BA A601:  Introduction to Elementary Statistics for Business and Economics

Fall 2006

MW 530-645 RH303

 

Instructor:       Richard Cohen

Email:             afrc2@cbpp.uaa.alaska.edu

Website:         www.cbpp.uaa.alaska.edu/afrc2

Office:            RH 308C

Office tel.:      786-1949 (voice): 786-4115 (fax)

Office hours:  TR 530-830 pm, after class, and by easily-made appointment

 

Use of BlackBoard’s Discussion board:

To economize on class time, especially class time used to discuss posted hw answers, and at the same time permit anonymous questions (or non-anonymous, as you prefer),

--discuss any questions you like with each other
--ask me any question
--get clarification for hw questions before hw is due
--discuss answers to hw questions after answer key is posted
--etc.

I will try to read and, if appropriate, respond to new postings every day or so.

Of course, you may still send email, call, or visit me in my office.

Prerequisites

 

College algebra (to be satisfied on your own, if you need a review)

 

Brief Course Description and Goals

 

Introduces probability and statistics with emphasis on the analysis of business and economic data.  This course is intended to give students the background they need to understand the statistical content of upper-division courses in Business and Economics.  For topics covered, see Tentative Outline of Topics, below. 

 

Statistics has a reputation for being scary, especially for people with math phobias.  But statistics isn’t higher math.  (All the math you need to be comfortable with is a basic understanding of elementary algebra, e.g., how to solve a single equation for a given variable.)  It’s only a branch of elementary math that deals with uncertain outcomes.    However, it is a very important subject to (begin to) understand at an intuitive, as well as technical, level.  At an intuitive level, it helps us to be more informed and, therefore, critical consumers of the variety of quantitative information that we are exposed to in the media.  And, of course, at a technical level, it helps us to make better decisions both in the workplace and at home.

 

Required materials

 

Introductory Statistics for Business and Economics, 4th ed., by Thomas H. Wonnacott and Ronald J. Wonnacott, John Wiley & Sons, 1990

 

Any scientific (or higher-level, e.g., business, financial or mathematical) calculator

Besides the basic mathematical functions, check to see that there are buttons (or worksheets) for Data and Stat.  (If you need help figuring out how to use your calculator for the specific exercises we do in class, please see me outside of class and bring your calculator manual.)

 

Please bring your textbook and calculator to class every day, as we will frequently do sample exercises in class.

 

Student Workbook to Accompany Introductory Statistics for Business and Economics, 4th ed., 1990.

 

Also on reserve at the Learning Resource Center

(But don’t count on it being there whenever you need it.  It could be lost or missing.)

 

The workbook consists of two parts.  Part B consists of review problems with answers (in Part C).  Working at least some of these problems will give you additional practice (beyond the assigned homework and sample test questions) when you prepare for tests.  Part A is a partial solutions manual: it gives detailed answers to odd-numbered problems in the text, whereas the end of the text contains only the brief answers to the same odd-numbered problems.  More often than not, the brief answers are only useful to confirm an already correct answer! If you don’t know how to approach the problem, and maybe even if you do, you will find this part of the workbook invaluable, for at least the following reasons: 

1.         Although I rarely assign odd-numbered problems (for obvious reasons), occasionally I do, if the problem is important enough.  Here, you can always go to the Student Workbook (to confirm the answers you have arrived at on your own, of course!).

2.         Sometimes, the even-numbered problems I assign are continuations of the previous odd-numbered problem.  This means you need to arrive at an answer to the odd-numbered problem before beginning the assigned even-numbered problem. 

3.         Working at least some of the odd-numbered problems is an excellent way to get more practice in preparation for exams.

 

Data Analysis Using Microsoft Excel, Updated for Office XP (3rd ed.), by Michael R. Middleton, Duxbury/Thomas Learning, 2004.  (ISBN 0-534-40293-3)

For the extra credit homework assignments, see below.

 

Other useful books:

 

The Cartoon Guide to Statistics, by Larry Gonick & Woollcott Smith, HarperPerennial, 1993.

Simple, humorous explanations of conventional textbook statistics.  And no problems to solve!

 

Statistics for the Utterly Confused, by Lloyd Jaisingh, McGraw-Hill, 2000. 

This is a bit closer to a conventional textbook, complete with end of chapter questions and short answers.

 

Both books are in paperback.  Although I have not ordered these books for the course, they are widely available.  You may want to order them over the net; you can frequently get used copies at very cheap prices.

 

For challenging subjects like statistics, it’s always good to get another explanation (or two) for a concept.  For most introductory students, either or both of these books will pay for themselves many times over in time saved by not getting stuck in textbook explanations you don’t understand, time saved in doing homework problems, and a higher grade for the course. 

