Desautels Faculty of Management Business Statistics MGCR 271 Fall 2011 Course Outline

Section 007 Section 004 T/TH 08:35 AM - 9:55 AM T/TH 10:05 AM - 11:25 AM Bronfman 423 Bronfman 423

Instructor: Glenn Zabowski Office: Bronfman 110 (BCom Office) Phone: 514-398-3420 Office Hours: T/TH 12:30 - 2:30 PM Email: glenn.zabowski@mcgill.ca

Secretary: Gina Ceolin Office: Bronfman 506 Phone: 514-398-4000, ext 09662 Office Hours: 9:00 - 12:00 PM, 1:30 - 5:00 PM Email: gina.ceolin@mcgill.ca

Note: Tuesday/Thursday sections will have their last class on Thursday, December 1, 2011. University Student Assessment Policy: Please refer to this policy which consolidates all rule and regulations relating to student assessments. Please see www.mcgill.ca/secretariat/policies/students/ Academic Integrity: McGill University values academic integrity. Therefore, all students must understand the meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offenses under the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures (see www.mcgill.ca/integrity for more information). L'universit McGill attache une haute importance lhonntet acadmique. Il incombe par consquent tous les tudiants de comprendre ce que l'on entend par tricherie, plagiat et autres infractions acadmiques, ainsi que les consquences que peuvent avoir de telles actions, selon le Code de conduite de l'tudiant et des procdures disciplinaires (pour de plus amples renseignements, veuillez consulter le site http://www.mcgill.ca/integrity/). Tutorials: Effective September 9th course tutorials will be held every Friday from 10:05 to 11:25 AM. Throughout the term they will take place in Bronfman 422. Selected problems from the text will be assigned for discussion during tutorials; they will be posted on WebCT one week in advance of the tutorials. Course tutors will also be available for consultation at various times during the week; a listing of the course tutor office hours and location will also be posted on WebCT. Of course, instructors will be available during their office hours to answer student questions.

Course Description: The objective of this course is to provide students with the understanding and the experience of using data for decision making in a management setting. Statistics has become an essential tool of modern management practice and this course will emphasize the application of statistical techniques for business decision making. The focus will be on data collection and interpretation, and on applying the concepts of statistical inference. The statistical techniques that you will learn in this course will be applicable to a variety of management areas throughout your program but most importantly they will provide you with the tools to assess the validity and significance of many of the reports that will be presented to you during your studies and career. PLEASE NOTE: In the event of extraordinary circumstances beyond the Universitys control, the content and/or evaluation scheme in this course is subject to change. Course Prerequisite: Math 122 and 123 (or their equivalent) Course Textbook: The Practice of Statistics for Business & Economics 3rd edition, 2011 by Moore D.S., McCabe G.P., Alwan L.E., Chang B.A. and Duckworth W.M., Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Company , New York.

Course Materials: This course does not have a course package. Copies of last years midterm and final examinations will be posted on WebCT along with their solutions; the course outline and a copy of the statistical tables that will be provided on examinations as well as the formula sheet for the midterm only, can also be found on WebCT. In addition, the five homework assignments (and their solutions) will also be posted on WebCT. Instructors will also make limited versions of their class notes available through WebCT. Students will be responsible for all material covered in class. Note: In accordance with Mcgill Universitys Charter of Students Rights, students in this course have the right to submit in English or in French any written work that is to be graded. Grading Scheme: Five Homework assignments Midterm Test Final Examination 15% 25% 60%

Information about Examinations: Examinations are developed to test the students understanding of the material. A serendipitous numerically correct answer without the correct logic will not necessarily receive full marks. It is as important to understand the problem as it is to obtain a correct numerical answer. The midterm and final examinations will consist of a mixture of calculation and written explanation/interpretation. Possible exam questions could be: Similar to any of the problems provided (class, tutorial, old exam, etc.)

Based on anything related to the course notes or class discussion. Based on a print out of a statistical software analyses. Based on a newspaper or media report. Based on any computer/internet work shown in class. Based on the assigned chapters in the text. Based on an image of a website, diagram, graph or other picture.

