BUS2-90: Business Statistics San José State University
College of Business
Department of Marketing and Decision Sciences
Course Number:
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Year:
Instructor:
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Prerequisites:
BUS2-90
Business Statistics
Spring
2014
Xu (Cissy) Yang, Ph.D.
BT 553
(408) 924-7231
xu.yang@sjsu.edu
Online
Online
MATH 071 or MATH 070
Course Web Site
All course documents (syllabus, PowerPoint slides, videos, homework assignments, quizzes,
solutions, etc.) will be posted on Canvas (http://www.sjsu.edu/at/ec/canvas/index.html) or
WileyPLUS (exact URL will be announced via Canvas message). Although announcements and
reminders will be sent out frequently, it is the student’s responsibility to check the websites
regularly. All grades will also be posted online.
Course Description
Statistics is the art and science of making data-based decisions. This course presents methods to
collect, present, and describe data that often appear in business reports. It introduces probability
as a measure of uncertainty, and as the theoretical foundation for statistical decision-making.
Finally, the course presents the classical methods of confidence intervals and hypothesis testing
used to make decisions about populations based on sample data, and introduces the concepts of
regression and correlation used to find relationships between various factors.
Course Goals and Student Learning Objectives
1. To create summaries of data in tables and graphs, and interpret them for business
decisions.
2. To calculate summary statistics of data (e.g., mean, median, standard deviation), and
interpret them for business decisions.
3. To be able to perform basic probability computations, including expected values, and
interpret them for decision analysis.
4. To evaluate whether sampling methods used are proper or improper to obtain valid
statistical inferences.
1 BUS2-90: Business Statistics 5. To be able to interpret results from confidence intervals and hypothesis tests.
6. To be able to interpret the results of simple regression analyses.
7. To reinforce analytical skills already learned, and build on these skills to further increase
your "portfolio" of useful analytical tools for business tasks.
Required Topics:
1. Introduction to Statistics, types of variables
2. Basic sampling: populations and samples; types of probability samples: simple random,
stratified, systematic, cluster; types of bad sampling: quota, convenience.
3. Descriptive statistics for one variable: measures of center, measures of spread,
percentiles, Empirical Rule, graphical descriptions
4. Descriptive statistics for two variables: contingency tables, correlation and regression,
scatterplots
5. Probability: basic probability rules
6. Probability: random variables, expected value, standard deviation, distribution
7. Probability distributions: binomial and normal
8. Sampling distributions of a statistic, standard error of a statistic, and the Central Limit
Theorem
9. Statistical inference: confidence intervals for means and proportions, t and z tables,
calculating sample sizes
10. Statistical inference: hypothesis tests about means and proportions, Type I and Type II
errors, concept of statistical power
11. Statistical inference: regression
Required Textbook
Title: Business Statistics: For Contemporary Decision Making, 7th Edition
Author: Ken Black
ISBN: 9781118764503
IMPORTANT: Please notice that this is a custom version for San Jose State University. Since
this is an online course, access code for WileyPLUS (an online teaching and learning
system) is required. It can be purchased with the textbook or separately. With the code,
students can get access to all resources including the ebook online. If students are
comfortable with the ebook, paperback textbook is optional.
2 BUS2-90: Business Statistics Evaluation Policy
Grading Item
Weight
Reading Assignments (weekly)
15%
Homework Assignments (weekly)
15%
Quizzes (weekly)
25%
Exams (three exams, each is 15%) 45%
Total
100%
Scale
97-100
94-96
90-93
87-89
84-86
80-83
77-79
74-76
70-73
67-69
64-66
60-63
59 and below
Grade
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
CD+
D
DF
IMPORTANT: Every week, there is one reading assignment, one homework assignment and one
quiz. The due date is the last day in that week (11:59PM on Thursday). Late submission will not
be accepted. The lowest homework and quiz scores will be dropped. All reading assignment
scores will be kept.
3 BUS2-90: Business Statistics Course Timeline
In online courses, professor and students don’t meet in the classroom. Learning materials and
course related activities are assigned on a weekly basis. Both Canvas and WileyPLUS will be
used in this online course. For any course related questions, please post them on Discussions on
Canvas (please do NOT send your questions to the professor by email). All course related
materials (syllabus, PowerPoint, assignments, quizzes etc.) will be available on WileyPLUS.
A typical “week” starts on Friday and ends on the following Thursday at 11:59PM. There are
one reading assignment, one homework assignment and one quiz every week. The due date is
11:59PM on Thursday. Each week, a PowerPoint file is provided by the professor. Use this file
as your study guide but not your only study resource. The PowerPoint file must be supplemented
by reading the textbook. Please read the textbook thoroughly but not only the reading assignment
sections.
