The files for the following readings are in PDF format and require the Acrobat Reader. An asterisk (*) indicates material that first appeared in Peter Tryfos, Business Statistics, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1989, and now out of print. 

The files tend to be rather large. One can inspect the first page only to help decide if the entire file should be read or downloaded.

*Chapter 1: Analyzing data (424KB). Introduction. Frequency and relative frequency distributions. Graphs. Measures of tendency. Measures of dispersion. Index numbers. Bivariate distributions. Conditional distributions. Independence. Measuring the relationship between attributes. Correlation. Multivariate distributions. Computer programs for data analysis. In summary. Problems. First page only (36KB)

Special reading: Are stock prices predictable? (133KB)

*Chapter 2: Probability and probability distributions (496KB) Introduction. Probability. Probability distributions and their characteristics. Joint probability distributions. Conditional probability distributions and independence. Sampling with and without replacement. Functions of random variables. Special distributions: binomial, hypergeometric, Poisson. Continuous probability distributions: exponential, normal. The mean and variance of special distributions. Multivariate probability distributions. Problems. First page only (32KB)

Special reading: Life insurance and pensions (144KB). Introduction. Mortality tables. Determining life insurance premiums. Determining pension payments. Problems. PowerPoint presentation (165KB). A computer program for determining pure insurance premiums and pension payments (52KB).

*Chapter 3: Decision theory (380KB) Introduction. Decision problems. Shortcomings of expected monetary value, utility. Some shortcuts. A single-stage inventory problem. Decisions in stages, decision trees. Multistage inventory problems. The value of additional information. A mathematical formulation. Optimal acceptance sampling. In summary. Problems. First page only (32KB)

*Chapter 4: Simple random samples and their properties (433KB) Introduction. Populations, random and non-random samples. Estimating population characteristics. Estimates based on random samples without replacement. Sampling from large populations or with replacement. Implications. Selecting a random sample in practice. Sampling from an independent random process. Large-sample distributions, central limit theorem. How large should a sample be? In summary. Problems. First page only (33KB)

*Chapter 5: Interval estimation and testing (447KB) Introduction. Interval estimation. Further properties of large samples. Understanding statistical tests. The structure of statistical tests. Inference for special population distributions. Tests concerning the form of the population distribution. Testing the independence of two attributes or variables. Comparing two or more populations. Comparing two population means. A non-parametric test. Problems. First page only (34KB)

Special reading: Acceptance sampling (82KB). Introduction. Sampling plans. Negotiating a plan. For additional information. Problems.

For further readings on sampling, see, i.a.,  Peter Tryfos, Sampling for Applied Research: Text and Cases, Wiley, 1996.

For readings on regression and extensions, see, i.a.,  Peter Tryfos, Methods for Business Analysis and Forecasting: Text & Cases, Wiley, 1998.