The course introduces statistical theory to prepare students for the remainder of the econometrics sequence. The emphasis of the course is to understand the basic principles of statistical theory. A brief review of probability will be given; however, this material is assumed knowledge. The course also covers basic regression analysis. Topics covered include probability, random samples, asymptotic methods, point estimation, evaluation of estimators, Cramer-Rao theorem, hypothesis tests, Neyman Pearson lemma, Likelihood Ratio test, interval estimation, best linear predictor, best linear approximation, conditional expectation function, building functional forms, regression algebra, Gauss-Markov optimality, finite-sample inference, consistency, asymptotic normality, heteroscedasticity, and autocorrelation.