MIS171Business Analytics
Assignment One(T1 2015)
Marks: 20%
Background
Thisassignmentrequires youtoanalyseadataset,interpretthe results andthen reportyourfindings inawrittenmemorandumtoa personwith little orno knowledgeof statistical dataanalysis.
Theassignmentmaybecompleted
• individually,or
• ina groupoftwoorthreestudents.
o Groups must contain studentsfromthesameclass.
o Only one (1) submissionper groupneeds to be made.
Theassignmentusesthefile“New Gen.xlsx”whichcanbedownloadedfromtheMIS171section in Moodle.
Scenario
You are Guo Li, a researcher at Smart Consumer Magazine.Your role includes analysing consumer issues related to the latest technology innovations. You areoften required to report outcomes of your analysis to senior editors at the magazine who have little orno knowledge of data analysis.Recently, your department purchased a dataset (“New Gen.xlsx”) from the Australian Bureauof Statistics which contains dataon smart phone usage as well as other related data.Nancy Guan,a senior editor at the magazine,has written to you about this survey.Her memorandum to you is provided on page 4.
Assignment submission
Yoursubmissionwillcomprisetwo (2)parts:
• Part1:DataAnalysis(theExcel‘Results’ worksheet output, max.12pages)
• Part2:Writtenmemorandum(max.2 pages).
Both parts may be contained in a single file, but their content must be separated. Failure to separate Part 1 and Part 2 will bepenalised.Marks will be deducted for each part where the page limit is exceeded.
TheAssignmentmustbesubmitted by the due dateboth,
i. electronically and
ii. inidentical hardcopy
o 10% of available marks will be deducted if the assignment is only submitted in one format.
Electronic submission:
There will be a link in Moodle under Week 7 labelled “Assignment 1 Online Submission”, where a maximum of three (3) files (max. 10MB in total) can be uploaded. The naming of the files as well as the composition is your choice. For example, you can have one file containing everything, or separate files for the analysis and the memorandum.
Hardcopy submission:
1) The printed hardcopy of the assignment must be identical with the electronic submission!
Differences will bepenalised.
2) Assignments submitted without completed MIBT Assignment Cover Sheetsfor each group member will NOT be accepted.
3) The completed Assignment Cover Sheet must be stapled together with the printed hardcopy. Loose paper is not acceptable.Your lecturer assumes no responsibility for lost pages!
4) The hardcopy must be placed in the student’s/group’s lecturer’s locker.
(For Burwood students: level 4, building LA.Assignments will not be accepted at MIBT Reception).
Studentsmustmaintainbackupcopiesofalltheirassignmentwork.Electroniclossofdataiscommon,but isNOTasatisfactoryexcuseforanextensionofthesubmissiondate.
Forgroupsubmissions,onlyoneelectronic and one hardcopyof theassignment need to be submitted.It isuptothegrouptonominate apersonto submitontheirbehalf.
Latesubmissionofassignments
Extensionfor medicalreasons
Ifyourworkis latedue tomedicalreasons,youwillnotneed toseekthepriorapprovalfromyourlecturer. However, youmustattachaDoctor’scertificatetoyourassignmentwitha notethattheworkislate formedicalreasons.
Pleasenotethat,inthesecircumstances,themedical certificatemustcovertheentire periodoftheextension,fromthe timetheassignmentwasdueuntilthetimeit issubmitted.
Penaltiesfor latesubmissions
Assignmentsreceivedlateandwithoutpriorapproval,willbepenalised.A penaltyof5%of theavailablemarks willbedeductedforeverydaytheassignmentis late.Assignmentsreceivedafterone (1)calendar weekandwithout anapprovedextension,willnotbeaccepted, and therefore considered not submitted.
MEMORANDUM
For Attention: Guo Li, Researcher 23/03/2015
From: Nancy Guan, Senior Editor
Regarding: Analysis of New Gen Smartphone dataset
DearLi
Using the recently acquired dataset from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on New Generationsmartphone usage, please provide me with the answers to the following questions.
