ECON 121: STATISTICS – I

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course deals with statistical concepts, such as data presentation, graphs, measures of central
tendency and dispersion, correlation, and index numbers.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the course, students will be able to collect, present and analyze the data. More
specifically, the course will equip students to:
 Understand techniques of data collection and data presentation
 Analyze data by using statistical techniques
 Communicate the results of statistical work, and more specifically write up the results of
statistical analysis in a report consisting of a non-technical abstract for decision makers, so that
they can improve their decisions.
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Upon successful completion of the course, the student will:
1. UNDERSTAND and be able to CALCULATE basic statistical concepts(tabular and graphic
representation of data, measures of central tendency, dispersion and asymmetry, correlation)
2. APPLY knowledge to SOLVE simple tasks using computer software, such as MS Excel,
SPSS.
3. based on the acquired knowledge to INTERPRET the meaning of the calculated statistical
results
COURSE CONTENTS
1. Statistics and Statistical Thinking
 The Science of Statistics and its importance
 Fundamental Elements of Statistics
 The Role of Statistics in Critical Thinking and Ethics
2. Organizing Data
 Types of Variables Measurement Scales (nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio scale)
 Data Collection Methods
 Presentation of data through classification, tabulation, diagrams and graphs
3. Descriptive Measures
 Measures of Location: Mean, Median, Mode, Geometric Mean, Qartiles, Deciles &
Percentiles
 Measures of Dispersion; Range, Mean Absolute Deviation, Standard Deviation,
Coefficient of Variation, Boxplots
4. Probability
 Sample space
 Events
 Operations with events
 Counting Sample Points
 Probability of an event
 Rules of Probability
 Conditional Probability
 Bayes Theorem
5. Distribution of Random Variable and Discrete
 Concept of random variable
 Discrete probability distribution
 Continuous probability Distribution
 Joint Probability Distribution
 Mean and Standard Deviation of a Discrete Random Variable

 6. The Normal Distribution

 Normal Curve
 Area Under the normal Curve
 Application of the Normal Distribution
 7. Testing of Hypothesis
 Statistical Hypothesis
 Testing of Statistical hypothesis
 One and two-tailed tests
 Testing of mean and variance
 Goodness-of-Fit test

8. Regression and correlation

 Linear regression and regression analysis
 Inferences concerning the regression coefficients
 Prediction
 Multiple regression and linear correlation
9. Index Numbers
 Defining an Index Number
 Un-weighted Aggregates Index
 Weighted Aggregates Index
 Average of Relative Methods
 Quantity and Value Indices

TEACHING METHODOLOGY:
 Lectures
 In Class Activities
 Assignments
 Practical (Basics of Excel / SPSS, optional)
TEXT AND REFERENCE BOOKS:
 Walpole E. Ronalde, Introduction to Statistics, (3rd Edition)
 Anderson, Sweeney and Williams, Statistics for Business and Economics, South-
Western, Cengage Learning. (latest edition)
 Weiss, N. A. Elementary Statistics, Pearson. (latest edition)