In the business sector, it is becoming more important to be able to apply and understand Business Statistics. To interpret data correctly and in the right way, you need to have a good grasp of Business Statistics. A lack of knowledge can lead to incorrect decisions that could have serious consequences for a company. This course introduces you to Business Statistics. The first lesson will introduce you to descriptive statistics. This is a way of summarizing data with a few numbers. We will discuss different types of descriptive measures and the Excel functions that can be used to calculate them. Along with the notion of uncertainty and probability, we also discuss the concept of sample and population data. We use relevant business examples to illustrate this. These concepts lead to the creation of various statistical distributions and their Excel functions, which can then be used to model or approximate business operations. These descriptive measures of data, along with various statistical distributions, are applied using simple-to-follow Excel-based examples that are shown throughout the course.
Students must have Excel access in order to complete course assignments. ________________________________________ WEEK 1 Module 1: Basic Data Descriptors In this module you will get to understand, calculate and interpret various descriptive or summary measures of data. These descriptive measures summarise and present data with a few numbers. These functions can be done using Excel. Topics covered include: * Categories of descriptive data * Measures of central tendency, the mean, median, mode, and their interpretations and calculations * Measures of spread-in-data, the range, interquartile-range, standard deviation and variance * Box plots * Interpreting the standard deviation measure using the rule-of-thumb and Chebyshev's theorem ________________________________________ WEEK 2 Module 2: Descriptive Measures of Association, Probability, and Statistical Distributions This module presents the covariance and correlation measures and their respective Excel functions. Understanding the concept of correlation and causation is possible. Next, the module introduces probability and random variables. Finally, it begins to introduce statistical distributions. Topics covered include: * Measures of association, the covariance and correlation measures; causation versus correlation * Probability and random variables; discrete versus continuous data * Introduction to statistical distributions ________________________________________ WEEK 3 Module 3: The Normal Distribution This module introduces the Normal distribution and the Excel function to calculate probabilities and various outcomes from the distribution. Topics covered include: * Probability density function and area under the curve as a measure of probability * The Normal distribution (bell curve), NORM.DIST, NORM.INV functions in Excel ________________________________________ WEEK 4 Module 4: Working with Distributions, Normal, Binomial, Poisson In this module, you'll see various applications of the Normal distribution. The Binomial, and Poisson distributions will be introduced. The Central Limit Theorem will be introduced and discussed in the context of understanding population data versus sample data, and the relationship between them. The topics covered include: * The Normal distribution and its various applications * The Binomial, Poisson distributions; sample versus population data; and the Central Limit Theorem
