INDIAN STATISTICAL SERVICE(ISS) SYLLABUS
The standard of papers in General English and General Studies will be such as may be expected
of a graduate of an Indian University.
The standard of papers in the other subjects will be that of the Master’s degree examination of an
Indian University in the relevant disciplines. The candidates will be expected to illustrate the
theory by facts, and to analyze problems with the help of theory. They will be expected to be
particularly conversant with Indian problems in the field(s) of Economics/Statistics.
GENERAL ENGLISH
Candidates will be required to write an essay in English. Other questions will be designed to test
their understanding of English and workman-like use of words. Passages will usually be set for
summary or precis.
GENERAL STUDIES
General knowledge including knowledge of current events and of such matters of everyday
observation and experience in their scientific aspects as may be expected of an educated person
who has not made a special study of any scientific subject. The paper will also include questions
on Indian Polity including the political system and the Constitution of India, History of India,
and Geography of nature which a candidate should be able to answer without special study.
STATISTICS-I (OBJECTIVE TYPE)
(i) Probability:
Classical and axiomatic definitions of Probability and consequences. Law of total probability,
Conditional probability, Bayes' theorem, and applications. Discrete and continuous random
variables. Distribution functions and their properties.
Standard discrete and continuous probability distributions - Bernoulli, Uniform, Binomial,
Poisson, Geometric, Rectangular, Exponential, Normal, Cauchy, Hypergeometric, Multinomial,
Laplace, Negative binomial, Beta, Gamma, Lognormal. Random vectors, Joint and marginal
distributions, conditional distributions, Distributions of functions of random variables. Modes of
convergences of sequences of random variables - in distribution, in probability, with probability
one and in mean square. Mathematical expectation and conditional expectation. Characteristic
function, moment and probability generating functions, Inversion, uniqueness, and continuity
theorems. Borel 0-1 law, Kolmogorov's 0-1 law. Tchebycheff's and Kolmogorov's inequalities.
Laws of large numbers and central limit theorems for independent variables.
(ii) Statistical Methods:
Collection, compilation, and presentation of data, charts, diagrams, and histogram. Frequency
distribution. Measures of location, dispersion, skewness, and kurtosis. Bivariate and multivariate
data. Association and contingency. Curve fitting and orthogonal polynomials. Bivariate normal
distribution. Regression-linear, polynomial. Distribution of the correlation coefficient, Partial
and multiple correlations, Intraclass correlation, Correlation ratio.
Standard errors and large sample tests. Sampling distributions of sample mean, sample variance,
t, chi-square, and F; tests of significance based on them, Small sample tests.
Non-parametric tests-Goodness of fit, sign, median, run, Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney, Wald-
Wolfowitz and Kolmogorov-Smirnov. Order statistics-minimum, maximum, range, and median.
Concept of Asymptotic relative efficiency.
(iii) Numerical Analysis:
Finite differences of different orders: E and D operators, factorial representation of a polynomial,
separation of symbols, sub-division of intervals, differences of zero.
Numerical differentiation: Trapezoidal, Simpson’s one-third, and three-eight rule, and Waddle's
rule.
Summation of Series: Whose general term (i) is the first difference of a function (ii) is in
geometric progression.
Numerical solutions of differential equations: Euler's Method, Milne’s Method, Picard’s Method,
and Runge-Kutta Method.
(iv) Computer application and Data Processing:
Basics of Computer: Operations of a computer, Different units of a computer system like central
processing unit, memory unit, arithmetic and logical unit, an input unit, output unit, etc.,
Hardware including different types of input, output and peripheral devices, Software, system and
application software, number systems, Operating systems, packages and utilities, Low and High-
level languages, Compiler, Assembler, Memory – RAM, ROM, unit of computer memory (bits,
bytes, etc.), Network – LAN, WAN, internet, intranet, basics of computer security, virus,
antivirus, firewall, spyware, malware, etc.
Basics of Programming: Algorithm, Flowchart, Data, Information, Database, an overview of
different programming languages, frontend and backend of a project, variables, control
structures, arrays, and their usages, functions, modules, loops, conditional statements,
exceptions, debugging and related concepts.
STATISTICS- II (OBJECTIVE TYPE)
(i) Linear Models:
Theory of linear estimation, Gauss-Markov linear models, estimable functions, error and
estimation space, normal equations and least square estimators, estimation of error variance,
estimation with correlated observations, properties of least square estimators, the generalized
inverse of a matrix, and solution of normal equations, variances, and covariances of least square
estimators.
