Business Statistics: A First Course, Canadian Edition, 2nd edition

Published by Pearson Canada (December 21, 2017) © 2018
  • Norean R. Sharpe
  • Richard D. De Veaux
  • Paul F. Velleman
  • Jonathan Berkowitz

Title overview

For one-semester courses in business statistics.

Better Decisions. Better Results.

Business Statistics: A First Course narrows the gap between theory and practice—relevant statistical methods empower business students to make effective, data-informed decisions. With their unique blend of teaching, consulting, and entrepreneurial experiences, this dynamic author team brings a modern edge to teaching statistics to business students. Focusing on statistics in the context of real business issues–with an emphasis on analysis and understanding over computation–the text helps students think analytically, prepares them to make better business decisions, and shows them how to effectively communicate results.

The Canadian edition uses illustrative case studies and chapter exercises that focus on business and management of Canadian companies, large and small. The writing has Canadian style, perspective, and sensibility, not just changes to spelling and metric measurements. The book recognizes that Canada has public policy, governmental structure and mandate (federal, provincial, and municipal), economic systems (banking and finance), social services, health care, sports and entertainment are different from the United States. While the book is indeed Canadian, it also shows how statistics has no geographical borders, and is a vital part of building and enhancing the global community.

Hallmark features of this title

  • What Can Go Wrong? Each chapter contains an innovative section called What Can Go Wrong? that highlights the most common statistical errors and the misconceptions people have about Statistics. The most common mistakes for the new user of statistical methods involve misusing a method, not miscalculating a statistic. Most of the mistakes we discuss have been experienced by the authors in a business context rather than a classroom situation. One of our goals is to arm students with the tools to detect statistical errors and to offer practice in recognizing when Statistics is misused, whether intentional or not. In this spirit, some of our exercises probe the understanding of such errors.
  • Step-by-Step Guided Examples. The ability to clearly communicate statistical results is crucial to helping Statistics contribute to business decision-making. To that end, some examples in each chapter are presented as Guided Examples. A good solution is modelled in the right column while commentary appears in the left column.
  • The overall analysis follows our innovative Plan, Do, Report template. That template begins each analysis with a clear question about a decision and ends with a report which answers that question. To emphasize the decision aspect of each example, we present the Report step as a business memo that summarizes the results in the context of the example and states a recommendation if the data are able to support one. In addition, whenever possible we include limitations of the analysis or models in the concluding memo.

This product will fully retire on June 1, 2027. Please speak to your sales representative about alternative solutions for your course.

New and updated features of this title

  • Recent data. We teach with real data whenever possible, so we've updated data throughout the book. New examples reflect current stories in the news and recent economic and business events. Some of the Mini Case Study Projects have been updated with new data and new contexts.
  • Improved organization. We have retained our “data first” presentation of topics, because we find that it provides students with both motivation and a foundation in real business decisions on which to build an understanding.
  • Streamlined design. Our goal has always been an accessible text. This edition sports a new design that clarifies the purpose of each text element. The major theme of each chapter is more linear and easier to follow without distraction. Supporting material is clearly boxed and shaded, so students know where to focus their study efforts.
  • Enhanced Technology Help with expanded Excel 2013 coverage. We've updated Technology Help with detailed instructions for Excel 2013 to almost every chapter.

Key features

Important Digital Assets in MyLab Statistics

  • StatTalk Videos. 24 Conceptual Videos to Help You Actually Understand Statistics. Fun-loving statistician Andrew Vickers takes to the streets of Brooklyn, New York, to demonstrate important statistical concepts through interesting stories and real-life events. These fun and engaging videos will help students actually understand statistical concepts. Available with an instructor's user guide and assessment questions.
  • Business Inside Videos. Concept videos feature Deckers, Southwest Airlines, Starwood, and other companies and focus on statistical concepts as they pertain to the real world.
  • Getting Ready for Statistics. A library of questions now appears within each MyLab Business Statistics course to offer the developmental math topics students need for the course. These can be assigned as a prerequisite to other assignments, if desired.
  • Conceptual Question Library. In addition to algorithmically regenerated questions that are aligned with the textbook, there is a library of 1000 conceptual questions available in the assessment manager that requires students to apply their statistical understanding.
  • Statistical Software Support. Knowing that students often use external statistical software, we make it easy to copy our data sets into software such as StatCrunch, Minitab, Excel, and more. Students have access to a variety of support tools - Technology Tutorial Videos, Technology Study Cards, and Technology Manuals for select titles—to learn how to effectively use statistical software.

