DATA ANALYSIS

MBA 5300 B
FALL 2018
Professor: Tanvir Quadir
Office: Room DMS 5140 (Desmarais Building)
E-Mail: Tanvir.Quadir@telfer.uottawa.ca
Office Hours: Friday 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. or by appointment
Class Location: DMS 4120
Lab Location: DMS 2150
TA: Ahmad Teymouri (ateym089@uottawa.ca)

Weight on
Course Deliverable Due Date
Final Grade
September 29, October 21, November 25, and
Individual Assignments (4) Total 24%
December 9.

Group Case Studies (2) October 7 and December 2 Total 16%

Midterm Exam October 27 25%

Final Exam TBA (Dec. 10 – 21) 35%

COURSE DESCRIPTION
Course Purpose & Objectives
The objectives of the course are to familiarize the MBA participants with necessary data
analysis and data modeling skills, to develop the ability to interpret large amounts of data and
draw sound implications for the business at hand, and to exhibit the usefulness of data analysis
in management problem solving and decision-making. Students will discover how to gain
unique insights on past, present and future performance by combining modern tools and
technologies together with knowledge and experience. They will gain an understanding of the
procedures for analyzing and presenting data, and the principles of making inferences from
sample data. Emphasis is placed upon the understanding of the capabilities as well as the
limitations of these procedures and on the correct interpretation of statistical results.

Course Description
The world produces more data in one day than a person can use in his/her entire life. As
the world becomes more and more awash with data, new challenges related to information
overload as well as new opportunities have begun to arise. Data become useful if they are
transformed into information. Data analysis is the science of correctly collecting data, assessing
it for trustworthiness, extracting information from it, and presenting it in a comprehensible
informative way. These skills are vital to institutions such as government, business, or health
care where sound decisions must be made based on data and the way it is interpreted. That
makes the role of a data analyst highly important especially in the business sector.

The course includes the following subjects: Data and their description: frequency tables,
histograms. Use of software. Summarizing data: measures of location and dispersion. Basic
notions in probability and probability distributions (binomial and normal). Random sampling
methods, sampling distributions and central limit theorem. Point and Interval Estimation.
Hypothesis Testing and Making Decisions. Chi-square tests on qualitative data: goodness-of-fit
and test of independence. Correlation and regression analysis. Curve fitting and modeling.
Confidence intervals and tests in regression. Simple and Multiple Linear Regression.

Course Contribution to the Management of High Performance

Organizations
High performance organizations typically make extensive use of analytics to better
understand customer needs, analyze operational performance, and define causal linkages
between organizational initiatives and subsequent results. Managers in these organizations need
a sound understanding of data analysis in order to ensure that decisions are made based on
verified facts.

www.telfer.uOttawa.ca
 MBA 5300 Data Analysis 2

COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND LINKAGES TO TELFER’S

LEARNING GOALS
This course is designed to support the Telfer’s MBA program Learning Goal 2:
Understanding and Integrating Business Functions; and Learning Goal 4: Developing
Leadership, Communication, and Teamwork Skills for High Performance Organizations.
Understanding and Integrating Business Functions
Problem solving is a primary skill in the management of small, medium or large
organizations. Participants will be provided with examples and methods where structured data
analysis solving approaches are applied to general business contexts. Understanding of these
frameworks will provide a valuable skill for business executives confronted by uncertainty and
data overload in the workplace and in everyday life. It will also facilitate the understanding of
relationships hidden in data, provide insight into decision-making and facilitate the
management of change.

Course Contribution to Application of Critical Thinking, Developing

Leadership, Communication, and Teamwork Skills for High Performance
Organizations
The traditional business statistics course has changed, and mainly for the better: more
interpretation of results, more emphasis on concepts and ideas, more integration of statistical
thinking with other business activities, all while solidifying the understanding of fundamental
statistical principles. This course has attempted to be an early leader in this change to be more
useful to the business manager. It does not emphasize the derivations of formulas and
calculation of coefficients, but it prepares managers to understand what technique to use for
analysing a problem and interpret the results so that appropriate decisions can be made based
on these important summaries of relationships in complex situations. This course is taught with
this change in mind. Managers can excel at data analysis when they are motivated by real-world
examples and clear, direct explanations that show them why it is worthwhile to consider the
statistical view of the world. The development of team skills has high priority in this course and
students are encouraged to improve these skills with myriad opportunities of in-class and out-of
–class group work that represents the core of the program.
Links of Course Objectives to Overall Telfer School Learning Objectives
☐ Learning Goal 1: Understanding Management Foundations and the Global Business
Environment
☒ Learning Goal 2: Integrating Business Functions and developing decision-making,
critical thinking and analytic skills
☐ Learning Goal 3: Developing a Strategic Perspective
☒ Learning Goal 4: Developing Leadership, Communication and Teamwork Skills
☐ Learning Goal 5: Understanding the Value of Globalization
☐ Learning Goal 6: Understanding the practical realities of delivering results to the
business community.
 MBA 5300 Data Analysis 3

