Statistics – Diploma in Arts

Massey’s Diploma in Arts (Statistics) will give you the skills to do calculations, draw graphics, and display new insights.

Where you can study

Auckland campus
Distance and online
Manawatū campus (Palmerston North)

International students

International students are not New Zealand citizens or residents.

Definition of New Zealand citizens and residents

Open to international students on campus in New Zealand
Note: Not all courses are available at all campuses.

Specialise in Statistics for your Diploma in Arts at Massey

Statistics provides tools vital for the collecting, analysing and presenting of data. Statistics is much more than the organisation and display of data. Careful analysis of underlying questions and critical examination of the sources of data are part of the art of statistics. Modelling the variability in data to calculate the reliability of answers is part of its science.

Statisticians use computers extensively to do calculations, draw graphics and bring new insights. With increasing use of technology, people with data handling skills have become highly sought after in the workplace. More and more professions, from the every day to the exotic, depend on data and numerical reasoning.

A Diploma in Arts in Statistics is a good fit if you:

  • like working with numbers or data
  • are confident with modern information technology.

Planning information

If you study full-time you’ll take eight 15-credit courses (120 credits) in one year, or 60 credits per semester. You may be able to take some courses at summer school.

If you later proceed to the Bachelor of Arts degree, all of the courses in your Diploma of Arts can be transferred to the Bachelor of Arts.

Official regulations

To understand what you need to study and must complete to graduate read the official rules and regulations for this qualification.

You should read these together with all other relevant Statutes and Regulations of the University including the General Regulations for Undergraduate Degrees, Undergraduate Diplomas, Undergraduate Certificates, Graduate Diplomas and Graduate Certificates.

Returning students

For returning students, there may be changes to the majors and minors available and the courses you need to take. Go to the section called ‘Transitional Provisions’ in the Regulations to find out more.

In some cases the qualification or specialisation you enrolled in may be no longer be taking new enrolments, so may not appear on these web pages. To find information on the regulations for these qualifications go to the Massey University Calendar.

Please contact us through the Get advice button on this page if you have any questions.

Courses you can enrol in

Course planning key

Prerequisites
Courses that need to be completed before moving onto a course at the next level. For example, a lot of 200-level courses have 100-level prerequisite courses.
Corequisites
Courses that must be completed at the same time as another course are known as corequisite courses.
Restrictions
Some courses are restricted against each other because their content is similar. This means you can only choose one of the offered courses to study and credit to your qualification.

Core courses for the Diploma in Arts

As well as the specialisation courses listed below, this qualification has core courses that you will need to complete.

Diploma in Arts core courses

Statistics courses

Compulsory courses

Choose 30 credits from
Course code: 161250 Data Analysis 15 credits

Biology, psychology, and other sciences require statistical methods for analysing and visualising data. This course is designed to be accessible to students from any discipline, first building a deeper understanding of fundamental statistical concepts, then teaching a range of practical approaches for exploring statistical relationships, testing hypotheses, evaluating models, and presenting conclusions.

Prerequisites: 1611xx or 297101 Restrictions: 161220

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Course code: 161251 Regression Modelling 15 credits

Common data analysis and regression techniques for application in science, business and social science. Topics include simple and multiple regression; linear models with categorical explanatory variables; model diagnostics; inference for linear models; polynomial regression; models for time dependence; methods for variable selection; non-linear and weighted regression.

Prerequisites: 1611xx or 297101 Restrictions: 161221

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Subject courses

Choose 15 credits from
Course code: 161101 Statistics for Business 15 credits

An introduction to the presentation, analysis and interpretation of quantitative data. Topics include the construction of charts and summary statistics, probability, sampling, hypothesis testing, regression, time series analysis and quality management.

Restrictions: 115101, 161100, 161111, 161120, 161122, 161130, 161140, 297101

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Course code: 161111 Applied Statistics 15 credits

Statistical literacy, the ability to understand and reason with statistics and data, is becoming increasingly important as our world becomes more and more data-rich. This course focuses on developing statistical literacy in real-world contexts. We teach students to use software (Excel and RStudio) to summarise, display and analyse data. We explore data collection techniques including sampling methods and experimental design. We introduce statistical inference methods (confidence intervals, hypothesis testing and regression) with an emphasis on communicating results in context.

