Business Statistics and Analysis Specialization Course Syllabus

Overview: This specialization provides a practical foundation in business statistics and data analysis using Excel. Designed for beginners, it guides learners through essential statistical techniques applied to real-world business scenarios. The program consists of five core modules followed by a capstone project, totaling approximately 108 hours of learning. Each module combines video lectures, hands-on exercises, and quizzes to build and reinforce skills in data manipulation, statistical analysis, and predictive modeling.

Module 1: Introduction to Data Analysis Using Excel

Estimated time: 24 hours

• Import and organize data in Excel
• Use essential functions: IF, VLOOKUP, RANDBETWEEN
• Create PivotTables for summarizing data
• Generate and interpret charts and apply data filtering

Module 2: Basic Data Descriptors, Statistical Distributions, and Application to Business Decisions

Estimated time: 20 hours

• Calculate and interpret measures of central tendency and variability
• Apply normal, binomial, and Poisson distributions to business problems
• Understand the Central Limit Theorem
• Use distributions for decision-making under uncertainty

Module 3: Business Applications of Hypothesis Testing and Confidence Interval Estimation

Estimated time: 24 hours

• Construct confidence intervals for means and proportions
• Perform hypothesis tests for one and two samples
• Interpret results in business contexts
• Apply testing to quality control and market research

Module 4: Linear Regression for Business Statistics

Estimated time: 20 hours

• Develop simple linear regression models
• Build and interpret multiple regression models
• Assess model fit using R-squared and residuals
• Use regression for forecasting and decision support

Module 5: Capstone Project

Estimated time: 20 hours

• Apply statistical methods to a real-world business dataset
• Perform data analysis using Excel tools
• Generate insights using descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, and regression

Module 6: Final Project

Estimated time: 20 hours

• Deliverable 1: Executive summary of findings
• Deliverable 2: Completed Excel analysis workbook
• Deliverable 3: Presentation of recommendations based on data

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with basic computer operations
• Access to Microsoft Excel (Windows version 2010 or later)
• Basic high school level mathematics knowledge

What You'll Be Able to Do After

• Master essential Excel functions for data analysis and business modeling
• Understand and apply descriptive statistics and probability distributions to business decisions
• Conduct hypothesis testing and build confidence intervals for data-driven insights
• Develop and interpret linear regression models for predictive analytics
• Apply statistical techniques to real-world business problems through a comprehensive capstone project