BCS Written Statistics case studies
BCS Written Statistics · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The BCS Written Statistics examination is the statistics component of Bangladesh's BCS written stage, taken by candidates who have cleared the preliminary screening and are competing for cadre posts in the Bangladesh Civil Service. It is a descriptive, essay-type paper: instead of selecting among options, you write out derivations, proofs, worked numerical solutions and structured discussion answers under time pressure. The syllabus spans probability theory and distributions, statistical inference, design of experiments and analysis of variance, sampling and survey methodology, regression and multivariate methods, time series, demographic and official statistics, and statistical computing. Success depends less on memorising formulas than on reproducing derivations cleanly, choosing the right test or design for a described situation, and interpreting results in plain language. The BCS Written Statistics case studies are 5 cases and about 2,690 words.
1Rainfall Gate and the Skewed Claim
A regional water authority insures smallholder farms against drought. Payouts trigger when seasonal rainfall at a monitoring station falls below 300 mm.
602 words, about 3 min2Fertiliser Trial with a Confounded Block
An agronomy institute tests four fertiliser formulations (A, B, C, D) on 16 plots arranged in four blocks of four. The blocks follow a fertility gradient across a slope.
536 words, about 3 min3Village Survey with a Missing Stratum
A national statistics office runs a household income survey in a district of 240 villages. Villages are stratified by remoteness into three strata: accessible (150 villages), moderate (60), and remote (30).
517 words, about 3 min4Demand Forecast with a Regime Break
A utility forecasts monthly electricity demand for a service area. It has 96 months of data.
551 words, about 3 min5Exam Scores and a Suspicious Correlation
A university reviews admission data for 1,200 applicants. Variables include secondary-school grade point average (GPA), a standardised entrance test score, whether the applicant attended a fee-paying school, and first-year university marks for the 900 who enrolled.
484 words, about 2 min