Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-1 Statistics for Managers using Microsoft Excel 6 th Global Edition Chapter 1 Introduction

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-2 Learning Objectives In this chapter you learn: How business uses statistics The basic vocabulary of statistics How to use Microsoft Excel with this book

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-3 Why Learn Statistics Make better sense of the world Internet articles / reports Magazine articles Newspaper articles Television & radio reports Make better business decisions Business memos Business research Technical journals Technical reports

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-4 In Business, Statistics Has Many Important Uses To summarize business data To draw conclusions from business data To make reliable forecasts about business activities To improve business processes

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-5 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 Collecting, summarizing, presenting and analyzing data Inferential Statistics Using data collected from a small group to draw conclusions about a larger group

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-6 These Two Branches Are Used In The Important Activities To summarize business data Descriptive methods used to create charts & tables To draw conclusions from business data Inferential methods used to reach conclusions about a large group based on data from a smaller group To make reliable forecasts about business activities Inferential methods used to develop, quantify, and improve the accuracy of predictive models To improve business processes Involves managerial approaches like Six Sigma

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-7 Descriptive Statistics Collect data e.g., Survey Present data e.g., Tables and graphs Characterize data e.g., The sample mean

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-8 Inferential Statistics Estimation e.g., Estimate the population mean weight using the sample mean weight Hypothesis testing e.g., Test the claim that the population mean weight is 120 pounds Drawing conclusions about a large group of individuals based on a smaller group.

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-9 Basic Vocabulary of Statistics VARIABLES Variables are a characteristics of an item or individual and are what you analyze when you use a statistical method. DATA Data are the different values associated with a variable. OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS Data values are meaningless unless their variables have operational definitions, universally accepted meanings that are clear to all associated with an analysis.

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-10 Basic Vocabulary of Statistics POPULATION A population consists of all the items or individuals about which you want to draw a conclusion. The population is the “large group” SAMPLE A sample is the portion of a population selected for analysis. The sample is the “small group” PARAMETER A parameter is a numerical measure that describes a characteristic of a population. STATISTIC A statistic is a numerical measure that describes a characteristic of a sample.

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-11 Population vs. Sample PopulationSample Measures used to describe the population are called parameters Measures used to describe the sample are called statistics

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-12 This Book Is Organized To Show The Four Uses Of Statistics To summarize business data (Chapters 2 & 3) To draw conclusions from business data (Chapters 4 – 12) To make reliable forecasts about business activities (Chapters 13 – 16) To improve business processes (Chapter 18)

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-13 Chapter Summary  Introduced the basic vocabulary of statistics and the role of statistics in turning data into information to facilitate decision making  Examined the use of statistics to:  Summarize data  Draw conclusions from data  Make reliable forecasts  Improve business processes  Examined descriptive vs. inferential statistics In this chapter, we have

Copyright ©2011 Pearson Education 1-14 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.