Learning objectives
THE COURSE IS DESIGNED TO PRESENT THE FUNDAMENTAL TOOLS OF STATISTICAL <br /> DATA ANALYSIS FOR ONE OR TWO PHENOMENA AND TO PROVIDE AN INTRODUCTION TO <br /> THE STUDY OF ECONOMIC TIME SERIES. THE FUNDAMENTAL GOAL IS TO <br /> ALLOW THE STUDENT TO BECOME COMFORTABLE WITH THE QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS <br /> OF COMPANY AND ECONOMIC DATA SO THAT HE/SHE WILL BE ABLE TO <br /> INDEPENDENTLY AND CORRECTLY PROCESS AND ANALYSE PROCESSING RESULTS. TO <br /> ATTAIN THIS GOAL, ATTENTION IS FOCUSED ON A NARROW RANGE OF TECHNIQUES, <br /> BUT THOSE WHICH ARE WIDELY USED IN A PRACTICAL CONTEXT. IN PARTICULAR, <br /> THE METHODS EXAMINED INCLUDE SYNTHESIS OF A SINGLE VARIABLE (FREQUENCY <br /> DISTRIBUTION, MEANS, VARIABILITY INDICES), CALCULATION OF SIMPLE AND <br /> COMPOUND INDEX NUMBERS, STUDY OF THE CORRELATION BETWEEN TWO <br /> QUANTITATIVE VARIABLES AND FITTING OF A REGRESSION LINE. FOR EACH <br /> TECHNIQUE, THE LOGICAL BASES AND COGNITIVE GOALS WILL BE EXPLAINED, <br /> WHILE THE TECHNICAL DETAILS AND MATHEMATICAL DERIVATIONS ARE GIVEN <br /> SECONDARY IMPORTANCE. FROM THIS STANDPOINT, EACH TECHNIQUE IS INTRODUCED <br /> IN REFERENCE TO THE BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC PROBLEMS THAT THE TECHNIQUE <br /> COULD CONTRIBUTE TO SOLVING (WITH SIMPLIFIED EXAMPLES THAT CAN BE <br /> PERFORMED IN DETAIL IN THE CLASSROOM) AND EXTENSIVE TIME DEDICATED TO <br /> CRITICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS. AN IMPORTANT ASPECT THAT WILL BE <br /> COVERED A NUMBER OF TIMES DURING THE COURSE INVOLVES THE USE OF A <br /> COMPUTER IN PERFORMING STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. IN PARTICULAR, THE <br /> POTENTIALITIES OF MICROSOFT EXCEL, A SPREADSHEET WIDELY USED IN BUSINESS <br /> APPLICATIONS WILL BE EXPLAINED AND USED IN ACTUAL APPLICATIONS OF THE <br /> METHODS DISCUSSED IN CLASS. THE COURSE WILL MAKE REFERENCE ONLY TO THOSE <br /> CASES IN WHICH QUANTITATIVE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE FOR THE ENTIRE <br /> REFERENCE POPULATION. FOR THIS REASON, A SUBSEQUENT COURSE IN <br /> STATISTICAL INFERENCE DURING THE SECOND YEAR IS REQUIRED IN WHICH <br /> STUDENTS WILL LEARN THE TECHNIQUES OF ANALYSIS FOR SAMPLE DATA.