Memorial University of Newfoundland

STAT 2500
Statistics for Business and Arts Students
Course Outline for Fall 2011

Instructor: Dr. Gubhinder Kundhi

Office: AA 3082
Email: gkundhi@mun.ca
Tel: (709) 864 8108
Class time and Venue: Monday, Tuesday & Thursdays: 1.00pm 1.50pm, C 3053.
Office Hours: Monday: 11.40am 12.40pm, Wednesday: 5.00pm 6.00pm or by appointment.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Statistics for Business and Arts Students covers descriptive statistics (including histograms, stem-and-leaf
plots and box plots), elementary probability, discrete random variables, the binomial distribution, the normal
distribution, sampling distribution, estimation and hypothesis testing including both one and two sample tests,
paired comparisons, chi-square test, correlation and regressions, interpolation and extrapolation, probability
distribution, analysis of variance, index numbers and related applications.

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK:
th
Groebner, Shannon and Fry, Business Statistics, A Decision-Making Approach, 9 Edition,
Pearson.

Statistics for Business: Decision Making and Analysis, by Stine and Foster, Second Edition.

EVALUATION:

lab tests written in week 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, & 11th 20%
4 assignments due Week 4th, 6th, 8th, & 10th 10%
Midterm examination 20%
Final examination (time and place to be arranged by the Registrar). 50%

Each quiz will cover all topics that have been taught, with emphasis on those topics
that have been covered after the previous quiz. Final exam will cover the entire
course. All exams and quizzes are closed book. In the exams and quizzes, you may
have a formulas sheet with you. The formulae sheet is posted on the website shown
above. There will be no make-up midterm exam, quizzes, or assignments.
Students who miss the midterm exam, a quiz or an assignment for a valid reason
(proof required), will have the percentage of the midterm, the quiz or the
assignment added to the percentage of the final exam. At most one missed
assignment and/or quiz can be added to the percentage of the final exam.
 Students who are prevented by illness or bereavement or other acceptable cause,
duly authenticated, from writing the final exam may apply for a deferred final exam
on appropriate forms (available from the General Office of the Dept. of
Mathematics & Statistics, HH-3003) with supporting documents within one week of
the date of the final exam. The department does not grant deferred exams to
students who claim to have been ill, told their doctor that they were ill, were unable
to reach the exam room on time, or have been confused in any way by the exam
schedule.

Labs: The labs are designed to allow students to learn the use of MINITAB to
implement statistical methodology in practice, and to become acquainted with
problems representative of the material covered, with the help of lab instructor.
Quizzes will be written in labs. Difficult questions in quizzes, exams and
assignments will also be discussed in labs. Students having difficulty with any
problems should not hesitate to approach the help resources available to you
(labs., help center and course instructor). To use MINITAB, contact
Computing & Communications department before the first lab session. Your lab
instructor will help you with questions about MINITAB. You can use the lab at
other times provided space is available and you obtain permission from the
instructor on duty. We will also be using JMP software to implement the
regression models. If you master both the JMP software and regression modeling
you will have developed a well-defined and in demand skill set by the end of the
semester.

COURSE OBJECTIVE

Upon completion of the course, the student should be able to achieve the objectives as identified
under each topic below:

A. Organizing and Displaying data

1. organize ungrouped data into a frequency distribution
2. construct different types of graphs using statistical software

B. Descriptive Measures
1. arrange ungrouped data into an array, and determine the mean, median, mode, percentiles and
quartiles
2. for a given data, compute the range, variance, and standard deviation
3. recognize the shape of the distributionsymmetric and asymmetric
4. generate summary statistics using statistical software

C. Basic Probability Concepts

1. define experiment, sample space
2. list elementary events
3. construct Venn diagram and probability matrices for two sets probability problems
4. solve problems involving use of addition rule
5. define independent events and dependent events
6. solve problems involving use of multiplication rule
7. compute conditional probabilities

D. Discrete Probability Distributions

1. compute mean (expected value) and variance of a discrete random variable
2. state the required conditions for the use of the binomial probability distribution
3. compute mean (expected value) and variance of a binomial distribution
4. with the use of formula and table, solve problems involving binomial distribution

E. Continuous Probability Distribution

1. describe the characteristics of normal distribution and standardized normal distribution
2. solve problems finding areas under a normal curve using a z-table
3. approximate normal to the binomial distribution
4. demonstrate the use of the normal distribution in business problem solving

F. Sampling and Sampling Distributions

1. distinguish between probability and non-probability sampling
2. recognize what is meant by simple random, systematic, stratified, and cluster samples
3. define sampling distribution of the mean, and state the central limit theorem and its significance
4. write the formulas for and compute the standard error of the mean and the standard error of the
proportion

G. Confidence Intervals for Single Population Mean and Proportion

1. know the difference between point estimates and interval estimates
2. calculate confidence intervals for mean and proportion
3. compute appropriate sample size
4. construct confidence interval using statistics package

H. Hypothesis Testing for Single Population Mean and Proportion

1. state null and alternative hypothesis
2. calculate cut-off point using z-table, t-table
3. calculate observed value using appropriate distribution (z-distribution, t-distribution)
4. reach conclusion of the testing

I. Simple Regression and Correlation

1. calculate Pearson correlation coefficient
2. construct line fit plots and residual plots using statistical package
3. interpret R and slope of the regression line
4. run and interpret the output

SYLLABUS: Chapters to be covered (Text): 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,11,13

Sections to be omitted: 2.9, 2.10, 3.8, 4.5, 4.6, 5.4, 5.6, 6.2, 8.6, 8.7, and 9.6

ACADEMIC HONESTY AND PLAGIARISM:

Cheating includes but is not limited to allowing another student to copy from your work, presenting
someone elses work as your own including through failure to credit the source of ideas, consulting
electronic devices such as mobile phones or MP3 players and/or interacting with others while a test is
ongoing. Any submission in this course that is similar to another authors work will be treated as
plagiarism. Information about procedures and penalties for academic misconduct is outlined in the
University Calendar.

SICK NOTES:

If you are applying for a waiver of regulations, requesting a deferred final exam or
assignment/paper etc. for medical reasons, please refer to General University Regulation 5.14.6
Information Required in Certificates from Health Professionals.