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Statistics in Business

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Statistics in Business
Define Statistics Statistics is "the science of data. It involves collecting, classifying, summarizing, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting numerical information" ().
Different Types and Levels of Statistics The types of statistics are descriptive and inferential. Descriptive statistics looks for patterns in data sets and it does so by using numerical and graphical methods. It is also used to summarize the information found in a data set and allows the information to be shown in a more convenient form that is easier to read and understand. Inferential statistics' goal is to make estimates, decisions, predictions or other generalizations about a larger set of data. It does so by using sample data. There are four levels to statistics. Those are nominal level, ordinal level, interval level and ratio level. Nominal level is information that cannot be arranged in any particular order but that is classified into categories. Ordinal level is similar to nominal however, the data can be arranged into some type of order however, the differences between the values cannot be determined or is seen as meaningless. Interval level is similar to the ordinal level however, there are intervals between each set of data and the measurement can be defined and is obvious and there is no natural zero point. Ratio level is the same as interval level with the only difference being that there is a natural zero.
Role Statistics has in Business Decision Making When using statistics in a business, there are many assets. In order to predict what your demand for a product would be at a given time in the future. You can see what your sales were from a previous year around the same time and get a fairly accurate forecast as to what to expect. This will allow you to have the correct amount of product on hand and not too much, or be short. This helps to keep your inventory in the best standings possible because you do not want to have too much inventory and end up losing money. Statistics can also help your business to plan for future expenses so you would know approximately what to expect. Statistics can also be used in a marketing aspect. You can track what your customers buy and when they want to buy it. You can then offer promotions to bring in more customers because you can better predict their behavior patterns. In the company that I work for, we were trying to decide which menu items to keep and which to get rid of. With the use of statistics, we were able to track what the customers purchased the most of and adjust our menu accordingly. Another situation was at my previous job when we wanted to add a new item to the menu. We offered samples and then asked for customer's opinion. Based on their responses we decided whether or not we wanted to add the item. Lastly, I recently purchased a new car. Before buying, I did research online, and based on the statistics I found on the vehicle I planned to get, I changed my mind and chose a different vehicle with better reviews and statistics.

References
McClave, J. T., Benson, P. G., & Sincich, T. (2011). Statistics for business and economics (11th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.

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