STATISTICS FOR MANAGERS (MBA FULL TIME)

Description: Basic statistics and statistical thinking for managers.

Program.

Readings:

Lecture 2: Fowler (2002), Survey Research Methods, Ed. Sage. Chapters 1-5.

Lecture 3 and 6: Lohr (1998), Sampling: desing and analysis, New York, Brooks-Cole. Chapters 1 and 2. Tryfos (1996), Sampling methods for applied research: text and cases, John Wiley, Chapters 1 to 3.

Lectures:

• Lecture 1. Additional material.
• Lecture 2. Additional material.
• Lecture 3. Additional material.
• Lecutre 4. Example of sample distributions (worksheet).
• Lecture 5.
• Lecture 6. Sets of transparencies: covariance, covar_formulas, covar_rules, variance, correlation, exercise_correlation (need password)
• Lecture 7. Transparencies: regression basics, deriving the coefficients, interpreting the coefficients, goodness of fit.

Problem sets:

• Problem set 1 (Fall 2005). Deadline: Monday, October 10.
• Problem set 2 (Fall 2005). Data: stocks.xls. Deadline: Wednesday, October 19. We will solve the problem set in class to insist in some of the technical concepts discuss during the fourth lecture.
• Project. Find a statistical answer to the following question: What is the % of people in Barcelona who buy detergent WIPP (any formula or package presentation)? Be creative in the design. Grade will depend on the estimated cost of the statistical operation, the confidence level, the closeness to the previously estimated proportions and the estimated standard deviation. This is a group exercise. Oral presentation of the results: Wednesday 9th of November.