Courses

Management Science (MGSC) 301

Statistics for Business and Economics I (Revision 5)

Revision 5 closed, replaced by current version.

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Delivery Mode:Individualized study online or grouped study.**

Credits:3

Area of Study:Applied Studies
(Business and Administrative Studies)

Prerequisite:None.

Precluded Course:MATH 215 and MATH 216. (MGSC 301 may not be taken for credit if credit has already been obtained for MATH 215 and MATH 216.)

Centre:Faculty of Business

MGSC 301 has a Challenge for Credit option.

Télé-université du Québec equivalency: STA 1001

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**Note:Students registering in grouped study, or grouped study international mode are advised that there may be some differences in the evaluation and course materials information indicated below. To obtain the most up-to-date information, contact the Faculty of Business Student Support Centre at 1-800-468-6531.

Overview

This is a three-credit, introductory course in statistics designed to provide students with the basic concepts and methods of statistical analysis. The course and the textbook are tailored to meet the needs of students in administrative studies. Accordingly, application problems are borrowed from business and economics, with many exercises based on real data.

MGSC 301 comprises 11 lessons, which correspond to the first 11 chapters of the textbook. It covers basic techniques in descriptive statistics, both analytical and graphical, provides a brief study of probability theory, and discusses the main topics in statistical inference. Throughout this course, students will learn many concepts, develop numerous skills, and gain new perspectives of events, observations, and data. The techniques and methods learned will help students in future courses, especially those in quantitative and analytical methods, and in solving real world problems.

Credits earned in MGSC 301 may be applied toward the Canadian Operational Research Society (CORS) diploma.

Outline

Lesson 1: Data and Statistics

Lesson 2: Descriptive Statistics I: Tabular and Graphical Methods

Lesson 3: Descriptive Statistics II: Measures of Location and Dispersion

Lesson 4: Introduction to Probability

Lesson 5: Discrete Probability Distributions

Lesson 6: Continuous Probability Distributions

Lesson 7: Sampling and Sampling Distributions

Lesson 8: Interval Estimation

Lesson 9: Hypothesis Testing

Lesson 10: Statistical Inference about Means and Proportions with Two Populations

Lesson 11: Inferences about Population Variances

Evaluation

To receive credit for this course, you must achieve a minimum grade of “D” (50 percent) on both the midterm and the final examination and a minimum overall grade of “D” (50 percent) for the entire course.

You are strongly encouraged to complete the two written assignments. If you do not submit an assignment, a mark of 0 percent for that assignment will be used in calculating your overall course grade. Should you decide not to submit one or both of your assignments, you must notify the Call Centre of your decision in writing or by email so that your overall grade can be prepared.

Assignment 1	Mid-term Exam	Assignment 2	Final Exam	Total
20%	30%	20%	30%	100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

Anderson, D. R., Sweeney, D. J., & Williams, T. A. (2005). Statistics for Business and Economics (9th Edition). Cincinnati: South-Western College Publishing. ISBN 0-324-20082-X

Workbook to accompany Statistics for Business and Economics (9th Edition). ISBN 0-324-20086-2.

Other materials

All other materials will be available online.

Special Course Features

The course materials for this course are shipped as a shrink-wrapped package. If the shrink wrap is broken, the materials are not returnable.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.

Opened in Revision 5, August 11, 2004.