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Activity Number: 366
Type: Contributed
Date/Time: Tuesday, August 11, 2015 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
Sponsor: Section on Statistical Education
Abstract #316321
Title: Statistical Inference for Managers
Author(s): Milo Schield*
Companies: Augsburg College
Keywords: statistical education ; statistical significance ; effect size ; statistical literacy
Abstract:

Managers are defined as those in management, marketing, international business and management information systems. Managers are estimated to be at least 20% of the undergraduates taking introductory statistics at four-year colleges. This paper claims that the statistical-inference needs of managers are quite different from the needs of the others taking introductory statistics. Most other students taking introductory statistics are expected to read journal articles involving statistical studies and statistical inference. They may even be expected to conduct a statistical study. Managers seldom - if ever -- read research articles involving statistical studies. They are not expected to conduct a statistical study. Their job is to use statistics to make better decisions. They do need to recognize the influence that chance can have on their data. They do need to realize that statistics and statistical associations can be influenced by confounders and by how statistics are defined, counted and measured. They do need to focus on outliers - outcomes that may be unexpected. This may not involve mathematics. But by studying statistical inference (confidence intervals and statistical significance) they are being sensitized to the role of chance in their field and to the fact that statistics exist in a context where the context matters. Managers do not need to understand the logic or derivation of the central limit theorem, the details of hypothesis testing or the calculation of p-values. This paper argues that requiring detailed precision and derivation as the ideal for managers can make perfection the enemy of the good.


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