COMM 215 introduces statistics as a tool for dealing with information in quantitative form, imparting techniques of descriptive and inferential statistics in the real world. Students will learn statistical skills that will contribute effectively to management and policy formation. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to distinguish between different types of data and data collection options, describe data sets by graphical or numeric methods, discuss concepts such as variability, covariance/correlation and independence, perform significance testing and data analysis including data modeling using regression, and understand the connection between statistics and good business practice. In addition, they will use statistical software packages for the management and analysis of business data and for effective presentation of statistical results.