DESC 602 Statistical Thinking for Decision Intelligence (4)

In recent years, we have witnessed a dramatic increase in the use of specialized mathematical models for both quantitative and qualitative data; especially in the functional areas of decision analysis, finance, and market research. This course begins with an in-depth treatment of the fundamentals of mathematical modeling (probability, inference, and the correlation/regression), and quickly moves to advanced treatment of applied model building for decision makers (e.g. regression, crosstabulation, and classification models). Model building and analyses are conducted using a variety of statistical software, but with heavy reliance on the IBM SPSS software package (a sophisticated tool used by over 10000 companies in California alone, and one with a short learning curve…our focus can then be theoretical modeling)). Whilst some attention is given to long-standing techniques for categorical data, like chi-square tests and contingency table analysis, the primary focus of the course will be “generalized linear models,” in particular, classification models.

Grading Basis: Graded