Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives On completion of this subject students should be familiar with the ways in which descriptive statistical methods may be used to derive information from data that are available in business and economics; have experience in the application of these methods, and the reporting and analysis of results of typical applications; have a working knowledge of the applicability and limitations of some of the statistics produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics; understand the theory of probability as a solid foundation for the later study of statistical inference and decision making under uncertainty.
Synopsis An introduction to the main techniques of descriptive statistics as they are used in business and economics - the collection, organisation, presentation and analysis of grouped and ungrouped data using measures of location and dispersion; descriptive regression; the analysis of time series data using decomposition methods for trend and seasonality, with applications to forecasting and seasonal adjustment; the construction of index numbers, with particular application to share price indices and the consumer price index; the main ideas of probability theory as a foundation for statistical inference.
Assessment Written (3 assignments [computing and report]): 30% + Examination (2 hours): 70%