MIS 24056 Fall 2010 Bhattacharyya

M&IS 24056: Fundamentals of Business Statistics

Section 002

Fall 2010

Course Link: Click here to access

Instructor

Kuntal Bhattacharyya

E-mail: kbhatta1@kent.edu

Phone: (330) 672-1160; A409 BSA

Office Hours

Kuntal Bhattacharyya (kbhatta1@kent.edu): T R: 10:00AM – 11:00AM, OR by appointment; A409 BSA

Murali Shanker (mshanker@kent.edu): W: 12:30PM – 01:30PM, OR by appointment; A401 BSA

Jay Brown (jrbrown@kent.edu): T R: 02:00PM – 03:00PM, OR by appointment; A419 BSA

Class Times

T R: 3:45P - 5:00P; 100 COB

Course Objective and Expectations

This course is an introduction to concepts in statistical methods and their applications to real world business problems. This course will examine both the theoretical and practical sides of different statistical methods. Students will be given opportunities to apply the techniques to different problems. The goal of the course is for students to understand fundamental statistical concepts and methods, and their applications.

At the end of this course, students are expected to:

-          Organize and summarize data using appropriate descriptive statistics and graphical methods.

-          Understand the concept of probability and be able to calculate probabilities required in order to perform statistical inferences.

-          Understand the concept of a random variable and use discrete and continuous random variables and their corresponding distributions to calculate probabilities.

-          Understand the concept of a sampling distribution and be familiar with the primary sample statistics and their distributions.

-          Estimate population parameters using point estimates and confidence intervals.

-          Given a research question, formulate an appropriate null and alternative hypothesis, choose a test statistic, describe the rejection criteria, make a decision using a critical value and/or p value, and draw an appropriate business conclusion.

-          Understand and apply simple and multiple regression models; use regression models for description, prediction, and control.

Course Requirements

Last day to withdraw from this course: Sunday, November 7, 2010

Prerequisites

Math 11011 (Algebra); students attending the course without proper pre-requisite risk being de-registered from the class

Required and Optional Text Books
The class teaching will involve a mix of lectures, PowerPoint, hands-on exercises, and group assignments, all realizing the use of statistics in data analysis, interpretation, and inference. There is NO mandatory text book that you need to bring to class. Your attendance in the class should suffice. However, I shall follow "Introduction to the Practice of Statistics," by Moore, McCabe and Craig, 6th edition. The book is available in our bookstore to buy new ($140.25), used ($105.25), or rented ($63.11).

Since most introductory text books on business statistics cover all of what we’ll study in this class, I recommend that you get your hands on any one book (the lesser you spend, the better!). Here are five options:

-          The 5^th edition of Moore and McCabe is available at a decent price in Amazon.com. Start here.

-          Alternatively, you can choose to buy another text: “Statistics for Business and Economics”, by Anderson, Sweeney, and Williams (9^th or 10^th edition). The 9^th edition (used version) is available at a real cheap price at Amazon.com here.

-          The textbook by Moore, McCabe and Craig is also available for you to buy used, or rent at a cheaper price from chegg.com here.

-          Alternatively, this book is also available at half.com here.

-          Finally, I have a few older text books that I’ll give away during the first week of class.

Statistical Software

I shall use the JMP statistical software for this course. JMP is available as a yearly license to the student from the library for $15 only. Currently, you can download JMP if you are a Windows or Mac user. See here for more information.

In addition, if time permits, I shall also explain the use of Microsoft Excel’s “Analysis Toolpak” for statistical data analysis. If you have Microsoft Excel in your computer (2003/2007/2010), Analysis Toolpak is available as an add-in. You need administrative rights to make the changes, though. Here is a good video of the add-in installation.

Correspondence

I shall extensively use Blackboard (formerly WebCT Vista) for communicating with you throughout this course. That means:

-          All your class notes will be accessible HERE.

-          Your exams and quizzes will be administered via THIS PLATFORM. 

-          All your grades will be available HERE.

-          All announcements and email reciprocation will happen HERE.

To access your course in Blackboard (webCT Vista):

-          To ensure that the content appears correctly on your browser, please use a standards compliant browser like Mozilla Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/) rather than Internet Explorer.

-          Go to http://flashline.kent.edu.

-          Enter your Kent username and password

-          Click on My Courses tab. You should see all your courses (alternatively, you may click on the link for http://vista.kent.edu to take you to the course website).

-          Under “Tools and Research” on the left of the screen, click on “Vista Single Sign On”.

-          Click on “FUND-BUSINESS STATISTICS - MIS-24056-002-201080” to enter the course.

Enrollment

Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Student Tools on FlashLine) during the first two weeks of the semester to ensure you are properly enrolled in this class and section.  Should you find an error in your class schedule, you have until Sunday, September 5, 2010 to correct the error.  If registration errors are not corrected by this date and you continue to attend and participate in classes for which you are not officially enrolled, you are advised now that you will not receive a grade at the conclusion of the semester for any class in which you are not properly registered.

