This book is ideal for a one-semester course in business statistics, offering a streamlined presentation of Business Statistics, by Sharpe, De Veaux, and Velleman, with Excel® screenshots throughout the book.
Professors Norean Sharpe (Georgetown University), Dick De Veaux (Williams College), and Paul Velleman (Cornell University) have teamed up to provide an innovative new textbook for the undergraduate introductory business statistics course. These authors have taught at the finest business schools and draw on their consulting experience at leading companies to show students how statistical thinking is vital to modern decision making.
Managers make better business decisions when they understand statistics, and Business Statistics gives students the statistical tools and understanding to take them from the classroom to the boardroom. Hundreds of examples are based on current events and timely business topics. Short, accessible chapters allow for flexible coverage of important topics, and the conversational writing style maintains student interest and improves understanding.
Business Statistics includes Guided Examples that feature the authors’ signature Plan/Do/Report problem-solving method. Each worked example shows students how to clearly define the business decision to be made and
plan which method to use,
do the calculations and create the graphs, and finally
report their findings, often in the form of a business memo. Every chapter reminds students
What Can Go Wrong and teaches them how to avoid making common statistical mistakes.
PART I EXPLORING AND COLLECTING DATA
1. Statistics and Variation
1.1 So, What Is Statistics?
1.2 How Will This Book Help?
2. Data
2.1 What Are Data?
2.2 Variable Types
2.3 Data Sources–Where, How, and When
3. Surveys and Sampling
3.1 Three Ideas of Sampling
3.2 A Census–Does It Make Sense?
3.3 Populations and Parameters
3.4 Simple Random Sample (SRS)
3.5 Other Sample Designs
3.6 Defining the Population
3.7 The Valid Survey
4. Displaying and Describing Categorical Data
4.1 The Three Rules of Data Analysis
4.2 Frequency Tables
4.3 Charts
4.4 Contingency Tables
5. Displaying and Describing Quantitative Data
5.1 Displaying Distributions
5.2 Shape
5.3 Center
5.4 Spread of the Distribution
5.5 Shape, Center, and Spread–A Summary
5.6 Five-Number Summary and Boxplots
5.7 Comparing Groups
5.8 Identifying Outliers
5.9 Standardizing
*5.10 Time Series Plots
Transforming Skewed Data–On CD-ROM
6. Correlation and Linear Regression
6.1 Looking at Scatterplots
6.2 Assigning Roles to Variables in Scatterplots
6.3 Understanding Correlation
6.4 Lurking Variables and Causation
6.5 The Linear Model
6.6 Correlation and the Line
6.7 Regression to the Mean
6.8 Checking the Model
6.9 Variation in the Model and R2
6.10 Reality Check: Is the Regression Reasonable?
Straightening Scatterplots–On CD-ROM
PART II UNDERSTANDING DATA AND DISTRIBUTIONS
7. Randomness and Probability
7.1 Random Phenomena and Probability
7.2 The Nonexistent Law of Averages
7.3 Different Types of Probability
7.4 Probability Rules
7.5 Joint Probability and Contingency Tables
7.6 Conditional Probability
7.7 Constructing Contingency Tables
7.8 Probability Trees
*7.9 Reversing the Conditioning: Bayes’s Rule
8. Random Variables and Probability Models
8.1 Expected Value of a Random Variable
8.2 Standard Deviation of a Random Variable
8.3 Properties of Expected Values and Variances
8.4 Discrete Probability Models
8.5 Continuous Random Variables
9. Sampling Distributions and Confidence Intervals for Proportions
9.1 Simulations
9.2 The Sampling Distribution for Proportions
9.3 Assumptions and Conditions
9.4 The Central Limit Theorem–The Fundamental Theorem of Statistics
9.5 A Confidence Interval
9.6 Margin of Error: Certainty vs. Precision
9.7 Critical Values
9.8 Assumptions and Conditions
9.9 Choosing the Sample Size
A Confidence Interval for Small Samples–On CD-ROM
10. Testing Hypotheses about Proportions
10.1 Hypotheses
10.2 A Trial as a Hypothesis Test
10.3 P-Values
10.4 The Reasoning of Hypothesis Testing
10.5 Alternative Hypotheses
10.6 Alpha Levels and Significance
10.7 Critical Values
10.8 Confidence Intervals and Hypothesis Tests
10.9 Two Types of Errors
*10.10 Power
11. Confidence Intervals and Hypothesis Tests for Means
11.1 The Sampling Distribution for Means
11.2 How Sampling Distribution Models Work
11.3 Gossett and the t-Distribution
11.4 A Confidence Interval for Means
11.5 Assumptions and Conditions
11.6 Cautions About Interpreting Confidence Intervals
11.7 One-Sample t-Test
11.8 Sample Size
*11.9 Degrees of Freedom–Why n - 1
12. Comparing Two Groups
12.1 Comparing Two Means
12.2 The Two-Sample t-Test
12.3 Assumptions and Conditions
12.4 A Confidence Interval for the Difference Between Two Means
*12.5 The Pooled t-Test
*12.6 Tukey’s Quick Test
12.7 Paired Data
12.8 The Paired t-Test
13. Inference for Counts: Chi-Square Tests
13.1 Goodness-of-Fit Tests
13.2 Interpreting Chi-Square Values
13.3 Examining the Residuals
13.4 The Chi-Square Test of Homogeneity
13.5 Comparing Two Proportions
13.6 Chi-Square Test of Independence
PART III BUILDING MODELS FOR DECISION MAKING
14. Inference for Regression
14.1 The Population and the Sample
14.2 Assumptions and Conditions
14.3 Regression Inference