1. Please provide me with a summary of Smartphone Users’ monthly bills.
2. Users can be on a Prepaid or Postpaid plan. Can you provide a breakdown of monthly bills for each plan type?
3. I understand that most smart phone users tend to use their Smartphone to download entertainmentcontent.Pleaseprovide a summary of the most frequently download entertainment content.
4. I wish to write about current user satisfaction with their providers.
a.Please advise me on the overall distribution of satisfaction levels. Are users generally satisfied or not?
b.Can you provide me with a summary of user satisfaction for male and female users?
5. Please tell me whether factors such as Number of Calls, SMSs, MMSs and the percentage use of their Smartphone for work influence the monthly bill.Are there any factors that stand out as having a greater influence than other factors?
Present your written findings in the form of a Word document (no more than 2 pages), with an appendix (no more than 12 pages) containing the results of your analysis, by no later than 21 April2015. I look forward to your response.
Regards
Nancy Guan
Part1: DataAnalysis(=Excel Output)
Inordertoprepareareplytothe editor’s memorandum, youwillneedtouse Excel to analysethedata set“New Gen.xlsx”thoroughly.
Youwillneed to applytechniquesyou have learned during lectures and tutorials inWeeks 1 to4.
Please use the worksheets ‘Q1’ through ‘Q5’ to work on each question. You mayinitially producemoreExcel output thanyou really need,so you will need to only copy relevant outputfrom these worksheets to the ‘Results’ worksheet. Keep in mind the page limit of 12 printed pages AND that the presentation of the results will be marked too!
Guidelines
The editorhasaskedfora numberof taskstobedone.Thefollowingguidelinesforeachquestionshouldbefollowed:
1. Please provide me with a summary of Smartphone Users’ Monthly bills.
You will need to use numerical analysis methods to summarise the sampled users’ monthly bills. This should include relevant summary measures and visualisations.
You will need to write about the averages, variability etc. as in the examples in the relevant lecture worksheet and tutorial.
2. Users can be on a Prepaid or Postpaid plan. Can you provide a breakdown of monthly bills for each plan type?
You will need to analyse two variables together. Are there differences in monthly bills between users who are on a pre-paid plan and those on a post-paid plan, or are there no significant differences?
Focus on whether there are differences or not. If yes, make sure you describe them. If not, you should explain why you think there are no differences.
3. I understand that most smartphone users tend to use their Smartphone to download entertainment content.Please provide a summary of the most frequently downloaded entertainment content.
You will need to use categorical analysis methods to summarise downloaded entertainment content.
Briefly describe your findings. Examples can be found in the relevant lecture and tutorial.
4. I wish to write about current user satisfaction with theirproviders.
a.Please advise me on the overall distribution of satisfaction levels. Are users generally satisfied or not?
You will need to use categorical analysis methods to summarise users’ satisfaction with their providers.
Briefly describe your findings. Examples can be found in the relevant lecture and tutorial.
b.Can you provide me with a summary of user satisfaction for male and female users?
You will need to analyse two variables together. Make sure you look at the correct section of your output to see if there is a relationship between thevariables, which you will then need to discuss.
Focus on whether there are differences or not. If yes, make sure you report them. If not, describe why not.
5. Please tell me whether factors such as Number of Calls,SMSs,MMSs and the percentage use of their Smartphone for work influence the monthly bill? Are there any factors that stand out as having a greater influence than other factors?
Once more you will need to use techniques for the analysis of two variables. You will need to analyse four (4) relationships, each with Monthly Bill:
• Calls
• SMS
• MMS
• Percent for Work
In each case, the type of the relationship – if there is one – and its direction and strength are of interest.
Make sure you comment on what you find in each case.
