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Business Statistics
STAT1000A
Information Booklet
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1. Objectives
The objective of this half-course in statistics is to familiarise you with some of the concepts of statistics.
Statistics is a useful subject. It is applied in commerce and industry every day. A broader objective is to
teach you to identify the types of situations in commerce that require the use of statistics. By the end of the
course, students are expected to be able to understand how statistics can be used to:
• develop a feel for data
• attach probabilities to events of interest model practical situations using appropriate probability
distributions
• make deductions based on a sample of data
• use relevant data for forecasting
• examine relationships between variables.
The section on time series introduces the complex procedures available for analysing datasets where
observations are made sequentially in time. Most data in commerce and industry are time series data since
they are collected over several successive days, weeks, months, or years - for example, the closing price of a
share is recorded every day. We then learn about probability and realise that the data sets that we studied in
descriptive statistics represent only part of the picture rather than the whole picture. However, our data sets
give us some indication of the whole picture. For example, an opinion poll gives us some indication of the
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results of a future election. Only the election itself can tell us which way the whole population is leaning. In
the section on probability distributions, we learn to formulate models that describe ‘the whole picture’. In
the sections on inference and p-values, we generalise from our sample of data to a whole population of data:
specifically, we use the data to estimate measures that describe the population and to see whether the data
support claims about these measures. The last topic examines whether two variables (for example, eye
colour and hair colour) are related.
3. Prescribed Materials
The following materials are required for the course. These appear on the STAT1000 Canvas site on Ulwazi.
1. Information booklet.
2. Lecture outlines,
3. Tutorial Pack and Test Pack.
4. A statistical calculator. (i.e. Casio FC-100/FC-100V, Sharp EL-531VH, etc.)
Item 4 is any calculator that will carry out elementary univariate and bivariate statistical calculations. It is
required to have the following minimum capabilities: Basic arithmetic operations, powers and roots,
logarithms, and exponents to base e, one addressable memory, means and variances, correlation, and simple
linear regression. Please note that the onus is on the student to find out how to perform the required
operations on the calculator, so be sure to obtain (and read!) the instruction booklet for your calculator.
NB: Printed versions of the items 2 and 3 are available and students are required to come pick up the same
from the administrator Mrs Amritha Orie on Monday 17 July 2023 on floor 2 of MSB202 (Mathematical
Sciences Building, West Campus – opposite the Science Stadium) during the following times:
A Diagonal: 09h00-10h00
C Diagonal: 13h00-14h00
D Diagonal: 11h00-12h00
E Diagonal: 10h00-11h00
4. Lecturers
This half-course in statistics runs on four diagonals and the lecturing team is as follows:
A Diagonal:
• Dr F. Mlambo – Block 3 & first 0.5 of Block 4: farai.mlambo@wits.ac.za
• Dr J. Majakwara – Last 0.5 of Block 4 (Chapter 8): jacob.majakwara@wits.ac.za
C Diagonal:
• Ms N. Ndebele – Block 3: nothabo.ndebele@wits.ac.za
• Dr H. Hove – Block 4: herbert.hove@wits.ac.za
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D Diagonal:
• Dr S. Mamane – Block 3 & Block 4: salha.mamane@wits.ac.za
E Diagonal:
• Dr F. Mlambo – Block 3 & Block 4: farai.mlambo@wits.ac.za
5. Lectures
Weekly, pre-recorded lecture videos will be posted in the modules folder on Ulwazi. Students must watch
the videos for each week whilst working through the lecture outlines and also attempt the practice tutorial
questions after watching the lecture videos. A major challenge in statistics arises from the fact that it
involves problem solving. Students must work consistently through the lecture examples, tutorial and test
packs.
6. Compulsory Online Q&A (BBB, Ulwazi) and Physical Tutorial Sessions (On-Campus)
The 12h30-13h15 session for each diagonal will be used for online Q&A. This is a compulsory session,
starting the second week of lectures (Monday, 24 July 2023). The online Q&A is meant to clarify problem
areas from the lecture videos. Below are the times for the online Q&A sessions:
The 14h00-16h00 session for each diagonal will be used for a face-to-face tutorial on campus. Face-to-face
tutorials start in the second week of lectures (Monday, 24 July 2023) and are compulsory. Students are given
a printed copy of tutorial questions with final answers to work through after watching the lecture videos.
You are expected to work through the tutorial questions from the tutorial pack you received prior to the
tutorial. The lecturer will be available during these tutorials to assist with challenging questions.
Furthermore, you will be given an online tutorial of additional questions during a tutorial week. The tutorial
is designed so that you can test your knowledge on the work covered in the lecture videos. You can work
individually or in groups. The ability to solve problems cannot be taught or passed on from one person to
another. You can work individually or in groups. Below are the times for the physical tutorials on campus:
7. Test Dates
Every student has a test approximately every three weeks. Four tests will be written on the following dates:
Test 1: Monday 7 August 2023
Test 2: Monday 21 August 2023
Test 3: Monday 18 September 2023
Test 4: Monday 16 October 2023
*These test dates are subject to change. Please check your announcement tab on Ulwazi regularly!
NB: All tests will be invigilated on campus. Test venues will be communicated towards the test date.
Students are required to write all four tests. Students who have missed a test (for a valid reason) should
submit a letter with supporting documents to the course administrator - Mrs Orie (amritha.orie@wits.ac.za)
within 3 working days. In lieu of the missed assessment, a deferred test, spanning all the work
examined in all 4 tests, will be written at the end of the semester. The deferred test will only be
granted for ONE missed assessment. If you miss more than one assessment, a mark of ZERO will be
given for the other missed assessments.
