Statistics

One of the early courses in the MBA curriculum that some students find challenging is DECISION 311: Probability and Statistics.

About DECISION 311: Probability and Statistics

Regardless of the setting, management decisions are often made under conditions of uncertainty. The probability and statistics course will introduce a framework for thinking about problems involving uncertainty and, building on this framework, will develop tools for interpreting data and making predictions. You will gain an understanding of statistical modeling concepts and the ability to interpret statistical analyses and use them in making decisions. You will learn what the analysis can do for you, not just learn a few formulas into which one plugs numbers.  The goal is to learn how statistics can be valuable in managerial decision making and to provide an appropriate foundation in probability and statistics for subsequent Fuqua courses.

What You Should Know

We assume basic proficiency with exploratory data analysis (statistical graphics and summary statistics such as the mean, median, mode, and standard deviation).  Familiarity with Excel, with the use of Excel to compute basic summary statistics, and with some basic concepts from algebra will be helpful.  Beyond that, you do not need to understand statistical concepts before taking the course.  The course is self-contained in that regard.

What Other Courses Use These Concepts and Skills?

Practically all courses -- especially Economics, Marketing, Finance, Operations Management, Decision Models, and many electives throughout the program.

What Will Be Covered

The course covers the following concepts:

1. Introduction to probability, conditional probability, and random variables
2. Sampling, sampling distributions, estimation, and prediction
3. Statistical dependence and relationships among variables
4. Simple and multiple regression
5. Time series and forecasting

For more details, see the course syllabus (available to admitted students during the pre-reading period).

To Preview or Review on Your Own

We suggest Pre-Program Math Foundations software --  Module III  (available to admitted students only).

If you want some exposure to exploratory data analysis (statistical graphics and summary statistics) beyond what is given in the Math Software, any standard business statistics textbook should be suitable.

One of the early courses in the MBA curriculum that some students find challenging is DECISION 311: Statistical Models.

About DECISION 311: Statistical Models

Regardless of the setting, management decisions are often made under conditions of uncertainty. The statistical course will introduce a framework for thinking about problems involving uncertainty and, building on this framework, will develop tools for interpreting data and making predictions. You will gain an understanding of statistical modeling concepts and the ability to interpret statistical analyses and use them in making decisions. You will learn what the analysis can do for you, not just learn a few formulas into which one plugs numbers.  The goal is to learn how statistics can be valuable in managerial decision making and to provide an appropriate foundation in probability and statistics for subsequent Fuqua courses.

What You Should Know

We assume and make use of basic proficiency with exploratory data analysis (statistical graphics and summary statistics such as the mean, median, mode, and standard deviation).  We also assume familiarity with the use of Excel to build simple models and compute basic summary statistics. Some basic concepts from algebra will be helpful.  Beyond that, you do not need to understand statistics, risk or optimization concepts before taking the course.  The course is self-contained in that regard.

What Other Courses Use These Concepts and Skills?

Practically all courses -- especially Economics, Marketing, Finance, and Operations Management.

What Will Be Covered

The course covers the following concepts:

1. Using Excel Solver to search for optimal solutions to complex decision problems
2. Using decision trees to solve multi-stage problems with uncertainties
3. Modeling uncertainty and risk using probability and random variables
4. Using simulation to explore and solve problems with complex uncertainties
5. Interpreting sample data
6. Using regression to improve predictions

To Preview or Review on Your Own

We suggest Pre-Program Math Foundations software -- Module III (available to admitted students only.) If you want some exposure to exploratory data analysis (statistical graphics and summary statistics) beyond what is given in the Math software, any standard business statistics textbook should be suitable.

One of the early courses in the MBA curriculum that some students find challenging is DECISION 311: Statistical Models.

About DECISION 311: Statistical Models

Regardless of the setting, management decisions are often made under conditions of uncertainty. The statistical course will introduce a framework for thinking about problems involving uncertainty and, building on this framework, will develop tools for interpreting data and making predictions. You will gain an understanding of statistical modeling concepts and the ability to interpret statistical analyses and use them in making decisions. You will learn what the analysis can do for you, not just learn a few formulas into which one plugs numbers.  The goal is to learn how statistics can be valuable in managerial decision making and to provide an appropriate foundation in probability and statistics for subsequent Fuqua courses.

What You Should Know

We assume basic proficiency with exploratory data analysis (statistical graphics and summary statistics such as the mean, median, mode, and standard deviation).  Familiarity with Excel, with the use of Excel to compute basic summary statistics, and with some basic concepts from algebra will be helpful.  Beyond that, you do not need to understand statistical concepts before taking the course.  The course is self-contained in that regard.

What Other Courses Use These Concepts and Skills?

Practically all courses -- especially Economics, Marketing, Finance, and Operations Management.

What Will Be Covered

The course covers the following concepts:

1. Exploratory data analysis:  statistical graphics and summary statistics
2. Sampling, sampling distributions, estimation, and prediction
3. Statistical dependence and relationships among variables
4. Simple and multiple regression
5. Time series and forecasting

To Preview or Review on Your Own

We suggest Pre-Program Math Foundations software-- Module III (available to admitted students only.) If you want some exposure to exploratory data analysis (statistical graphics and summary statistics) beyond what is given in the Math software, any standard business statistics textbook should be suitable.