Assessing Statistics & Probabilities
AIU Online – BUSN311

Abstract
This is an email that will discuss the assessment of probability. It will give an overview of specific characteristics of the database used and include specific variables concerning that data. It will discuss how important statistics are in the work environment as well as where they are being used.

Memo
To: Head of the American Intellectual Union
From: Researcher
Date: January 20, 2013
Subject: Data Analyzation/Calculations

Dear Head of the American Intellectual Union, This email is to inform you about certain important characteristics with specific variables in the database on job satisfaction. It will discuss which variables are quantitative and which ones are qualitative as well as their categories and why they are used. Also, the importance of probability and statistics in the real world and their value will be discussed.
Overview
The goal of the current data set is to see how satisfied employees are with their jobs. This includes the variables of gender, age, position, and department, rate of satisfaction, how long they have been employed, and the availability of benefits and overtime as well as inside and outside job influences. All of these categories are used because they can influence the level of job satisfaction of your employees. For example, a male employee may have a higher expectation on the job than a female and get paid more; which may cause less satisfaction due to suspected favoritism. The qualitative data includes overall job satisfaction, intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction and benefits. The quantitative data includes gender, age, department, position and tenure with the company.
Why Are Statistics and Probability Important?
When it comes to statistics in your work place, it is important that managers and business owners use them because they can help understand particular information and make important decisions based on the idea of what can happen; probability. In this case the statistics used will help you to understand the quality of the job environment. Also, the probability of keeping and losing employees due to level of job satisfaction can be calculated through these statistics. With the table used, it is easier to understand and read how satisfied your employees are based on particular variables such as intrinsic and extrinsic influences. The value of using numerical data in your workplace rests upon these reasons: can be used to analyze relationships between relevant information and events, provide a description and calculation of specific concerns such as job satisfaction, can help to get a better understanding of what motivates employee performance, and can help to analyze and determine changes within your organization. (Browne, 1999).
Distributions
The information that can be found in a distribution table consists of the frequency or occurrences of an ordered tally of specific numbers or values. This information can be used to determine how many times a specific number occurred within a set of data. This particular data is important to your company because trends and patterns of what has and has not been satisfying your employees can be calculated; thus empowering you to make decisions based on what needs to be done to create more job satisfaction if needed. (Distributions, nd).
Gender Distribution Gender | Percentage | Females | 48% | Males | 52% |

Gender Distribution with Tenure | Under 2 years | 2-5 years | Over 5 years | Male | 12 | 5 | 4 | Female | 11 | 5 | 7 |

Survey Participation Percentage by Department Department | Percentage | Information Technology | 27% | Human Resources | 73% | Administration | 0% |

Extrinsic Value Mean by Gender Gender | Extrinsic Value Mean | Male | 5.3 | Female | 5.4 |

Probabilities
The probabilities in this data are important because they will help you to understand how likely it is that an employee will be satisfied based on the likelihood of age, gender, tenure, etc. The probabilities I will calculate are the probability of an employee being sixteen to twenty one years old, how likely an employee’s job satisfaction rating will be 5.2 or lower, the probability of a woman working in the Human Resource department and the likelihood of an employee who gets paid salary will have an intrinsic satisfaction rating of 5 or more. Classification | Count | Probability | Probability that an individual will be between 16–21 years of age | 12 | 27% | Probability that an individual’s overall job satisfaction is 5.2 or lower | 23 | 52% | Probability that an individual will be a female in the human resources department | 4 | 9% | Probability that an individual will be a salaried employee whose intrinsic satisfaction value is 5 or more | 10 | 23% |

Business Environment Probabilities
In the business world, probability can be used to calculate the gains and losses on a long-term stand point. It is useful in helping determine risk factors as well as the likelihood of a certain event or situation happening. For example, an insurance agency that provides life insurance use probability to calculate the price of their policies. They use it to calculate “how many policy holders are reasonably expected to die within a year versus revenue generated from other policies extended” (Zayas-Quinones, 2002). Other ways that probability can be used is when businesses want to know how likely it is that they will surpass their previous year’s revenue, noticing certain market patterns, and what are the chances that they will have a high turnover rate depending on how an employee is paid.
The information included in this email shall be of great importance to you because it can help you to make important decisions such as who to hire, how likely they will be productive within your company, what needs to be done for employees that have a low satisfaction rating with specific areas of the workplace, the different approaches to males and females in regards to inside and outside influences on the job as well as figuring how to appeal an employee based on age, gender, position, etc.
Sincerely,
Researcher

References
Browne, Clayton. (1999). What are the advantages of using statistical information in the workplace? Demand Media, Inc.: eHow.com. Retrieved from: http://www.ehow.com/info_8548128_advantages-using-statistical-information-workplace.html
Distributions. (Nd). Retrieved from: http://benbaab.com/salkind/Distributions.html
Zayas-Quinones, Eduardo R. (2002-2009). Defining probability theory and its use to make business decisions. SecureBusinessResource.com. Retrieved from: http://www.securebusinessresource.com/Defining%20Probability%20Theory%20and%20its%20Use%20to%20Make%20Business%20Decisions.htm