STAT 450Estimation and Hypothesis Testing
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Mathematics
- Subject
- Statistics
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 3 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Discussion of inference problems under the headings of hypothesis testing and point and interval estimation. Frequentist and Bayesian approaches to inference. Construction and evaluation of tests and estimators. Large sample theory of point estimation.
Prerequisites
- Must have completed the following:
- STAT330 - Mathematical Statistics (0.50)
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
No course lists it as a requisite.
Winter 2027 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 5594 | 0 / 50 | MW 10:00–11:20 |
| LEC 701 | 2227 | 19 / 9999 | Online or by arrangement |
Reviewed on UW Flow
79% liked it40% easy94% useful
From 14 ratings and 8 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
This course is highly theoretical. The first 1/3 is reviewing old materials from STAT 330 and the last 2/3 is more advanced materials on point estimation and hypothesis testing. Many concepts from STAT 330 are given a rigorous treatment in this course, such as stochastic convergence and Cramer-Rao Inequality and you are expected to prove them. You would also learn many important concepts and theorems in statistics such as UMVUE, suffciency and completeness, the most powerful tests, Lehmann-Scheffe theorem. You are also expected to explain those concepts and prove important theorems in the tests so make sure you read through those definitions and proofs carefully and understand them steps by…
Apr 2023 · liked it · 2 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
It can be extremely difficult, but Liqun made it easy. Not even a single number will appear in this course until the very last lecture. Everything in this course is about proofs. If you're a pure math guy, take it.
Apr 2024 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
just an upgraded stat330
Aug 2023 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
STAT 450 was not difficult with Changbao Wu because he gave us practice problems and exams were based on those along with contents from lectures. To do well, just make sure you brush up on your Calculus skills (Taylor series and some integration) and you'll be more than fine. Even though course was pretty heavy on theory, it's easy to get high marks if you actually put in the work.
Apr 2023 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Provides a rigorous treatment of the material from STAT 330. Emphasis on building estimators (UMVUE) and most powerful tests. If taking with Wu, as long as you do practice problems and follow all examples, you will certainly do well. I think I definitely developed a much better intuition for various theoretical statistical concepts after taking this course.
May 2022 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
65 posts and comments in 54 threads mention STAT 450, December 2012 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Spring 2024
I swear the STAT advisors are hostile to anyone wanting to go above and beyond with their statistics education .. 48 points, 41 comments
“Riley strikes back against higher stats education yet again. Tried to override into a STAT 900 course since it seemed interesting, would help with grad admissions, and I did extremely well in the …”
u/Intelligent-Show-815: “Wait why wouldnt it just count as a stat major course tf? doesnt that show you are even more capable”
u/omwtokillEuronymous: “Was that STAT 450? That was course was awesome last term! Would take another course with Liqun again”
u/Not_So_Deleted: “… Getting a 60 in STAT 450 is far more problematic than a 60 in say, a political science course if one were take 908. …”
Winter 2023
Best upper year stat courses for research? 11 points, 6 comments
“I’m 2B math student that is planning to transfer to the science faculty (biology). Since I’ve completed basically all the foundational math courses I can still take many of the 300 level stat courses …”
u/GuessEnvironmental: “Stat 450 is universally powerful in any statistical research”
STAT 450 Help 2 points, 0 comments
u/UserNameTaken4EverHa: “Stuck on how to do A3 Q4c and d. DM if you wanna help. Thanks a lot.”
Stat 450 or Stat 454, which is easier? 1 point, 0 comments
u/notreallysureayt: “Stat 450 is taught by Changbao Wu and Stat 454 is taught by Christian Boudreau. And if anyone in these courses can send me the grade breakdown that'd be great, thanks!”
Fall 2022
STAT 433 or STAT 450 2 points, 0 comments
u/Novel_Brain9700: “I heard that both of these courses dive into a more "mathy" view of statistics which I really like -- however, I could only take one of the courses above because of my schedule. Which course would you guys suggest? Thank you very much for your suggestion!”
STAT 450 - Is R needed for this course? 5 points, 5 comments
u/gooseatwaterloo: “Hi Can someone share course notes and outlines of STAT 450 ? Also, may I know any program language needed for this course? Thanks,”
STAT 450 vs STAT 441? 2 points, 2 comments
u/Bid_Queasy: “… On the other hand, I heard STAT 450 is very useful for grad school and theory in general so that's appealing to me as well. It also opens the option of getting into STAT 908. Prof Changbao Wu is teaching 450 next term. …”
STAT 450 2 points, 0 comments
u/gooseatwaterloo: “Hi Can someone share course notes and outlines of STAT 450 ? Also, may I know any program language needed for this course? Thanks,”
How easy are Stat 435, 443, 450, 454? 2 points, 2 comments
u/gottadostats: “I have to take 2 of these 4 courses to graduate with a stats major and I'm wondering which 2 are the easiest. I haven't seen many posts talking about these courses unlike the other 44X courses, and was wondering if anyone could give some insight. …”
Fall 2021
4th year stat courseload 1 point, 8 comments
u/LuK413: “How feasible is it taking STAT441, STAT450, MTHEL300 and CS479 as my courses this term? …”
Spring 2021
[deleted by user] 8 points, 9 comments
u/confused_buffoon: “… helpful courses at uw: imo anything in the STAT4xxs except maybe STAT450 due to the pain you'll receive compared to the applicability to job descriptions. there's that CS course for SQL i think could be helpful. …”
Can I take graduate courses as an undergraduate student? 3 points, 5 comments
u/sixrunnerupjames: “I want to take STAT 850 in the fall, because STAT 450 is only offered in the winter, and there's no time for me to take it next winter. I will graduate after the winter term. Is it OK to take graduate courses as an undergraduate student?”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
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