Theory: Basic statistics, population – sample – sampling techniques, descriptive statistics, probability and probability distributions, inferential statistics, simple and multiple regression, linear regression, time series analysis and forecasting.

Workshops: Students will be trained in the basic functions of the statistical package Statgraphics. Statistical analysis of real business data sets will be carried out using Statgraphics.

The contemporary business environment requires sound decision-making based on the analysis of facts (data). The objective of this course is to familiarize students with the basic concepts and principles of statistics to enable them to incorporate statistical thinking in business decisions.

On completion of the course students will:

• have an understanding of the basic statistical concepts and principles;
• be able to directly apply basic statistical techniques in different business functions, for example, marketing, sales, production and finance;
• be able to perform basic and more complex statistical procedures using appropriate statistical packages; and
• use business data to draw conclusions that can be used for management decision making.