Statistics for International Business from Coursera

This course introduces core areas of statistics that will be useful in business and for several MBA modules. It covers a variety of ways to present data, probability, and statistical estimation. You can test your understanding as you progress, while more advanced content is available if you want to push yourself.

This course forms part of a specialisation from the University of London designed to help you develop and build the essential business, academic, and cultural skills necessary to succeed in international business, or in further study.

If completed successfully, your certificate from this specialisation can also be used as part of the application process for the University of London Global MBA programme, particularly for early career applicants. If you would like more information about the Global MBA, please visit https://mba.london.ac.uk/.

This course is endorsed by CMI

What's inside

Syllabus

Using Graphs to Describe Data

In our study of statistics, we learn many methods to help us summarize, analyze, and interpret data with the aim of making informed decisions in an uncertain environment. In this first week we introduce tables and graphs that help us get a handle of data. These tools provide visual support for better decision making. With this in mind, we will guide you through the concept of decisions based on incomplete information. Beginning from here, we will introduce you to the concept of population vs. sample, of parameter vs. statistic and of descriptive statistics vs. inferential statistics. We will then go through the concept of describing data, and we will introduce the idea of creating and interpreting graphs to describe categorical and continuous random variables.

Using Measures to Describe Data

This week we will describe and summarize the information in the data using numerical values or measures that are able to summarise information. This is a crucial extension to the analysis of the previous week. While graphs are informative it is usually crucial for improved understanding of the data at hand to discuss their numerical properties. In this week, we will look at a range of measures, such as measures of central tendency, the range, variance, standard deviation, and so on.

Probability and Probability Distributions

Probability theory is a young arrival in mathematics- and probability applied to practice is almost non-existent as a discipline. We should all understand probability, and this lecture will help you to do that. It’s important for you to understand first that the world in which your future occurs is not deterministic- and there are future outcomes where a probability model cannot be developed… This week, we will cover the basic definition of probability, the rules of probability,random variables, -probability density functions, expectations of a random variable and Bivariate random variables.

Statistical Estimation

For statistical analysis to work properly, it’s essential to have a proper sample, drawn from a population of items of interest that have measured characteristics. This week, we will cover statistical estimation, sampling distribution of the mean, point estimation, interval estimation, hypothesis testing, the Null hypothesis and look at some real life examples of their use.

Good to know

Know what's good

, what to watch for

, and possible dealbreakers

Develops skills that are valuable in business and international business environments

Meets a portion of the application requirements for the University of London Global MBA

Helps learners build skills in data visualization, probability, and statistical estimation

Reviews summary

Helpful statistics for business

Learners say that Statistics for International Business is a challenging but rewarding course that improves their statistics and business skills. Praised aspects of the course include its clear explanations, engaging video lectures, and well-organized structure. Some learners found the difficulty of the course to be a positive aspect, as it pushed them to learn more. Others found the difficulty to be a negative aspect, as it made it challenging to understand the material. Overall, learners recommend this course to those who are interested in learning more about statistics and business.

Learners find the course to be well-organized and easy to follow.

"The teaching was not done well and sufficient examples were not given. Only towards the end when another teacher started teaching with the board(he was standing against an orange /yellow background) did I understand what was happening."

"Very bad quality, there are a lot of spelling errors across the assignments and tests. Furthermore, you have no possibility to finish the course just with the content provided, almost no examples but examination which requires knowledge not covered in the course."

"I recommend watching on the web to see whether you can not find other sources for more information and example before giving up. I also find annoying the fact that we need to give back 2 assignments that need to be correcting by other people following this course, it is annoying to wait and stay stuck because of it (even more when no one is active in this course)."

Learners find the course to be challenging but rewarding.

"The courses are often blurry and not well organized..."

"Please improve this course."

"This course barely provides any example or explanation that can help the student to understand the material especially for the Summative Questions."

Learners find the video lectures in this course to be engaging and helpful.

"I absolutely loved this course, I enjoyed everything about the course and the professors are absolutely amazing in the way they teach you throughout the course."

"The delivery could be much better though. If you had no or little experience with the subject matter, it can be quite difficult to understand what exactly is going on as they make reference to tools like the Z table and never really say what it is or how to use it."

"I recommend watching videos about Statistics on Youtube before starting this lesson."

Learners find the explanations in this course to be clear and easy to follow.

"Clear and Easy to Understand"

"I recommend this course. Very useful to immerse yourself in the world of statistics applied to business."

"Course content is really good and provides the challenge expected of a syllabus that prepares you for a world-class MBA."

Opinions are divided on the difficulty of this course.

"Good surface level refresher for general concepts. Helped me realize that I will never pursue statistics as a career."

"The Course in terms of understanding, is very vague, again, the classes are "read" and not explained as in the ones where the teacher ends up going to the board and exercises the known. Make it better!"

"Please invite experienced professors/lecturer to your worldwide courses. We can read definition of a term online or in a textbook. The reason of enrolling in an online course is learning from an experienced teacher/professor who can describe terms of the science in simple language.Thank you."

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Statistics for International Business with these activities:

Read 'Statistics for Business and Economics'

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Supplement your coursework with a comprehensive textbook that covers key statistical concepts and their relevance in business.

View Statistics for Business and Economics on Amazon

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Read the assigned chapters before each lecture
Take notes and highlight important concepts
Apply the concepts to real-world business scenarios (optional)

Study Groups

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Collaborate with peers to deepen understanding of course material through discussions, shared problem-solving, and quizzing.