14.4 Standard Errors for Predicted Values
14.5 Using Confidence and Prediction Intervals
14.6 Extrapolation and Prediction
14.7 Unusual and Extraordinary Observations
*14.8 Working with Summary Values
*14.9 Linearity
Re-expressing data–On CD-ROM
The Ladder of Powers*–On CD-ROM
15. Multiple Regression
15.1 The Multiple Regression Model
15.2 Interpreting Multiple Regression Coefficients
15.3 Assumptions and Conditions for the Multiple Regression Model
15.4 Testing the Multiple Regression Model
15.5 Adjusted R2 and the F-statistic
The Logistic Regression Model–On CD-ROM
Indicator Variables–On CD-ROM
Adjusting for Different Slopes– Interaction Terms–On CD-ROM
Collinearity–On CD-ROM
16. Introduction to Data Mining
16.1 Direct Marketing
16.2 The Data
16.3 The Goals of Data Mining
16.4 Data Mining Myths
16.5 Successful Data Mining
16.6 Data Mining Problems
16.7 Data Mining Algorithms
16.8 The Data Mining Process
16.9 Summary
*Indicates an optional topic
Norean Sharpe (Ph.D. University of Virginia), as a researcher of statistical problems in business and a professor at a business school, understands the challenges and specific needs of the business student. She is currently teaching at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, where she is also Associate Dean and Director of Undergraduate Programs. Prior to joining Georgetown, she taught business statistics and operations research courses to both undergraduates and MBAs for fourteen years at Babson CollegeShe is the recipient of the 2008 Women Who Make a Difference Award for female faculty at Babson. Prior to joining Babson, she taught statistics and applied mathematics courses for several years at Bowdoin College. Norean is coauthor of the recent text, A Casebook for Business Statistics: Laboratories for Decision Making, and has authored over 30 articles-primarily in the areas of statistics education and women in science. Norean currently serves as Associate Editor for CAUSE (Consortium for the Advancement of Undergraduate Statistics Education) and Associate Editor for the journal Cases in Business, Industry, and Government Statistics. Her research focuses on business forecasting and statistics education.
Richard D. De Veaux (Ph.D. Stanford University) is an internationally known educator, consultant, and lecturer. Dick has taught Statistics at a business school (The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania), an engineering school (Princeton University) and a liberal arts college (Williams College). He is an internationally known lecturer in data mining and is a consultant for many Fortune 500 companies in a wide variety of industries. While at Princeton, he won a Lifetime Award for Dedication and Excellence in Teaching. Since 1994, he has been a Professor of Statistics at Williams College. Dick holds degrees from Princeton University in Civil Engineering and Mathematics, and from Stanford University in Dance Education and Statistics, where he studied with Persi Diaconis. His research focuses on the analysis of large data sets and data mining in science and industry. Dick has won both the Wilcoxon and Shewell awards from the American Society for Quality and is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association. Dick is well known in industry, having consulted for such companies as American Express, Hewlett-Packard, Alcoa, DuPont, Pillsbury, General Electric, and Chemical Bank. He was named the “Statistician of the Year” for 2008 by the Boston Chapter of the American Statistical Association for his contributions to teaching, research, and consulting. In his spare time he is an avid cyclist and swimmer. He also is the founder and bass for the Doo-wop group, “Diminished Faculty,” and is a frequent soloist with various local choirs and orchestras. Dick is the father of four children.
Paul F. Velleman (Ph.D. Princeton University) has an international reputation for innovative statistics education. He designed the Data Desk® software package and is also the author and designer of the award-winning ActivStats® statistics package, for which he received the EDUCOM Medal for innovative uses of computers in teaching statistics and the ICTCM Award for Innovation in Using Technology in College Mathematics. He is the founder and CEO of Data Description, Inc. (www.datadesk.com), which supports both of these programs. He also developed the Internet site, Data and Story Library (DASL) (dasl.datadesk.com), which provides data sets for teaching Statistics. Paul co-authored (with David Hoaglin) the book ABCs of Exploratory Data Analysis. Paul has taught Statistics at Cornell University on the faculty of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations since 1975. His research often focuses on statistical graphics and data analysis methods. Paul is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Paul’s experience as a professor, entrepreneur and business leader brings a unique perspective to the book.
Dick De Veaux and Paul Velleman have authored successful books in the introductory college and AP High School market with Dave Bock, including Intro Stats, Third Edition (Pearson, 2009), Stats: Modeling the World, Third Edition (Pearson, 2010), and Stats: Data and Models, Second Edition (Pearson, 2008).