QNT/275

STATISTICS FOR DECISION MAKING

The Latest Version A+ Study Guide

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Week 1 Statistics in Business
Write a 525- to 700-word response that addresses the following prompts:

Define statistics with citation and reference.

Contrast quantitative data and qualitative data with citation and reference.

Describe the levels of data measurement.

Describe the role of statistics in business decision-making.

Provide at least two business research questions, or problem situations, in which statistics
was used or could be used.

Copy and paste the five prompts above into a Microsoft Word document and
write a response below each prompt. Add an APA title page to your document.
Use APA quotation, citation, and reference format for all sources used.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.

Week 2 Activity Data Set

Resource: University of Phoenix Material: Data Set
Review the following business scenario:
You are the manager in a small town in the lake district of a Midwestern state
enjoys a robust tourist season during the summer months, but has only a small
population of residents during the off season. The Littletown Caf adjusts the

levels of staff according to the time of year, to coincide with the number of
guests, with the tourist season typically starting around Memorial Day each
year. One wait staff employee can serve 50 guests. When a bus staff
employee is added, the pair can serve 75 guests. At 76 guests, the caf adds a
second wait staff employee, for a total of 2 waiters and one busser. Analysis of
guest numbers can support future decisions about scheduling wait staff,
dishwashers, and bus staff for the caf.
Download the data set.
Review the data in the data set.
Write a 700- to 1,050-word paper in which you:

Explain why this is (or is not) a suitable sample of quantitative data for the business
scenario.

Evaluate the factors that would affect the validity of the data set.

Evaluate the factors that would affect the reliability of the data set.

Explain the steps you took to arrive at your conclusion about validity and reliability.

Display the data set in a chart.

Explain briefly why that chart type was selected.

Calculate the measures of central tendency and variability (mean, median, mode,
standard deviation) for the data.

Explain the steps you followed to come your answer.

Interpret the measures of central tendency and variability.What are three conclusions you
can draw based on the data analysis?

Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.

Week 2 Quiz

question1

Which of the following variables is qualitative?

o
Height

o
Temperature
o
Gender
o
Weight

question2

A recent survey of 200 small firms (annual revenue less than $10 million)
asked whether an increase in the minimum wage would cause the firm to
decrease capital spending. Possible responses to the survey question were:
Yes, No, or Dont Know. These data are best classified as ____________.
o
Nominal Scale
o
Ratio Scale
o
Interval Scale
o
Ordinal Scale

question3

Which of the following represents a population and a sample from that

population?
o
Teachers in a high school and members of the parent teacher group
o
Residents of Albany, New York, and registered voters in Albany, New York
o
Freshmen at St. Josephs University and basketball players at St. Josephs
University
o
Fans at a concert who purchase t-shirts and fans at a concert who purchase
soda

question4

Which of the following variables is quantitative?

o
Religious Affiliation
o
Gender
o
Marital Status
o

Temperature

question5

The accompanying chart shows the numbers of books written by each author
in a collection of cookbooks. What type of chart is this?
o
Bar chart for quantitative data
o
Frequency histogram for quantitative data
o
Bar chart for qualitative data
o
Frequency histogram for qualitative data

question6

In order to summarize qualitative data, a useful tool is a __________.

o
Frequency Distribution
o
Line Graph
o
Histogram

o
Stem-and-Leaf Diagram

question7

ABC Plumbing wants to understand its customers perceptions of the quality of

the companys plumbing service calls. They plan to survey a sample of its
customer base. What will ABC need to do to ensure that their data is valid and
reliable?
o
The survey must include items that ask customers about their plumbing
experiences, the survey sample must include the first 15 customers off the
customer database, and the survey method must be repeatable.
o
The survey must include items that ask customers to rate the quality of
plumbing service calls, the survey sample must represent all parts of the
customer population, and the survey method must be repeatable.
o
The survey must include items that ask customers to rate the appearance of
the plumbing store, the survey must include all customers, and the survey
method must include setting up a table outside the local dollar store.
o
The survey must include items that ask customers to rate the friendliness of
the receptionist, the survey must include all customers from the north side of
the city, and the survey method must appeal to all respondents.

question8

A stem-and-leaf diagram is constructed by separating each value of a data set

into two parts. What are these parts?
o
Stem consisting of the leftmost digits and leaf consisting of the second digit
o
Stem consisting of the second digit and leaf consisting of the last digit
o
Stem consisting of the leftmost digits and leaf consisting of the last digit
o
Stem consisting of the last digit and leaf consisting of the leftmost digits

question9

A population consists of _________________.

o
a subject of interest in a sample
o
all items of interest in a statistical problem
o
all items of interest in a sample
o
a subject of interest in a statistical problem

