Teaching code

4S00522

Teacher

Coordinator

Credits

6

Language

Italian

Scientific Disciplinary Sector (SSD)

SECS-S/03 - ECONOMIC STATISTICS

Period

Primo Semestre Magistrali dal Oct 2, 2017 al Dec 22, 2017.

Lessons timetable Moodle Seminars 0

Learning outcomes

The course aims at providing the knowledge needed to collect and analyse useful data for business management, supporting the decision-making process within a firm. In a business environment that needs to analyse increasing amounts of data, the application of appropriate statistical methods to business data provides information supporting management decisions. The course intends to discuss the rationale behind the application of statistical methods to business data and to explain their application fields. On these premises, topics are introduced by considering the information needs that can be met through statistical methods, focusing on the reasons for applying statistical tools to practical cases. The definition of the data describing a business concept and the selection of the relevant data source are necessary to meet the information needs above.
By the end of the course, students are expected to acquire:
- the knowledge of the data sources that can be used to meet information needs;
- the knowledge of the statistical methods for business analysis, according to available data and information needs;
- the ability to apply univariate and multivariate statistical methods to data;
- the ability to interpret results and provide information supporting management decisions.

Program

Data sources and statistical information for business
- Primary and secondary data
- Internal and external sources of data

Economic and business indicators
- Simple index numbers
- Composite index numbers
- Consumer price indices and producer price indices
- Measures of real and nominal variations in economic aggregates
- Measures of productivity variation
- Turnover rates
- Career transition measures

Descriptive statistics for analysing business data
- Market basket analysis
- Correlation between business variables
- Distance measures between statistical units

Multivariate statistical analysis for business data and company business performances
- Multiple and simple linear regression models for analysing business performances
- Cluster analysis on business data
- Principal components analysis on accounting ratios

Statistical quality control in business
- Control chart for variables
- Control chart for attributes
- Process capability ratios
- Analysis of variance
- Statistical sampling in auditing

Business forecasting
- Delphi analysis
- Smoothing techniques: moving averages and exponential smoothing
- Techniques for decomposing economic time series applied to business forecasting

The course is organized in frontal lessons. The exam preparation material includes the recommended textbook and additional materials available on the e-learning platform of the course.

Examination Methods

The assessment of learning outcomes consists of a mandatory written exam and an optional oral exam. Only students with a score equal to or higher than 18/30 on the written exam can take the oral exam.

Exam purposes
The written exam (mandatory) assesses the level of knowledge of the course topics, and the ability to apply statistical methods for business and the interpretation of results.
The oral exam (optional) assesses:
- level of student’s knowledge;
- lexical proficiency;
- analytical skills.


Exam contents
Written exam is broken down into two parts:
- The first part comprises short-answer questions about all topics of the course.
- The second part comprises i) an open question about a specific topic of the course, ii) two exercises in which students are asked to apply statistical methods for business data analysis and to interpret the results.
Oral exam covers all topics of the course.



Assessment criteria
The exam score is on a 30-point scale. The first part of the written test awards up to 10 points, out of 30. The second part of the written test awards up to 20 points, out of 30. The passing score for the written exam is 18/30. Only students who passed the written exam (mandatory) can take the oral exam (optional).
The final score is on a 30-point scale.