One-way and two-way classifications, fixed, random, and mixed-effects models. Analysis of
variance (two-way classification only), multiple comparison tests due to Tukey, Scheffe, and
Student-Newmann-Keul-Duncan.
(ii) Statistical Inference and Hypothesis Testing:
Characteristics of a good estimator. Estimation methods of maximum likelihood, minimum chi-
square, moments, and least squares. Optimal properties of maximum likelihood estimators.
Minimum variance unbiased estimators. Minimum variance bound estimators. Cramer-Rao
inequality. Bhattacharya bounds. Sufficient estimator. Factorization theorem. Complete statistics.
Rao-Blackwell theorem. Confidence interval estimation. Optimum confidence bounds.
Resampling, Bootstrap, and Jackknife.
Hypothesis testing: Simple and composite hypotheses. Two kinds of error. Critical region.
Different types of critical regions and similar regions. Power function. Most powerful and
uniformly most powerful tests. Neyman-Pearson fundamental lemma. Unbiased test.
Randomized test. Likelihood ratio test. Wald's SPRT, OC, and ASN functions. Elements of
decision theory.
(iii) Official Statistics:
National and International official statistical system
Official Statistics: (a) Need, Uses, Users, Reliability, Relevance, Limitations, Transparency, its
visibility (b) Compilation, Collection, Processing, Analysis and Dissemination, Agencies
Involved, Methods
National Statistical Organization: Vision and Mission, NSSO and CSO; roles and
responsibilities; Important activities, Publications, etc.
National Statistical Commission: Need, Constitution, its role, functions, etc.; Legal Acts/
Provisions/ Support for Official Statistics; Important Acts
Index Numbers: Different Types, Need, Data Collection Mechanism, Periodicity, Agencies
Involved, Uses
Sector Wise Statistics: Agriculture, Health, Education, Women, and Child, etc. Important
Surveys & Census, Indicators, Agencies, and Usages, etc.
National Accounts: Definition, Basic Concepts; issues; the Strategy, Collection of Data and
Release.
Population Census: Need, Data Collected, Periodicity, Methods of data collection, dissemination,
Agencies involved.
Misc.: Socio-Economic Indicators, Gender Awareness/Statistics, Important Surveys, and
Censuses.
STATISTICS- III (DESCRIPTIVE TYPE)
(i) Sampling Techniques:
Concept of population and sample, need for sampling, complete enumeration versus sampling,
basic concepts in sampling, sampling and Non-sampling error, Methodologies in sample surveys
(questionnaires, sampling design, and methods followed in field investigation) by NSSO.
Subjective or purposive sampling, probability sampling or random sampling, simple random
sampling with and without replacement, estimation of population mean, population proportions,
and their standard errors. Stratified random sampling, proportional and optimum allocation,
comparison with simple random sampling for fixed sample size. Covariance and Variance
Function.
ratio, product and regression methods of estimation, estimation of the population mean,
evaluation of Bias and Variance to the first order of approximation, comparison with simple
random sampling. Systematic sampling (when population size (N) is an integer multiple of
sampling size (n)). Estimation of population mean and standard error of this estimate,
comparison with simple random sampling. Sampling with probability proportional to size (with
and without replacement method), Des Raj and Das estimators for n=2, Horvitz- Thomson’s
estimator Equal size cluster sampling: estimators of population mean and total and their standard
errors, comparison of cluster sampling with SRS in terms of an intra-class correlation coefficient.
Concept of multistage sampling and its application, two-stage sampling with an equal number of
second stage units, estimation of population mean and total. Double sampling in ratio and
regression methods of estimation. Concept of interpenetrating sub-sampling.
(ii) Econometrics:
Nature of econometrics, the general linear model (GLM) and its extensions, ordinary least
squares (OLS) estimation and prediction, generalized least squares (GLS) estimation and
prediction, heteroscedastic disturbances, pure and mixed estimation.
Autocorrelation, its consequences, and tests. Theil BLUS procedure, estimation, and prediction,
multi-collinearity problem, its implications and tools for handling the problem, ridge regression.
Linear regression and stochastic regression, instrumental variable estimation, errors in variables,
autoregressive linear regression, lagged variables, distributed lag models, estimation of lags by
OLS method, Koyck’s geometric lag model.
