About this course: This course provides an analytical framework to help you evaluate key problems in a structured fashion and will equip you with tools to better manage the uncertainties that pervade and complicate business processes. Specifically, you will be introduced to statistics and how to summarize data and learn concepts of frequency, normal distribution, statistical studies, sampling, and confidence intervals. While you will be introduced to some of the science of what is being taught, the focus will be on applying the methodologies. This will be accomplished through the use of Excel and data sets from many different disciplines, allowing you to see the use of statistics in very diverse settings. The course will focus not only on explaining these concepts, but also understanding the meaning of the results obtained. Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to: • Summarize large data sets in graphical, tabular, and numerical forms. • Understand the significance of proper sampling and why you can rely on sample information. • Understand why normal distribution can be used in so many settings. • Use sample information to infer about the population with a certain level of confidence about the accuracy of the estimations. • Use Excel for statistical analysis. This course is part of the iMBA offered by the University of Illinois, a flexible, fully-accredited online MBA at an incredibly competitive price. For more information, please see the Resource page in this course and onlinemba.illinois.edu.
Created by: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Taught by: Fataneh Taghaboni-Dutta, Clinical Professor of Business Administration
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign College of Business Department of Business Administration
| Basic Info | Course 5 of 7 in the Managerial Economics and Business Analysis Specialization |
| Level | Beginner |
| Commitment | 4 weeks of study, 4-6 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Course Orientation
You will become familiar with the course, your classmates, and our learning environment. The orientation will also help you obtain the technical skills required for the course.
2 videos, 6 readings, 1 practice quiz
- Video: Welcome to Exploring and Producing Data for Business Decision Making!
- Reading: Syllabus
- Reading: About the Discussion Forums
- Reading: Glossary
- Practice Quiz: Orientation Quiz
- Reading: Using Excel for this Course
- Video: Excel Data Analysis Toolpak
- Reading: Updating Your Profile
- Discussion Prompt: Getting to Know Your Classmates
- Reading: Social Media
Module 1: Introduction and Summarizing Data
Data is all around you, but what is the data telling you? The first step in making better decisions and taking action is to get a good understanding of information you have gathered. In this module we will learn about some of the tools in statistics that help us achieve this.
11 videos, 2 readings, 5 practice quizzes
- Reading: Module 1 Overview
- Reading: Module 1 Readings
- Video: 1-1.1. Basic Terminology
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 1-1 Practice Quiz
- Video: 1-2.1. Summarizing Data: Frequency Tables
- Video: 1-2.2. Frequency Tables in Excel: Quantitative Data
- Video: 1-2.3. Frequency Tables in Excel: Qualitative Data
- Video: 1-2.4. Presenting Frequency Tables as a Bar Graph in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 1-2 Practice Quiz
- Video: 1-3.1. Summarizing Data: Histograms
- Video: 1-3.2. Histograms in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 1-3 Practice Quiz
- Video: 1-4.1. Summarizing Data: Pie Charts
- Video: 1-4.2. Pie Charts in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 1-4 Practice Quiz
- Video: 1-5.1. Summarizing Data: Scatter Plots
- Video: 1-5.2. Scatter Plots in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 1-5 Practice Quiz
Graded: Module 1 Quiz
WEEK 2
Module 2: Descriptive Statistics and Probability Distributions
We all have heard the phrase that a "picture is worth a thousand words," but you certainly don’t want one of those to be "what exactly am I looking at?" So, now that you know to use "pictures" to summarize your data, let’s make those pictures easier to understand.
16 videos, 2 readings, 6 practice quizzes
- Reading: Module 2 Overview
- Reading: Module 2 Readings
- Video: 2-1.1. Measures of Central Tendencies
- Video: 2-1.2. Mean and Median in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 2-1 Practice Quiz
- Video: 2-2.1. Measures of Dispersion
- Video: 2-2.2. Standard Deviation in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 2-2 Practice Quiz
- Video: 2-3.1. Percentiles and Z-Score
- Video: 2-3.2. Z-Score in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 2-3 Practice Quiz
- Video: 2-4.1. Discrete and Continuous Random Variables
- Video: 2-4.2. Expected Value in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 2-4 Practice Quiz
- Video: 2-5.1. Normal Distribution
- Video: 2-5.2. Normal Distribution in Excel
- Video: 2-5.3. Standard Normal Distribution in Excel
- Video: 2-5.4. "Less Than" in Excel
- Video: 2-5.5. "Greater Than" in Excel
- Video: 2-5.6. "Between Values" in Excel
- Video: 2-5.7. Finding Z for a Given Probability (INV) in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 2-5 Practice Quiz
- Video: 2-6.1. Standard Normal Distribution Table
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 2-6 Practice Quiz
Graded: Module 2 Quiz
WEEK 3
Module 3: Sampling and Central Limit Theorem
You are charged with analyzing a market segment for your company. You and your team have figured out what variables you need to understand; you also have an idea what factors might be influencing these variables of interest. Now you are ready to do your analysis. But, wait! Where is the data? How do you begin to get the data? In this module we will review the means by which you can begin to produce data – the concepts of sampling and Central Limit Theorem – and will help you understand how to produce "good" sample data and why sample data will work.
7 videos, 2 readings, 4 practice quizzes
- Reading: Module 3 Overview
- Reading: Module 3 Readings
- Video: 3-1.1. Producing Data
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 3-1 Practice Quiz
- Video: 3-2.1. Sampling
- Video: 3-2.2 Sampling Function in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 3-2 Practice Quiz
- Video: 3-3.1. Central Limit Theorem and Sampling Means
- Video: 3-3.2. Animating the Central Limit Theorem
- Video: 3-3.3. Sampling Distribution and Empirical Rule in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 3-3 Practice Quiz
- Video: 3-4.1. Central Limit Theorem – Sampling Proportion
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 3-4 Practice Quiz
Graded: Exploring and Producing Data Peer Review Assignment
Graded: Module 3 Quiz
WEEK 4
Module 4: Inference
You have sample data and have done the analysis – you think you can say something about the population based on your sample study. But, do you have a sense of what are the chances of you being right or wrong? How can you be surer? What else should you have considered? In this module, you will learn how to find the answers to these questions.
12 videos, 2 readings, 4 practice quizzes
- Reading: Module 4 Overview
- Reading: Module 4 Readings
- Video: 4-1.1. Confidence Interval Basics
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 4-1 Practice Quiz
- Video: 4-2.1. Confidence Interval for Means
- Video: 4-2.2. Confience Interval for Mean in Excel
- Video: 4-2.3. Impact of Confidence Level Illustrated in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 4-2 Practice Quiz
- Video: 4-3.1. Confidence Interval for Population Proportion
- Video: 4-3.2. Confidence Interval for Population Proportion in Excel
- Video: 4-3.3. Confidence Interval Animation in Excel
- Video: 4-3.4. Starting Salary Example in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 4-3 Practice Quiz
- Video: 4-4.1. Sample Size
- Video: 4-4.2. Sample Size Proportion in Excel
- Video: 4-4.3. Sample Size Mean in Excel
- Video: 4-4.4. Sample Size Effect in Excel
- Practice Quiz: Lesson 4-4 Practice Quiz
Graded: Module 4 Quiz
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Pricing
| Audit | Purchase Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Not available | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Not available | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Not available | Available |
Ratings and Reviews
hard but interesting
Good basic statistics course, knowledge can be easily applied right from the start
Great lectures and useful for Business decision making.
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DK
Do you want clear explanations and many examples to understand sampling process and confidence interval magic? Then this course is the best one for you to get understanding and practice.