Experiments: Knowledge by Design

Course Description

How do we know which policies, strategies, and decisions work, which should be continued, and which should be changed? Organizations frequently implement strategies and changes, only to find that they fail to produce their intended effects. Thus, there is a gap between what "sounded good" and what was "right." Ultimately, the gold standard for assessing what is "right" is a controlled experiment, which is the least utilized technique in the corporate arsenal. Experiments provide a structured way to construct a feedback loop that allows us to identify errors in our beliefs and to ascertain the real drivers of outcomes. In this course, we will explore how to use this "test and learn" paradigm to answer questions such as how advertising should be designed and targeted, what types of promotions are most effective, what products should be offered, how employees should be compensated, which sales channels should be emphasized, how webpages should be designed, and more. Experiments are an ideal way to understand how to implement a "test and learn" approach to management and to separate the "signal" from the "noise."

Code

STAT 5604

Credits

3

Subject

STAT

Programs That Include This Course

• Doctoral Doctor of Philosophy in Statistics
• Graduate Certificate Graduate Certificate in Business Analytics
• Master's Master of Business Administration
• Master's Master of Science in Business Analytics
• Master's Master of Science in Experience Management and Analytics
• Master's Master of Science in Statistics and Data Science