Introductory Statistics in a Business Anthropology Program

Oke Gerke

doi:10.4172/2332-0915.1000166

Abstract

Introductory statistics courses in bachelor’s degree programs in higher education are often challenging to both teachers and learners. In 2012 our institution launched a bachelor’s degree program in Market and Management Anthropology (MMA), a field of study in which qualitative research plays a vital role. Quantitative methods are regarded as a supplement to the armada of anthropological tools such as participant observation or informal and structured interviews. This makes the design and conduct of an introductory course in statistics even more challenging. In this paper I discuss the curriculum, the lecturing, the exercises and software used, and the assessment form for this new target group of students. Despite the qualitative nature of the bachelor’s degree program in MMA, a basic understanding of what statistics can (and cannot) do is essential. The curriculum turned out to be almost the same as that for any other introductory course in statistics, say, one for economics students. However, a stronger focus on nonparametric techniques is meaningful.

Highlights

During the first half of the twentieth century anthropology, the study of our understanding of humanity, was occasionally focused on business applications
The publication of The Anthropologist in Business and Industry [1] opened the way for the use of the term business anthropology [2], and since 1980 it has become more popular and widely used in the literature
Qualitative and quantitative research are often considered as complementary terms which relate to words and numbers, respectively; they may as well interact since certain types of qualitative data are analyzed by quantitative means [4]

Summary

Introduction

During the first half of the twentieth century anthropology, the study of our understanding of humanity, was occasionally focused on business applications. Qualitative and quantitative research are often considered as complementary terms which relate to words and numbers, respectively; they may as well interact since certain types of qualitative data are analyzed by quantitative means [4]. They target the questions of ‘how’ versus ‘how many’ [5]. Politics and law The introductory statistics course is placed in the second semester within the pillar ‘Business and economics’ It probably represents the most quantitative part of the whole BSc MMA program. Implementations in ®SPSS, which may be considered as supplementary material

Didactical Methods

Conclusion