Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives The objectives of this subject are for students to learn some of the standard mathematical techniques used in analysis of business problems and in the decision making based on such analysis; develop skills in carrying out financial calculations for cases such as amortisation, sinking funds and equations of value; understand the calculation of a series of index numbers, and its uses; to be able to use linear, quadratic and logarithmic functions in business calculations; understand the collection and analysis of data using elementary statistical ideas, and to apply models based on the normal distribution to practical problems; be able to formulate and test hypotheses, and to use linear regression methods.
Synopsis This subject introduces some of the fundamental mathematical and statistical methods used most commonly in business planning and decision-making. Included are basic mathematical concepts, functions and their graphics, exponential and logarithmic functions. Solutions of systems of linear equations and inequations. Arithmetic and geometric sequences; financial calculations relating to simple and compound interest, discount notes, annuities, amortisation, sinking funds and equations of value. Index numbers, especially the Australian CPI and its uses. Statistics - nature of statistical investigations, collection, presentation and interpretation of data; measures of centrality and dispersion; population distributions, the normal distribution; the sampling distribution of the sample mean; statistical inference - interval estimation for the population mean (large and small samples), choosing the sample size, sampling from a small population, basic concepts for hypothesis testing, one-tailed and two-tailed testing of hypotheses, testing an hypothesis about the population mean (large and small samples); introduction to simple linear regression.
Assessment Assignments: 50% + Examination: 50%