The ability to understand and apply Business Statistics is becoming increasingly important in the industry. A good understanding of Business Statistics is a requirement to make correct and relevant interpretations of data. Lack of knowledge could lead to erroneous decisions which could potentially have negative consequences for a firm. This course is designed to introduce you to Business Statistics. We begin with the notion of descriptive statistics, which is summarizing data using a few numbers. Different categories of descriptive measures are introduced and discussed along with the Excel functions to calculate them. The notion of probability or uncertainty is introduced along with the concept of a sample and population data using relevant business examples. This leads us to various statistical distributions along with their Excel functions which are then used to model or approximate business processes. You get to apply these descriptive measures of data and various statistical distributions using easy-to-follow Excel based examples which are demonstrated throughout the course. To successfully complete course assignments, students must have access to Microsoft Excel. ________________________________________ 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 summarize and present data using a few numbers. Appropriate Excel functions to do these calculations are introduced and demonstrated. 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. You get to understand the notion of causation versus correlation. The module then introduces the notion of probability and random variables and starts introducing 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. You will also get introduced to the Binomial and Poisson distributions. The Central Limit Theorem is introduced and explained in the context of understanding sample data versus population data and the link between the two. Topics covered include: • Various applications of the Normal distribution • The Binomial and Poisson distributions • Sample versus population data; the Central Limit Theorem
DP
Learned good statistics on practical problems. I love the fact that instructor provides enough discussion so when faced with real world problems, you know how to proceed.
SL
Loved studing and learning about normal distributions, continuous vs discrete data and how to estimate probabilities by different distributions approach. Learning is fascinating
A
I personally loved it!! Coming from a technical background, it really helped me to understand how we can apply the concepts and techniques to real world/practical problems.
OL
Excellent exposition on popular statistical functions such as Binomial, Poisson and Normal distribution functions. Thorough understanding of discrete versus continuous data.
DD
A Wonderfully structured Course that provides you with the base to start your journey in Business Statistics. Best part is if you want you can complete this course in about 2 days.
BR
Very basic course. Along with the videos, some reading material for detailed understanding of conceptual topics like binomial and other distributions is needed
YZ
The most exciting and challenging excel course i have ever taken. It kept me on my toes and provided real life application of statistics. I didn't regret taking this course.
SN
This was a really enjoyable course, but challenging too. I struggled a bit with the final assignment, but nailed it in the end. My statistical knowledge base has indeed been enhanced by this course.
GG
The course has been designed in a manner to give maximum understanding of the concept. The Quizzes are really grilling. and helps you strengthen the knowledge gained from the lecture videos.
EM
This is one of the best courses i have atended since, the exercises are all related to the topic.Great job. .Thanks to Mr Sharad Borle for explaining very well the content in this course .
AA
Statistical concepts were made very clear in this course. Very useful course if someone wants to implement stats in real business scenarios. I've ENJOYED thoroughly!!
RA
Improve assessment to be more learning oriented...many questions in the quiz of week 3 have no clarity and can result into several interpretations by learners...otherwise great course.
Showing: 20 of 438
The course has been designed in a manner to give maximum understanding of the concept. The Quizzes are really grilling. and helps you strengthen the knowledge gained from the lecture videos.
As a beginner, I found the course to be extremely useful and very clear. The professor guides you through each step in all his lessons, in a way that makes the course accessible even to a complete beginner. Although the lessons are relatively short, you are given the opportunity to learn a whole set of new skills, that can be surely useful across different jobs.
Only negative point: I would have liked more tests and exercises!
The type of final assignment questions and quizzes you all put are very difficult to understand and also it doesn't include in the lecture so whenever I give the final test my heart beats because after the quiz I get completely confused, also I feel that some of the options which you have given as correct answer are not what I believe. So, kindly please work on it as the purpose of taking a course is not to get confused but to be interesting and to learn more.
