foundation skills in data analytics

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MIS770 Foundation Skills in Business Analysis Assignment Two (Ver DU-A) Page 1

MIS770 Foundation Skills in Business Analysis DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND BUSINESS ANALYTICS

DEAKIN BUSINESS SCHOOL FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND LAW, DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

Assignment Two

Analysis of Climate Change Survey Data

Particulars

• Due: Week 9, 11:59 pm, Sunday 17th May 2020. • Marks: 30%. • Words: 2,000 words or approximate equivalent. • Submission: Two files (Excel, Word) electronically in CloudDeakin.

Email submissions will not be accepted. Note: Do not convert your Word document to pdf format.

• Notes: This assignment is to be completed individually. Please ensure you are familiar with the Extension Request and the Late Penalties rules governing assignments in the Faculty of Business and Law (see details below).

Assurance of Learning

This assignment assesses the following Graduate Learning Outcomes and related Unit Learning Outcomes:

Graduate Learning Outcome (GLO) Unit Learning Outcome (ULO)

GLO4: Critical thinking: evaluating information using critical and analytical thinking and judgment

ULO2: Manipulate and summarise data that accurately represents real world problems

ULO3: Interpret and appraise statistical output to assist in real-world decision making

Faculty of Business and Law Assignment Extension Procedures

Information for students seeking an extension BEFORE the due date

If you wish to seek an extension for this assignment prior to the due date, you need to apply directly to the Unit Chair by completing the Assignment and Online Test Extension Application Form (available from https://www.deakin.edu.au/students/faculties/buslaw/student-support/assignment-extensions) and sending the completed form as well as your supporting documentation (if a non COVID-19 related issue) and a draft of your assignment, to our generic email address [email protected]. (Note: completing the Extension Application Form is mandatory if you wish to apply for an extension.)

This process needs to occur as soon as you become aware that you will have difficulty in meeting the due date, but no later than 5-00 pm Friday 15th May 2020. In other words, requests for extensions will not be entertained after the normal close of business on Friday 15th May 2020.

Please note: Unit Chairs can only grant extensions up to two weeks beyond the original due date. If you require more than two weeks, or have already been provided an extension by the Unit Chair and require additional time, you must apply for Special Consideration via StudentConnect within 3 business days of the due date.

Misreading the due date/time, assignment anxiety or returning home will not be accepted as grounds for consideration.

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MIS770 Foundation Skills in Business Analysis Assignment Two (Ver DU-A) Page 2

Conditions under which an extension will normally be considered include:

• Medical – to cover medical conditions of a serious nature, e.g. hospitalisation, serious injury or chronic illness. Note: temporary minor ailments such as headaches, colds and minor gastric upsets are not serious medical conditions and are unlikely to be accepted. However serious cases of these may be considered.

• Compassionate – e.g. death of a close family member, significant family and relationship problems. • Hardship/Trauma – e.g. sudden loss or gain of employment, severe disruption to domestic arrangements,

victim of crime.

Information for students seeking an extension AFTER the due date

If the due date has passed; you require more than two weeks extension, or you have already been provided with an extension and require additional time, you must apply for Special Consideration via StudentConnect. Please be aware that applications are governed by University procedures and must be submitted within three business days of the due date or previously granted extension due date.

In most instances the maximum amount of time that can be granted for an assignment extension is three weeks after the due date, as Unit Chairs are required to have all assignment submitted before results/feedback can be released back to students.

Penalties for late submission

The following marking penalties will apply if you submit an assessment task after the due date without an approved extension: • 5% will be deducted from the available marks for each day, or part thereof, up to five days. • Work that is submitted more than five days after the due date will not be marked; you will receive 0% for

the task.

Note: 'Day' means calendar day.

The Unit Chair may refuse to accept a late submission where it is unreasonable or impracticable to assess the task after the due date.

Additional information

For advice regarding academic misconduct, special consideration, extensions, and assessment feedback, please refer to the document “Rights and responsibilities as a student” in the “Unit Guide and Information” folder under the “Resources” section in the MIS770 CloudDeakin site.

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Overview

The purpose of this assignment is to investigate a dataset that has been produced as a result of the survey you conducted on Climate Change. You now need to interrogate the dataset in order to answer questions posed by your client, the Australian Government. Ultimately, you will need to analyse the data, interpret the results, and then draw appropriate conclusions.

