...that can easily cause misrepresentation in data is the difference between association and causation—although “variables may be affected by a knowledge of another, does not mean that one variable causes another”(Armitage, Berry, & Matthews, 2008). Another way that data may be misrepresented is in the sample population used—whether they need to meet a specific criteria or random selection without background knowledge. The use of biased studies can often be seen in competitive markets, such as with pharmaceuticals. As many medications are available for the same purpose, they need to find a way to stand out. One way is through use of commercials, as they explain the benefits of the medications, you can often see in very small print information that says results are not typical, or results cannot be guaranteed. Armitage, P., Berry, G, & Matthews, S. ( 2008, April). Statistical methods in medical research. John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from ProQuest database What are the characteristics of a population for which a mean/median/mode would be appropriate? Inappropriate The appropriate use of mean, median and mode to determine an average is based on the information gathered. “The mean is the arithmetic average, the median is the point representing the 50th percentile in a distribution, and the mode is the most common score” (Nursing Research, 2011). As the...
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...research: A practical workbook. Edinburgh: Elsevier Saunders. Topic 1 DQ 1: How can graphics and/or statistics be used to misrepresent data? Where have you seen this done? Statistics are used everywhere, every day to represent a multitude of data, or study sample. Sample characteristics are the traits that depict the study sample and can be portrayed in either some type of table or in an article (Grove, 2007). “Descriptive statistics are used to generate sample characteristics, and the type of statistic used depends on the level of measurement or the demographic variables included in the study” (Grover, 2007, p.75). It is this information and data that is presented can be misrepresented, either unethically or simply because the data is misunderstood. According to Statistics (2013), data can be misrepresented three ways: 1) misunderstanding the data presented, 2) using incomparable definitions, and 3) by deliberately misinterpreting the data presented, especially if it is a biased representation. An example of misunderstanding the data presented could be someone that is researching crime statistics in an area where they are looking to relocate and raise a family; if they do not understand the manner in which the data is being presented, it could be more than easy for them to misunderstand it, this can even apply to the person who wrote the article or table on the data, unknowingly in this situation. An example of using incomparable definitions typically occurs when data is compared...
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...QNT-351 Discussion Question Responses * DQ#1: What is the importance of statistics in business decision making? Describe a business situation where statistics was used in making a decision. 1. Using statistics to evaluate the performance of your business. Taking all factors into account, determine whether you are making or losing money. In addition, determine the trend of your business. For example, determine whether, over time, you are making more or less profit (or loss). Track the share of the market that your business holds, and how this changes over time. Evaluate all these factors for each product type, even each model, in your company's line. The statistics to use here are simple line and bar graphs of data. These data can alert you to where you need to change aspects of your business, and how quickly you have to make that change. Furthermore, statistics are an excellent way to determine how you should allocate your resources to increase sales. Sales in a given market are a result of a number of factors, such as pricing, the size of the sales force, and the type and number of advertisements placed. However, these factors will not be equally important for every product. You would use multiple regressions to determine which of these factors are most important, and how much changing your asset allocation (for example, the size of the sales force) will change sales. 2. Statistics: The science of collecting, organizing, and analyzing data. Descriptive Statistics...
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...Methods and General Principles in Psychological Research Kavitha Kathleen Devaser Raffles Institute of Higher Education Abstract In psychology, research is vital for the progression and further understanding of this field. Psychological research includes the study of behavior for use in a scientific or academic setting. There are two types of research, qualitative research and quantitative research. To conduct research, there are numerous general principles of psychology and methods in which has to be considered for research to be good with strong supporting evidence. General principles of psychology include operational definitions, population samples and eliminating the influence of expectations. There are several research methods, such as experiments, naturalistic observation, surveys, case histories, and correlational studies as well as ethical considerations in research. Researchers normally draw conclusions for a larger population using a sample. There are four major types of population samples; convenience samples, representative samples, random samples and cross cultural samples. Certain biases are present during research, researcher bias and participant bias. These biases may sway the findings of the experiment. Ethical guidelines must be taken into consideration during research; both human and nonhuman experimentation has guidelines set by the APA. When data is collected, it has to be interpreted visually. Statistics deals with the collection, analysis, interpretation...
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...and the Illinois Public Health Department. This study reviewed 770 nursing homes in Illinois were reviewed, 141 had special care units during the time of data collection. The facilities had a range of total deficiencies from one to 74 with Level of Harm ratings ranging from one to four on a four-point scale. The results showed that residents in a nursing facility that has a special care unit are at a greater risk of a higher Level of Harm but no difference in the number of deficiencies. Possible causes of this greater risk are due to the intrinsic nature of the population in special care units, the need for policy and procedural changes in nursing facilities, and potential surveyor bias. iii Acknowledgements Firstly I would like to thank God for all the answered prayers when it came to this thesis. I would also like to thank my family for their love, support, and patients throughout the completion of this study. I would like to thank Dr. Stephen Notaro for his guidance and recommendations on my thesis....