Simultaneous linear equations model and its generalization, identification problem, restrictions
on structural parameters, rank and order conditions.
Estimation in simultaneous equations model, recursive systems, 2 SLS estimators, limited
information estimators, k-class estimators, 3 SLS estimator, full information maximum
likelihood method, prediction, and simultaneous confidence intervals.
(iii) Applied Statistics:
Index Numbers: Price relatives and quantity or volume relatives, Link and chain relatives
composition of index numbers; Laspeyre's, Paasches’, Marshal Edgeworth and Fisher index
numbers; chain base index number, tests for index number, Construction of index numbers of
wholesale and consumer prices, Income distribution-Pareto, and Engel curves, Concentration
curve, Methods of estimating national income, Inter-sectoral flows, Interindustry table, Role of
CSO. Demand Analysis
Time Series Analysis: Economic time series, different components, illustration, additive and
multiplicative models, determination of trend, seasonal and cyclical fluctuations.
Time-series as discrete parameter stochastic process, autocovariance and autocorrelation
functions, and their properties.
Exploratory time Series analysis, tests for trend and seasonality, exponential and moving average
smoothing. Holt and Winters smoothing, forecasting based on smoothing.
A detailed study of the stationary processes: (1) moving average (MA), (2) autoregressive (AR),
(3) ARMA, and (4) AR integrated MA (ARIMA) models. Box-Jenkins models, choice of AR,
and MA periods.
Discussion (without proof) of estimation of mean, autocovariance, and autocorrelation functions
under large sample theory, estimation of ARIMA model parameters.
STATISTICS-IV (DESCRIPTIVE TYPE)
(A) Operations Research and Reliability:
Definition and Scope of Operations Research: phases in Operation Research, models and their
solutions, decision-making under uncertainty and risk, use of different criteria, sensitivity
analysis.
Transportation and assignment problems. Bellman’s principle of optimality, general formulation,
computational methods, and application of dynamic programming to LPP.
Decision-making in the face of competition, two-person games, pure and mixed strategies, the
existence of solution and uniqueness of value in zero-sum games, finding solutions in 2x2, 2xm,
and mxn games.
Analytical structure of inventory problems, EOQ formula of Harris, its sensitivity analysis, and
extensions allowing quantity discounts and shortages. Multi-item inventory subject to
constraints. Models with random demand, the static risk model. P and Q- systems with constant
and random lead times.
Queuing models – specification and effectiveness measures. Steady-state solutions of M/M/1 and
M/M/c models with associated distributions of queue-length and waiting time. M/G/1 queue and
Pollazcek-Khinchine result.
Sequencing and scheduling problems. 2-machine n-job and 3-machine n-job problems with
identical machine sequence for all jobs
Branch and Bound method for solving traveling salesman problem.
Replacement problems – Block and age replacement policies.
PERT and CPM – basic concepts. Probability of project completion.
Reliability concepts and measures, components and systems, coherent systems, reliability of
coherent systems. Life-distributions, reliability function, hazard rate, common univariate life
distributions – exponential, Weibull, gamma, etc. Bivariate exponential distributions.
Estimation of parameters and tests in these models.
Notions of aging – IFR, IFRA, NBU, DMRL, and NBUE classes and their duals. Loss of
memory property of the exponential distribution.
Reliability estimation based on failure times in variously censored life-tests and in tests with the
replacement of failed items. Stress-strength reliability and its estimation.
(B) Demography and Vital Statistics:
Sources of demographic data, census, registration, ad-hoc surveys, Hospital records,
Demographic profiles of the Indian Census.
Complete life table and its main features, Uses of life table. Markham's and Gompertz's curves.
National life tables. UN model life tables. Abridged life tables. Stable and stationary populations.
Measurement of Fertility: Crude birth rate, General fertility rate, Age-specific birth rate, Total
fertility rate, Gross reproduction rate, Net reproduction rate.
Measurement of Mortality: Crude death rate, Standardized death rates, Age-specific death rates,
Infant Mortality rate, the Death rate by cause.
Internal migration and its measurement, migration models, the concept of international
migration.
Net migration. International and postcensal estimates. Projection method including logistic curve
fitting. Decennial population census in India.
(C) Survival Analysis and Clinical Trial:
Concept of time, order and random censoring, likelihood in the distributions – exponential,
gamma, Weibull, lognormal, Pareto, Linear failure rate, inference for these distributions.