Table of contents

  1. Statistics, Data, & Decisions
  2. Displaying and Describing Categorical Data
  3. Displaying and Describing Quantitative Data
  4. Correlation and Linear Regression
  5. Randomness and Probability
  6. Random Variables and Probability Models
  7. The Normal and Other Continuous Distributions
  8. Surveys and Sampling
  9. Sampling Distributions and Confidence Intervals for Proportions
  10. Testing Hypothesis about Proportions
  11. Confidence Intervals and Hypothesis Tests for Means
  12. Comparing Two Groups
  13. Inference for Counts: Chi-Square Tests
  14. Inference for Regression
  15. Multiple Regression
  16. Statistical Modelling and the World of Business Statistics

Author bios

Norean R. Sharpe, PhD, is Dean and the Joseph H. and Maria C. Schwartz Distinguished Chair at The Peter J. Tobin College of Business at St. John's University. As the chief academic officer of the Tobin College of Business, she is responsible for the curriculum for 2500 undergraduate business majors and 600 graduate students in one of seven MS/MBA programs, all supported by more than 150 faculty and staff on the Manhattan; Queens; Staten Island; and Rome, Italy campuses. Within the Tobin College is the Center for Enterprise Risk Management, the Applied Finance Institute, and the Global Business Stewardship Center, as well as the acclaimed School of Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science.

Dr. Sharpe is an accomplished scholar, with 30 years of teaching experience at Yale University, Bowdoin College, Babson College, and Georgetown University -- and with more than 30 scholarly publications in analytics and statistics education. Her research interests include time series analysis, forecasting, analytics, and women's roles in entrepreneurship in the Middle East. Dr. Sharpe earned her BA from Mt. Holyoke College, her MS from the University of North Carolina, and her PhD in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Richard D. De Veaux is an internationally known educator and consultant. He has taught at the Wharton School and the Princeton University School of Engineering, where he won a “Lifetime Award for Dedication and Excellence in Teaching.” He is the C. Carlisle and M. Tippit Professor of Statistics at Williams College, where he has taught since 1994. Dick has won both the Wilcoxon and Shewell awards from the American Society for Quality. He is a fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA) and an elected member of the International Statistical Institute (ISI). In 2008, he was named Statistician of the Year by the Boston Chapter of the ASA. Dick is also well known in industry, where for more than 30 years he has consulted for such Fortune 500 companies as American Express, Hewlett-Packard, Alcoa, DuPont, Pillsbury, General Electric, and Chemical Bank. Because he consulted with Mickey Hart on his book Planet Drum, he has also sometimes been called the “Official Statistician for the Grateful Dead.” His real-world experiences and anecdotes illustrate many of this book's chapters.

Paul F. Velleman has an international reputation for innovative Statistics education. He is the author and designer of the multimedia Statistics program ActivStats, for which he was awarded the EDUCOM Medal for innovative uses of computers in teaching statistics, and the ICTCM Award for Innovation in Using Technology in College Mathematics. He also developed the award-winning statistics program Data Desk, and the Internet site Data and Story Library (DASL) (ASL.datadesk.com), which provides data sets for teaching Statistics. Paul's understanding of using and teaching with technology informs much of this book's approach.

For the past 30 years Jonathan Berkowitz (Ph.D. University of Toronto) has had a full-time practice as a consulting statistician as president of the aptly named Berkowitz & Associates Consulting Inc. But Jonathan leads a double life, because he is also a full-time instructor with the Sauder School of Business and an Associate Member of the Department of Family Practice (Faculty of Medicine), both at the University of British Columbia. Jonathan is recognized as an outstanding teacher, having won the Killam Teaching Prize for undergraduate teaching and CGA Graduate Master Teacher Award for MBA teaching, both at the Sauder School, as well as many awards and commendations from students. In addition, he teaches short courses and workshops for a number of public and private sector groups. His passion for teaching also extends to younger audiences, regularly performing shows on math magic, word games, and puzzles in school classrooms. In his consulting life, Jonathan has been involved in a wide range of collaborative and interdisciplinary research in health care and medical research, social science, engineering, biotechnology, transportation, law, management consulting, market research, and accounting. His clients enthusiastically describe him as a “user friendly” statistician! He has contributed to numerous successful research grant applications, and has co-written many peer-reviewed journal articles and other publications. He has also helped more than 100 graduate students complete their degrees. While numbers are his vocation, words are his avocation. A passion for puzzles, word games, and puns infiltrates all aspects of his life, including the classroom. He is an active member of the National Puzzlers' League, and for six years was the puzzle composer and editor for the American Statistical Association's CHANCE magazine. Jonathan and his wife have two children, both of whom graduated from Canadian business schools and have careers in quantitative fields, a classic illustration of the power of both nature and nurture.

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