ECON 1008 - Business and Economic Statistics I

North Terrace Campus - Summer - 2014

In today's world, good decision making relies on data and data analysis. This course helps students develop the understanding that they will need to make informed decisions using data, and to communicate the results effectively. The course is an introduction to the essential concepts, tools and methods of statistics for students in business, economics and similar disciplines, although it may have wider interest. The focus is on concepts, reasoning, interpretation and thinking rather than computation, formulae and theory. Much of the work will require students to write effectively and communicate their ideas with clarity. The course covers two main branches of statistics: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Descriptive statistics includes collecting data and summarising and interpreting them through numerical and graphical techniques. Inferential statistics includes selecting and applying the correct statistical technique in order to make estimates or test claims about a population based on a sample. Topics covered may include descriptive statistics, correlation and simple regression, probability, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing, multiple regression, time series analysis and index numbers. By the end of this course, students should understand and know how to use statistics. Students will also develop some understanding of the limitations of statistical inference and of the ethics of data analysis and statistics. Students will work in small groups in this course; this will develop the skills required to work effectively and inclusively in groups, as in a real work environment. Typically, one component of the assessment requires students to work in teams and collect and analyse data in order to answer a real-world problem of their own choosing.

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Course Details

Course Code	ECON 1008
Course	Business and Economic Statistics I
Coordinating Unit	Economics
Term	Summer
Level	Undergraduate
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 4 hours per week. Intensive in Summer Semester.
Incompatible	WINEMKTG 1015EX, STATS 1000, STATS 1005
Quota	A quota may apply
Assessment	Typically, tutorial participation &/or exercises, assignments, tests & final exam

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Mrs Anne Arnold

These are the Course Coordinators for this course for the three semesters of 2014. They will provide further contact details, such as office locations and office hours, at the start of the semester.

Summer Semester
Course Coordinator: Mr Roger Mableson
Office location: Nexus 10, Room 4.13
Contact details: Phone 8313 5520; Email roger.mableson@adelaide.edu.au

Roger Mableson will be conducting both the lectures and tutorials for this course in Summer Semester.

Semester 1
Course Coordinator: Ms Vivian Piovesan
Email vivian.piovesan@adelaide.edu.au

Semester 2
Course Coordinator: Mrs Anne Arnold
Email anne.arnold@adelaide.edu.au

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Students in this course are expected to attend four 1-hour lectures each week starting in Week 1; and two 2-hour practical classes each week starting in Week 1.

Course Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, students will be able to:

Apply correctly a variety of statistical techniques, both descriptive and inferential.
Interpret in plain language and comment on these statistical techniques.
Interpret computer output to perform statistical techniques.
Recognize inappropriate use or interpretation of statistics.
Recognize when statistics are being used in other courses, in the media and in life in general and comment critically on the appropriateness of this use of statistics.
Describe the importance of variability to the study of statistics.
State what is different about the data and the techniques of business or economic statistics compared to statistics for other disciplines.
Work effectively and inclusively in small groups.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Knowledge and understanding of the content and techniques of a chosen discipline at advanced levels that are internationally recognised.	1 - 7
An ability to apply effective, creative and innovative solutions, both independently and cooperatively, to current and future problems.	1 - 5, 8
Skills of a high order in interpersonal understanding, teamwork and communication.	2, 8
A proficiency in the appropriate use of contemporary technologies.	3
A commitment to continuous learning and the capacity to maintain intellectual curiosity throughout life.	5, 7
An awareness of ethical, social and cultural issues within a global context and their importance in the exercise of professional skills and responsibilities.	4

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Text book

Sharpe, N R, R D De Veaux and P E Velleman, Business Stats, 2nd edition, Pearson New International Edition, 2014, Pearson.

For copyright reasons, Pearson have re-issued the text book. The edition that was used in 2013 is also suitable for this course. It is
Sharpe, N R, R D De Veaux and P E Velleman, Business Stats, 2nd edition, 2012, Pearson.

All students are expected to have access to and STUDY the text!

Calculator
Students will need a calculator; a basic one that can take squares, square roots etc is sufficient. Graphics calculators are allowed but are not necessary.

Recommended Resources

The lecture slides, practical questions and other information will be available for students on MyUni and can be downloaded or printed from there. Alternatively, a booklet containing the lectures slides and prac question set will be available for purchase from ICC.

The lecture notes are NOT complete – they indicate what is to be covered in the lecture; you need to attend the lecture and write your own notes.

In Semester 1 and 2 (but not in Summer Semester) it is intended that the lectures be recorded and a recording of each lecture put on MyUni for students who miss a lecture – but be aware that sometimes recordings fail. In that case, a note will be put on MyUni but the lecture may not always be re-recorded and students may need to make other arrangements, such as obtain notes from other students, read the book or contact the lecturer.

NOTE: Dictionaries are not allowed in School of Economics exams

Online Learning

Course Website

https://www.myuni.adelaide.edu.au
Extensive use is made of MyUni; please check the announcements regularly. Lecture notes, practical questions, and past exam paper solutions will be made available on MyUni. Online tests may be run for this course in Semester 1 and Semester 2 (but not in Summer Semester).

There is a discussion board on MyUni; this is the preferred way for students to ask questions because
this way all students have the same information and any of the staff can reply, allowing for quicker responses.