METHODS USED TO EVALUATE STUDENT PERFORMANCE

One learns statistics by doing problems. Further, quantitative courses need regular work
of limited duration, rather than occasional marathon sessions. Therefore, almost every week
there are either homework assignments, case preparations and/or suggested problems. Based
upon the course design, you should be able to develop a good program of regular study. Much of
this work will deal with realistic data sets requiring the use of the computer and simulating real
life decision-making.

Assignments
There are four assignments worth together 24% of the final mark. The first one is to be
handed in on week 3 (value 5% of final mark), the second one (7%) on week 6, the third one (5%)
on week 10 and the final one (7%) on week 12. They have to be handed in individually. Students
can help one another on the problem assignments. However, in order to maximize learning and
understanding, the final analysis, write-up and submission must be your own.

Case Studies
The two case studies will be done in a group setting. Groups will meet to discuss and
solve the assigned case. Only one written case analysis report is to be handed in by each group
for each case study. This report should be in the form of an executive report as discussed below.
No class presentation will be necessary but each student is expected to be prepared to discuss all
aspects of the case.
EXECUTIVE REPORT FOR THE CASE STUDY
Each case study must be submitted in the form of an Executive Report. There is no strict
standard form for such a report, but organization, neatness, and professionalism are particularly
important here. Keep in mind that Management has a problem to solve and that it is your
responsibility to communicate advice in this regard. Be concise and to the point. Longer is usually
not better: inclusion of irrelevant or unnecessary material will lower the grade received. Guidelines
for maximum length are provided below.

As an example of a logical report structure, consider the following:

- Header: state to whom the report is addressed, from whom it is coming, the date and a
relevant title identifying the problem.
- Introduction: present a brief statement of the problem, including all options available.
Maximum length: 1 page.
- Recommendations: specify recommendations with brief and unambiguous supporting
arguments. Maximum length: 1 page.
- Analysis: present your analysis in a logical and easily followed fashion. Do not clutter this
part of your report with page after page of computer output; instead, enclose your outputs
 MBA 5300 Data Analysis 4

and all the necessary details in an appendix, and give the appropriate reference in the
analysis. Maximum length: 2 pages.

Supplementary Problems and Class Participation

For each topic in the course, a list of suggested problems from the textbook will be provided
(see Course Contents). Student participation in class discussions is highly encouraged.

Midterm and Final Exam

The examinations will be closed-book.
 MBA 5300 Data Analysis 5

REQUIRED TEXT/COURSE PACKAGE

G. Keller (2015) Statistics for Management and Economics (Abbreviated), 10th Edition,
South-Western.

USE OF STATISTICAL SOFTWARE

In this module, the spreadsheet will be the basic tool of the decision-maker. It is indeed
likely that you will use that tool at your disposal in your business environment for quick data
manipulations (financial, accounting, production data, etc.). Microsoft EXCEL (versions Office
2003, 2007, 2010, 2013 or 2016), available in most languages on PCs or MACs, is a rather
formidable spreadsheet package. Furthermore, it contains numerous statistical functions making it
particularly suitable for teaching statistics at the MBA level. EXCEL skills are essential to be
successful in this module. Important instruction to install Microsoft EXCEL is available at the
following link:
https://it.uottawa.ca/software/ms-office
MS Excel is available in the DMS labs and in class. Microsoft provides free tools to convert
Excel 2003 commands to Excel 2007/2010/2013 commands. Class examples will be conducted
using Excel 2010/Excel2016.

