Course Aim

Did you know that, on average, managers are uncomfortable with statistics, which means that half of them are even worse? In this Maths for Managers—Probability and Statistics course, we peel back some of the mystery and complexity often associated with probability and statistics. We start by addressing some of the basic concepts of probability, including sampling, mean, median, mode, expected value, variability, range, variance and standard deviation. We then look at probability in more detail at probability theory and probability distributions. We then move on to more statistical concepts and end with an overview of the range of statistical tests available.

Some fundamental mathematics understanding is useful in completing this course. You may wish to complete our Maths for Managers—Fundamentals first. You may also be interested in our follow-on course Maths for Managers—Basic Physics.

Course Outline

Basic Definitions and Concepts. Random experiments | Likely outcomes | Simple events | Composite events | Diagrammatic representation of sample spaces | Exercises

Middleness and Variability. Mean | Median | Mode | Expectation | Variability | Range | Variance | Standard deviation | Exercises

Probability of an Event. Successive outcomes | Multiplication principle | Conditional probability | Additive and product theorems | Permutations and combinations | Exercises

Distributions. Normal distribution | Binomial distribution | Poisson distribution | Uniform distribution | Other distributions | Curve fitting | Regression | Correlation| Exercises

Percentiles and Standard Scores. Percentiles | Standard scores | Correlation | Exercises

Statistical Tests. t test | Chi-Square test | Mann-Whitney U test | Exercises

Course Material

The following resources will be provided to attendees of this course:

1. A PDF copy of the PowerPoint presentations used for the course.

2. Course notes summarising the course content.

3. A workbook and solutions to the exercises undertaken throughout the course.