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Form a study group with 2-4 classmates
Meet regularly to discuss lecture topics and assignments
Take turns leading discussions and presenting summaries

Create Visual Diagrams

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Enhance your visualization and understanding of statistical concepts by creating visual diagrams to represent data.

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Choose a complex statistical concept
Design a diagram that illustrates the concept clearly
Share your diagram with others for feedback

Five other activities

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Apply Statistical Concepts to Business Case Studies

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Enhance your problem-solving abilities by analyzing real-world business case studies and applying statistical concepts to make informed decisions.

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Review case studies provided by the course
Identify the statistical concepts relevant to each case study
Apply these concepts to analyze the case study and make recommendations

Data Presentation Proposal

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Develop a proposal for a data presentation that effectively communicates statistical insights to a business audience.

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Define the purpose and目标audience of the presentation
Identify the key statistical findings to be presented
Choose appropriate visual aids and data storytelling techniques
Develop a clear and concise presentation outline (optional)

Solve Practice Problems

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Reinforce your understanding of concepts by solving practice problems provided by the course or from other sources.

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Identify challenging concepts from each week's lecture
Find practice problems that specifically address these concepts
Allocate time each week to solve these practice problems

Create Interactive Data Visualizations

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Enhance your data visualization skills by following tutorials that guide you through creating interactive data visualizations using tools like Tableau or Power BI.

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Identify a dataset that you find interesting
Choose a tutorial that aligns with your goals and skill level
Follow the tutorial step-by-step to create your own interactive visualization
Share your visualization with others to get feedback (optional)

Create a Statistical Model

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Apply your statistical knowledge to solve a real-world problem by building a statistical model to predict or analyze data.

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Identify a business problem that can be addressed using statistical analysis
Collect and clean the necessary data
Choose appropriate statistical techniques to analyze the data
Develop a statistical model to solve the problem
Evaluate and validate the model's performance

Career center

Learners who complete Statistics for International Business will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Data Analyst

Data Analysts are responsible for collecting, cleaning, and analyzing data to help businesses make informed decisions. This course provides a strong foundation in statistics, which is essential for success in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to identify trends, patterns, and relationships in data. This knowledge will be invaluable in helping you to make better decisions and solve problems in your work as a Data Analyst.

See salaries and explore the career path for Data Analyst

Statistician

Statisticians use statistical techniques to collect, analyze, and interpret data. They use statistical techniques to make inferences about the population from which the data was collected. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to collect, analyze, and interpret data.

See salaries and explore the career path for Statistician

Data Scientist

Data Scientists use statistical techniques to analyze data and solve problems. They use statistical techniques to identify trends, patterns, and relationships in data. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to analyze data and solve problems.

See salaries and explore the career path for Data Scientist

Business Analyst

Business Analysts help businesses to improve their performance by identifying and solving problems. They use statistical techniques to analyze data and make recommendations for improvement. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to identify trends, patterns, and relationships in data. This knowledge will be invaluable in helping you to make better decisions and solve problems in your work as a Business Analyst.

See salaries and explore the career path for Business Analyst

Financial Analyst

Financial Analysts use statistical techniques to analyze financial data and make recommendations for investment. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to analyze financial data and make recommendations for investment.

See salaries and explore the career path for Financial Analyst

Quantitative Analyst

Quantitative Analysts use statistical techniques to analyze financial data and make recommendations for investment. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to analyze financial data and make recommendations for investment.

See salaries and explore the career path for Quantitative Analyst

Data Journalist

Data Journalists use statistical techniques to analyze data and tell stories. They use statistical techniques to identify trends, patterns, and relationships in data. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to analyze data and tell stories.

See salaries and explore the career path for Data Journalist

Risk Analyst

Risk Analysts use statistical techniques to assess and manage risk. They use statistical techniques to analyze data and make recommendations for reducing risk. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to analyze data and make recommendations for reducing risk.

See salaries and explore the career path for Risk Analyst

Market Research Manager

Market Research Managers oversee the collection, analysis, and interpretation of market research data. They use statistical techniques to identify trends, patterns, and relationships in market research data. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to analyze market research data and make recommendations for action.

See salaries and explore the career path for Market Research Manager

Actuary

Actuaries use statistical techniques to assess and manage risk. They use statistical techniques to analyze data and make recommendations for reducing risk. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to analyze data and make recommendations for reducing risk.

See salaries and explore the career path for Actuary

Economist

Economists use statistical techniques to analyze economic data and make recommendations for economic policy. They use statistical techniques to identify trends, patterns, and relationships in economic data. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to analyze economic data and make recommendations for economic policy.

See salaries and explore the career path for Economist

Market Research Analyst

Market Research Analysts collect and analyze data to help businesses understand their customers and make better decisions. They use statistical techniques to identify trends, patterns, and relationships in data. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to analyze data and make recommendations for improvement.

See salaries and explore the career path for Market Research Analyst

Operations Research Analyst

Operations Research Analysts use statistical techniques to improve the efficiency of business operations. They use statistical techniques to analyze data and make recommendations for improvement. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to analyze data and make recommendations for improvement.

See salaries and explore the career path for Operations Research Analyst

Machine Learning Engineer

Machine Learning Engineers use statistical techniques to develop and deploy machine learning models. They use statistical techniques to analyze data and make recommendations for improvement. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to develop and deploy machine learning models.

See salaries and explore the career path for Machine Learning Engineer

Survey Researcher

Survey Researchers use statistical techniques to design and conduct surveys. They use statistical techniques to analyze survey data and make recommendations for action. This course will provide you with the skills you need to succeed in this role. You will learn how to use statistical techniques to design and conduct surveys and analyze survey data.

See salaries and explore the career path for Survey Researcher