 

Course Requirements

 

Note: Please refer to the website frequently.  The website contains selected notes that I do not hand out in class, as well as a record of (undated) homework assignments--past, present, and, in some cases, future.  (Due dates for homework assignments depend on how far we get in class lecture, so I give the due dates for the next assignment in class, then post them on the website.)

 

3 in-class exams (each worth 25% of your course grade), to be given in approximately the 6th and 11th weeks of the semester (I will give you the exact date at least 1 week in advance) and during the final exam slot (Wednesday, December 13, 4:00-6:45).

 

The exams are not explicitly cumulative, covering only material since the previous exam.  (The last day to withdraw is November 20.)

 

·       All exams are open book, open notes, open homework and open previous exams.  The exams will consist of a mixture of multiple choice and numerical problems.  The proportions allocated to each type of question will depend on the nature of the material we cover.

 

·       Students are expected to take the exam on the scheduled date.  Occasionally, the exam time may conflict with a previously scheduled appointment or trip.  In this case, you must notify me at least one week before the date of the scheduled exam, so that we may arrange a make-up before or after the rest of the class takes the test.  Otherwise, the only valid excuse for not taking the exam on the scheduled date is a medical reason, for which a doctor’s note is required.  Missing an exam without prior permission or a doctor’s note will result in a grade of zero on that exam.  No make-up will be given.

 

Homework problems (25% of your course grade)

 

In order to keep you up to date and give you timely feedback, there will be short homework assignments nearly every class.  These will mostly be numerical problems, requiring a calculator or a spreadsheet.  I will post these problems (in multiple choice format) on Blackboard 6.    For instructions on taking quizzes on Bb, forwarding your email from your uaa email address to one you prefer, and other introductory topics, see the Start Here! link on the course homepage.

 

·       Note 1:  this is a different website than the class website (www.cbpp.uaa.alaska.edu/afrc2) on which I post other class materials.

·       Note 2:  the three exams described above are given in class, not through Blackboard.

 

You may submit your answers on-line up to 5 minutes before class on the due date.  You may drop your lowest 3 homework scores.  Also, because I will distribute answers at the beginning of the class in which the assignment is due, no late assignments will be accepted without a written medical excuse.

 

·       Occasionally, your computer may lose its connection with Blackboard after you have opened the quiz but before you have had a chance to submit the answers.  Bb may lock you out, so that you may not be able to open the quiz a second time.  If this happens to you, only I can unlock your account and let you retake the quiz.  But to allow me time to do this, you must notify me by telephone (preferably) or email by midnight of the night before the assignment is due. 

If you don’t do this, you cannot get credit for the online assignment, although you can still hand in the hard copy version of the quiz in class with a 20% penalty.  (See below for instructions on “Format for numerical problems on homework (in the rare case you have to hand in a hard copy) and open-ended problems on exams”.)

·       After taking a test, you will immediately receive a score, but you must wait until the next class before you see the answer key.  I know that this delay can be frustrating at times, especially if you think you should have gotten a higher score.  Keep in mind, though, that, compared to a conventional written assignment that is submitted in class, there is no delay in giving you feedback.  The only difference is that you get part of the feedback (the quiz score) before you get the rest (the answers). 

 

On occasion, you may indeed deserve a higher score, because there is a typo in the question, or I mistakenly marked the wrong answer as “correct.”  However, a review of your test may show that you didn’t read the question correctly or you didn’t choose the answer you thought you did.  To see which of these possibilities occurred, you may view and print out a copy of your completed quiz by following these instructions: 

 

o      Click on the "Tools" button, select the "Check Grade" option, and then click on the numerical score (that is, on the actual number) received for the particular quiz you would like to view. Clicking on that score will display the completed quiz.

 

If you still think you should get a higher score, you may take either or both of the following actions:  1) email or call me ASAP; 2) bring the hard copy of your quiz to class to compare with the answer key I distribute.  Finally, if you still believe that your quiz was graded in error, please give it to me at the end of class.  I will check on my computer, try to figure out what happened, and give you an answer the following class.

 

·       In general, you may collaborate on homework assignments.  In fact, I encourage you to engage in such brainstorming.  However, this collaboration doesn’t mean delegating different problems to different people and just putting together the results to hand in!  Since you will not be collaborating on a test, each group member should work each problem for himself or herself before comparing answers in a group. 

 

·       Format for numerical problems on homework (in the rare case you have to hand in a hard copy) and open-ended problems on exams

 

 

 

 

Failure to follow any of these format guidelines may cost you points on your exam or homework grade.