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...objective is to show important characteristics of the data without drawing any conclusions. Inferential statistics involves using a representative subset of data (a sample) in order to draw conclusions about unknown characteristics of an entire set of data (a population). Population: The entire set of elements of interest (i.e. all humans, all working-age people in Canada, all IT companies). A population parameter is a characteristic used to describe a population. For example, Population mean ( Population standard deviation ( Population median ( The values of the population parameters would be preferable for use in decision-making but seldom will these values be known since collecting all the population elements (a census) is usually too expensive and/or time consuming. Sample: A representative subset of the entire set of elements of interest that is used to gain insight about the population. A sample statistic is a characteristic used to describe a sample. For example, Sample mean [pic] Sample standard deviation s Sample median Md It is cheaper, less time-consuming and more practical to use sample statistics as estimates for population parameters in making business decisions. How well the sample represents the population depends on the sample design. Using Samples to Describe Populations: The following data consists...
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...of an estimator (such as its variance) by measuring those properties when sampling from an approximating distribution. One standard choice for an approximating distribution is the empirical distribution of the observed data. In the case where a set of observations can be assumed to be from an independent and identically distributed population, this can be implemented by constructing a number of resamples of the observed dataset (and of equal size to the observed dataset), each of which is obtained by random sampling with replacement from the original dataset. It may also be used for constructing hypothesis tests. It is often used as an alternative to inference based on parametric assumptions when those assumptions are in doubt, or where parametric inference is impossible or requires very complicated formulas for the calculation of standard errors. Contents * 1 History * 2 Approach * 3 Situations where bootstrapping is useful * 4 Discussion * 4.1 Advantages * 4.2 Disadvantages * 4.3 Recommendations * 5 Types of bootstrap scheme * 5.1 Case resampling * 5.1.1 Estimating the distribution of sample mean * 5.1.2 Regression * 5.2 Bayesian bootstrap * 5.3 Smooth bootstrap * 5.4 Parametric bootstrap * 5.5 Resampling residuals * 5.6 Gaussian process regression bootstrap * 5.7...
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...© Orangetree Business Solutions Private Limited, 2012 No part of this book should be referenced or copied without the prior permission of the company. A FEW WORDS TO THE STUDENTS Analytics is becoming a popular tool for managerial decision making. It‘s still not so widespread in countries like India, but in the west it has become a standard practice. Previously studying analytics involved an in depth knowledge of statistics and programming languages. But widespread availability of statistical package software has changed the reality to some extent. Now more emphasis is given on the application of the techniques to solve the business problems. So there is a need to understand the meaning of the statistical procedures. This book has been written to cater that need. In this book, all the necessary concepts have been explained keeping the business problem in mind. Also, to remove the apathy for statistics, use of mathematical expressions have been limited. That doesn‘t imply that we don‘t have to study the mathematics part. The intention is to put the substance over matter. As the students get accustomed to these statistical concepts, they can go for further investigations using various mathematical and statistical techniques. A list of suggested books and links have been given in the appendix. This book is directly related to the instructor‘s presentation. So it is highly advised that students should go through this material at the end of each class. As for general ...
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...Statistic- is a number computed from a sample of data. It is characteristic of a sample. A summary measure that is computed from a sample to describe a characteristic. (Numerical summary of the population) (Ex. The proportion of females randomly selected from the registered voters of a county or the average time it takes for the first 5 students to complete an exam) Parameter- A characteristic (numerical summary) of the entire population. A number computed from the entire population usually unobservable. Subject- the entities that we measure in a study. Population- the collection of all subjects under study. Proportion- of the observations that fall in a certain category is the frequency (count) of observations in that category divided by the total number of observations. Proportion and percentages (aka relative frequencies) Probability- the chance that an even will occur. Sample- a subset of the population. Random Samples are most valid. Design- Plan for how the data will be collected. Two events are dependent if the outcome or occurrence of the first affects the outcome or occurrence of the second so that the probability is changed. Sample Space- set of all possible outcomes for a random phenomenon Variables (COLUMNS)- characteristics or measurements on the subject. Event-subset of the sample space Description- summarizing the data that are obtained. Descriptive Statistics- methods for summarizing the data. Usually consists of bar graphs and...
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...free eBooks at bookboon.com 3 An introduction to Business Research Methods Contents Contents 1 Research problems and questions and how they relate to debates in Research Methods. 10 Chapter Overview 10 1.2 Introduction 10 1.3 The nature of business research 11 1.4 What kind of business problems might need a research study? 14 1.5 What are the key issues in research methods we need to understand? 16 1.6 Questions for self review 23 1.7 References for this chapter 23 1.1 2 Putting the problem into context: identifying and critically reviewing relevant literature 25 2.1 Chapter Overview 25 2.2 How does literature relate to research? 25 2.3 what kinds of literature should we search for? 26 2.4 Effective literature searching 29 2.5 Critical analysis of literature 32 www.sylvania.com We do not reinvent the wheel we reinvent light. Fascinating lighting offers an infinite spectrum of possibilities: Innovative technologies and new markets provide both opportunities and challenges. An environment in which your expertise is in high demand. Enjoy the supportive working atmosphere within our global group and benefit from international career paths. Implement sustainable ideas in close cooperation with other specialists and contribute to influencing our future. Come and join us in reinventing light every day....