IMPORTANT: If you have any questions, please do NOT send your questions to the professor by
email. Instead, please post your question under Discussions on Canvas. Professor will answer it
on a timely manner. Other students feel free to join the discussion and answer/comment on the
question. High volume of questions may be expected before the assignment due date/time. Please
understand questions that are posted too late (e.g. 9PM on Thursday) may not be answered that
day.
Week
1
2
3
4
5
Days
3/11-3/13
3/14-3/20
3/21-3/27
3/28-4/3
4/4-4/10
4/11-4/17
6
7
8
9
10
4/18-4/24
4/25-5/1
5/2-5/8
5/9-5/16
Topics and Exams
Create Canvas and WileyPLUS accounts
Chapter 1: Introduction to Statistics
Chapter 2: Charts and Graphs
Chapter 3: Descriptive Statistics
Chapter 4: Probability
Exam 1 (covers Chapters 1, 2, 3)
Chapter 5: Discrete Distributions
Chapter 6: Continuous Distributions (part 1)
Chapter 6: Continuous Distributions (part 2)
Chapter 7: Sampling and Sampling Distributions
Exam 2 (covers Chapters 4, 5, 6)
Chapter 8: Statistical Inference: Estimation for Single Populations
Chapter 9: Statistical Inference: Hypothesis Testing for Single Populations
Chapter 12: Simple Regression Analysis and Correlation
Exam 3 (covers Chapters 7, 8, 9, 12)
(Course outline is tentative and subject to change depending upon the progress of the class.)
4 BUS2-90: Business Statistics University Policies
Academic integrity
Students should know the University’s Academic Integrity Policy that is available at
http://www.sa.sjsu.edu/download/judicial_affairs/Academic_Integrity_Policy_S07-2.pdf
Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University
and the University’s integrity policy, require you to be honest in all your academic course work.
Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and
Ethical Development. The website for Student Conduct and Ethical Development is available at
http://www.sa.sjsu.edu/judicial_affairs/index.html
Instances of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Cheating on exams or plagiarism
(presenting the work of another as your own, or the use of another person’s ideas without giving
proper credit) will result in a failing grade and sanctions by the University. For this class, all
assignments are to be completed by the individual student unless otherwise specified. If you
would like to include in your assignment any material you have submitted, or plan to submit for
another class, please note that SJSU’s Academic Policy F06-1 requires approval of instructors.
Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to
make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment
with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires
that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the DRC (Disability
Resource Center) to establish a record of their disability.
Learning Resources
Student Technology Resources
Computer labs for student use are available on the third floor of the BBC classroom building and
in the Academic Success Center located on the 1st floor of Clark Hall and on the 2nd floor of the
Student Union. Computers are also available in the Martin Luther King Library.
A wide variety of audio-visual equipment is available for student checkout from Media Services
located in IRC 112. These items include digital and VHS camcorders, VHS and Beta video
players, 16 mm, slide, overhead, DVD, CD, and audiotape players, sound systems, wireless
microphones, projection screens and monitors.
Business Tutorial Center
The Tutorial Center has 2 sites that provide tutoring to business majors. Site #1 is located in
BBC 8, directly across from the Advisement Center (BSAC) and site #2 is BT 53. The hours for
both sites are Monday-Thursday 9:00am-6:00pm and Friday, 9:00-1:00pm. Hard copy schedules
5 BUS2-90: Business Statistics for tutors are available at each site and an online schedule can be viewed by visiting the
following Schedule link: http://www.sjsu.edu/cob/Students/schedule/Spring2012/index.html.
Excel tutorials for some course topics are available at www.vimeo.com/dsdemos.
Learning Assistance Resource Center
The Learning Assistance Resource Center (LARC) is located in Room 600 in the Student
Services Center. It is designed to assist students in the development of their full academic
potential and to motivate them to become self-directed learners. The center provides support
services, such as skills assessment, individual or group tutorials, subject advising, learning
assistance, summer academic preparation and basic skills development. The LARC website is
located at
http:/www.sjsu.edu/larc/
SJSU Writing Center
The SJSU Writing Center is located in Room 126 in Clark Hall. It is staffed by professional
instructors and upper-division or graduate-level writing specialists from each of the seven SJSU
colleges. Our writing specialists have met a rigorous GPA requirement, and they are well trained
to assist all students at all levels within all disciplines to become better writers.
The Writing Center website is located at
http://www.sjsu.edu/writingcenter/
Peer Mentor Center
The Peer Mentor Center is located on the 1st floor of Clark Hall in the Academic Success Center.
The Peer Mentor Center is staffed with Peer Mentors who excel in helping students manage
university life, tackling problems that range from academic challenges to interpersonal struggles.
On the road to graduation, Peer Mentors are navigators, offering “roadside assistance” to peers
who feel a bit lost or simply need help mapping out the locations of campus resources. Peer
Mentor services are free and available on a drop –in basis, no reservation required. The Peer
Mentor Center website is located at http://www.sjsu.edu/muse/peermentor/.
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