Midterm Examination: The midterm will be common to all sections of MGCR 271. It will take place on Friday, October 14th, 2011 between 12:00 and 2:00 PM in various locations, which will be posted on WebCT about a week prior to the examination. It will cover material up to the end of Section 6.1 of the course text. The examination will be closed book and only Statistical Tables and a limited number of formulae will be provided. Computers, cell phones and on-line connectivity devices are not allowed. Only calculators that do not store text will be permitted into the examination room. Final Examination: The final examination will be common to all sections. The date and time of the final examination will be finalized during the term by the University Examination Office. The final examination will be 3 hours in duration and will be closed book with Statistical Tables being provided to students. Computers, cell phones and online connectivity are not allowed. Only calculators that do not store text will be permitted into the examination room. The examination will include the material beginning with Chapter 6 and covering all the material up to the end of the course. Students will be permitted to bring with them into the examination one 8x 11 self-prepared, two sided, hand written, cheat sheet. Homework Assignments: There will be five homework assignments to be submitted for grading; each will count for 3% of the final grade. The assignments will be available on WebCT two weeks prior to the due date and assignments are to be submitted at the beginning of class on the Tuesday of the week they are due. The solution to the assignments will be posted on WebCT within one week following their due date. Statistical Software: The use of Statistical Software will be required to carry out exercises and to complete the homework assignments for the course. Students will be required to become proficient with a statistical package of their choice; that is, they must learn how to input and import data, carry out statistical analyses and interpret the results of the analyses. The text supports two packages, Excel, and Minitab both of which are available through the Sandiford Computing Facility in the Desautels Faculty of Management. In addition, the CD that comes with the text provides a statistical package CrunchIt! 2.0. Though CrunchIt! 2.0 and Excel each provide a limited set of statistical analysis options, they can be used for this course. The University has a site license for the JMP software which can be downloaded from the University website in either Windows or Mac format. A JMP manual as well as a brief introduction to JMP will be available through WebCT. To download JMP, follow the instructions on the link http://www.mcgill.ca/software . Students who will be taking additional courses in Statistics should consider using either the Minitab or JMP packages.

Course Topics and Dates: Tuesday/Thursday Classes Week 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Date Sept 1 (Thurs) Sept 6, 8 Sept 13, 15 Sept 20, 22 Sept 27, 29 Oct 4 Oct 11, 13 Oct 14 Oct 18, 20 Oct 25, 27 Nov 1, 3 Nov 8, 10 Nov 15, 17 Nov 22, 24 Nov 29, Dec 1 Topic Overview, Examination Distributions Normal Distribution, Examining Relationships Examining Relationships, Producing Data Probability and Sampling Distributions Probability and Sampling Distributions, Intro to Inference Tests of Significance, Inference Inference, Review Class Midterm Examination Inference for Means and Variances Inference for Proportions Two Way Tables Inference on Regression Multiple Regression Multiple Regression, ANOVA ANOVA, Review Textbook Sections 1.1-1.2 1.3, 2.1-2.3 2.4-2.5, 3.1, 3.3 Reading 3.2, 3.4 4.1-4.4, 5.1 5.2-5.4, 6.1 6.2-6.3 6.4 12:00-14:00 7.1-7.3 8.1-8.2 9.1-9.2 10.1-10.3 11.1-11.2 11.3, 14.1 14.2, Review

While it is our intention to follow the above timetable, slight adjustments may be required. The tentative assignment due dates are Sept. 20, Oct. 4, Nov. 1, Nov. 15, and Nov. 29. The class on Oct. 6 will be cancelled and rescheduled on Dec. 1. A Guide to Learning Statistics: The way to best understand the course material and prepare for the examinations is by doing as many exercises as possible in a timely fashion throughout the term. Please note that the course text provides the answers to all its odd-numbered exercises. However, simply presenting a computed numerical value as the result of the statistical analysis of a problem is not the correct approach. As the authors state in the introduction to the text You must frame that analysis in terms that others in the business will understand and find persuasive. For most students, simply reviewing the text and class notes will not be sufficient to succeed in passing this statistics course. Course Policies: 1. The overall class average for all management courses (core and non-core) should fall within the range of 65%-74.99%, inclusive, with an appropriate distribution of grades throughout all GPA categories. 2. Any student who misses a midterm must contact their Instructor within 5 business days of the date of the exam. A valid reason and proper documentation must be presented. 3. Any student who misses a final exam must contact the BCom Office within 5 business days of the date of the exam. A valid reason and proper documentation must be presented.

