City University of Hong Kong

Information on a Course

offered by the Department of Management Sciences

with effect from Semester A in 2014 / 2015
This form is for completion by the Course Co-ordinator/Examiner. The information
provided on this form will be deemed to be the official record of the details of the
course. It will be used for several purposes: for the Universitys database, and for
publishing in various University publications including Blackboard, documents for
students and others as necessary.
Please refer to the Explanatory Notes attached to this form for the precise information
required.
Part I
Course Title: Business Statistics
Course Code: CB2200
Course Duration: One Semester
Credit Units: 3
Level: B2
Medium of Instruction: English
Prerequisites: Nil
Precursors: Nil
Equivalent Courses: MS2200 Business Statistics
Exclusive Courses: Nil
Part II
Course Aims
This course aims to facilitate students learning of basic statistical concepts commonly
used in business management decision making, and their application to the real world.
The course content is based on real-world examples and cases to encourage students
to develop their attitude and ability to discover and innovate.

Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs)

(State what the student is expected to be able to do at the end of the course according
to a given standard of performance.)
Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to:
No.
CILOs
Weighting (if
applicable)
1.

2.

3.

4.

Explain concepts in numerical descriptive

measures, sampling distributions, confidence
interval estimation, hypothesis testing, and simple
linear regression model.
Select appropriate statistical methods to analyse
real-life business data, interpret the results and
give recommendations for business decisions.
Apply standard statistical software, such as
Microsoft Excel, to analyse data arising from reallife business problems.
Able to demonstrate the attitude to provide
recommendations / innovations based on
statistical data

DEC-related
dimension

35%

Ability

35%

Ability

20%

Ability

10%

Attitude

Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs)

(These are indicative of likely activities and tasks designed to facilitate students
achievement of the CILOs. Final details will be provided to students in their first
week of attendance in this course.)
CILO No.

TLAs

Hours/week (if
applicable)

1, 2, 3 & 4

1. Lectures
Lectures: Statistical analytical techniques, relevant
knowledge and concepts are explained.
Case studies: Case studies that illustrate the use of
statistics in the real world are discussed.
2. Tutorials
Class Discussion: Students work in small groups to
discuss the criteria and appropriateness of chosen
statistical measures and methods to real-world
business problems; examples might be to describe
the pattern of the data, or to evaluate the job
performance of the staff. The instructor provides
instant feedback based on students responses.
Exercises: Students discuss their responses to takehome and in-class exercises that are designed to
enhance their statistical analytical skills within a
business context. They are required to interpret the
results and give recommendations. Students are
given the opportunity in class to feedback on each
others work.
3. Computer Laboratory Activities
The instructor demonstrates the use of statistical software
packages to solve real-world business problems. Out-of
-class, students are asked to carry out similar analyses with
the use of computer software.

1, 2 & 4

Assessment Tasks
(These are indicative of likely tasks designed to assess how well the students achieve
the CILOs. Final details will be provided to students in their first week of attendance
in this course.)
CILO
No.

Types of Assessment
Tasks (ATs)

1, 2 & 4

1. Written Examination

1, 2 & 4

2. Mid-Term Test

(Week 8 Saturday,
12:15pm 1:45pm)
2, 3 & 4

2&4

3. Case Studies / Group

Projects
4. In-Class Discussion
and Performance

Assessment Details
The exam is designed to assess students
professional knowledge of selecting and
applying different statistical methods to
solve business problems. Computer output
may be given for students interpretation
and suggestions.
The test is designed to assess students
professional knowledge of selecting and
applying different statistical models to
solve business problems.
Students work in a group to identify a set
of relevant statistical concepts to realworld case and use them to analyse the
case.
Students are required to work on these
exercises individually to practise their
analytical skills in statistical analysis
within a business context. Students present
their findings from the exercises. Students
are given the opportunity in class to
feedback on each others work.

Weighting (if
applicable)
50%

20%

25%

5%

* Students must pass the examination and coursework to pass the course.
Part III
Keyword Syllabus
1. Presenting Data and Descriptive Statistics
Types of data. Descriptive statistics including measures of central tendency, variation
and shape.
2. Basic Probability and Probability Distributions
Probability distribution for a discrete random variable. Binomial distribution. Normal
distribution. Sampling distributions of mean and proportion. Central limit theorem.
3. Statistical Inference
Estimation of population parameters - the mean and proportion. Confidence interval
estimation. Statistical hypotheses. Type I and Type II errors. The significance level
and rejection region. The p-value. Testing hypotheses about the mean and proportion.
Determining sample size.
4. Simple Linear Regression
Scatterplots. Measuring correlation. Simple linear regression model. Least squares
estimated of parameters. Measures of variation. Inference about regression
parameters. Prediction of new observations.