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...successful managerial problem solving is nothing other than understanding and analyzing the situation at hand, which is what research is all about. 2. To help students differentiate between research‐based problem solving and “going by gut‐feeling”, the latter of which might sometimes help to solve problems in the short term, but might lead to systemic long‐term adverse consequences. 3. To create an appreciation in students that research is useful for solving problems in ALL areas of business. 4. To help students develop an appreciation of the role of the manager in facilitating the researcher or the consultant’s work. 5. To stress the importance of skill development in research, as opposed to mere gathering of knowledge about research. 6. To emphasize that research and knowledge about research enhance managerial effectiveness. 7. To sensitize students to ethical conduct in business research. Discussion Questions 1. Why should a manager know about research when the job entails managing people, products, events, environments and the like? The manager, while managing people, products, events, and environments, will invariably face problems, big and small, and will have to seek ways to find long lasting, effective solutions. This can be achieved only through knowledge of research even if consultants are engaged to solve problems. 2. For what specific purpose is Basic research important? © 2009 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. www.wileyeurope.com/college/sekaran ...
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...Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication About the Authors Preface Changes in the fifth edition Companion websites Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Introduction to research What is research? Business research Types of business research: applied and basic Managers and research The manager and the consultant–researcher Internal versus external consultants/researchers Knowledge about research and managerial effectiveness Ethics and business research Summary Discussion Questions Chapter 2: Scientific investigation The hallmarks of scientific research Some obstacles to conducting scientific research in the management area The hypothetico-deductive method Other types of research Summary Discussion Questions Chapter 3: The research process: the broad problem area and defining the problem statement Broad problem area Preliminary information gathering Literature review Defining the problem statement The research proposal Managerial implications Ethical issues in the preliminary stages of investigation Summary Discussion Questions Practice Projects Appendix Chapter 4: The research process: theoretical framework and hypothesis development The need for a theoretical framework Variables Theoretical framework Hypothesis development Hypothesis testing with qualitative research: negative case analysis Managerial implications Summary Discussion Questions Practice Project Chapter 5: The research process: elements of research design The...
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...Pg2Pg2 Dr. Sue Greener Business Research Methods ...
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...showing up." - Woody Allen “Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical.” - Yogi Berra "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." - Thomas Edison Preface You know what a percentage is. 2 out of 4 is 50%. 3 is 25% of 12. Etc. But do you know enough about percentages? Is a percentage the same thing as a fraction or a proportion? Should we take the difference between two percentages or their ratio? If their ratio, which percentage goes in the numerator and which goes in the denominator? Does it matter? What do we mean by something being statistically significant at the 5% level? What is a 95% confidence interval? Those questions, and much more, are what this book is all about. In his fine article regarding nominal and ordinal bivariate statistics, Buchanan (1974) provided several criteria for a good statistic, and concluded: “The percentage is the most useful statistic ever invented…” (p. 629). I agree, and thus my choice for the title of this book. In the ten chapters that follow, I hope to convince you of the defensibility of that claim. The first chapter is on basic concepts (what a percentage is, how it differs from a fraction and a proportion, what sorts of percentage calculations are useful in statistics, etc.) If you’re pretty sure you already understand such things, you might want to skip that chapter (but be prepared to return to it if you get stuck later on!). In the second...
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...this chapter, you should be able to: Identify the structural characteristics of the environment faced by the firm and how these drivers influence both competition and value creation Choose the appropriate level of specificity in environmental analysis, depending on the locus of the decision-making group Predict how changes occurring in the environment might influence future competition and value creation Incorporate understanding of environmental changes into the development of strategy Consider options for influencing changes in the firm’s environment so as to improve future value creation Analyze customers and competitors to develop a competitive advantage and strategy Appreciate that strategy is realized in the future: decisions are made now but their realization occurs in the future In late 2000, GE proposed to take over Honeywell. Both these firms are U.S.-based, and the value of the merger was $USB42. But a merger between two such large firms has global implications and ramifications. Although the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had approved the merger, the European Union (EU) decided to oppose it on the grounds that it had the potential to reduce competition in Europe. Its concern was that GE’s strong position in the manufacture of jet engines and its ability to offer finance, if added to Honeywell’s aviation electronic business, would allow the merged entity to bundle their products together. This bundling would, in the view of the European Commission, amount to unfair competition...
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