Week 3 CLO Business Decision

Making Project Part 1
Identify a business problem or opportunity at a company where you work or
with which youre familiar. This will be a business problem that you use for the
individual assignments in Week 3-5. You will chose a company and identify an
opportunity or problem that you can analyze and thus better understand that
problem or opportunity.
Identify a research variable within the problem/opportunity that could be
measured with some type of data collection.
Consider methods for collecting a suitable sample of either qualitative or
quantitative data for the variable. Consider how you will know if the data
collection method would be valid and reliable.
Write a 700- to 1,050-word description of the company, problem, and variable.
Include in your submission:

Identify the name and description of the selected company,

Describe the problem at that company,

Identify one research variable from that problem,

Describe the methods you would use for collecting a suitable sample of either qualitative
or quantitative data for the variable (NOTE: do not actually collect any data)

Analyze how you will know if the data collection method would generate valid and reliable
data (Note: do not actually collect any data)

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines using the New APA Paper
Template provided at right.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.
Week 3 Quiz

question1

What does it mean when we say that the tails of the normal curve are
asymptotic to the x axis?
o
The tails gets closer and closer to the x axis and eventually touch it.
o
The tails get closer and closer to the x axis and eventually cross this axis.
o
The tails get closer and closer to the x axis but never touch it.
o
The tails get closer and closer to the x axis and eventually become this axis.
question2
You work in marketing for a company that produces work boots. Quality control
has sent you a memo detailing the length of time before the boots wear out
under heavy use. They find that the boots wear out in an average of 208 days,
but the exact amount of time varies, following a normal distribution with a
standard deviation of 14 days. For an upcoming ad campaign, you need to
know the percent of the pairs that last longer than six months-that is, 180 days.
Use the empirical rule to approximate this percent.
o
95%
o
2.5%
o

97.5%
o
5%

question3

For any normally distributed random variable with mean and standard
deviation , the percent of the observations that fall
between and is closest to _______.
o
95%
o
16%
o
68%
o
32%

question4

A continuous random variable has the uniform distribution on the interval [a, b]
if its probability density functionf(x) ___________.
o

is constant for all x between a and b, and 0 otherwise

o
is bell-shaped between a and b
o
is symmetric around its mean
o
asymptotically approaches the x axis when x increases to + or decreases to
-

question5

Mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive events _______________.

o
do not have to contain all outcomes in a sample space and may share
common outcomes
o
contain all outcomes in a sample space and do not share common outcomes.
o
contain all outcomes in a sample space and may share common outcomes
o

do not have to contain all outcomes in a sample space but do not share
common outcomes

question6

What is probability?
o
Any value between 0 and 1 is always treated as a probability of an event.
o
A value between 0 and 1 assigned to an event that measures the likelihood of
its occurrence.
o
A value between 0 and 1 assigned to an event that measures the unlikelihood
of its occurrence.
o
A numerical value assigned to an event that measures the number of its
occurrences.

question7

Which of the following can be represented by a continuous random variable?

o
The number of arrivals to a drive-thru bank window in a four-hour period
o
The number of defective light bulbs in a sample of 5
o
The score of a randomly selected student on a five-question multiple-choice
quiz
o
The time of a flight between Chicago and New York

question8

Which of the following is correct?

o
A continuous random variable has a probability density function but not a
cumulative distribution function.
o
A continuous random variable has a probability density function, and a discrete
random variable has a probability mass function.

o
A discrete random variable has a probability mass function but not a
cumulative distribution function.
o
A continuous random variable has a probability mass function, and a discrete
random variable has a probability density function.

question9

Which of the following can be represented by a discrete random variable?

o
The finishing time of participants in a cross-country meet
o
The number of obtained spots when rolling a six-sided die
o
The average outside temperature taken every day for two weeks
o
The height of college students

question10

The probability that a normal random variable is less than its mean is ____.
o
Cannot be determined
o
0.0
o
1.0
o
0.5

Week 4 CLO Business Decision

Making Project, Part 2
Use the same business problem/opportunity and research variable you wrote
about in Week 3.
Remember: Do not actually collect any data; think hypothetically.
Write a 700- to 1,050-word summary in which you:

Identify the types of descriptive statistics that might be best for summarizing the data, if
you were to collect a sample.

Apply the types of inferential statistics that might be best for analyzing the data, if you
were to collect a sample.

Analyze the role probability or trend analysis might play in helping address the business
problem.

Analyze the role that linear regression for trend analysis might play in helping address the
business problem.

Analyze the role that a time series might play in helping address the business problem.

Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines using the template at right.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your assignment.
Week 4 Quiz

question1

For a given set of explanatory variables, in general:

o
a confidence interval is narrower than a prediction interval.
o
a confidence interval is wider than a prediction interval.
o
The width of a confidence interval cannot be determined.
o
the width of a confidence interval is the same as the width of a prediction
interval.

question2

The standard error of the estimate measures:

o

the variability of the observed y-values around the predicted y-values.

o
the variability of the predicted y-values around the mean of the observed
y-values.
o
the variability of the values of the sample regression coefficients.
o
the variability of the explanatory variables.

question3

In a simple linear regression model, if the plots on a scatter diagram lie on a

straight line, what is the standard error of the estimate?
o
+1
o
-1
o
Infinity
o
0

question4

Which of the following variables is not qualitative?

o
Gender of a person
o
Religious affiliation
o
Students status (freshman, sophomore, etc.)
o
Number of dependents claimed on a tax return

question5

Consider the following simple linear regression model: The response variable
is:
o
0
o
x
o
y
o

question6

Another name for an explanatory variable is the ___.

o
descriptive variable
o
independent variable
o
inferred variable
o
dependent variable

question7

Serial correlation is typically observed in:

o
outliers.
o
sparse data.
o
cross-sectional data.
o
time series data.

question8

Consider the following simple linear regression model: 0 and 1 are:

o
the unknown parameters.
o
the random error terms.
o
the response variables.
o
the explanatory variables.

question9

What is the name of the variable thats used to predict another variable?
o
Coefficient of Determination
o
Standard Error of the Estimate
o
Response
o
Explanatory

question10

Which of the following violates the assumptions of regression analysis?

o
The error term has a constant variance.
o
The error term has a zero mean.
o
The error term is normally distributed.
o
The error term is correlated with an explanatory variable.

Week 5 CLO Business Decision

Making Project, Part 3: Signature
Assignment
Prepare an 11- to 15-slide Microsoft PowerPoint presentation for the senior
management team based on the business problem or opportunity you
described in Week 3 and 4. Draw on material you developed in the Week 3
and 4 assignments.
Include the following in your presentation:

Introduction slide

Agenda slide

Describe the organization, with a brief description

Explain the business problem or opportunity

Analyze why the business problem is important

Identify what variable would be best to measure for this problem. Explain why.

Apply data analysis techniques to this problem (tell which techniques should be used:
descriptive stats, inferential stats, probability, linear regression, time series). Explain why.

Apply a possible solution to the problem/opportunity, with rationale.

Evaluate how data could be used to measure the implementation of such a solution.

Conclusion

References slide (if any source material is quoted or paraphrased throughout the
presentation)

Include on the slides what youd want the audience to see (include
appropriate visual aids/layout) and include in the Speakers Notes section what
youd say as you present each slide. If any source material is quoted or
paraphrased in the presentation, use APA citations and references.
Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your presentation.
Week 5 Final Examination
1

The salaries of teachers in a particular school district are normally distributed

with a mean of $50,000 and a standard deviation of $2,500. Due to budget
limitations, it has been decided that the teachers who are in the top 2.5% of the
salaries would not get a raise. What is the salary level that divides the teachers
into one group that gets a raise and one that doesnt?
45,100
54,900
-1.96
1.96
2
In the accompanying stem-and-leaf diagram, the values in the stem and leaf
portions represent 10s and 1s digits, respectively.
The stem-and-leaf diagram shows that the distribution is ___________.
None of the answers
negatively skewed
symmetric
positively skewed
3
Which of the following is a quantitative variable?
House age
All the answers
House price

House size
4
Which of the following meets the requirements of a stratified random sample?
A population contains 10 members under the age of 25 and 20 members over
the age of 25. The sample will include six males chosen at random, without
regard to age.
A population contains 10 members under the age of 25 and 20 members over
the age of 25. The sample will include six people who volunteer for the sample.
A population contains 10 members under the age of 25 and 20 members over
the age of 25. The sample will include six people chosen at random, without
regard to age.
A population contains 10 members under the age of 25 and 20 members over
the age of 25. The sample will include two people chosen at random under the
age of 25 and four people chosen at random over 25.
5
Which of the following can be represented by a continuous random variable?
The number of typos found on a randomly selected page of this test bank
The average temperature in Tampa, Florida, during the month of July
The number of customers who visit a department store between 10:00 a.m.
and 11:00 a.m. on Mondays
The number of students who will get financial assistance in a group of 50
randomly selected students
6
In the sample regression equation

what is

The y-intercept
The predicted value of y, given a specific x value
The value of y when x = 0
The slope of the equation
7
Mutually exclusive events ______________.
do not share common outcomes
contain all possible outcomes
do not contain all possible outcomes
may share common outcomes
8
Which of the following can be represented by a discrete random variable?
The circumference of a randomly generated circle
The average distance achieved in a series of long jumps
The number of defective light bulbs in a sample of five
The time of a flight between Chicago and New York
9
A manager of a fast food restaurant wants to ensure that staff are scheduled
with the sufficient hours required to meet customer demands without
overspending on labor costs. The manager has daily guest counts, sales data,