Restrictions: 115101, 161101, 161120, 161122, 161130, 161140

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Course code: 297101 Statistical Data Science 15 credits

An introduction to computer programming and statistics for transforming, visualising and modelling data to discover information and support decision making. A practical approach to analysing New Zealand data includes data cleaning, statistical summaries, data wrangling, visualisation and predictive modelling. Includes an exploration of the statistical ideas of sampling, probability and inference as well as modern programming tools emphasising reproducibility.

Restrictions: 161122

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Choose 15 credits from
Course code: 161304 Statistical Modelling 15 credits

This course covers the ideas underlying statistical modelling, its implementation through computational methods, and links to practical applications. Topics include probability and random variables, models for discrete and continuous data, model selection, model fitting and goodness of fit, model inference, and introduction to stochastic processes.

Prerequisites: (160101 or 160102 or 160105) and (161250 or 161251 or 161220 or 161221)

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Course code: 161323 Multivariate Analysis 15 credits

This course teaches methods to understand patterns and structures inherent in data sets containing many variables. The fundamentals of data visualisation, clustering, and dimension reduction with examples taken from a range of applications.

Prerequisites: One of 161222, 161220, 161221, 161250, 161251, 233214 Restrictions: 161762

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Course code: 161324 Data Mining 15 credits

A practical approach to data mining with large volumes of complex data; prepare, cleanse and visualise data; supervised and unsupervised modelling; ensemble and bundling techniques; use of leading software tools.

Prerequisites: One of 161122, 297101, 161220, 161221, 161250 or 161251 Restrictions: 161223 and 161777

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Course code: 161331 Biostatistics 15 credits

Sciences such as biology and medicine yield data that require a wide range of statistical techniques, including standard linear models and their extensions. Case studies are used to demonstrate topics such as nonlinear regression, linear models for binary and count data, and mixed effects models. Emphasis is placed on application of appropriate statistical techniques through extensive use of statistical software.

Prerequisites: 161250 or 161251 or 161220 or 161221 Restrictions: 161327, 161778

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Entry requirements

Admission to Massey

All students must meet university entrance requirements to be admitted to the University.

Specific requirements

There are no specific entry requirements for this qualification, outside of university admission regulations.

English language requirements

To study this qualification you must meet Massey University's English language standards.

If you have already completed a bachelor degree

If you have already completed a bachelor degree you may replace 230111 Tū Kupu: Writing and Inquiry or 230112 Tū Arohae: Critical Thinking with courses of your choice. You will need to apply for replacement courses via a Special permission request in your portal and you will need to attach evidence of your completed degree with the request.

English language skills

If you need help with your English language skills before you start university, see our English for Academic Purposes (EAP) courses.

Can't meet the entry requirements?

If you need to do a course before you start your qualification, there may be options for you in Summer School.

Fees and scholarships

Fees, student loans and free fees scheme

Your tuition fees may be different depending on the courses you choose. Your exact fees will show once you have chosen your courses.

There will also be some compulsory non-tuition fees and for some courses, there may also be charges for things such as study resources, software, trips and contact workshops.

Already know which courses you're going to choose?

You can view fees for the courses that make up your qualification on the course details pages.

Student loans (StudyLink) and Fees Free scheme

You may be eligible for a student loan to help towards paying your fees.

The New Zealand Government offers fees-free tertiary study for eligible domestic students. Find out more about the scheme and your eligibility on the Fees Free website. To use the site's eligibility checking tool, you will need your National Student Number.

Current and returning Massey students can find their National Student Number in the student portal.

Scholarship and award opportunities

Search our scholarships and awards

Fees disclaimer

This information is for estimation purposes only. Actual fees payable will be finalised on confirmation of enrolment. Unless otherwise stated, all fees shown are quoted in New Zealand dollars and include Goods and Services Tax, if any. Before relying on any information on these pages you should also read the University's Disclaimer Notice.

Careers and job opportunities

Jobs might not always be advertised specifically for a statistician, but very often the small print under a research officer advertisement will mention statistics or data analysis as a prime requirement. The ease with which computers capture data means that most organisations find they need someone able to organise and interpret it intelligently.

Those with knowledge of statistics can find employment in a remarkably wide variety of areas, including:

  • commerce (particularly finance and marketing)
  • environmental management
  • quality improvement
  • research science
  • social sciences
  • teaching
  • technology and industry.

Related study options