• Assessment criteria for all assessment tasks will be provided on the unit iLearn site.

• It is the responsibility of students to view their marks for each within-session assessment on iLearn within 20 working days of posting. If there are any discrepancies, students must contact the unit convenor immediately. Failure to do so will mean that queries received after the release of final results regarding assessment marks (not including the final exam mark) will not be addressed.

• In the cases where a special consideration application is approved, the student may be offered an alternative assessment or may receive a mark based on the percentage mark achieved by the student in one or more other assessment tasks, at the unit convenor’s discretion.

The textbook for this unit is:

Croucher, John. S. (2020). Quantitative Analysis for Management, 6th edition. McGraw-Hill Education. ISBN: 9781760425029

You should have this textbook with you for all Zoom classes as it is also a workbook and will be referred to by the lecturer..

Please note: Students should only attain the 6th edition of this textbook, which is the only edition this class will be taught from. Furthermore, this course relies heavily on the learning material provided in the textbook (which also acts as an exercise book for in-class demonstration and activities). It is highly advised that students attain the required textbook as soon as possible and familiarise themselves with the textbook material, especially before the start of each class session for sessions with specific allocated chapters (which is made available in the unit schedule below as well as the class iLearn page). 

Where to purchase the textbook?

McGraw Hill Education Australia – Online store: This textbook is also available for order via the publisher’s online store. For information on textbook prices and online ordering, please refer to the McGraw Hill Education Australia online store at https://www.mheducation.com.au/quantitative-analysis-for-management-6e-9781760425029-aus

Additional Recommended Text

The text listed below are optional only. It is not compulsory to attain a copy.

• Croucher, John S. (2016). Introductory mathematics and statistics for business (6th edition- revised). McGraw-Hill.
• Render, B., Stair, R., Hanna, M.E. and Hale, T.S. (2018). Quantitative analysis for management (13th edition). Pearson.
• Bowerman, B.L., O’Connell, R. and Murphree, E. (2016). Business statistics in practice (8th edition). McGraw-Hill

Calculator

A basic calculator with specific keys shown below is required in this unit since it will be used in all class tests and final exam. You may find it useful, but it is not necessary, to have a statistical calculator that has in-built statistical functions. There are several types of these: 

• The lowest level statistical calculator has function keys such as the mean and standard deviation but no other statistical function keys.
• The next level above also has function keys for correlation and linear regression. An example is one of the Casio fx series such as the 82 or 100 series, but there are many others.

In any case, your calculator should include the following keys:

 x!        ex       nCr

You need to bring your calculator to every session class.

Access to Technology

Access to a personal computer and internet connection is required to access learning material/resources online on Macquarie University's online learning management system called iLearn.

Students will also be required to gain access to statistical software called Minitab 16.  This can be downloaded from the iLearn web page, along with the 2020 licence file. The unit will also use the data analysis section of Microsoft Excel for some topics.

MMBA8160 Data and Business Analytics

Remote Delivery Mode via Zoom

Unit Convenor – Professor John Croucher

         Session 1

• • Introduction to statistics - ch 1.1
  • Sampling procedures - ch 1.2 - 1.3
  • Summarising data - ch 1.4 - 1.7
  • Measures of centre - ch 1.8 - 1.14
  • Other statistical measures - ch 1.13 - 1.14, 1.16, 1.18 - 1.19
  • Data analytics - ch 1.20
  •  
• Session 2
• • • Measures of variation - ch 2.1 - 2.3, 2.5 - 2.7
    • Using Microsoft Excel - ch 2.9
    • Using Minitab - ch 2.11
    • Normal distribution - ch 2.13
    • Areas under the normal curve - ch 2.14 - 2.18
    • Applications - ch 2.19
•  
• Session 3
• • Estimation - ch 3.1 - 3.3
  • Confidence intervals - ch 3.4 - 3.10
  • Random variables - ch 3.13 - 3.16
  • Factorials, permutations and combinations - ch 3.17 - 3.19
  • Lotto type games - ch 3.20

Session 4

• • Correlation - ch 4.1 - 4.8
  • Time series models - ch 4.9 - 4.11
  • Regression models - ch 4.12 - 4.19

Session 5

• Exponential smoothing models - ch 4.23 - 4.28
• Seasonal data - ch 4.29 - 4.30
• Lag effects - ch 4.31 - 4.33
• Categorical data - ch 5.1 - 5.3
• Single variable data - ch 5.4 - 5.7
• Contingency tables - ch 5.8 - 5.10

Session 6

• Introduction to hypothesis testing - ch 6.1 - 6.5
• Power of a test - ch 6.6
• One-sample tests - ch 6.7 - 6.12
• Using Minitab - ch 6.13 - 6.16

Session 7

• Analysis of variance (one-way) - ch 8.1 - 8.3, 8.5
• Multiple comparisons - ch 8.8 - 8.9
• Analysis of variance (two-way) - ch 8.10
• Using Minitab - ch 8.11
• Visual displays - ch 8.13 - 8.19

Session 8

• • Odds and probability - ch 9.1 - 9.3
  • Odds ratios - ch 9.4
  • Binary logistics regression - Single covariate - ch 9.5 - 9.7
  • Using Minitab - ch 9.8 - 9.9
  • Testing of parameters - ch 9.10 - 9.12
  • Binary logistic regression - Multiple covariate - ch 9.13

Session 9

• Queueing systems - ch 12.1
• Definitions and parameters - ch 12.2 - 12.9
• A simple queue - ch 12.10
• Calculation of probabilities and outcomes - ch 12.11, 12.13 - 12.14
• Multiple server queues - ch 12.16 - 12.22

Session 10

• General course summary
• Case studies
• Outline of the final examination
• Trial quiz (not for assessment)