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2023/2024  BA-BHAAI1091U  Introduction to Business Statistics

English Title
Introduction to Business Statistics

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration Summer
Start time of the course Summer
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Min. participants 30
Max. participants 100
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Moira Daly - Department of Economics (ECON)
Contact Moira Daly, moda.eco@cbs.dk, with questions
Main academic disciplines
  • Statistics and quantitative methods
  • Economics
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 26/07/2024

Relevant links
Learning objectives
Upon successful completion of the course, the student should:
  • understand the essentials of data analysis
  • appreciate the significance of basic probability and statistics concepts
  • conduct one-sample and two-sample hypothesis tests
  • perform basic regression analysis
  • perform these analyses using STATA
Course prerequisites
A reasonable competence in math is necessary to follow the course
Examination
Introduction to Business Statistics:
Exam ECTS 7.5
Examination form Written sit-in exam on CBS' computers
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer, Course and exam timetable is/will be available on https:/​/​www.cbs.dk/​uddannelse/​international-summer-university-programme-isup/​courses-and-exams
Aids Open book: all written and electronic aids, including internet access
Read more here about which exam aids the students are allowed to bring and will be given access to : Exam aids and IT application package
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
The number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination may warrant that it most appropriately be held as an oral examination. The programme office will inform the students if the make-up examination/re-take examination instead is held as an oral examination including a second examiner or external examiner.
Retake exam: 4 hour written sit-in exam, new exam question.
Description of the exam procedure

 

 
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach
  • How did Netflix know that a show like "Stranger Things" would be a hit even before it was released?
  • How can you read the fine print on your COVID test to understand the probability that the negative result you just received is a mistake?
  • Are you more likely to get heads after flipping tails five times in a row in a fair coin toss?
  • What is it said that "correlation does not imply causation"?
  • Why is a sample size important in surveys and what happens if it's too small
  • How do pollsters predict election outcomes, and why might they sometimes get it wrong?
  • Should you buy an extended warranty for your new electronic gadget?
  • How can statistics be manipulated to mislead or confuse the public?

 

This is an applied introductory statistics course designed to help you understand and answer the above questions. We begin with the essential concepts that are necessary for understanding data analysis and that fall within the realm of descriptive statistics. We will learn the basics of the software package STATA so that we can create descriptive statistics from real data. Do you have data you are interested in better understanding? Bring it! 

 

Next, we study probability, probability distributions, and sampling distributions so that we can dive into the world of inferential statistics where we will learn ways to make decisions based on sample data. We will learn about confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and correlation, and will introduce linear regression analysis. We will be implementing these concepts of data analysis using the software package STATA.

 
Description of the teaching methods
Lectures and exercises. The class meetings are interactive and require ongoing engagement of the students.
Feedback during the teaching period
Non-graded homework assignments will be assigned throughout the course. These will be a mixture of MyLab online assignments and data-based assignments requiring the use of software Stata.

A midterm assessment will be administered via Canvas. The format will be similar to that of the 4-hour Ordinary Exam administered at the end of the course. Questions will be based on the concepts that are covered during the first part of the course. The assessment comprises questions in multiple choice and fill-in-the blank formats. In addition, example of data analysis questions using software will also be provided.

Note that although this midterm assessment may include multiple choice questions, the final exam will not be multiple choice. However, the nature of the questions will be extremely similar.
Student workload
Preliminary assignment 20 hours
Classroom attendance 38 hours
Preparation 121 hours
Feedback activity 7 hours
Examination 20 hours
Further Information
6-week course.
 
Preliminary Assignment: The Nordic Nine pre-course is foundational for the summer university and identical for all bachelor courses. Students will receive an invitation with all details by the end of May. The assignment has two parts. 1.) online lectures and tutorials that student can access at their own time and 2.) one synchronous workshop which will be offered both online and in-person at several dates and times before the official start of the summer university courses. Sign-up is first come first serve. All students are expected to complete this assignment before classes begin.
 

 

 
Expected literature

Indicative course textbook: 
Authors: Alan Agresti, Christine Franklin, Bernhard Klingenberg, Michael Posner
Statistics – The Art and Science of Learning from Data (Global edition)
Publisher: Pearson
 

Note that I will be assigning homework using MyLab. You will not be graded on these assignments, but they will allow you to test your knowledge. You can purchase the book (or e-book) that comes with a license to MyLab. Should you choose to buy, a used book, you will need to purchase the license separately.
Last updated on 26/07/2024