I took this as part of the specialization, so this review applies to the whole 5-course specialization. The files and PowerPoint slides were well-done; for example, unlike some other Excel courses I've taken on Coursera, the PowerPoint slides are explanatory and clear, the text is big enough to be able to take screenshots of for note-taking purposes, and the quiz and test questions are clearly worded. Sharad also is a very good lecturer- engaging and doesn't rush through things; rather, he reminds you of things throughout the course, rather than just mentioning them once and then never explaining it again and assuming you remember it.
This course was great. Although the concepts introduced are complex, the instructor breaks them down and gives relatable, real-world style examples to easily explain the application.
A truly fascinating course. Keep in mind, this is an introductory course, and it is very useful for either refreshing your memory, or teach something useful and practical.
Some quiz questions can be confusing and not all assumptions are given. Read carefully and check the forum for people with similar questions.
Last part about Binomal and Poisson was not fully clear to me
Excellent Course that simplifies the explanation of statistical concepts such as probability distribution for continuous and discrete variables and their business applications in the real world. The course is very well designed, well explained, and avoids theoretical details to the benefit of the focus on the statistical business application. Excel is a spreadsheeting tool that is readily available in (almost) all business environments and many people can leverage their investment on it by learning how to do statistical analysis using it before going to more sophisticated techniques after.
Truly wonderful course. The explanation of complex terms was done extremely meaningfully, in clear and simple to understand terms, many real world and practical examples were provided to drive the concepts home, and the exercises were challenging. Care was taken to not let the subject matter become too complex or abstract. I absolutely loved the little recaps and the sharing of handy tips and commands on Excel for immediate practical exploration.
Prof Borle's voice was crisp, loud and easy to follow, which to me was crucial.
All in all, an exceptional experience of learning. Thank you!
Any one looking for quick refresher course in Business Statics this is the specialization to enroll.
Prof/Instructor Sharad has explain the concept in crisp & precise manner & hands on practice in excel is big plus..!!
For any one who wants to learn business statistics ,I kindly urge you enroll this course/specialization so you have basic overview of all topics in business statistics & later read text book Business Statistics by Ken black for through understanding of all topics.
The course was very well structured. It helped a lot in understanding the basics of all the distribution and using them efficiently in excel!
Wish had more exercises but this was an excellent course. Teacher is excellent
Excellent Content, takes me back to the college days
Very useful concepts in statistical distributions.
Improve assessment to be more learning oriented...many questions in the quiz of week 3 have no clarity and can result into several interpretations by learners...otherwise great course.
I enjoyed this course very much. It covered a lot of useful topics to help you understand and apply statistical analysis methods. Professor Borle obviously put a lot of thought into the planning of this course, as the order of topics presented built on prior knowledge, and as usual were presented in a very clear and concise way. I would have liked additional depth and practice on the discreet distributions presented near the end of this course, but that is something I can do on my own time as well. I can't wait to start the next course in this specialization!
Truly a great course. Explains things slowly and clearly, provides practice problems to practice what you learn in the videos, and when you don't get or understand a question on the quiz the forum is helpful to help you UNDERSTAND an issue you're having.
The only thing I would tweak is not telling what function to use in the questions - instead, putting it in a helpful note if the student chooses to use it. What I've been doing, since I want to see if I understand when to use what function, is try and skip over them.
Fantastic course.
The instructor is very good. While he has an accent, he isn't hard to understand (and you can rewind if you do miss something :)) This course went step-by-step and explained everything clearly, with examples. The final quiz was just hard enough to know that you understood the material, but not so hard that you couldn't complete it. There were a couple of questions I had trouble with and I went out on the discussion forum to get help on them. (All of them were already out there so lots of people had trouble with them!)
All the important statistical concepts have been summarized in this course. The learners will be able to apply the concepts in real life scenarios easily using excel. Statistical distributions are really powerful and they are made really easy to use in excel by the Professor. Many thanks to him for clearing the concepts we have been hearing for a long time but never knew that they are really that much important in our daily lives