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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Basic Data Descriptors, Statistical Distributions, and Application to Business Decisions by Rice University

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2,587 ratings

About the Course

The ability to understand and apply Business Statistics is becoming increasingly important in the industry. A good understanding of Business Statistics is a requirement to make correct and relevant interpretations of data. Lack of knowledge could lead to erroneous decisions which could potentially have negative consequences for a firm. This course is designed to introduce you to Business Statistics. We begin with the notion of descriptive statistics, which is summarizing data using a few numbers. Different categories of descriptive measures are introduced and discussed along with the Excel functions to calculate them. The notion of probability or uncertainty is introduced along with the concept of a sample and population data using relevant business examples. This leads us to various statistical distributions along with their Excel functions which are then used to model or approximate business processes. You get to apply these descriptive measures of data and various statistical distributions using easy-to-follow Excel based examples which are demonstrated throughout the course. To successfully complete course assignments, students must have access to Microsoft Excel. ________________________________________ WEEK 1 Module 1: Basic Data Descriptors In this module you will get to understand, calculate and interpret various descriptive or summary measures of data. These descriptive measures summarize and present data using a few numbers. Appropriate Excel functions to do these calculations are introduced and demonstrated. Topics covered include: • Categories of descriptive data • Measures of central tendency, the mean, median, mode, and their interpretations and calculations • Measures of spread-in-data, the range, interquartile-range, standard deviation and variance • Box plots • Interpreting the standard deviation measure using the rule-of-thumb and Chebyshev’s theorem ________________________________________ WEEK 2 Module 2: Descriptive Measures of Association, Probability, and Statistical Distributions This module presents the covariance and correlation measures and their respective Excel functions. You get to understand the notion of causation versus correlation. The module then introduces the notion of probability and random variables and starts introducing statistical distributions. Topics covered include: • Measures of association, the covariance and correlation measures; causation versus correlation • Probability and random variables; discrete versus continuous data • Introduction to statistical distributions ________________________________________ WEEK 3 Module 3: The Normal Distribution This module introduces the Normal distribution and the Excel function to calculate probabilities and various outcomes from the distribution. Topics covered include: • Probability density function and area under the curve as a measure of probability • The Normal distribution (bell curve), NORM.DIST, NORM.INV functions in Excel ________________________________________ WEEK 4 Module 4: Working with Distributions, Normal, Binomial, Poisson In this module, you'll see various applications of the Normal distribution. You will also get introduced to the Binomial and Poisson distributions. The Central Limit Theorem is introduced and explained in the context of understanding sample data versus population data and the link between the two. Topics covered include: • Various applications of the Normal distribution • The Binomial and Poisson distributions • Sample versus population data; the Central Limit Theorem...

Top reviews

SA

Oct 18, 2021

The course was fun and easy to follow through and i liked that when encountered with problem there is a discussion forum where facilitators and fellow students helped in solving it.thank you professor

SN

Aug 21, 2021

T​his was a really enjoyable course, but challenging too. I struggled a bit with the final assignment, but nailed it in the end. My statistical knowledge base has indeed been enhanced by this course.

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201 - 225 of 424 Reviews for Basic Data Descriptors, Statistical Distributions, and Application to Business Decisions

By Johnson D

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Mar 21, 2018

Good Course, gives a basic introduction

By Ankit P

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Nov 17, 2021

this good to get knowledge in deep way

By Vincent N

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Sep 2, 2020

Useful knowledge about the statistics!

By VIJAY Y (

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Sep 3, 2022

Very Usefull and informative course.

By JAHNAVI Z

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Sep 27, 2020

Great Course with a Great instructor!

By Jennifer R B

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Mar 25, 2020

The basic college refresher I needed.

By Wellington S

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Aug 8, 2017

Important part of the specialization.

By P. J M

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Jul 2, 2022

Excellent presentation of materials.

By Helen S

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Dec 27, 2021

第一次通过Excel的方式重新学习统计学，老师的讲解通俗易懂，非常感谢！

By Chothani S

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Sep 28, 2020

I have learend business data anaysis

By Sidhyant K U

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May 12, 2020

Well explained and designed course.

By Oladapo O

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Mar 8, 2017

Lessons learned are very impactful.

By Sean M

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Dec 5, 2016

Great course Even better Instructor

By Manmohan K

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Oct 22, 2021

It is good platform for beginners.

By Emil R

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Nov 28, 2018

Great course. Excellent Instructor

By Mayank A

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Jun 16, 2018

Explained in a very easy language.

By Hamilton E

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Oct 16, 2017

Great introductiont to Statistics.

By Siddhant K S

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May 21, 2024

Exceptionally well taught course.

By Aditya V

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Oct 24, 2021

gain good information about stata

By Bola M

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Jan 13, 2020

Great course. Highly informative.

By Harshavardhan S R

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Dec 3, 2017

It was excellent and very useful.

By Jason B

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Jun 11, 2018

Very Challenging and Informative

By Ponciano R

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May 15, 2018

Excellent course and teacher!!!!

By Adriano F d F J

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Sep 19, 2017

Excelent concepts and exercises.

By Elizabeth N M

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Sep 17, 2021

The lessons are short and clear