ETF9121

Data analysis in business ( 6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL)

Leader: Dr Ann Maharaj

Offered:
Caulfield First semester 2006 (Day)
Caulfield Second semester 2006 (Evening)

Synopsis: This unit will introduce statistical concepts and their applications to business sectors of finance, accounting, marketing and management. Topics covered include: sampling techniques, confidence intervals and hypothesis testing (for both single populations and between populations). The multiple regression models and time series models - that are very popular in data analysis and forecasting in public sectors and industries - will be covered in detail in this unit. Prerequisites ETX1100 or AFX9510 will not apply to students who enrol in the Graduate Diploma in Applied Econometrics, the Graduate Certificate in Applied Econometrics or the Executive Certificate in Applied Econometrics.

Objectives: On successful completion of this unit students will be able to access appropriate databases and obtain relevant time series or cross sectional data and carry out statistical analyses of the data; discuss the applicability of standard sampling designs to a particular business context and use Excel to generate simple random, systematic, stratified and probability proportional to size samples. They will demonstrate an understanding of the role of inference and hypothesis testing in statistics, and their value when applied in financial, marketing and management fields. They will obtain confidence intervals for means, proportions and variances of populations and confidence intervals for differences between mean and proportion of two populations. They will use Excel to generate the results of hypothesis testing and interpret these results. They will demonstrate an understanding the role of various types of regression models in statistics, and their applications in financial, marketing and management disciplines. models involving nonlinear terms. They will demonstrate an understanding the role of time series methods in statistics, and in their applications in finance, marketing and management disciplines.

Assessment: 2 Projects totalling 40% + Examination (2 hours): 60%

Contact Hours: One 2-hour lecture and one 1-hour laboratory/tutorial session per week

Prerequisites: Students must be enrolled in course codes 3814, 3815, 3816 or 3822 or must have passed ETX1100 or AFX9510.