THE EAST AFRICAN UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
BUSINESS MATHEMATICS
COURSE OUTLINE

1. PROBABILITY
 Introduction to probability
 Sample space
 Types of events
 Laws of probability: Addition laws of mutually exclusive events
Additional laws of non-mutually exclusive events
Multiplication law of independent events
Multiplication law of dependent events
 Elementary probability tree
2. MATRICES
 Introduction: Definitions and order of a matrix
 Row and column matrices
 Equal matrices
 Matrix operations: Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication
 Laws of matrices: Associative, Distributive and Commutative laws
 Types of matrices: Square matrix, Identity matrix, Null matrix, Diagonal matrix,
Scalar matrix, symmetric matrix
 Orthogonal matrix
 Transpose of a matrix
 Determinant of a matrix
 Singular and non singular matrix
 Inverse of a matrix
3. SET THEORY
 Introduction: Definition and equality of sets
 Set operations and notations
 Set identities
 Venn diagrams
4. ELEMENTARY STATISTICS
 Definition of statistics
 Functions of statistics
 Types of statistics: descriptive and inferential statistics
 Types of data: qualitative and quantitative data
 Data collection methods
 Sources of data: primary and secondary
 Types of survey: complete enumeration and sample survey
 Sampling techniques
 Probabilistic techniques: simple random sampling, stratified random sampling,
cluster sampling, systematic sampling, multi-stage sampling
Non probabilistic techniques: convenient sampling, snowball sampling,
purposive sampling, quota sampling
 Measures of central tendency; mean, mode, median
 Measures of dispersion; range, variance, standard deviation
5. ORGANIZATION AND PRESENTATION OF DATA
 Frequency tables
 Definition and types of data tabulation
 Graphical presentation of frequency distributions: bar charts, frequency dot diagram,
frequency polygon, histogram, o-give, stem and leaf diagram, pictogram, pie chart
6. COMMERCIAL MATHEMATICS
 Currency and rates of exchange
 Discounts and commission
 Simple interest and compound interest
 Depreciation of assets
7. EQUATIONS
 Linear equations
 Quadratic equations and expressions
 Polynomials of higher order ( > 2 )
 Simultaneous equations solving
 Two unknowns : elimination and substitution
 More than two unknowns : matrix method

REFERENCES
i. B. M. Aggarwal, 2010, Business Mathematics and Statistics, Gopaljee Enterprises, Delhi
ii. Mann P.S. (2000): Introduction to Statistics, John Wiley and Sons Ltd
iii. Introduction to Quantitative Techniques, The Association of Business Executives (ABE), United
Kingdom