Business Statistics: For Contemporary Decision Making, 8th Edition

CHAPTER 1

Introduction to Statistics

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The primary objective of Chapter 1 is to introduce you to the world of statistics, thereby enabling you to:

1. List quantitative and graphical examples of statistics within a business context.

2. Define important statistical terms, including population, sample, and parameter, as they relate to descriptive and inferential statistics.

3. Explain the difference between variables, measurement, and data.

4. Compare the four different levels of data: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.

Statistics Describe the State of Business in India's Countryside

India is the second largest country in the world, with more than a billion people. Nearly three-quarters of the people live in rural areas scattered about the countryside in 6,000,000 villages. In fact, it may be said that 1 in every 10 people in the world live in rural India. Presently, the population in rural India can be described as poor and semi-illiterate. With an annual per capita income of less than $1 (U.S.) per day, rural India accounts for only about one-third of total national product sales. Less than 50% of households in rural India have electricity, and many of the roads are not paved. The annual per capita consumption for toothpaste is only 30 grams per person in rural ...