REFERENCES
1. A.D. Aczel (1993) Complete Business Statistics, Irwin.
2. S.C. Albright, W.L. Winston and C. Zappe (1999) Data Analysis and Decision Making with
Microsoft Excel, Duxbury. (another very good textbook, particularly in its use of Excel.)
3. K. Berk and P. Carey (2000) Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel Updated for Office 2000,
Duxbury. (A good reference for advanced statistical work with Excel.)
4. D.K. Hildebrand and L. Ott (1991) Statistical Thinking for Managers, Third Edition,
PWS-KENT Publishing Company.
5. D. Huff (1954) How to Lie with Statistics, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.
6. M. Lehmann and P. Zeitz (1998) Statistical Explorations with Microsoft Excel, Duxbury. (A
good reference for basic statistical work with Excel.)
7. M. Middleton (1997) Data Analysis Using Microsoft Excel, Duxbury. (A good reference for
basic statistical work with Excel.)
8. D. Sanders (1995), Statistics: A First Course, 5th edition, Irwin/McGraw-Hill
9. A.L. Siegel (2000) Practical Business Statistics, 4th Edition, Irwin.
10. S. M. Stigler (1986) The History of Statistics: The Measurement of Uncertainty before
1900, The Belknap Press of Harvard University (this book tells how that logic of
measurement we know now as statistics emerged and took shape up to our own century).
11. S. M. Stigler (1999) Statistics on the Table: The History of Statistical Concepts and
Methods, Harvard University Press (continuation of the preceding book).
 COURSE SCHEDULE (FIRST HALF)

Topic Textbook 9th or 10th

Class/Date1 Assignments/Labs Suggested exercises
Edition

1 An Introduction to Descriptive 1, 2 2.5, 2.30 (omit c), 2.42,

Sept. 15 Statistics and Data Types 2.43

2 Data Visualization Lab1 Fri. Sept. 21 3.14, 3.16, 3.55, 3.56, 4.12,
5:30 - 7:00 p. m. 3 (omit 3.3), 4.1
Sept. 16 Measures of Central Tendency 4.15

Assignment 1
3 Relative Standing Measures (individual)
Lab2 Fri. Sept. 28 4.1- 4.3 4.31
Sept. 29 Variability Measures
5:30 - 7:00 p.m.

Linear Relationship Case 1 (group)

4
Misuses of Statistics Ontario Hospital Cost 3.3, 4.4-4.6, 6 (intro) 4.53, 4.55
Sept. 30 Analysis Case
Intro Probability

5
Probability 6 6.28, 6.32, 6.36, 6.65, 6.95
Oct. 13
Assignment 2
7.19 (a), 7.36, 7.97, 7.100,
6 Discrete Probability (individual)
6.6, 7.1-7.4 7.108, 7.117, 8.54, 8.58,
Oct. 14 Distributions Lab3 Tues. Oct. 16
8.63
4:00 - 5:30 p. m.
Midterm Exam

www.telfer.uOttawa.ca
 COURSE SCHEDULE (SECOND HALF)

Week/Date2 Topic Assignments/Labs Textbook 9th ed. Suggested exercises

Sat., 9:00am –
Oct. 27 Midterm Exam 12:00pm
DMS4120

Continuous Probability
8.1,8.2, 5, 9
7 Distributions Class Location: TBT (omit 9.3) 9.15, 9.20
Nov. 10 Sampling Concepts, 325
Sampling Distribution

8 Lab4 Fri. Nov. 16 10, 12.1, 12.3 10.27, 10.30, 10.32, 10.34, 12.41 12.81
Estimation 5:30 - 7:00 p. m.
Nov. 11 12.102

Testing Hypotheses and Lab5 Fri. Nov. 23 11 (omit 11.3), 11.29, 11.37,
9
Making Decisions, Chi- 5:30 - 7:00 p. m. 12.1, 12.3, 9.3, 12.25, 12.40, 12.98, 12.99, 13.17, 13.21, 15.9,
Nov. 24 Square Analysis 13.1, 15 15.10, 15.27, 15.37,
Assignment 3
Exploring Relationships (individual)
10 Using Scatterplots and 16.6, 16.10, 16.28, 16.32, 16.59, 16.63,16.86,
Case 2 (group) 16
Nov. 25 Correlations/ Simple 16.99
Linear Regression Case Faringham

Non-linear Regression.
11 Lab6 Fri. Nov. 30
Multiple Regression 17.1-17.2 17.6
5:30 - 7:00 p. m.
Dec. 8

Assignment 4
12 Review of Chapters
(individual)
Dec. 9
BEWARE OF ACADEMIC FRAUD

Academic fraud is an act committed by a student to distort the marking of assignments, tests,
examinations and other forms of academic evaluation. Academic fraud is neither accepted nor
tolerated by the University. Anyone found guilty of academic fraud is liable to severe
academic sanctions.