The aims of the assignment are to:

• provide you with some examples of the application of data analysis • test your understanding of the material presented in the relevant topics • test your ability to analyse data and interpret your results • test your ability to effectively communicate your results to others

Before attempting the assignment, make sure you have prepared yourself well. At a minimum, please read the relevant sections of the prescribed textbook and review the materials provided in Modules 1 and 2 (i.e. Topics 1 to 7).

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MIS770 Foundation Skills in Business Analysis Assignment Two (Ver DU-A) Page 3

Scenario

The Australian Government has previously commissioned you, Ellyse Perry (Chief Analyst at Survey House), to develop a survey to help them gauge the views of the Australian public regarding “Climate Change”. Now, in order to implement possible Climate Change policy initiatives, the Government, through their representative Daisy Pearce (Manager, Public Relations in the Prime Minister’s Office), wants you to interpret the data gathered from your survey and then answer several questions.

Daisy does not have an analytics background, so it’s important that you utilise “plain, easy to understand language” in your answers. If you believe you need to include any technical terms, then you must explain these in a clear and succinct manner.

The questions you need to answer are contained in the following memorandum.

Memorandum

Date: 24th April, 2020 To: Ellyse Perry, Chief Analyst, Survey House From: Daisy Pearce, Manager, Public Relations, PM’s Office Subject: Analysis of Climate Change Survey Data

Dear Ellyse,

Can you please carry out an analysis of the recent Climate Change Survey data (contained in the file ClimateChangeSurvey.xlsx) and prepare a Memorandum reply to me containing answers to the following questions.

My specific questions are:

Q1. An Overall View of “Monthly_Payment” spend per month

Can you provide me with an overall summary of the amount people are willing to pay monthly in order to have a net zero electricity bill sourced entirely through renewable energy (e.g. solar panels with backup battery)? A summing up of the variable “Monthly_Payment” just by itself, would be useful.

Q2. “Monthly_Payment” vs “Concerned”

I am interested in how the “Monthly_Payment” amount people are willing to pay for renewable energy relates to how “Concerned” people are with the current situation regarding Climate Change. In particular, does there appear to be any difference in how much people are prepared to pay monthly on renewable energy compared to the “Concerned” responses of: Not concerned; Slightly concerned; Somewhat concerned; Very concerned, and Extremely concerned.

Q3. Climate Change Affordability Measures

(a) Can you estimate the average “Monthly_Payment” amount people are willing to pay for renewable energy in Australia?

(b) Climate Change is a global concern and there are countries that do not have the financial resources to address their local Climate Change circumstances. Therefore, I’m interested to know if you can estimate the proportion of all Australians who believe that Australia should financially “Support” developing countries in their efforts to address Climate Change.

Q4. Climate Change Views

(a) A previous report published by one of the national daily newspapers indicated that the proportion of Australians who have Already Installed or Plan to Install “Solar_Panels” on their homes is no more than 25%. An industry energy group has responded to this report by claiming that the rate has been understated and the true figure is higher. Can you check this industry group’s claim?

(b) Another point of contention made in the report was the amount of money Australians would be prepared to make an up-front payment (“Up_Front_Payment”) in order to have net zero electricity bills

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MIS770 Foundation Skills in Business Analysis Assignment Two (Ver DU-A) Page 4

through renewable energy. The report states that it is, on average, less than $21,500. The same industry energy group has responded by claiming that the amount of money Australians are prepared to pay up-front is at least $21,500. Could you please also check this claim by the industry group?

Q5. Relationships

I would like to see whether factors listed below provide any explanation of the amount people are willing to pay monthly (“Monthly_Payment”) in order to have net zero electricity bills through renewable energy. If so, can you also indicate which factor is the most important?

(a) “Income”

(b) “Age”

Q6. Appropriate Sample Size

Finally, I am concerned that the sample of 400 Australians is too small to provide accurate results as this seems hardly enough data. For a survey we intend to undertake next year, we would like to be able to:

(a) estimate the proportion of Australians that are Aware or Very Aware of Climate Change to within 3%, and

(b) accurately estimate the average monthly payment (“Monthly_Payment”) amount people are willing to pay in order to have net zero electricity bills through renewable energy to within $20.