All tests will consist of ten multiple choice questions. Students will need only pencils, pens, calculators and
erasers. Pencil cases, cellphones, and bags, etc have to be left at the back or front of the test venue.
Note: Your written test script may be selected and hand marked, in which case the mark of your written
script will override the mark you obtained from the answers on your computer card. Thus, you should make
sure you write your name and student number on your test scripts and ensure that you write down each
solution as clear and fully as possible (as though it would be marked). This will also give you practice in
setting out your solutions for your final exam. The selection of test scripts to be marked will be done on a
random basis.
Step 1: Complete the back of the sheet with the relevant information, ie your name, the date etc.
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The group number is not relevant. You must use a pen on this side of the sheet only!
Step 2: Fill in your student number on the front of the sheet. Ignore the alphabetic character at the end of
the student number.
Step 3: Answer the questions in the test by making pencil marks on the computer sheet in the relevant
positions. Please do not hesitate to ask your lecturer or tutor or the secretary MSB 149 if you are not sure
about filling in your number on the computer sheet.
Make sure that all pencil marks are dark enough. The pencil mark should be so dark that the pink
numbers inside the circles cannot be seen through the pencil mark.
Final mark = [0.3 x Block 1 Assessments] + [0.3 x Block 2 Assessments] + [0.4 x Final Exam]
where:
Block 1 Assessments = [0. 9 x (Average of Test 1 and Test 2)] + [0.1 x (Average of Online Tuts/Quizzes for
Test 1 and Test 2)]
Block 2 Assessments = [0. 9 x (Average of Test 3 and Test 4)] + [0.1 x (Average of Online Tuts/Quizzes for
Test 3 and Test 4)]
Each of the tests will consist of ten questions and will be subjected to negative marking. The topics covered
for each test is specified in the lecture breakdown at the end of this document. Any changes to the syllabus
to be tested will be specified under the Announcement tab on the STAT1000A Ulwazi site. The onus is on
the student to attend all lectures so that he/she knows what each test covers. The final exam consists of
multiple-choice questions interspersed with questions that require written answers. The date of the final
exam will be published by the Exams Office.
NOTE:
• A subminimum of 40% for the written exam will be enforced to obtain a pass result.
• The final exam covers the whole semester's work: no work is “written off” before then.
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• Students who miss the final exam for any reason should contact their Faculty of registration
immediately to apply for a deferred examination. The school/course coordinator does not review
deferred applications.
13. Responsibility.
Please note that one of the rules at this university is that “employment or involvement in student affairs will
not be considered as extenuating circumstances if [students] fail their course”. Employment or involvement
in student affairs or sport are not considered to be valid reasons for missing lectures, tutorials and/or tests.
14. Communication.
PLEASE CHECK THE STAT1000A CANVAS SITE ON ULWAZI FREQUENTLY FOR NEW
NOTICES. Please talk to/email your lecturers in/out of Q&A and Tutorial sessions for any assistance that
you require.
July 2022
M T W T F S S
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Lectures start. Students to watch weekly videos.
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Additional Tut 1 (Descriptive Statistics)
August 2022
M T W T F S S Additional Tut 2 (Descriptive Regression)
31 1 2 3 4 5 6 Additional Tut 3 (Time Series)
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 TEST 1 (Covering work from Tuts 1&2)
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Additional Tut 4 (Probability to P2/22 in outlines)
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 TEST 2 (Covering work from Tuts 3&4)
28 29 30 31 1 2 3 Additional Tut 4 part 2 & Tut5 (Discrete Distributions)
September 2022
M T W T F S S
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Study Break
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Additional Tut 6 (Continuous Distributions)
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 TEST 3 (Covering work from Tuts 4, 5, part of Tut 6)
25 26 27 28 29 30 1 Additional Tut 7 (Norm Distr., CLT, Conf. Intervals)
October 2022
M T W T F S S
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Additional Tut 8 (Hypothesis testing)
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Revision Week
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 TEST 4 (Covering work from Tuts 6,7,8) / Study Break
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Study Break
30 31 1 2 3 4 5 Exams Start
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Section No. of Topics
lectures
Chapter 1: 7 Summarise data into frequency tables, stem and leaf plots. Plotting bar
Descriptive graphs, histograms, pie graphs, frequency polygons, and ogives.
Statistics Understanding and calculating measures of central tendency (mean, median,
mode, percentiles, quartiles) and measures of spread (range, inter-quartile
ranges, standard deviation, variance, and coefficient of variance.
Chapter 2: 3 Fit a regression line to paired observations
Descriptive Calculation and interpreting the correlation coefficient using the regression
Regression line to predict the dependent variable for some value of the independent
variable
Chapter 3: Time 6 Identify the form of a time series in terms of the included components and
Series their method of combination – addition or multiplication. Obtain
exponential smoothing forecasts using appropriate models and smoothing.
Calculate decomposition forecasts using appropriate models
Chapter 4: 9 Concept of probability. Permutations and combinations to count the number
Probability of outcomes in an event. Various probability laws. Set up, understand, and
use trees and tables. Recognise and use conditional probabilities and
statistical independence
Chapter 5: 8 Understand the need for creating a random variable in probability theory.
Discrete random Identification and application of Discrete distributions: binomial and
variables Poisson
Chapter 6: 5 Exponential, t and Normal distributions
Continuous
random variables
Chapter 7: 21 Make inferences about population means and proportions (for the 1 sample
Inference case only) using small sample data.
Estimating parameters of the population using point estimates and
confidence intervals.
Testing hypotheses relating to claims about values of the population means
(for one and two sample case) and proportions (for the 1 sample case only).
Calculating and interpreting p values
Chapter 8: Chi- 4 Test whether two variables are independent.
squared test