List of Appendix (Appendices)
Appendices
A. Answers
B. XLStat
C. Photo Acknowledgments
D. Tables and Selected Formulas
Features
• Making better business decisions through statistics is one of the authors’ main goals. This text instills in readers a respect for using statistics correctly and cautiously.
1. A focus on checking assumptions and conditions when using statistical procedures is used throughout the text and examples.
2. Ethics in Action vignettes in every chapter illustrate the judgment needed in statistical analysis. Students learn to identify ethically challenging issues and to propose ethically and statistically sound solutions. Questions are included for study and reflection.
3. What Can Go Wrong? sections near the end of each chapter prepare students with the tools to detect common statistical errors and offer practice in debunking misuses of statistics.
• Real data is essential for demonstrating the relevance of statistics in business. Hundreds of exercises, examples, and applications are based on current events and well-known companies, engaging readers with compelling data and scenarios. Students learn from the authors’ consulting experience and see how statistical thinking is vital to modern business decision making.
1. Emphasis on graphing and exploring data is evident from the first chapters on understanding data right through to the complex model-building chapters at the end.
2. Chapter Openers present a statistical issue in a managerial setting from a well-known company. These scenarios use real data to demonstrate how statistics relates to business disciplines such as marketing, finance, and economics.
3. Brief Cases at the end of each chapter use real data and ask students to investigate a question or make a business decision. Students are asked to define the objective, plan the process, complete the analysis, and report their conclusion. Data for these projects are available on the included CD-ROM and the companion website, and are formatted for multiple software programs.
• Plan/Do/Report Guided Examples provide a model to help students approach and solve any business statistics problem. Reports are frequently presented in the form of a business memo, helping students become familiar with framing and communicating results in a business setting.
• Early introduction of regression, introduced as part of descriptive statistics, helps to set a solid foundation of this important topic, which is then built upon in later chapters.
• Learning aids help students study without distracting from the main message in the text.
1. Math Boxes show the mathematical underpinnings—proofs, derivations, and justifications—of statistical methods and concepts. These boxes are set apart from the main narrative to avoid interrupting the explanation of the topic at hand.
2. By Hand Boxes guide students on how to compute and arrive at solutions by hand, so they can better understand how the output from technology was reached. These optional discussions distill and explain formulas to help students through the calculation of a worked example.
3. Just Checking questions throughout each chapter ask students to stop and think about what they’ve just read. These questions involve little to no calculation. Answers are provided at the end of the chapter so students can check their work.
4. What Have We Learned? sections at the end of each chapter provide an overview of the chapter’s concepts through annotated learning objectives and a list of boldface (new) terms and their definitions.
• The flexible topic coverage features short, modular chapters to accommodate any course objective or syllabus.
• Technology Help chapter sections offer guidance on using the most common statistics packages (Excel® 2007 and 2010, Minitab®, JMP®, and SPSS®) to practice concepts in the chapters and get started with the technology of their choice. Excel 2003 and Data Desk instructions are on the CD-ROM.
• Exercises within each chapter progress in difficulty and complexity.
1. Each chapter’s exercise set starts with single-concept exercises, identified by section.
2. Then, the exercises incorporate a straightforward application of the chapter ideas.
3. Next, they tackle larger problems that ask students to work through the logic of a complete analysis.
4. Finally, students are asked to synthesize and incorporate their own ideas. The challenging exercises would be ideal for group projects. Data sets for exercises identified with a T are provided on the accompanying CD-ROM and the companion website.
New to this Edition
• 2 new chapters covering Quality Control and Non-Parametrics have been added.
• Increased coverage of Excel® includes screenshots and, in Technology Help sections, guidance for using Excel® 2010 to demonstrate how to use Excel to perform statistical analysis.
• Technology Help sections have been updated to reflect the latest technology releases.
• “For Example”—short, illustrative examples have been added to most sections to solidify understanding of newly learned statistical methods and concepts.
• Increased MyStatLab coverage includes more of the textbook questions, including all of the basic exercises, to give students the practice they need to gain understanding and mastery of the concepts.
• Basic Section Exercises have been added to ensure that students are comfortable with the requisite skills before moving on to more involved exercises.
• Case Studies have been added to each part, giving students experience working through an in-depth application using real data and scenarios from actual companies.
• XLStat Appendix features chapter-by-chapter guidance for this new Excel add-in offered with the textbook.
• Some sections have been reorganized and combined for improved flow of material.
• Data for exercises and examples have been updated to keep the book current for students.
• XLStat for Pearson is an Excel® add-in that enhances the analytical capabilities of Excel. Developed in 1993, XLStat is used by leading businesses and universities around the world. XLStat is compatible with all Excel versions from version 97 to version 2010 (except Mac 2008) and is compatible with the Windows 9x till Windows 7 systems as well as with PowerPC and Intel based Mac systems. An access kit for XLStat for Pearson come with every new copy of this textbook.