Here are a few examples of academic fraud:

- engaging in any form of plagiarism or cheating;
- presenting falsified research data;
- handing in an assignment that was not authored, in whole or in part, by the student;
- submitting the same assignment in more than one course, without the written consent of
the professors concerned

In recent years, the development of the Internet has made it much easier to identify academic
plagiarism. The tools available to your professors allow them to trace the exact origin of a
text on the Web, using just a few words.

In cases where students are unsure whether they are at fault, it is their responsibility to consult
the University’s Web site at the following address, where you will find resources, tips and
tools for writing papers and assignments:
Academic Integrity Webpage

Persons who have committed or attempted to commit (or have been accomplices to) academic
fraud will be penalized. Here are some examples of the academic sanctions, which can be
imposed:
- a grade of “F” for the assignment or course in question;
- an additional program requirement of between three and thirty credits;
- suspension or expulsion from the School.

Please be advised that professors have been formally advised to report every suspected case of
academic fraud. In most cases of a first offence of academic fraud, the sanction applied to
students who have been found guilty is an “F” for the course with an additional three credits
added to their program requirements. Repeat offenders are normally expulsed from the School
of Management.
VIDEOTAPING OF LECTURES
On a number of occasions students will request that we videotape lectures in circumstances
where they unavoidably have to be absent from class.

Acceptable reasons to request the videotaping of a course:

A student may request that a course be videotaped for the reasons outlined below.

1. Illness or other medical condition:

 Students should obtain a medical certificate from the
University Health Service (located at 100 Marie-Curie, (564-
3950);

2. Religious holidays
3. Death in the immediate family
4. Business trip or other unavoidable constraints related to work (part-
time students) :
 Students should provide a letter from the employer, and a copy
of their plane ticket;

5. Other compassionate grounds, with justifying documents.

The request should be made at least 48 hrs in advance (2 business days) to the professor. The
professor reserves the right to refuse such a request based on IP or other pedagogical
considerations.

If for any reason you object to a class in which you participate being videotaped, please
inform the professor as soon as possible. For further information, please contact us by e-mail
at graduate@telfer.uOttawa.ca.
ACCESS SERVICE - FOR STUDENTS NEEDING ADAPTIVE MEASURES

Students who have a disability or functional limitation and who need adaptive measures
(changes to the physical setting, arrangements for exams, learning strategies, etc.) to progress
or participate fully in university life should contact Access Service right away:

• By visiting our office on the third floor of the Desmarais Building, Room 3172
• By filling out the online registration form
• By calling us phone at 613-562-5976

Access Service designs services and implements measures to break down barriers to learning
for students with physical or mental health problems, visual impairments or blindness, hearing
impairments or deafness, permanent or temporary disabilities, or learning disabilities.

Deadlines for submitting requests for adaptive measures during exams

IMPORTANT DEADLINES:

-Final exams: Fall session confirm by November 15th

-Final exams: Winter session confirm by March 15th

All final exams, tests, mid-terms, deferred exams

- 7 days before the exam (not including the day of the exam and statutory holidays)

GET A HEAD START ON RESEARCH. VISIT THE LIBRARY!

The University of Ottawa Library has everything you need to produce quality results, quickly
and efficiently.

- Use the Research Guides to get you started.

- Find scholarly articles, market intelligence, and much more in their collections.
- Book an appointment with a Librarian to get you/your group started on a challenging
research question.
- Visit the virtual Library or visit in person at the Desmarais building, rm. 2141.

NOTICE AGAINST SEXUAL VIOLENCE

The University of Ottawa will not tolerate any act of sexual violence. This includes acts such
as rape and sexual harassment, as well as misconduct that take place without consent, which
includes cyberbullying. The University, as well as various employee and student groups,
offers a variety of services and resources to ensure that all uOttawa community members have
access to confidential support and information, and to procedures for reporting an incident or
filing a complaint. For more information, please visit http://www.uOttawa.ca/sexual-violence-
support-and-prevention/.
STATEMENT OF SHARED RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

http://www.telfer.uottawa.ca/assets/documents/2017/Statement-of-Shared-Rights-and-
Responsibilities-EN.pdf

PEER EVALUATIONS

Working in teams is an important aspect of the Telfer MBA program. You are expected to
contribute fully to all team assignments and to meet deadlines required by the team.
Professors might require that each student review the contributions of his or her teammates.
The purpose is to provide constructive feedback, but the peer evaluations will also be used to
reduce individual marks for those students who, according to their teammates, are not
contributing fully to the team’s deliverables. Please note that in some situations, this reduction
could lead to a failing grade for the course.