Generalguidelines:
• Beforedoinganyanalysis,classifyall yourvariables aseither numericalorcategorical.The techniquesyouwillusedependon thetypeofdatayouhave.
• Whensatisfied,you can print the ‘Results’ worksheet from your Excel file, or copy-and-pasteyouranalysisoutputintoaWorddocument before printing it (for the hardcopy submission).
• Youranalysisshouldbepresentedinthesamesequenceas theeditor’s questions,andeverything should be clearlylabelledandgroupedaroundeachquestion.
• Also, make sure, no table or graph “breaks” across two pages.
• Poorly presented or unorganised analysis or excessive output (more than 12 pages) will be penalised.Keep in mind the guidelines for good visualisations (Week 3 lecture)!
• Save your computer analysis frequently (every 10 to 15 minutes).
Part2: Memorandum(= Your Reply to the Editor’s Memorandum)
Youarerequiredtoreplytothe editorbymemorandum, explainingessentialinformationandconclusionsfromyour data analysis.Youareallowednomorethantwopagestoconveyyourwrittenfindings.
• KeeptheEnglishsimpleandtheexplanationsbrief.
• Avoidtheuseoftechnical statisticalterminology.The editorwill not necessarily understand
evensimplestatisticalterms,thusyourtaskis toexplainyouranalysis usingplain, understandable language.
Generalinstructions:
• Thememorandumistobewrittenasa separatedocument.Thus,youshouldnothaveanydirectreferencesto youranalysisinyourmemorandum.
• Whenwritingyourreply,makesurethatyouactually provide the information the editor requested in her memorandum to you. That is, answer the editor’s questions.
• Donotrefer to or includecomputeroutputtablesandchartsin yourresponseletter.
• Numberyouranswersinyourletter1,2a, …etc.,tomatchthesequenceof the editor’s requests.
• Includeanintroduction atthestartofthememorandumandasummary/conclusionattheend.
Markswillbedeductedfortheuseoftechnicalterms,poorgrammar,awkwardsentencestructure,poorspelling andpunctuation,irrelevantmaterial,poorpresentation/organisationanda memorandumthatisovertwo (2) pageslong.
Whenyouhavecompletedthememorandum,it isa usefulexercisetoleaveit foraday,returntoitandre‐readit asif youknewnothingabouttheanalysis.Doesitfloweasily?Doesit makesense?Cansomeonewithoutpriorknowledgefollowyourwrittenconclusions?Often onre‐reading,youbecomeawarethatyouhavemadesome pointsina clumsy mannerand youfindthatyoucanre‐phrasethemmuchmoreclearly.
Goodluck!
BEFORE YOU FINISH: Assignment Checklist
Part 1 (Data Analysis)
1. Have you applied the correct analysis techniques
2. Is the analysis in the same order as the editor’s requests?
3. Is every question, and also every table and every graph in Part 1 clearly labelled?
4. Are there tables or graphs that are broken across 2 pages? (If yes, fix it.)
5. Is the printed Excel output no more than 12 pages long?
Part 2 (Letter)
1. Is your memorandum written in simple English?
2. Is it free of grammar and spelling mistakes?
3. Is it free of technical language?
4. Is it free of Excel output (tables, graphs)?
5. Are the answers numbered and in the same order as the editor’s requests?
6. Is the letterno more than 2 pages long?
SUBMISSION
1. Are the files (for example, 1 Excel file, 1 Word file) identical with the printed assignment? (Only the ‘Results’ worksheet needs to be identical with the printed analysis.)
2. Have you/each group member completed the Assignment Cover Sheet (MIBT Portal: Students -> Forms -> Forms -> Assignment Cover Sheet.pdf)?
3. Is the entire assignment, with the completed cover sheet(s) on top, stapled together?
4. Did you submit…
i. … your files onlinein the MIBT portal, using the link “Assignment 1 Submission”
under Week 7?
ii. … anidentical hardcopy (together with the cover sheet) to your lecturer’s locker?
