Syllabus - Summer II 2008
BADM 205 – Business Statistics (Online)

Instructors:    Stephen J. Silver, Ph.D., 358 Bond Hall, Telephone (843) 953-5163 (office) or (843) 766-9943 (home)        Web Page:               http://faculty.citadel.edu/silver/             and

Carl. E. Betterton, Ph.D., P.E., 273A Bond Hall, Telephone (843) 953-0834 (office) or (843) 571-1580 (home)    Web Page:        http://faculty.citadel.edu/betterton/


ONLINE OFFICE HOURS: We will be available on a regular basis for text, email, or phone communication at the times listed below. You may join one of these sessions, or make an appointment for a time at your convenience.

Tuesday and Thursday:
2:00 to 3:00 pm, and  Mon. and Wed.: 7:00 to 8:00 pm

The quickest way to get in touch with us is by email at: 

Dr. Silver -       Steve.Silver@Citadel.edu                               

Dr. Betterton - Carl.Betterton@Citadel.edu


REQUIRED TEXT:
A First Course In Business Statistics, 8th Edition, McClave, Benson, and Sincich. Published by Prentice-Hall, ISBN 0-13-018679-1.  We will also use the Statistics Template that I have created expressly for this course.  Click Here for the Template.

 COURSE DESCRIPTION: The student examines the application of statistical analysis to business situations. Descriptive and inferential statistics, probability and random variables, and sampling and statistical forecasting are included.


INCOMING COMPETENCY OF STUDENT EXPECTED BY INSTRUCTORS:
Ability to work with simple algebraic formulas and concepts. All students MUST have completed The Citadel's MATH 104 or 105 or equivalent.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1. Demonstrate the application of statistical theory to practical business situations and data.

2. Develop skills in statistical analysis and interpretation of business data.

3. Develop insight into the selection and application of statistical tests and methods appropriate to a broad scope of business issues.

4. Integrate personal computers and statistical programs into the solution of problems and statistical tests.


GRADING

Item

% of Final Grade

Tests I - IV (20 each)

80

Project 1

5

Project 2

5

Project 3

5

Participation

5

Total

100


In addition to the four tests, there will be three short projects. We will provide examples and advice on the projects.  Homework problems will not be graded as they are intended to hone your skills so that you will do well on the tests. We will also make available several (ungraded) practice quizzes. The homework and projects will be completed by the students using MS Excel.

Grading Scale

A

90 -100

B

80 - 89.99

C

70 - 79.99

D

60 - 69.99

F

Below 60

 

 


Students who are discovered cheating or committing plagiarism will be awarded a failing grade for the course, and may be subject to dismissal or further discipline.


COURSE PARTICIPATION

Participation counts as a factor in determining your overall grade in the course. We expect each student to contribute significantly to online analysis and discussion of chapter readings or other assignments. This will be done primarily via Blackboard discussion boards. Your grade on course participation is something to be earned by contributing your assessments and judgments to the discussion. Merely logging on to Blackboard and reading the discussion of others is not sufficient; active engagement is required. One important way in which you can both earn your participation score as well as help others, is to help explain a concept or homework problem about which another student has a question. Another way is to cite examples of statistics seen in the popular media or current business publications.


COMPLETION OF ASSIGNMENTS

Students have considerable latitude as to when specific individual topics are completed; this is one of the benefits of an online course. However, to maintain the overall schedule, Tests and Projects must be completed no later than the milestone due dates indicated. Generally, no late assignments will be accepted unless prior arrangement has been agreed upon.


CLASS SCHEDULE AND PREPARATION

The schedule gives an outline of material to be covered for each topic. Each chapter and related homework problems should be completed in advance for discussion during online meetings. Various media files such as streaming audio or video, PowerPoint slides, Excel examples, and other materials will be on the class web site for your ready access. You will also be using the Statistics Template, developed by Professor Silver, later in the course to help conduct hypotheses tests.  Each student will need to have a Citadel email account and check his or her electronic mail regularly. We expect to send regular messages to the class; i.e., provide review tips, any changes in the schedule, and other special notes. Supplementary material may be made available.  A current, updated version of the online course syllabus is always available at the following website http://faculty.citadel.edu/silver/ba205_online_syllabus.htm


Topic Number

Description

Homework

1

Introduction: What is and what are statistics?  Why do we need statistics?  Statistical measures of locations and dispersion.  Examples of statistical problems.  [MBS chaps. 1 and 2]

Ch 2: 4, 8, 16, 20

2

The algebra of statistics.  Alternative formula for the variance.  Relative location; Empirical Rule and Chebyshev’s Law. [MBS chap. 2]

Ch 2: 27, 29, 30, 52, 57, 64, 71; Project I

3

Test I

 

4

Probability I.  Meaning of probability, odds, calculating probabilities of outcomes and events.  Venn Diagrams, intersection, union, and complementary events. Addition rule, conditional probability and the chain rule.  [MBS chap. 3]

Ch. 3: 3, 5, 13, 19, 31, 48, 64, 86

5

Probability II. Independence and mutually exclusive events. DeMorgan’s rules.  Bayes’ Rule and examples. [MBS chap. 3]

6

Discrete probability distributions (PDs), calculation of mean and standard deviation.  Alternative formula of the variance of a PD [MBS chap. 4.1, 4.2]

Ch. 4: 12, 13, 14

7

Test II

 

8

The Bernoulli Distribution and the binomial distribution for small sample sizes.  Binomial distribution for larger n, using the binomial tables.  Normal approximation of the binomial distribution and the Poisson distribution approximation. [MBS chap. 4.3, 4.4, 4.9]

Ch. 4: 29, 41, 48,  89

9

The continuous probability density function (pdf). The continuous uniform distribution and the normal distribution. [MBS chap. 4.5, 4.7] The Central Limit Theorem and examples. Constructing confidence intervals for the population mean and proportion for large and small samples.  [MBS chap. 5.1, 5.3]

Ch. 4: 55, 58, 62, 69, 114; Ch 5: 4, 10, 19, 33; Project II

10

  The hypothesis test for population mean and proportion, one population.  [MBS chap. 6.1-6.5]  Click Here for the Statistics Template

Ch 6: 24, 27, 50, 62, 82, 89

11

Test III

 

12 

Test of differences of means and proportions, two populations.  Test of difference of population means, multiple populations.  The Analysis of Variance Test (ANOVA)  [MBS chap. 7.1, 2, 4, 7]

Ch. 7: 9, 14, 20, 101, 110; Ch. 8: 14, 33,

13

Test of independence; the Chi-square test.  Simple ordinary least squares regression, the correlation coefficient and tests.  [[MBS chap. 8.1, 4; chap. 9.1-9.9]

Ch 8: 8, 11, 40, 45, 55, 64, ; Ch 9: 10, 19, 34, 61

14

The multiple regression model.  Interpreting the coefficients and conducting hypothesis test of the overall model usefulness and of the individual coefficients. [MBS chap. 10]

Ch.10: 43 Project III.

 [Ch. 10 Condo Sale Case, page 634]  Condo Case

15

Test IV

 

 

 

Statistical Tables:        

Binomial Tables  

Normal Table

Poisson Table

T-Table          

χ2 Table

F-Tables