STATISTICS FOR MANAGEMENT
Learning outcomes of the course unit
The course gives knowledge on basic statistical techniques for Marketing and Management applications.
In particular, the course addresses:
a) Basic statistical plots and univariate measures;
b) Confidence intervals and hypothesis testing for means and proportions,
together with p-value interpretation;
c) Simple linear regression.
The aim of the course is threefold:
1. To provide both a theoretical and a practical understanding of basic
statistical methods.
2. To provide a Marketing-driven context for the study of these methods.
3. Using real data and a learning-by-doing approach, to illustrate the
application and the interpretation of these methods.
Computational aspects of the methods are addressed through the use of MS Excel.
Prerequisites
None
Course contents summary
The aim of the course is to describe the use of basic statistical techniques,
with a focus on applications in Marketing and Management. Specifically,
the course will address:
a) Basic statistical plots and univariate measures, for the summary of business information;
b) Confidence intervals and hypothesis testing, for the analysis of sample data;
c) Simple linear regression, which allows the analysis of bivariate
relationship and is a prerequisite for more complex statistical modeling.
All these techniques will be applied to business data through MS Excel.
Recommended readings
M. Riani, F. Laurini, G. Morelli: Strumenti statistici e informatici per
applicazioni aziendali. Pitagora Editrice, Bologna, 2013, Chapters 1 (except Sections 1.3, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8), 2 and 3.
Course slides.
Teaching methods
Lectures; practical work (assisted and individual).
In the event of a contuinuing pandemics, class lectures and guided practical work will be replaced by distance learning through online and offline lectures. Possibly, interactive activities such as web forums and problem-oriented meetings might also be implemented.
Teaching materials (course slides and data for replicating analyses) are provided through Elly.
Further material (data for practical work and advanced readings) is also provided through Elly, as well as details on the updated timetable.
When possible, course slides will be also made available at the Printing Office.
Assessment methods and criteria
Written exam of 45 minutes, at which the student can bring the textbook and a calculator.
In the event of a contuinuing pandemics, the written exam will be will be performed trhough the Elly tool named COMPITO and under the available surveillance tools (e.g. Teams or Zoom).
Knowledge and understanding are assessed by methodological questions, marked 3 grade points each.
The ability of applying knowledge are assessed by questions on applications and on the use of statistical functions in MS Excel, marked 3 grade points each. Learning and understanding skills are assessed by questions on the conclusions to be drawn from basic statistical analysis, marked 3 grade points each.
Details on examination procedures are provided to the class and made available through Elly at the start of the course.