Life tables, failure rate, mean residual life, and their elementary classes and their properties.
Estimation of survival function – actuarial estimator, Kaplan – Meier estimator, estimation under
the assumption of IFR/DFR, tests of exponentiality against non-parametric classes, total time on
the test.
Two sample problems – Gehan test, log-rank test.
Semi-parametric regression for failure rate – Cox’s proportional hazards model with one and
several covariates, rank test for the regression coefficient.
Competing risk model, parametric and non-parametric inference for this model.
Introduction to clinical trials: the need and ethics of clinical trials, bias and random error in
clinical studies, the conduct of clinical trials, an overview of Phase I – IV trials, multicenter
trials.
Data management: data definitions, case report forms, database design, data collection systems
for good clinical practice.
Design of clinical trials: parallel vs. cross-over designs, cross-sectional vs. longitudinal designs,
review of factorial designs, objectives, and endpoints of clinical trials, design of Phase I trials,
design of single-stage and multi-stage Phase II trials, design and monitoring of phase III trials
with sequential stopping,
Reporting and analysis: analysis of categorical outcomes from Phase I – III trials, analysis of
survival data from clinical trials.
(D) Quality Control:
Statistical process and product control: Quality of a product, need for quality control, the basic
concept of process control, process capability, and product control, general theory of control
charts, causes of variation in quality, control limits, sub grouping summary of out of control
criteria, charts for attributes p chart, np chart, c-chart, V chart, charts for variables: R, (X, R), (X,
σ) charts.
Basic concepts of process monitoring and control; process capability and process optimization.
General theory and review of control charts for attribute and variable data; O.C. and A.R.L. of
control charts; control by gauging; moving average and exponentially weighted moving average
charts; Cu-Sum charts using V-masks and decision intervals; Economic design of X-bar chart.
Acceptance sampling plans for attributes inspection; single and double sampling plans and their
properties; plans for inspection by variables for the one-sided and two-sided specification.
(E) Multivariate Analysis:
Multivariate normal distribution and its properties. Random sampling from a multivariate normal
distribution. Maximum likelihood estimators of parameters, distribution of the sample mean
vector.
Wishart matrix – its distribution and properties, distribution of sample generalized variance, null
and non-null distribution of multiple correlation coefficients.
Hotelling’s T2 and its sampling distribution, application in test on mean vector for one and more
multivariate normal population and also on equality of components of a mean vector in the
multivariate normal population.
Classification problem: Standards of good classification, the procedure of classification based on
multivariate normal distributions.
Principal components, dimension reduction, canonical variates, and canonical correlation —
definition, use, estimation, and computation.
(F) Design and Analysis of Experiments:
Analysis of variance for one-way and two-way classifications Need for the design of
experiments, the basic principle of experimental design (randomization, replication, and local
control), complete analysis and layout of the completely randomized design, randomized block
design, and Latin square design, Missing plot technique. Split Plot Design and Strip Plot Design.
Factorial experiments and confounding in 2n and 3n experiments. Analysis of covariance.
Analysis of non-orthogonal data. Analysis of missing data.
(G) Computing with C and R:
Basics of C: Components of C language, the structure of a C program, Data type, basic data
types, Enumerated data types, Derived data types, variable declaration, Local, Global, Parametric
variables, Assignment of Variables, Numeric, Character, Real and String constants, Arithmetic,
Relation and Logical operators, Assignment operators, Increment and decrement operators,
conditional operators, Bitwise operators, Type modifiers and expressions, writing and
interpreting expressions, using expressions in statements. Basic input/output.
Control statements: conditional statements, if-else, nesting of if-else, else if ladder, switch
statements, loops in c, for, while do-while loops, break, continue, exit ( ), goto, and label
declarations, One dimensional two dimensional and multidimensional arrays. Storage classes:
Automatic variables, External variables, Static variables, Scope, and a lifetime of declarations.
Functions: classification of functions, functions definition and declaration, assessing a function,
return statement, parameter passing in functions. Pointers (concept only).
Structure: Definition and declaration; structure (initialization) comparison of structure variable;
Array of structures: array within structures, structures within structures, passing structures to
functions; Unions accessing a union member, the union of structure, initialization of a union
variable, uses of the union. Introduction to the linked list, linearly linked list, insertion of a node
in the list, removal of a node from the list.
Files in C: Defining and opening a file, input-output operation on a file, creating a file, reading a
file. Statistics Methods and techniques in R.
