A Guide to Business Statistics

Chapter 11Simple Linear Regression

You may be surprised to learn that not all students love taking courses in statistics. Hard to imagine right? The first day of the semester I ask students to raise their hand if they are taking my statistics class as an elective, simply because they are interested in the topic. In over 20 semesters, I have not witnessed a single hand raised. Perhaps, there are dozens of keen students who are just too embarrassed to raise their hands. Or, perhaps, students take statistics only because they have to fulfill a requirement for their major. (I have decided not to investigate this further and leave open the possibility the former explanation is true.) Anyway, I usually follow this with a discussion of the course syllabus, the required assignments, and how grades are determined. During the first class I also cover the issue of class attendance.

I often teach fairly large statistics courses and as the semester rolls on attendance rates seems to always fade. In that first class, I try to convey to my students the importance of attending class in order to learn the material and ultimately do well on the assignments. I tell my students that there are many factors that can influence how well they will do in my course, but class attendance is the strongest predictor. We discuss the potentially important role of other factors like major, hours dedicated to studying, SAT scores, whether they have jobs, whether they are involved in athletics, and many others. ...