GCSE Statistics at a Glance

Complete overview of the Edexcel GCSE Statistics specification — all topics for Higher and Foundation tiers

Foundation & Higher
Higher Only

Planning

Specify the problem and plan an investigation
Hypothesis testing — forming and testing hypotheses
Types of data: primary, secondary, qualitative, quantitative, discrete, continuous
Populations and samples
Sampling methods: random, systematic, stratified, cluster, quota, convenience
Capture-recapture method: N = (M × n) / m
Questionnaire design — clear, unambiguous, unbiased questions
Random response technique for sensitive questions
Pilot surveys

Collecting Data

Observation sheets and data collection methods
Experiments and surveys
Sources of bias in data collection
How to avoid bias

Tabulation

Frequency tables
Two-way tables
Grouped frequency tables
Cumulative frequency tables

Diagrams and Graphs

Bar charts and comparative bar charts
Pie charts
Pictograms
Stem-and-leaf diagrams (back-to-back)
Box plots and comparing box plots
Cumulative frequency diagrams
Histograms (equal and unequal class widths)
Frequency polygons
Scatter diagrams and lines of best fit
Time series graphs
Population pyramids
Choropleth maps

Measures of Central Tendency

Mean (including from frequency tables)
Median and quartiles
Mode and modal class
Estimated mean from grouped data
Weighted mean

Measures of Dispersion

Range
Interquartile range (IQR)
Percentiles
Variance and standard deviation (Higher)H
Standardised scores (Higher)H

Skewness

Positive and negative skew
Symmetric distributions
Using mean, median, mode to identify skew
Comparing distributions using averages and spread

Correlation and Regression

Higher Only
Scatter diagrams and types of correlationH
Lines of best fit by eyeH
Interpolation and extrapolationH
Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient (SRCC)H
Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PMCC)H

Time Series

Trend lines
Moving averages (3-point, 4-point)
Seasonal variation
Prediction using time series

Index Numbers

Higher Only
Simple index numbersH
Chain base index numbersH
Retail Price Index (RPI)H
Consumer Price Index (CPI)H
Weighted index numbersH

Rates

Higher Only
Crude birth and death ratesH
Standardised ratesH
Rates per thousandH

Quality Assurance

Higher Only
Control chartsH
Warning and action limitsH
Sample means and rangesH
Interpreting control chartsH

Basic Probability

Probability scale 0 to 1
Theoretical and experimental probability
Relative frequency
Expected frequency: E = P(A) × n
Mutually exclusive events
Exhaustive events
Complementary events: P(A') = 1 − P(A)

Combined Events

Addition rule for mutually exclusive events
Multiplication rule for independent events
Tree diagrams
Venn diagrams
Conditional probability
Two-way tables for probability

Probability Distributions

Higher Only
Discrete probability distributionsH
Expected valueH
Binomial distribution (introduction)H
Normal distribution (introduction)H

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