brings proven gains.

By Alan L

May 21, 2020

While the concepts are pretty advanced and worthwhile to go through, I feel like there could have been more videos explaining the concepts behind the math a bit more. It would really help solidify the concepts for people who are rusty or haven't seen statistics/probability in a long time. However, this course definitely has some GREAT practice exercises (and the honors quizzes are so worth it, so DO THEM!). Overall, tremendous effort. Would recommend.

By Nurlan J

Apr 15, 2020

I learned and revised a lot of knowledge that I forgot/did not know before. Yet, the lecture videos were not well-adopted to explain what the equations really mean. The major issue is that the professor is rushing in his explanations. Perhaps, one needs to consider the negative correlation between the length of a video and the quality of the material it can capture.

Anyways, great lecture series and advanced my knowledge. Thank you!

By Erfan A

Jun 13, 2017

This was a great introduction to bayesian statistic. I have background in Computer Science and Engineering but I have not yet been introduced to Bayesian Statistics. The Quizzes were where the learning was happening for me. Personally I learn the best when I code things up. I wish they had also included coding examples in Python (which is what I used for the quizzes) since that is one on the most popular languages for data science.

By Zhenkai S

Oct 8, 2019

The course is in general well structured. The professor used a lot of mathematical equations to explain the contents. I have no problem understanding them. Everything goes smoothly, until the last section: Bayesian Linear Regression (BLE). In the last section, the professor skipped all the mathematics aspects and rushed the content with R / Excel examples. This is not what I expected. Overall, I will rate the course 4 stars.

By Ying G

Jan 23, 2024

This course is definitely not for someone new to statistics. Some of reasoning steps were missed in the lecture. I guess the reason is that the professor assumed the students already had such knowledge. I took statistics courses 15 years ago and forgot a lot of knowledge about it, so the course is quite difficult for me though I passed all the quizzes. I am taking it for the second time and it makes more sense to me now.

By Sadegh S

Jan 6, 2022

This course has an extremely useful start. But when we reach the second half of the course, it becomes quite hard to follow. What's missing in the second half of the course is a good example for each topic. These examples are provided in Quizzes which are extremely useful but still, it's the instructor's job to explain them adequetely in the course first. Overall, I liked the course and would recommend it.

By Lee V

Jul 12, 2019

The lectures were good but rattled-along at quite a speed, even with pausing and "rewinding" I still found it difficult to follow, esp towards the end. I think a short explanation at the start of the video explaining what was going to be covered, what its role was and where it fitted into the big picture might have helped (background is UK maths A-level 45yrs ago and a career on the fringes of science)

By Jesse W

May 21, 2017

I feel like I have a much better understanding of Bayesian statistics after taking this course. I learned a lot, even though it didn't take very long to get through all of the class material. My only criticism is that the 4th week seems pretty scattered. It covers a lot of different topics in not a lot of detail. Ideally, this material should be broken up into 2 weeks and covered in greater depth.

By Thomas F

Jun 28, 2017

Very good course, I may have been at a bit of a disadvantage because I came from a behavioural sciences background rather than a full statistics or math background. It was interesting though, and I think I acquired the requisite skills to conduct a Bayesian analysis in future. However, at some points in the class it does become very formula heavy, which I did find tough to grasp at some points.

By Arasch M

Jul 7, 2019

The course helps in developing a quite sound grasp of the Bayesian approach to the world. The assignments are feasible and help in gaining a deeper understanding of each subject. However there is a caveat: You definitely need to review your math skills before starting this course (esp. calculus, arithmetics and combinatorics) otherwise you'll be struggling with the particularities !

By Joshua A

Sep 3, 2017

Excellent introduction to Bayesian statistics. More proofs would have been nice (perhaps an optional advanced material section?). The later half of the course increases quite a bit in difficulty and could use 1-2 more examples + applications. Professor did a great job and the quizzes thoroughly tested my knowledge. Overall, I would definitely recommend this course.

By Diogo P

Jul 19, 2017

Great lectures. The explanation of each topic is extremely clear and avoids excessive mathematical burden. Lectures are short and concise. Quizzes or at least Module Honors could be a bit more challenging, though. It's a great course, anyway. I'll be looking forward to enroll in the next course of the sequence, entitled "Bayesian Statistics: Techniques and Models".

By Francisco A d A e L

Nov 30, 2016

Very good course, with less emphasis in the videos and more on exercises and critical thinking, the way I like and learn the best. I particularly liked that the lecturer writes on a transparent vertical surface standing between him and the camera, very convenient. For those not so familiar with mathematics, this might hurt a bit but the payoff is super positive.

By Deleted A

Jul 30, 2019

Really enjoyed the course! Thank you. I would have given a higher rating if: 1) the instructor had spend more time on the intuition underpinning different derivations, 2) provided more context, 3) discussed more examples from practice. However, I am definitely continuing on to "Bayesian Statistics: Techniques and Models"! Thank you once more, team UCSC!

By Anderson F

Apr 13, 2020

I enjoyed the course. I was looking for a way to improve my knowledge of statistics and bayesian maths. I mainly used excel for the calculations. I would appreciate an additional tutorial on plotting mass and PDF function etc against Theta and real world variables to explore impact of parameters on distribution shape on prior and posterior results.

By Tim B

May 27, 2020

Exceptionally interesting class. Professor was knowledgeable and engaging. The key insight was to approach the "quizzes" as homework, a learning process. Some of the lectures were of variable audiovisual quality and the pacing of some sections was not uniform, but overall, a triumph. More from this professor please! Fun.