Statistics for Business and Economics / Edition 12

by James T. McClave

Overview

For courses in Introductory Business Statistics.

Real Data. Real Decisions. Real Business.

Now in its Thirteenth Edition, Statistics for Business and Economics introduces statistics in the context of contemporary business. Emphasizing statistical literacy in thinking, the text applies its concepts with real data and uses technology to develop a deeper conceptual understanding. Examples, activities, and case studies foster active learning while emphasizing intuitive concepts of probability and teaching readers to make informed business decisions. The Thirteenth Edition continues to highlight the importance of ethical behavior in collecting, interpreting, and reporting on data, while also providing a wealth of new and updated exercises and case studies.

Also available with MyLab Statistics

MyLab™ Statistics is an online homework, tutorial, and assessment program designed to work with this text to engage students and improve results. Within its structured environment, students practice what they learn, test their understanding, and pursue a personalized study plan that helps them absorb course material and understand difficult concepts.

NOTE: You are purchasing a standalone product; MyLab Statistics does not come packaged with this content. If you would like to purchase both the physical text and MyLab Statistics, search for:

0134763742 / 9780134763743 Statistics for Business and Economics Plus MyLab Statistics with Pearson eText -- Title-Specific Access Card Package, 13/e

Package consists of:

• 0134506596 / 9780134506593 Statistics for Business and Economics
• 0134748611 / 9780134748610 MyLab Statistics for Business Stats with Pearson eText -- Standalone Access Card -- for Statistics for Business and Economics

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900321826236
Publisher:	Pearson
Publication date:	01/04/2013
Edition description:	Older Edition
Pages:	864
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.00(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Dr. Jim McClave is currently President and CEO of Info Tech, Inc., a statistical consulting and software development firm with an international clientele. He is also currently an Adjunct Professor of Statistics at the University of Florida, where he was a full-time member of the faculty for twenty years.

Dr. Terry Sincich obtained his PhD in Statistics from the University of Florida in 1980. He is an Associate Professor in the Information Systems & Decision Sciences Department at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Dr. Sincich is responsible for teaching basic statistics to all undergraduates, as well as advanced statistics to all doctoral candidates, in the College of Business Administration. He has published articles in such journals as the Journal of the American Statistical Association, International Journal of Forecasting, Academy of Management Journal, and Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory. Dr. Sincich is a co-author of the texts Statistics, Statistics for Business & Economics, Statistics for Engineering & the Sciences, and A Second Course in Statistics: Regression Analysis.

Read an Excerpt

PREFACE:

Preface

This eighth edition of Statistics for Business and Economics is an introductory business text emphasizing inference, with extensive coverage of data collection and analysis as needed to evaluate the reported results of statistical studies and to make good decisions. As in earlier editions, the text stresses the development of statistical thinking, the assessment of credibility and value of the inferences made from data, both by those who consume and those who produce them. It assumes a mathematical background of basic algebra.

A briefer version of the book, A First Course in Business Statistics, is available for single semester courses that include minimal coverage of regression analysis, analysis of variance, and categorical data analysis.

NEW IN THE EIGHTH EDITION

Major Content Changes

Chapter 2 includes two new optional sections: methods for detecting outliers (Section 2.8) and graphing bivariate relationships (Section 2.9).

Chapter 5 now covers descriptive methods for assessing whether a data set is approximately normally distributed.

Chapter 11 is a new multiple regression chapter. The material on multiple regression models and model building (Chapters 11 and 12 in previous editions) is reorganized into a single, streamlined chapter, with initial emphasis on the first-order model. More complex models (e.g., interaction, quadratic, and dummy variable models) are presented in increasing order of difficulty. Coverage of residual analysis (Section 11.13) is expanded to include treatment of heteroscedastic errors.

Exploring Data withStatistical Computer Software and the Graphing Calculator—Throughout the text, computer printouts from four popular Windows-based statistical software packages (SAS, SPSS, MINITAB, STATISTIX) are displayed and used to make decisions about the data. New to this edition, we have included instruction boxes and output for the TI-83 graphing calculator.

Statistics in Action—One or two features per chapter examine current real-life, high-profile issues. Data from the study is presented for analysis. Questions prompt the students to form their own conclusions and to think through the statistical issues involved.

Real-World Business Cases—Six extensive business problem-solving cases, with real data and assignments. Each case serves as a good capstone and review of the material that has preceded it.

Real-Data Exercises—Almost all the exercises in the text employ the use of current real data taken from a wide variety of publications (e.g., newspapers, magazines, and journals).

Quick Review—Each chapter ends with a list of key terms and formulas, with reference to the page number where they first appear.

Language Lab—Following the Quick Review is a pronunciation guide for Greek letters and other special terms. Usage notes are also provided.

TRADITIONAL STRENGTHS

We have maintained the features of Statistics for Business and Economics that we believe make it unique among business statistics texts. These features, which assist the student in achieving an overview of statistics and an understanding of its relevance in the business world and in everyday life, are as follows:

The Use of Examples as a Teaching Device

Almost all new ideas are introduced and illustrated by real data-based applications and examples. We believe that students better understand definitions, generalizations, and abstractions after seeing an application.

