ECON 216 - Statistics for

Business and Economics

Andrew Narwold

Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel 7e Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chap LGS-1

In Todays Business World You

Cannot Escape From Data

In todays digital world ever increasing amounts

of data are gathered, stored, reported on, and
available for further study.

You hear the word data everywhere.

Data are facts about the world and are

constantly reported as numbers by an ever
increasing number of sources.

Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel 7e Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chap LGS-2

Each Business Person Faces A Choice Of

How To Deal With This Explosion Of Data

They can ignore it and hope for the best.

They can count on other peoples summaries of

data and hope they are correct.

They can develop their own capability and

insight into data by learning about statistics and
its application to business.

Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel 7e Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chap LGS-3

Statistics Is Evolving So Businesses Can

Use The Vast Amount Of Data Available
The emerging field of Business Analytics makes
extensive use of:

Data
Statistical and quantitative analysis
Explanatory & predictive models
Fact based management

to drive decisions and actions.

Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel 7e Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chap LGS-4

To Properly Apply Statistics You Should Follow A

Framework To Minimize Possible Errors

In this book we will use DCOVA

Define the data you want to study in order to

solve a problem or meet an objective
Collect the data from appropriate sources
Organize the data collected by developing
tables
Visualize the data by developing charts
Analyze the data collected to reach
conclusions and present results

Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel 7e Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chap LGS-5

Using The DCOVA Framework

Helps You To Apply Statistics To:

Summarize & visualize business data

Reach conclusions from those data

Make reliable forecasts about business

activities

Improve business processes

Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel 7e Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chap LGS-6

Operational Definitions Of Terms

DCOVA
VARIABLE
A characteristic of an item or individual.
DATA
The set of individual values associated with a variable.
STATISTICS
The methods that help transform data into useful
information for decision makers.
Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel 7e Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chap LGS-7

Are These Numbers Useful In

Making Decisions

A survey of 1,179 adults 18 and over reported

that 54% thought that 15 seconds was an
acceptable online ad length before seeing free
content.

A survey of more than 3,000 full-time traditionalage students found that the students spent 51%
of their time on socializing, recreation, and other
activities; 9% of their time attending class/lab;
and 7% of their time studying.

Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel 7e Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chap LGS-8

Without Statistics You Cant

Determine if the numbers in these studies are

useful information

Validate claims of causality

See patterns that large amounts of data

sometimes reveal

Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel 7e Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chap LGS-9

Two Different Branches Of

Statistics Are Used In Business
Statistics
The branch of mathematics that transforms data into
useful information for decision makers.

Descriptive Statistics

Inferential Statistics

Collecting, summarizing,
presenting and analyzing data

Using data collected from a

small group to draw conclusions
about a larger group

Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel 7e Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chap LGS-10

Business Analytics: The

Changing Face Of Statistics

Use statistical methods to analyze and explore

data to uncover unforeseen relationships.

Use management science methods to develop

models that impact an organizations strategy,
planning, and operations.

Use information systems methods to collect and

process data sets of all sizes, including very
large data sets that would otherwise be hard to
examine efficiently.

Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel 7e Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chap LGS-11

Microsoft Excel Is The Primary Data

Analysis Application In Microsoft Office

Excel uses worksheets (spreadsheets) to both store data

and present analysis results
A worksheet has rows and columns
The intersection of a specific row and column is called a
cell and is where data is stored
Standard business practice is to store the data
associated with a variable in a column
Excel saves files that it calls workbooks
A workbook is a collection of worksheets and chart
sheets
An excel file is typically saved in an .xlsx or .xls format

Statistics for Managers Using Microsoft Excel 7e Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

Chap LGS-12