BANA 5368 Spring 2017 Data Analysis Assignment 1
1 Assignment Guidelines
In a business setting, the ability to communicate the results of a quantitative analysis in an un-derstandable way is a vital skill. Modifications to existing business practices-or completely new initiatives supported by such an analysis will affect every stakeholder in the organization to some degree, and not everyone will be able to understand raw computer output or statistics jargon. In this course, one of the objectives is to learn best practices for communication of quantitative information. Data analysis assignments are the primary means by which you will practice this skill. Therefore, the general approach you should take to any data analysis assignment is to write as if you were providing a report to a colleague or supervisor who can be expected to know basic math concepts, but is not an expert in statistics. Your work product should exhibit a high degree of professionalism. Half of your assignment grade will be based on how you communicate what you found, irrespective of whether you used the appropriate technique to find
it.
Documents that exhibit a "high degree of professionalism" will adhere to the following guide-lines:
• Word process the entire document using 11- or 12-point font, double spacing, and one-inch margins all around.
¦ Use complete sentences. Start sentences with a capital letter, and end with a period. Use commas and other punctuation as needed according to accepted English grammar. A good all-around online resource is owl.er[glish.purdue.edulowlisection/1/5/, Princeton's Online Writ-ing Lab. • Use an equation editor (Word, OpenOffice, and other programs have these) to write equations, mathematical symbols, superscripts, and subscripts. For example, you should write x2, not x"2, if you need to indicate that a variable x is squared. Write xi, not x_1 or xl, to indicate a subscript on a variable x. While we're on the subject of math... • Use the equal sign, =, appropriately. The two things on either side of the equal sign must really be equal to one another, not intermediate steps to an answer. For example, the following is wrong:
2x + 5 7 2x = 2 = x = 1
Why? Because, if we follow the chain of equal signs, the above says that 2x +5, which we said equals 7 at the start, is equal to 1, which clearly can't be true. When you wish to indicate that one step follows from another, you need to use the "implies that" symbol, as in the
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