and staff hours for the prior year. What should the manager do next in order to
reach conclusions about scheduling restaurant staff?
Provide the data sets to the restaurant owner for analysis by the owners staff.
Schedule staff based on the staffing levels used on the same date the prior
year.
Perform descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, and time series analysis.
Create a graph of the data and extend the graph forward in time to set the
schedule.
10
A-Plus Dry Cleaners wants to understand its customers perceptions of the
quality of the companys customer service. They plan to survey a sample of its
customer base. What will A-Plus need to do to ensure that their data is valid
and reliable?
The survey must include items that ask customers to rate the appearance of
the dry cleaning store, the survey must include all customers, and the survey
method must include setting up a table outside the local dollar store.
The survey must include items that ask customers to rate the quality of the
companys customer service, the survey sample must represent all parts of the
customer population, and the survey method must be repeatable.
The survey must include items that ask customers to rate the friendliness of
the staff, the survey must include all customers from the north side of the city,
and the survey method must appeal to all respondents.
The survey must include items that ask customers about their dry cleaning
experiences, the survey sample must include the first 15 customers off the
customer database, and the survey method must be repeatable.
11

The two branches of the study of statistics are generally referred to as

___________.
differential and descriptive statistics
inferential and differential statistics
descriptive and referential statistics
descriptive and inferential statistics
12
Serial correlation is typically observed in:
time series data
outliers
sparse data
cross-sectional data
13
The manager of a retail shoe store has applied statistics to analyze sales,
purchasing, and data and reached the conclusion that the store could reduce
costs by reducing inventory of very small and very large sizes, and substituting
an online ordering service to drop-ship rare sizes directly from suppliers. How
should the manager communicate those results to the store owner?
Summarize the recommendations, supported by visual representation of the
data and statistics.
Schedule a conference call with the owner and suppliers to discuss online
ordering options.
Project the future online sales data using a line graph.

Provide the complete data set and all statistical analyses to the owner in
spreadsheets.
14
Professors at a local university earn an average salary of $80,000 with a
standard deviation of $6,000. The salary distribution is approximately
bell-shaped. What can be said about the percentage of salaries that are at
least $74,000?
About 84 percent
About 97.5 percent
About 95 percent
About 68 percent
15
Which of the following violates the assumptions of regression analysis?
The error term has a constant variance.
The error term is uncorrelated with an explanatory variable.
The error term has a zero mean.
The error term does not have the normal distribution.
16
The study of statistics can be defined as:
the language of data.
the art and science of getting information from data.

All of the answers

the study of collecting, analyzing, presenting, and interpreting data.
17
What is the name of the variable thats used to predict another variable?
Coefficient of determination
Response
Explanatory
Standard error of the estimate
18
Consider a population with data values of 12, 8, 28, 22, 12, 30, 14.
The median is:
12
22
14
18
19
Which scales of data measurement are associated with quantitative data?
Nominal and ordinal
Ordinal and interval

Ratio and nominal

Interval and ratio
20
What is (are) the most widely used measure(s) of dispersion?
Covariance and the correlation coefficient
Interquartile range
Variance and standard deviation
Range
21
Frequency distributions may be used to describe which of the following types
of data?
Nominal and interval data only
Nominal, ordinal, and interval data only
Nominal and ordinal data only
Nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio data
22
A company wants to estimate the mean price of oil over the past 10 years.
What kind of data does the company need?
Descriptive statistics
Cross-sectional data

Time series data

Inferential statistics
23
What type of relationship is indicated in the scatterplot?
A negative linear relationship
A positive linear or curvilinear relationship
A negative curvilinear relationship
No relationship
24
Which of the following is most influenced by outliers?
75th percentile
Mean
Mode
Median
25
Bias can occur in sampling. Bias refers to _____________________.
the division of the population into overlapping groups
the creation of strata, which are proportional to the stratums size
the use of cluster sampling instead of stratified random sampling

the tendency of a sample statistic to systematically over-or underestimate a

population parameter
26
The owner of a company has recently decided to raise the salary of one
employee, who was already making the highest salary, by 20%. Which of the
following is(are) expected to be affected by this raise?
Median only
Mean, median, and mode
Mean and median only
Mean only
27
The estimation of which of the following requires sampling?
The Cleveland Indians hitting percentage in 2010
The average SAT score of incoming freshmen at a university
U.S. unemployment rate
Total rainfall in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2010
28
Horizontal bar charts are constructed by placing:
each interval of values on the vertical axis and the appropriate range of values
on the horizontal axis.
each category on the horizontal axis and the appropriate range of values on
the vertical axis.

each category on the vertical axis and the appropriate range of values on the
horizontal axis.
None of the Answers.
29
A hedge fund returns on average 26% per year with a standard deviation of
12%. Using the empirical rule, approximate the probability the fund returns
over 50% next year.
0.5%
1%
5%
2.5%