ETF2020 Statistical foundations of business analytics

The business world is characterised by decision making in an environment of risk. To gain a deeper understanding of the tools and models used in business analytics, a strong foundation in probability and statistics is required. Probability provides a "language" for thinking about risk, while statistics provides a framework for making data-driven inferences and predictions. This unit provides a strong grounding in these fundamentals. Some of the topics covered may include risk v uncertainty v probability, famous statistical paradoxes, decision theory, frameworks for statistical inference (frequentist, Bayesian, etc.) and simulation and re-sampling. Examples from real world business problems will be used to motivate each topic.