Many Exercises—Labeled by Type

The text includes more than 1,400 exercises illustrated by applications in almost all areas of research. Because many students have trouble learning the mechanics of statistical techniques when problems are couched in terms of realistic applications, all exercise sections are divided into two parts:

• Learning the Mechanics. Designed as straightforward applications of new concepts, these exercises allow students to test their ability to comprehend a concept or a definition.



• Applying the Concepts. Based on applications taken from a wide variety of journals, newspapers, and other sources, these exercises develop the student's skills to comprehend real-world problems and describe situations to which the techniques may be applied.

A Choice in Level of Coverage of Probability (Chapter 3)

One of the most troublesome aspects of an introductory statistics course is the study of probability. Probability poses a challenge for instructors because they must decide on the level of presentation, and students find it a difficult subject to comprehend. We believe that one cause for these problems is the mixture of probability and counting rules that occurs in most introductory texts. We have included the counting rules in a separate and optional section at the end of the chapter on probability. In addition, all exercises that require the use of counting rules are marked with an asterisk (*). Thus, the instructor can control the level of coverage of probability.

Extensive Coverage of Multiple Regression Analysis
and Model Building (Chapter 11)

This topic represents one of the most useful statistical tools for the solution of applied problems. Although an entire text could be devoted to regression modeling, we believe we have presented coverage that is understandable, usable, and much more comprehensive than the presentations in other introductory statistics texts.

We devote three chapters to discussing the major types of inferences that can be derived from a regression analysis, showing how these results appear in computer printouts and, most important, selecting multiple regression models to be used in an analysis. Thus, the instructor has the choice of a one-chapter coverage of simple regression, a two-chapter treatment of simple and multiple regression, or a complete three-chapter coverage of simple regression, multiple regression, and model building. This extensive coverage of such useful statistical tools will provide added evidence to the student of the relevance of statistics to the solution of applied problems.

Footnotes

Although the text is designed for students with a non-calculus background, footnotes explain the role of calculus in various derivations. Footnotes are also used to inform the student about some of the theory underlying certain results. The footnotes allow additional flexibility in the mathematical and theoretical level at which the material is presented.

SUPPLEMENTS FOR THE INSTRUCTOR

The supplements for the eighth edition have been completely revised to reflect the revisions of the text. To ensure adherence to the approaches presented in the main text, each element in the package has been accuracy checked for clarity, and freedom from computational, typographical, and statistical errors.

Annotated Instructor's Edition (AIE) (ISBN 0-13-027985-4)

Marginal notes placed next to discussions of essential teaching concepts include:

• Teaching Tips—suggest alternative presentations or point out common student errors
• Exercises—reference specific section and chapter exercises that reinforce the concept
• A disk icon identifies data sets and file names of material found on the data disks
• Short Answers—section and chapter exercise answers are provided next to the selected exercises

Instructor's Notes by Mark Dummeldinger (ISBN 0-13-027410-0)

This printed resource contains suggestions for using the questions at the end of the Statistics in Action boxes as the basis for class discussion on statistical ethics and other current issues, solutions to the Real-World Cases, a complete short answer book with letter of permission to duplicate for student use, and many of the exercises and solutions that were removed from previous editions of this text.

Instructor's Solutions Manual by Nancy S. Boudreau
(ISBN 0-13-027421-6)

Solutions to all of the even-numbered exercises are given in this manual. Careful attention has been paid to ensure that all methods of solution and notation are consistent with those used in the core text. Solutions to the odd-numbered exercises are found in the Student's Solutions Manual.

Test Bank by Mark Dummeldinger (ISBN 0-13-027419-4)

Entirely rewritten, the Test Bank now includes more than 1,000 problems that correlate to problems presented in the text.

Test Gen EQ

• Menu-driven random test system
• Networkable for administering tests and capturing grades online
• Edit and add your own questions—or use the new "Function Plotter" to create a nearly unlimited number of tests and drill worksheets

PowerPoint Presentation Disk by Mark Dummeldinger
(ISBN 0-13027365-1)

This versatile Windows-based tool may be used by professors in a number of different ways:

• Slide show in an electronic classroom
• Printed and used as transparency masters
• Printed copies may be distributed to students as a convenient note-taking device

Included on the software disk are learning objectives, thinking challenges, concept presentation slides, and examples with worked-out solutions. The PowerPoint Presentation Disk may be downloaded from the FTP site found at the McClave Web site.

Data Disk—available free with every text purchased from Prentice Hall

The data sets for all exercises and cases are available on a 3 1/2" diskette in ASCII format in the back of the book. When a given data set is referenced, a disk symbol and the file name will appear in the text near the exercise.

McClave Internet Site (...

Table of Contents

1. Statistics, Data, and Statistical Thinking

2. Methods for Describing Sets of Data

3. Probability

4. Random Variables and Probability Distributions

5. Sampling Distributions

6. Inferences Based on a Single Sample: Estimation with Confidence Intervals

7. Inferences Based on a Single Sample: Tests of Hypotheses

8. Inferences Based on Two Samples: Confidence Intervals and Tests of Hypotheses

9. Design of Experiments and Analysis of Variance

10. Categorical Data Analysis

11. Simple Linear Regression

12. Multiple Regression and Model Building

13. Methods for Quality Improvement: Statistical Process Control (Available Online)

14. Time Series: Descriptive Analyses, Models, and Forecasting (Available Online)

15. Nonparametric Statistics (Available Online)