Following the Data Analysis Process - Business Decision Making - ثاني ثانوي

Lesson 2 Chapter 9 www.ien.edu.sa QUICK TIP When you are deciding what you want to measure, start with the results you want to find. Make sure that you are collecting the right data to answer the question. Following the Data Analysis Process Statistical studies are undertaken to answer questions about our world. For example, is a new flu vaccine effective in preventing illness? Are consumers buy- ing more luxury items? Data collection and analysis allow researchers to answer questions like these. 2-1 The Data Analysis Process The data analysis process can be viewed as a sequence of steps that lead from planning, to data collection, to making informed conclusions based on the resulting data. The process can be organized into the six steps described below. The Data Analysis Process 1. Understanding the nature of the problem Effective data analysis requires an understanding of the research problem. We must know the goal of the study and what questions we hope to answer. It is important to have a clear direction before gathering data to ensure that we will be able to answer the questions of interest using the data collected. 2. Deciding what to measure and how to measure it The next step in the process is deciding what information is needed to answer the questions of interest. In some cases, the choice is obvious. For example, in a study of the relationship between the height of a basketball player and position played, we would need to collect data on player height and position. In other cases, the choice of information is not as straightfor- ward. For example, in a study of the relationship between preferred learning style and intelligence, how should we define learning style and measure it? What measure of intelligence should we use? It is important to carefully define the variables to be studied and to develop appropriate methods for determining their values. 3. Data collection The data collection step is very important. You must first decide whether an existing data source is adequate or whether new data must be collected. If a decision is made to use existing data, it is important to understand how the data were collected and for what purpose, so that any resulting limitations —for instance, if it is incomplete-are also fully understood. If new data are وزارة التعليم Ministry of Education 2024-1446 Business Decision Making S1 S2 S3.indb 291 Using Data to Support the Decision Making Process 291 30/06/2023 14:28

QUICK TIP Summarizing your data is an important step. It will often tell you what the next step in analysis is, whether additional data needs to be collected, or whether you need to start over with a different design. to be collected, a careful plan must be developed, because the type of anal- ysis that is appropriate and the conclusions that can be drawn depend on how the data are collected. Think about the different methods of data collec- tion discussed in Lesson 1. 4. Data summarization and preliminary analysis After the data are collected, the next step is usually a preliminary analysis that includes summarizing the data graphically and numerically. This initial analysis provides insight into important characteristics of the data and pro- vides guidance in selecting appropriate methods for further analysis. 5. Formal data analysis The data analysis step requires you to select appropriate statistical methods. Much of this chapter is devoted to methods that can be used to carry out this step. 6. Interpretation of results Several questions should be addressed in this final step. Some examples include: What can we learn from the data? What conclusions can be drawn from the analysis? How can our results guide decisions that we need to make? The interpretation step often leads to the formulation of new questions to explore. These new questions lead back to the first step. In this way, good data analysis is often an iterative process. In other words, it is a process that is often repeated and refined in order to improve the quality of information. 292 9 Chapter رة ا Ministry of Education 2024-1446 Business Decision Making S1 S2 S3.indb 292 30/06/2023 14:28

YOU TRY IT Suppose that book sales (in millions of Riyals) for each of the top 20 bestselling new books in Saudi Arabia in 2020 and 2021 are shown in the table below. 2021 2020 Bestselling Book (chart position) 2020 Sales (millions of Riyals) Bestselling Book (chart position) 2021 Sales (millions of Riyals) 1 350.1 1 936.7 2 337.1 2 652.3 3 333.1 3 459.0 4 259.8 4 356.5 5 257.8 5 353.0 6 255.1 6 336.0 7 245.4 7 281.7 8 241.4 8 228.4 9 233.9 9 201.2 10 222.5 10 200.1 11 208.5 11 195.0 12 202.9 12 184.3 13 200.7 13 183.6 14 191.7 14 180.2 15 191.2 15 177.4 16 188.0 16 169.7 17 177.0 17 166.2 18 167.8 18 163.0 19 150.9 19 161.2 20 150.2 20 155.2 1. Construct a dot plot of the 2020 book sales data. Comment on any interesting features of the dot plot. 2. Construct a dot plot of the 2021 book sales data. Comment on any interesting features of the dot plot. 3. In what ways are the distributions of the 2020 and 2021 book sales observations similar? In what ways are they different? REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Which of the following is not a stage in the data analysis process? a. understanding the nature of the problem b. deciding what to measure and how to measure it c. interpretation of results d. deleting results you don't agree with 2. The next step following data collection is usually: a. preliminary analysis b. final analysis c. the iterative process d. qualitative research وزارة التعليم Ministry of Education 2024-1446 Business Decision Making S1 S2 S3.indb 293 Using Data to Support the Decision Making Process 293 30/06/2023 14:28