Textbook
Levine, D.M., Krehbiel, T.C. and Berenson, M.L. Business Statistics: A First Course,
Latest Edition, Pearson Education Limited.

References
Jeffrey O. Bennett, William L. Briggs, Mario F. Triola, Statistical Reasoning for
Everyday Life, 4/e, 2014, Wesley
Liu, K. I., To K. M., Speaking of Statistics, 2014, Pearson Education Ltd
Newbold, P., Carlson, W.L. and Thorne, B. Statistics for Business and Economic.
Prentice Hall
Middleton, M.R. Data Analysis Using Microsoft Excel. Thomson, Brooks/Cole.
Online Resources
Statistics Glossary
http://www.stats.gla.ac.uk/steps/glossary /index.html
Statistical Universe
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/statuniv.html
STICI A very interesting online statistics course
http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/~stark/SticiGui/Text/index.htm
HyperStat Online Statistics Textbook
http://davidmlane.com/hyperstat/

Class Schedule
TOPIC
Topic 1: Introduction to Statistics
Session 1.2: Statistics: Fundamental for Business
Session 1.4: Basic Vocabulary of Statistics
Session 2.8: Misuses and Common Errors in Visualizing Data
Session 1.3: Data and Variables
Types of Variables
Session 3.1: Central Tendency
The Mean
The Median
The Mode
Session 3.2: Variation and Shape
The Range
The Variance and the Standard Deviation
Shape
Session 3.4: Numerical Descriptive Measures for a Population
The Population Mean
The Population Variance and Standard Deviation
Session 3.3:Exploring Numerical Data
Quartiles
The Interquartile Range
The Five-Number Summary
The Boxplot
Topic 2: Basic Probability & Binomial Distribution
Session 4.1: Basic Probability Concepts
Events and Sample Spaces
Contingency Tables
Simple Probability
Joint Probability
General Addition Rule
Session 4.2:Conditional Probability
Computing Conditional Probabilities
Decision Trees
Independence
Multiplication Rules
Marginal Probability Using the General Multiplication Rule
Session 5.1:The Probability Distribution for a Discrete Random Variable
Expected Value of a Discrete Random Variable
Variance and Standard Deviation of a Discrete Random Variable
Session 5.2: Binomial Distribution
Topic 3: Normal Distribution
Session 3.4: Numerical Descriptive Measures for a Population
The Empirical Rule
Session 6.2: The Normal Distribution
Computing Normal Probabilities
Topic 4: Sampling Distribution
Session 7.4: Sampling Distribution of the Mean
Standard Error of the Mean
Sampling from Normally Distributed Populations
Sampling from Nonnormally Distributed Populations The Central Limit Theorem

NO. OF WEEKS
2

TOPIC
Topic 5: Confidence Interval Estimation
Session 8.1: Confidence Interval Estimation for the Mean ( known)
Session 8.2: Confidence Interval Estimation for the Mean ( unknown)

Students t Distribution

Properties of the t Distribution

The Concept of Degrees of Freedom

The Confidence Interval Statement

Session 8.4: Determining Sample Size

Sample Size Determination for the Mean

Topic 6: Hypothesis Testing
Session 9.1: Fundamentals of Hypothesis-Testing Methodology
The Null and Alternative Hypotheses
The Critical Value of the Test Statistic
Regions of Rejection & Nonrejection
Risks in Decision Making Using Hypothesis Testing
Hypothesis Testing Using the Critical Value Approach
Hypothesis Testing Using the p-Value Approach
A Connection between Confidence Interval Estimation and Hypothesis Testing
Z Test of Hypothesis for the Mean ( known)
Session 9.2: t Test of Hypothesis for the Mean ( unknown)
The Critical Value Approach
The p-Value Approach
Checking the Normality Assumptions
Session 9.3: One-Tail Tests
The Critical Value Approach
The p-Value Approach
Topic 7: Inference for the Proportion
Session 7.5: Sampling Distribution of the Proportion
Session 8.3: Confidence Interval Estimation for the Proportion
Session 8.4: Determining Sample Size
Sample Size Determination for the Proportion
Session 9.4: Z Test of Hypothesis for the Proportion
The Critical Value Approach
The p-Value Approach
Topic 8: Simple Linear Regression
Session 3.5: The Covariance and the Coefficient of Correlation
The Covariance
The Coefficient of Correlation
Session 12.1: Types of Regression Models
Session 12.2: Determining the Simple Linear Regression Equation
The Least-Squares Method
Predictions in Regression Analysis: Interpolation versus Extrapolation
Computing the Y Intercept, b0, and the Slope, b1
Session 12.3: Measures of Variation
The Coefficient of Determination
Session 12.7: Inferences About the Slope and Correlation Coefficient
t Test for the Slope
Confidence Interval Estimate for the Slope

NO. OF WEEKS
1

Form 3A