Instructor: Dr. Don Wardell BuC 22 Work Phone: 585-5718 E-mail: mgtdgw@business.utah.edu Home Page: www.business.utah.edu\~mgtdgw\Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday, 1:00 - 3:00 or by appointment.
Texts: Required: Anderson, D.R., Sweeney, D.J. and Williams, T.A., (1996)Statistics for Business and Economics, 6th Edition, Minneapolis/St. Paul: West Publishing Co. Optional: Berk, K. N. and P. Carey (1995). Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel 5.0 for Windows, Albany: Course Technology, Inc.
Course Objectives: An important aspect of being a manager is making decisions. The best decisions are those which are made based on fact. Such decisions require the use of data which often exhibit variation. In this class, the underlying principle will be the use of statistical analysis of data to make intelligent, fact-based decisions. We will specifically work on learning the following:
Grading: Quizzes: 25% Project: 15% Midterm Exam: 30% Final Exam: 30% Quizzes: Quizzes will be given often (approximately weekly) and will be based on suggested homework problems, reading assignments and class discussions. I plan on announcing all quizzes, but reserve the right to give "pop" quizzes if I think they are necessary. Quizzes will be closed book, closed note, with the exception of 1 3"x5" index card, hand- written on one side.
- How to distinguish between different types of data.
- How to construct and interpret several pictorial and numerical summaries of data.
- How to calculate, interpret and use measures of variance.
- How to use probability and probability distributions to assess the likelihood of important events.
- How to use the central limit theorem to better understand sampled data.
- How to estimate parameters of the normal and binomial distributions.
- How to use statistical software to make calculations, and how to interpret the computer output.
Project: A project will be assigned which will require you to analyze data using a computer. More details about this project will be forthcoming.
Exams: Exams will be closed book, closed note, with the exception of one 8.5"x11" sheet of paper, hand-written, on both sides (and you must be able to read it without the aid of a magnifying glass, etc.).
Homework: No homework will be turned in, but suggested problems will be given and discussed. You obviously do not have to do the suggested homework, but if you choose not to do it, plan on doing poorly on quizzes and exams. This is a course where you must work practice problems, or you will not learn the material.
Computer Resources E-mail: I have created an e-mail list for the class. This list is an anonymous list that you can subscribe to voluntarily. It provides a communication vehicle for all members of the class. With the list, you can provide feedback to me, or ask questions of me or other members in the class. Details for how to subscribe and use the list are provided separately.Home page: My home page provides a way for me to give you electronic access to course resources. Included on the page currently are the course syllabus, registration information and information about my teaching and research. As the course progresses I will add more information, including a more detailed description of the project, an anonymous posting of current grades, solutions to homework questions as needed, and a link to download screen movies (described below).
Class files: Occasionally I will provide computer files for the course that can be downloaded from the home page or from a directory on the School’s computer network. These files will usually include Excel data files and screen movies. The screen movies demonstrate with audio and video how to use Excel to perform required statistical analyses. More details on these files will be provided separately. If you want to obtain the files on the School’s network, go to V:\TEMPLATE\WARDELL\MGT239.