Students with Disabilities
University policy 3342-3-01.3 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit http://www.registrars.kent.edu/disability/  for more information on registration procedures).

Academic Honesty
Cheating means to misrepresent the source, nature, or other conditions of your academic work (e.g., tests, papers, projects, assignments) so as to get undeserved credit.   In addition, it is considered to cheating when one cooperates with someone else in any such misrepresentation.  The use of the intellectual property of others without giving them appropriate credit is a serious academic offense.  It is the University's policy that cheating or plagiarism result in receiving a failing grade for the work or course.  Repeat offenses result in dismissal from the University.

Attendance

While no attendance is taken, you are nevertheless responsible for all content, including projects and assessments, presented in class. Any missed assessments cannot be made up.

Evaluation Design

Class time will devote to lectures, problem solving, statistical software, and testing. As we will make extensive use of statistical software, please bring your laptop to class.

Quizzes and Examinations

There will be 6 quizzes, 3 examinations, 1 project, and several learning assessments. All quizzes and examinations will be taken online, and are best taken using a standards compliant web browser like Mozilla Firefox. Examinations and quizzes will consist of multiple choice, true or false, fill-in-the blanks, short-answer, matching, and calculation type questions. All online testing material can be found at the course web site on Blackboard, and can be taken from anywhere (home, work, school, BSA computer labs, in the airport, from a hammock sipping Mango juice, etc.) the student has access to the Web. All tests are open-book, open notes; but before taking any test, the student will be asked to indicate his/her agreement to an Academic Honesty Statement. This statement will certify that the student agrees to abide by university rules on cheating, and any failure to do so will result in a failing grade. Thus, for example, while you are allowed to use books and notes for the tests, it is cheating if you ask other students to help you while taking the tests. This statement is available online at your course website.

Sign the Academic Honesty Statement first before doing anything else.

Quiz. There are 6 quizzes for this class. Each quiz is worth 10 points. The amount of time allotted for each quiz may vary, but will typically be around 25 minutes. You will have two attempts to take each quiz. The average result of the two attempts will be your score for that quiz. If you are happy with your first attempt, there is no need to take the second attempt. Results for the quizzes will be known immediately. Only the best 5 quizzes will be considered for your grade. Thus, the maximum point from quizzes is 50.

Exam. There will be 3 examinations. Each examination is worth 50 points. Each exam (including the final) will take approximately 75 minutes. All examinations are cumulative. You will have only one attempt to take each examination. Results for the examination will be known only after the examination closes for all students. From the first two examinations, Exams 1, and 2, only the best examination score will be considered. Exam 3 (Final Exam) is MANDATORY for all students. Students will receive a score of 0 for any missed examination. Thus, the maximum score from examinations is 100.

Project. The project will be assigned in class. This project will be done in groups, and will involve the student in all aspects of statistical data analysis. The project will be graded at each milestone, and the final score for the project for the group will be a cumulative total of the scores at each milestone. Individual student scores for the project will depend on the final project score for the group, and peer evaluation. The project is worth 40 points.

In-Class Assessments. As this class is built on data exploration and statistical concepts; frequently, I shall make assessments of your learning. These assessments are built to help you further with your quizzes and exams. The frequency and format of these questions will depend on the subject matter and will be randomly exercised. You will require, in some cases, the use of a laptop to run statistical analysis, before you can answer these questions. You will work in groups and as such, ensure that each group has a working laptop with JMP installed. Assignments are worth a maximum of 60 points.

Test Dates and Timings. Approximate test (quizzes, and examinations) dates are posted at your course website, and also given below. Tests can be taken at any time during which they are available. As a warning, please do not wait until the last minute to take your tests. As you must realize in dealing with technology, several things can and will go wrong. The only condition under which I will extend the due dates is if the Vista server goes down on the last available day. Any problems with your computer will not change the due date. As such, it is your responsibility to ensure that you complete the tasks in a timely fashion. Projects will be assigned in class. Due dates for project milestones will also be specified in class. Please check your electronic calendar regularly for any announcements about quizzes, projects, etc.

Grading Scheme

The maximum point for this course is 250 (50 quizzes + 100 examinations + 40 project + 60 in-class assessments). The grading scale for this class is as follows:

-          None of the assessments, examinations, quizzes, projects, or in-class assignments, can be made up. You will receive a score of zero (0) for any missed assessment.

-          Please print and keep a copy of your tests after each exam or quiz. That will be the proof I will require if there are any disputes about test scores. 

-          You will have one week after receiving the score for each assessment to request any corrections.

Course Schedule

The following table contains the class schedule. Note that all online tests begin on the Monday of the week they are assigned, and are available until Sunday 11:50 p.m. (ET) of that week.

Please Do the Following Immediately: Log into Vista, and answer the quiz on Academic Honesty. You will not be able to take any quizzes and examinations until you do the above.