4. If you are not satisfied with the grading of a midterm, you may request a re-grade within 48 hours after the graded papers are returned to the class. Indicate on a separate piece of paper where and why you feel the marks are unjustified and submit it to the instructor together with your midterm exam for re-grading. Note that the entire midterm will be re-graded and your grade can go up or down (or stay the same) accordingly. Please review your exam carefully as historically a significant number of re-grades result in lower grades. 5. Students are responsible for all material that is covered or assigned in class. It is your responsibility to obtain any course material that you have missed due to lateness /absentness and to be aware of basic course information (such as the time and location of exams, etc), which is in the course outline, posted on WebCT or announced in class. It is not the instructors responsibility to individually provide students with this information or to answer large numbers of e-mails requesting information already made available to students. 6. Instructors will make every effort to respond to e-mail received from students within a 72 hour delay. 7. You must bring your student ID card to the midterm and final exams. 8. You must receive a passing grade on the combined midterm and final exams to pass the course. 9. The grading scheme indicated above will be strictly adhered to. Please do not treat either the homework assignments or midterm lightly since there is no option of weighting the final examination with a higher percentage. 10. Cheating (copied/identical work, violating examination rules, etc) is a serious academic offense that can lead to severe penalties including expulsion from the University. All offenses will be referred to the Disciplinary Office at the discretion of the instructor. 11. Late assignments will not be accepted unless due to a valid reason, which must be documented and presented to the instructor within 2 business days of the assignment due date. 12. Class Room Norms: Please show respect for your fellow students and the instructor by avoiding disrespectful classroom behavior like talking, noise, sleeping, reading the newspaper, coming late or walking in and out of class. Laptops, cell phones, PDAs and other electronic devices are a disturbance to both students and professors. All electronic devices must be turned off prior to the start of each class. 13. Students with Disabilities: Students whose classroom or examination performance may be affected due to a disability should notify their professor immediately so that arrangements can be coordinated with the Office for Students with Disabilities. 14. The instructor will not be present in the exam room(s) during the midterm or final exams. It is not the instructors responsibility to answer questions that would aid the student in completing

the exam. The instructors will do their absolute best to help students learn the material up until the exam time. However, exams are meant to test a students independent thinking, problemsolving and critical assessment skills, so once the exam has started the student is on his/her own. The instructor is mainly present (in the building) in case there are problems (i.e. typos, missing information) with the exam, which of course will be corrected promptly and fairly in the rare event when they occur. 15. The instructor will not post or inform students of their final grades at the end of term as they are not official until they have been processed by the BCom office. Students can access Minerva to be informed of their final grades. 16. Faculty policy does not allow students to do additional work to improve their standing. 17. Final grades are non-negotiable with the instructor. After the final grades have been submitted, the final exams will be available for viewing via the course secretary. The instructor can provide a grade verification but if you are not satisfied with the grading of your final, you may request a re-grade through the BCom Office ($35). The instructor does not handle such requests and will not be meeting students after the course has ended to discuss final grades. If a re-grade is requested, the entire exam will be re-graded by a second party (usually another instructor in the Operations Management Area) and the grade on your exam can go either up or down (or stay the same) accordingly. The deadline for final exam re-grades is Jan. 31st for fall courses and Sept. 30th for both winter and summer courses. Code of Professional Conduct in the Classroom Desautels Faculty of Management McGill University
In preparing our students for careers in business, government, and non-profit organizations, it is essential that we strive for the highest levels of professionalism. Central to that objective is the development of a respectful and professional atmosphere in and around the classroom. It is expected that both students and professors will treat each other as well as visitors to the Faculty with respect and consideration. In order to foster such an environment, the following is expected of all parties: Communal Responsibilities: Classroom Preparation: Students and professors must come to class prepared for that days topic and ready to engage themselves. Timeliness: Both students and professors should arrive before the official start of class, such that the professor then begins class on time. It is the responsibility of the professor to then end class on time, thus not causing students to be late for their next class. Food: Individuals should be discreet in the bringing of food into the classroom, and it is the responsibility of each person to properly dispose of any waste they may create so as not to detract from the development of a professional atmosphere. Student Responsibilities: Electronics: Electronics should only be used in support of the classroom experience. Towards this end, the following policies hold:

Cell phones/blackberries should be turned completely Off (Using the Silent mode is not sufficient). At no time should someone during the course of the class engage in making/receiving phone calls, sending/receiving SMSs/emails, using cameras, or surfing the internet with such devices. The use of computers is at the discretion of the professor, and should be made clear by him/her. If they are allowed, they should only be used to support that days material (i.e., taking notes, using the web as directed by the professor). Checking email, surfing the web for non-class related topics, chatting on the net, or working on other projects are not acceptable forms of behavior. All other forms of electronics (i-pods, MP3 players, PDAs, etc), should also be maintained in the Off position. Newspapers/Other Material: No one should be reading newspapers or other material not related to that days class. Leaving Class: Students should not be walking in and out of class to attend to other matters.

Professor Responsibilities: Class Cancellation: If a professor cancels a class, he/she must reschedule it with proper notice to all students. The Area Coordinator and Associate Dean Academic should be notified of such cancellations. Returning Assignments: Assuming their assignments are turned in on time, students are entitled to have their coursework returned within a reasonable amount of time and be provided with appropriate feedback. Final Grade Submission: Professors are required to submit final grades in accordance with universitydesignated deadlines.