Applied Statistics

This course is designed to serve as a bridge between more theoretical basis in statistics and practical work with real, large-scale data. Although the focus is mainly on datasets relevant to management and policy research, the skills taught in the course are broadly transferrable across subject areas in statistical, social, and general economic frameworks. The course provides a broad overview of the many aspects of survey research methodology including sampling, simulation techniques, forecasting, multivariate regression. Excel is chosen as main tool of data analysis in its standard version as well as using PHSTAT2, an add-in that makes using Excel easier for statistical operation.

Testi di riferimento
Basic Business Statistics: Concepts and Applications, 13/e. Berenson, Levine. Ed Pearson.
e-learning material.

Detailed program

1. Review of main basic statistical concepts:
   
   • Organizing and Visualizing Data
   • Numerical Descriptive Measures iii)
   • Basic Probability (Discrete and continuous distributions).
   • basis for inference;
   • Fundamentals of Hypothesis Testing
2. Introduction to Excel: Descriptive Statistics
   
   • Automatic Subtotals and Percents
   • The COUNTIF() Function
   • Using the Analysis Toolpak
   • importing data
   • Mean, Median, Mode, Maximum, Minimum More Descriptive Statistics
   • Charting Standard Deviation and Variance
   • designing a Histogram
   • Crosstabs and Pivot Tables and graphs
   • PHSTAT2: boxplot.
   • Correlation and Regression
   • Confidence Intervals: scatter plot and regression line.
3. Multiple Regression:
   
   • main concepts
   • violation of fundamental assumptions with excel
   • introducing interaction terms
   • Multiple Regression Model Building
   • Time-Series Forecasting
4. Hypothesis testing with excel independent t test and paired t test with excel and PHSTAT2 ANOVA
5. Non parametric tests with PHSTAT2
6. Statistical Applications in Quality Management and Decision Making: applications to companies datasets.
7. Case studies in economics.
8. data browser in economics:
   
   • Econdata.net: www.census.gov
   • Bill Goffe: Resources for Economists on the Internet (and then choose Data): http://rfe.org/
   • Economics Consulting Services: Economics Search (and then choose Research)
   • Economics Consulting Services: Economics Search (and then choose Research) Lexis-Nexis: Statistical Universe (many, many data sets accessible by U.C. students).
   • National Bureau of Economic Research (the leading academic economics research center): www.nber.org
   • Bureau of Labor Statistics: www.bls.gov/data.