Assignment 1 - Exploring data NEED BY TUESDAY

WEEK 1 - ASSIGNMENT 1 USING DATA TO MAKE DECISIONS

Instructions and Rubric

The  objectives  of  this  assignment  are  to:  

• Get  you  familiarized  with  the  process  of  collecting  and  organizing  data   • Using  basic  statistical  concepts  learned  this  week  to  de>ine  your  data   • Using  Excel  to  perform  measures  of  central  tendency  and  variation   • Using  data  for  decision  making  

In  this  assignment  you  will  collect  data  and  demonstrate  your  knowledge  of  the  terms  and  concepts   learned  this  week.  Please  use  the  answer  sheet  that  has  been  provided  to  you;  enter  your  data,   de6initions,  answer,  and  citations  in  the  marked  boxes.  Name  your  6ile:  (last  name)  A1.xlxs  

Gather  data    

You  will  select  the  data  you  will  use  for  this  assignment.  Use  data  that  you  would  like  to  know  more   about  and  that  is  readily  available  to  you.      

Collect  30  pieces  of  data  and  enter  them  in  your  answer  sheet.  

Some  examples  are:   a.   Number  of  tracks  in  albums  

b.   Age  of  Friends  (If  you  select  this  one,  please  make  sure  you  have  a  valid  decision  to   make  to  go  with  this;  “I  wanted  to  know  the  age  of  my  friends”  is  not  enough,  after  all   they  are  YOUR  friends  and  you  already  know  them).  

c.   Duration  of  tracks  (If  you  select  this  one,  make  sure  you  use  only  ONE  unit;  usually   songs  are  measured  in  minutes  and  seconds  –  TWO  units.  This  does  not  do  well  in   Excel,  so  either  change  them  to  whole  minutes  or  whole  seconds)  

d.   Dollars  spent  (You  can  select  expenses,  or  any  other  monetary  transaction.  If  you   would  like  to  compare  prices  of  an  item,  make  sure  it  is  a  similar  item  in  all  retailers   you  use.  For  example,  looking  at  the  price  of  similarly  equipped  2015  Toyotas  Corolla   in  30  different  retailers)  

e.   Industry  or  work  experience,  salaries,  etc.  

f.   Number  of  hits  on  a  website  

g.   Budgets  (You  can  use  >ilms,  live  productions,  product  manufacturing,  etc.)  

INSTRUCTIONS (CONT.)

Some  useful  sources  of  data  are:  

a.   iTunes   b.   Amazon   c.   Google  analytics   d.   Pandora   e.   Linked-­‐in   f.   Facebook   g.   eBay   h.   Spotify  

Population You  will  name  the  population  that  your  sample  is  coming  from.  For  example,  if  you  are  going  to  ask  a   question  from  your  FB  friends  then  your  population  is  “FB  Friends”.  

Variable   You  will  name  the  variable  you  are  looking  for  in  your  population.  There  are  numerous  variables   contained  within  a  population.  For  example,  within  the  population  “FB  Friends”  we  can  look  at:  age,   income,  marital  status,  number  of  cars,  number  of  children,  weight,  height,  color  of  hair,  education   level,  and  many  other  ones.  

Sample   You  will  de>ine  the  sample  you  are  using.  Remember,  the  sample  comes  directly  from  the  population,   so  this  relationship  should  be  clearly  stated.  For  example,  “30  randomly  selected  FB  Friends”  is   clearly  marked  as  coming  from  “FB  Friends”  

Type  of  Variable   You  need  to  state  the  type  of  variable.  Since  you  are  going  to  calculate  measures  of  center  and   variation,  your  variable  must  be  numerical.  However,  you  must  state  whether  it  is  discrete  or   continuous.  

Mean:   Use  Excel  to  calculate  the  mean  of  your  data.  For  help  with  this  please  check  out  “Stats  and  Graphs  in   Excel”  which  is  located  in  the  “Student  Resources”  tab  under  “Course  Information”  and  which  also  is   among  the  downloadable  >iles  that  accompany  this  assignment.  Make  sure  to  round  your  mean  to  the   nearest  ten  thousandth.  

INSTRUCTIONS (CONT.)

Median   Use  Excel  to  calculate  the  median  of  your  data.  For  help  with  this  please  check  out  “Stats  and  Graphs   in  Excel”  which  is  located  in  the  “Student  Resources”  tab  under  “Course  Information”  and  which  also   is  among  the  downloadable  >iles  that  accompany  this  assignment.  Make  sure  to  round  your  median   to  the  nearest  tenth  if  necessary.  

Mode   Use  Excel  to  calculate  the  mode  of  your  data.  For  help  with  this  please  check  out  “Stats  and  Graphs  in   Excel”  which  is  located  in  the  “Student  Resources”  tab  under  “Course  Information”  and  which  also  is   among  the  downloadable  >iles  that  accompany  this  assignment.  If  you  have  more  than  one  mode,   make  sure  you  mention  all  of  them.  

Range   Use  Excel  to  calculate  the  range  of  your  data.  For  help  with  this  please  check  out  “Stats  and  Graphs  in   Excel”  which  is  located  in  the  “Student  Resources”  tab  under  “Course  Information”  and  which  also  is   among  the  downloadable  >iles  that  accompany  this  assignment.    

Standard  Deviation   Use  Excel  to  calculate  the  standard  deviation  of  your  data.  For  help  with  this  please  check  out  “Stats   and  Graphs  in  Excel”  which  is  located  in  the  “Student  Resources”  tab  under  “Course  Information”  and   which  also  is  among  the  downloadable  >iles  that  accompany  this  assignment.  Make  sure  to  round   your  standard  deviation  to  the  nearest  ten  thousandth  

Answer  the  following  questions:  

• What  kind  of  decisions  can  you  make  with  this  data? • Who  would  use  this  data  to  make  decisions?

Please  make  sure  that  your  answer  is  based  on  the  data  itself  and  that  it  is  directly  related  to  the   population.    Minimum  required  length  for  your  answer  is  5  complete  sentences.  

Reference   It  is  important  to  cite  the  source  of  your  data  as  this  ensures  that  your  study  is  grounded  in  data.  You   must  cite  your  source  even  if  you  use  your  own  accounts  (social  media,  music  streaming  service,  etc.)   or  records.  If  you  use  data  that  belongs  to  others  (corporations  or  individuals)  you  must  give  them   credit  for  this  too.    If  you  use  multiple  sources  of  data,  just  cite  the  >irst  2.  To  help  you  write   references  in  APA  please  visit:     https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

RUBRIC

Instructions and Rubric