How many Australians would we need to include in next year’s survey to satisfy both of these requirements?

Regards, Daisy

Memorandum Requirements

• Your memorandum reply should be no longer than 3 pages and there is no need to include a Table of Contents, any visualisations (i.e. Charts and Tables), or Appendices in the Memorandum. The Charts/Graphics and Tables you create are only to be placed in the Data Analysis file (i.e. the Excel spreadsheet) and not reproduced in the memorandum.

• Suggested Word formatting for the memorandum: Single‐line spacing; no smaller that 10‐ point font; page margins approx. 25mm, and good use of white space.

• Your memorandum must, however, have a cover sheet containing your particulars and Unit details. • Set out the memorandum in the same order as in the originating Memorandum from Daisy, with each

section (question) clearly marked. • Use plain language and keep your explanations succinct. Avoid the use of technical or statistical jargon. As

a guide to the meaning of “Plain Language”, imagine you are explaining your findings to a person without any statistical training (e.g. someone who has not studied this unit). What type of language would you use in that case?

• Marks will be lost if you use unexplained technical terms, irrelevant material, or have poor presentation/organisation.

• All Microsoft Excel output associated with each question in the Memorandum is to be placed in the corresponding tab in the file ClimateChange_yourstudentid.xlsx

Data Analysis Instructions/Guidelines

In order to prepare a reply to Daisy’s memorandum, you will need to examine and analyse the dataset ClimateChangeSurvey.xlsx thoroughly.

Daisy has asked a number of questions and your Data Analysis output (i.e. your charts/tables/graphs) should be structured such that you answer each question on the separate tab/worksheet provided in your Excel document. There are also three extra tabs in ClimateChangeSurvey.xlsx called CI, HT and SS and you may use the various templates contained in these tabs in your “Confidence Interval”, “Hypothesis” and “Sample Size” answers should you wish to do so.

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MIS770 Foundation Skills in Business Analysis Assignment Two (Ver DU-A) Page 6

In order to effectively answer the questions, your Data Analysis output needs to be appropriate. Accordingly, you’ll need to establish which of the following techniques are applicable for any given question:

• Summary Measures (e.g. Descriptive Statistics, Inc. Outlier detection). • Comparative Summary Measures (i.e. Descriptive Statistics for multiple values of a variable). • Suitable tables (such as a Frequency Distribution) and charts or graphics (such as Histograms, Box Plots, Pie

Charts, Bar/Column Charts) that will illustrate more clearly, other important features of a variable. • Scatter Diagrams (used to visually establish if there is a relationship between two numeric variables). • Cross Tabulations (sometimes called Contingency Tables), used to establish the relationships (dependencies)

between two variables (see Additional Materials under Topic 2 – Creating Cross Tabulations in Excel using Pivot Tables).

• Confidence Intervals. You can assume that a 95% confidence level is appropriate. We use Confidence Intervals when we have no idea about the population parameter we are investigating. Additionally, we would use Confidence Intervals if we are asked for an estimate. You can use the relevant Excel templates provided in the dataset and copy them to the applicable question tab.

• Hypothesis Tests. You can assume that a 5% level of significance is appropriate. We Use Hypothesis Tests when we are testing a Claim, a Theory or a Standard. You can use the relevant Excel templates provided in the dataset and copy them to the applicable question tab.

• Sample size calculation: You can assume that a 95% confidence level is appropriate. You may include comparisons for 90% and 99% and a recommendation for the appropriate sample size.

• To answer some questions, you may need to make certain assumptions about the data set we are using. Mention these in your data analysis, where relevant. There is no need to mention this in the memo.

Note: There is an Appendix at the end of each Chapter of the Prescribed Textbook which describes the basic Excel steps associated with that Topic. Chapters 1 to 9 are applicable for this assessment.

Submission

Your completed assignment should be submitted in two separate files:

• Memorandum (Part A): A Word document of no more than 3 pages that is not to contain any charts/tables/graphs. (Note: Do not submit a pdf document in lieu.). Please name your Word document ClimateChange_yourstudentid.docx

• Data Analysis (Part B): An Excel document containing separate tabs/worksheets with charts/tables/graphs for each question. Please note that all interpretations should be presented in your “Memorandum” and the Excel document should only contain your intermediate analysis and final output. Please name your Excel document ClimateChange_yourstudentid.xlsx

The assignment is to be submitted to the MIS770 assignment box in Deakin’s Cloud Campus before 11-59 pm, Sunday 17th May 2020. Please ensure you include your name and student details in your Word document as well following the above file naming convention. Failure to follow this convention may lead to a delay in receiving feedback and marks.

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MIS770 Foundation Skills in Business Analysis Assignment Two (Ver DU-A) Page 7

Marking Rubric

Poor

Needs Improvement Satisfactory Good Very Good Excellent

Data Analysis (Marks: 16)

0 points 4.8 points 8 points 9.6 points 11.2 points 16 points

This part relates to the various visualisations in the form of charts, tables & graphs etc. created by Ellyse which formed the basis of her response to Daisy.

Uses irrelevant or inappropriate techniques to analyse the data, or the Data Analysis and visualisation tools were used to analyse the data but in an incomplete or inaccurate manner.

Uses some appropriate data analysis and visualisation tools to analyse the data but there are many errors in the analysis.

Uses appropriate data analysis and visualisation tools to analyse the data but there are several errors in the analysis.

Uses appropriate data analysis and visualisation tools to analyse the data but there are some errors in the analysis.

Comprehensive analysis of the data using appropriate techniques, but there are some minor errors in the analysis.

Uses data visualisations to understand the patterns in data.

Skilful and comprehensive analysis of data using many different techniques.

Uses data visualisations to produce novel insights.

A very poor presentation of the analysis, or the analysis does not follow principles of good graphical display.

The presentation of the analysis needs improvement.

The presentation of the analysis is satisfactory.

The presentation of the analysis is of a respectable standard.

The analysis is well organised and follows principles of good graphical display.

An excellent presentation of the analysis.

0 – 4.7 Marks 4.8 – 7.9 Marks 8 – 9.5 Marks 9.6 – 11.1 Marks 11.2 – 12.7 Marks 12.8 – 16 Marks Memorandum (Marks: 12)

0 points 3.6 points 6 points 7.2 points 8.4 points 12 points

This part is the written response by Ellyse to the questions posed by Daisy.

Does not communicate any of the main findings of the analysis in an accurate and/or useful way, or the interpretation and communication of findings is at a basic level.

Explains some of the main findings of the analysis accurately which only enables the reader to draw a few reasonable conclusions.

Explains most of the main findings of the analysis accurately and enables the reader to draw several reasonable conclusions.

Explains nearly all of the main findings of the analysis accurately and enables the reader to draw mostly reasonable conclusions.

Provides detailed and accurate descriptions of the most important features of the analysis along with appropriately qualified conclusions.

Provides outstanding descriptions and conclusions that are carefully considered and insightful.

The written communication is unprofessional or difficult to follow and contains numerous errors.

The written communication is not very easy to follow and/or it contains too many errors.

The written communication is clear and easy to follow but it contains minor errors.

The written communication is clear and easy to follow and generally free of errors.

The written communication is professional, easy to follow and has a good structure.

The written communication is very professional, logical and easy to follow.

0 – 3.5 Marks 3.6 – 5.9 Marks 6 – 7.1 Marks 7.2 – 8.3 Marks 8.4 – 9.5 Marks 9.6 – 12 Marks Overall Assignment Presentation (Marks: 2)

0 points

No attempt has been made to follow the assignment Requirements/ Instructions/ Guidelines.

0.6 points

Little attempt has been made to follow the assignment Requirements/ Instructions/ Guidelines.

1 point

Most of the assignment Requirements/ Instructions/ Guidelines have been followed.

1.2 point

Majority of the assignment Requirements/ Instructions/ Guidelines have been followed.

1.4 points

All of the assignment Requirements/ Instructions/ Guidelines have been followed.

2 points

All of the assignment Requirements/ Instructions/ Guidelines have been dealt with meticulously.

Poorly presented

Unsatisfactorily presented

Satisfactorily presented

Good presentation

Very good presentation

Faultless assignment presentation

0 – 0.5 Marks 0.6 – 0.9 Marks 1 – 1.1 Marks 1.2 – 1.3 Marks 1.4 – 1.5 Marks 1.6 – 2 Marks