Overview Objective Materials grading Exam ELI Policies and Procedures Contacting the Instructor Beginning the Course
BUS 220: Introduction to Business Statistics (3 credits)
Professor: Bipin Khana

Overview

BUS 220 is designed to familiarize students without a strong mathematical background with some of the methods used to analyze, interpret, and collect data in businesses, economics, and social sciences. Students need to be familiar with high school algebra and basic use of a scientific calculator. This course will take an intuitive approach in understanding statistics. It will emphasize more on the understanding of statistical concepts and interpreting data, and less on theory, calculations, and computations. This course will aspire to enhance students' abilities to use numeric information to make strategic business decisions that help businesses solve problems, increase profits and improve competitiveness in the marketplace. After taking this course, students will have a better appreciation as to how data is used to enhance decision making in all social sciences.

Prerequisite: None.

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Objectives

 

If you do well in this course, you will be able to:

  • Be familiar with basic statistical terms such as discrete variable, continuous variable, statistical inference, population, sample, and sample distribution.
  • Be able to round numbers to appropriate number of significant digits when performing calculations.
  • Determine the mean, median, mode, and type of skewness for ungrouped data.
  • Identify the modal class and median class of a frequency distribution; compute relative frequencies and percentiles.
  • Compute measures of dispersion, including the range, variance, standard deviation, and the coefficient of variation.
  • Know the basic probability concepts and apply the multiplication and addition rules of probability to business applications.
  • Use the Normal, Poisson, and Binomial tables to solve business problems.
  • Know how to use Chebyshev's Theorem for determining probabilities for any set of data.
  • Compute and interpret coefficients of correlation (both Pearson and Spearman) and the coefficient of determination (R squared).
  • Compute and interpret link and chain index numbers based on economic and business time-series data. Use price index numbers to determine real wages and constant-dollar balance sheets.
  • Know the various types of acceptable sampling methods and the concept of sampling distributions and Central Limit Theorem.
  • Compute interval estimates (confidence intervals) for the population mean and proportion.
  • Determine the required minimum sample sizes for interval estimates, given the acceptable accuracy and degree of confidence.
  • Familiarize with the usage of computers and statistical packages to solve business problems.
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Materials

 

The required textbook for this course is:

  • Statistical Techniques in Business and Economics, 12/e by Douglas Lind, William Marchal, and Samuel Wathen
    ISBN 0072868244 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
For information on how to order your textbooks, go to http://eli.nvcc.edu/books/

Additional Materials:None.

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Grading
 

Your course grade will be determined by the introductory letter, 1 project and 4 exams, according to the following points:

Assignment
Points
Weekly Quizzes (10)
400
Exams (2)
400
Total
800

You can earn up to 700 points for the entire course. Final grades will be assigned according to the number of points you have earned.

Grading Scale
A
720-800 points
B
719-640 points
C
639-560 points
D
559-480 points
F
Below 558 points
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Exams

 

There are two (2) online exams in this course. You are expected to take your examinations at one of the NVCC campus Testing Centers.

Note: ELI exams are not given at the Medication Education Campus.) Be sure to allow enough time to complete your exam before the Testing Center closes; Testing Centers have specific policies relating to the administration of ELI exams. You will need to take a photo ID, your NovaConnect empl ID number, and the appropriate Exam Pass when you go to the Testing Center.  

For Testing Center locations, hours of operation and policies, click here.

For information on taking exams outside of the metropolitan area, click here.

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ELI Policies and Procedures

 
This is an Extended Learning Institute (ELI) course. ELI courses differ from campus courses in several important ways, including enrollment dates, communication with faculty, assignment completion requirements, and exams. You must follow ELI's policies and procedures if you take this course. Read (or review) ELI's Policies and Procedures before you begin the course. If you have questions, call ELI at (703) 323-3347 or (800) 627-5443.
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Contacting the Instructor

 

I am here to help you succeed in this course. Occasionally questions or problems may arise. Here is how to contact me when they do:

E-mail: bkhana@nvcc.edu
Telephone: (703) 878-5644

You can contact me to set up an appointment at my office at the Woodbridge Campus, Room 302-R. 


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Beginning the Course

 

1. Use your web browser to connect to http://www.nvcc.edu/bbstart. Follow the directions to determine your email, Blackboard and VIVA account user names and passwords.
2. Access your email account and make sure you know how to use it; you will be required to use this account for all course-related email.
3. Log on to Blackboard at http://learn.vccs.edu.
4. Click on this course under "My Courses." Review the entire course to make sure you understand what will be required of you. Then start completing the assignments.

Please note that account generation takes approximately one week from the time of your paid registration. If you cannot log on after one week, contact the IT Help Desk. If you can log on to Blackboard, but your course isn't listed, please contact ELI or your instructor.