Learning & Teaching Modes

This course uses lectures plus practicals. The lectures provide an overview of the course content but
students can expect that they will need to study the textbook in order to understand the work. The practicals will comprise discussion, problem solving activities, individual and group work, student questions and student participation. These practicals provide the opportunity for students to practice; they are vital for success in this course. Often students think they can follow what we do in the lectures but when they come to do the work themselves, they realise it’s not that easy! Students are expected to have done the required reading before the practical and may ask questions about it during the practical.

Help

If you need some information or help, here is what you can do:

Ask your tutor in the practical
Post your query on the Discussion Board
Go to the Maths Learning Centre (Hub Central) They offer help with mathematics and statistics for students from all faculties. They run a FREE drop in centre. Check times and location details on their web site, http://www.adelaide.edu.au/mathslearning/

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The workload for this course should consist of:

Attend lectures	4 hours per week
Attend tutorials	4 hours per week
Study text book	4 hours per week
Prepare tutorial answer	4 hours per week

Learning Activities Summary

The following timetable shows the topics to be covered each week and the associated chapter from the book. We will endeavour to keep to this but this may not be possible.

	Topic	Reading	Practical
Week 1	Data and Sample Surveys	Chpaters 1 to 3	1
Week 1	Describing Catagorical Data Describing Quantitative Data	Chapter 4 Start Chapter 5	2
Week 2	Describing Quantitative Data Correlation & Regression	Finish Chapter 5 Start Chapter 6	3
Week 2	Correlation & Reggresion Randomness & Probability	Finish Chapter 6 Chapter 7	4
Week 3	Random Variables & Probability Models The Normal Model	Chapter 8 Chapter 9	5
Week 3	Sampling Distributions Confidence Intervals for 1 proportion	Chapter 10 Chapter 11	6
Week 4	Confidence Intervals for 1 mean Hypothesis tests for 1 proportion and mean	Chapter 12 Chapter 13	7
Week 4	Hypothesis tests continued and tests of Independence	Finish Chapter 13; part of Chapter 15	8
Week 5	Inference in Regression Residuals	Chapter 16 Chapter 17	Test
Week 5	Multiple Regression Dummy Variables	Chapter 18 Part of Chapter 19	9
Week 6	Time Series Index Numbers	Chapter 20 Lecture Notes	10
Week 6	Revision		11

Specific Course Requirements

None.

Small Group Discovery Experience

In this course, students work in small teams and undertake a project investigating a real-world problem that involves statistics in the world around them.

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Final exam - 60%
Individual tests
- Written component - 5%
- Mid-term test - 15%
Practicals
- Individual MCQ - 5%
- Group MCQ - 5%
- Group WAQ handins - 10%

Assessment Related Requirements

There are no hurdle requirements for this course.

Assessment Detail

Final exam (60%)

This is of 2 hours duration, plus 10 minutes reading time.
Statistical tables are provided.
You are allowed to take into the exam one sheet of A4 paper with anything written or typed on both sides of it.
This exam covers the whole semester.
Please note that, following University policy, dictionaries are not allowed in School of Economics exams.
Graphics calculators are allowed but are not required.
Legible hand-writing and the quality of English expression are integral parts of the assessment process. Marks will not be awarded in the final examination for answers that cannot be read.

Individual tests (20%)

There will be 1 substantial test, worth 15% to be done during one of the practical 2 hour timeslots. This will consist of multiple choice, fill in the blank, numeric, ordering, calculated and other types of questions.
There will be a series of short written tests in pracs during the semester, worth 5%.
More details will be provided during the semester.
Medical and compassionate extensions:
- Unfortunately, late attempts at the test or the written answer tests are not possible, even for valid medical or compassionate reasons. Instead, the weight on the final exam will be increased to take the place of this assessment.

Practicals (15% group work and 5% individual)

The practicals will incorporate team based learning and will be structured as follows:

Before the practicals, students will be expected to have attended and understood the lectures and to have read the relevant chapter(s) from the text book
During the practical,
- First, students will be given a short individual multiple choice question test.
- Next the multiple choice question test will be done in teams.
- There will be time for discussion and questions about the week’s work.
- And finally, students will be required to work on worked answer questions, again in their teams.
After the practicals, each team is required to hand in their answers to the worked answer questions, to their tutor. These will be marked and returned in the following practical.

Teams will be formed in the first practical class so it is important that students attend the first practical (in first day of Week 1).

The assessment is as follows:

Individual MCQ Test - 5%
Group MCQ Test - 5%
Group WAQ handins - 10%

These three marks are each determined by taking the best 7 marks from the semester; because not all of them count for assessment, no special consideration will be given to students who miss a practical class for medical, compassionate or any other reason. There will be 10 MCQ tests but only 9 WAQ that are marked during the semester.

Redemption

There is no extra work that can be done to redeem individual components of assessment during the semester, no matter the reason; however if the final exam mark (%) exceeds the mark (%) on any other assessment, then the exam mark automatically takes its place.

Assessment marks prior to the final exam may be displayed on the course website. Students are encouraged to check their marks and notify the course coordinator of any discrepancies.

Submission

Work should be handed to your tutor at the completion of each practical.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

The policy of the School of Economics is not to return final exam scripts to students. However, they are made available for students to read under the supervision of the Course Coordinator, at a time and place to be announced.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator