Statistics for Business & Economics 13th Edition

Book Preface

This text is the revised 13th edition of STATISTICS FOR BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS. The revised edition updates the material in STATISTICS FOR BUSINESS ECONOMICSm 13e for use with Microsoft Excel 2016 and Minitab 17. Current users of the 13th edition will find changes to the chapter-ending appendices, which now describe Excel 2016 and Minitab 17 procedures. In addition to the updated the chapter-ending appendices, we have updated the appendix to the book entitled Microsoft Excel 2016 and Tools for Statistical Analysis. This appendix provides an introduction to Excel 2016 and its tools for statistical analysis. Several of Excel’s statistical functions have been upgraded and improved.

The remainder of this preface describes the authors’ objectives in writing STATISTICS FOR BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS and the major changes that were made in developing the 13th edition. The purpose of the text is to give students, primarily those in the fields of business administration and economics, a conceptual introduction to the field of statistics and its many applications. The text is applications-oriented and written with the needs of the nonmathematician in mind; the mathematical prerequisite is understanding of algebra. Applications of data analysis and statistical methodology are an integral part of the organization and presentation of the text material. The discussion and development of each technique is presented in an application setting, with the statistical results providing insights to decisions and solutions to problems.

Although the book is applications oriented, we have taken care to provide sound methodological development and to use notation that is generally accepted for the topic being covered. Hence, students will find that this text provides good preparation for the study of more advanced statistical material. A bibliography to guide further study is included as an appendix.

The text introduces the student to the software packages of Minitab 17 and Microsoft ® Office Excel 2016 and emphasizes the role of computer software in the application of statistical analysis. Minitab is illustrated as it is one of the leading statistical software packages for both education and statistical practice. Excel is not a statistical software package, but the wide availability and use of Excel make it important for students to understand the statistical capabilities of this package. Minitab and Excel procedures are provided in appendices so that instructors have the flexibility of using as much computer emphasis as desired for the course.

Changes in the Thirteenth Edition
We appreciate the acceptance and positive response to the previous editions of Statistics for Business and Economics. Accordingly, in making modifications for this new edition, we have maintained the presentation style and readability of those editions. There have been many changes made throughout the text to enhance its educational effectiveness. The most substantial changes in the new edition are summarized here.

Content Revisions
Data and Statistics—Chapter 1. We have expanded our section on data mining to include a discussion of big data. We have added a new section on analytics. We have also placed greater emphasis on the distinction between observed and experimental

Descriptive Statistics: Tabular and Graphical Displays—Chapter 2. We have added instructions on how to use Excel’s recommended charts option to Appendix 2.2 at the end of this chapter. This new Excel functionality produces a gallery of suggested charts based on the data selected by the user and can help students identify the most appropriate chart(s) to use to depict their data. Descriptive Statistics: Numerical Measures—Chapter 3. We now use the method for calculating percentiles that is recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In addition to being the standard recommended by NIST, this approach is also used by a wide variety of software. The NIST recommended approach for calculating percentiles is used throughout the textbook wherever percentiles are used (for example, when creating a box plot or when calculating quantiles or an interquartile range). Introduction to Probability—Chapter 4. The discussion on experiments has been updated to draw a more clear distinction between random and designed experiments. This distinction makes it easier to understand the differences in the discussion of experiments in the probability chapters (Chapters 4, 5, and 6) and the experimental design chapter (Chapter 13). Software. We have revised all step-by-step instructions in the software appendices and all figures throughout the book that feature software output to reflect Excel 2016 and Minitab 17. This provides students exposure to and experience with the current versions of two of the most commonly used software for statistical analysis in business. In this latest edition, we no longer provide discussion of the use of StatTools. Case Problems. We have added two new case problems in this addition; the total number of cases is 33. One new probability modeling case has been added to Chapter 5, and one new simple linear regression case appears in Chapter 14. The 33 case problems in this book provide students the opportunity to work on more complex problems, analyze larger data sets, and prepare managerial reports based on the results of their analyses. Examples and Exercises Based on Real Data. We continue to make a substantial effort to update our text examples and exercises with the most current real data and referenced sources of statistical information. In this edition, we have added more than 180 new examples and exercises based on real data and referenced sources. Using data from sources also used by The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Barron’s, and others, we have drawn from actual studies and applications to develop explanations and create exercises that demonstrate the many uses of statistics in business and economics. We believe that the use of real data from interesting and relevant problems helps generate more student interest in the material and enables the student to learn about both statistical methodology and its application. The 13th edition contains more than 350 examples and exercises based on real data.