RES 341 All DQs

Week 1

How do statistics relate to research?

Should an organization create research testing for all problems confronting the business? Why or why not?

Describe the null and alternate hypotheses. Why do the null and alternate have to be mutually exclusive?

XYZ Corp. is seeking a Widget machine that is faster than their current machines. Currently, their machine makes 100 widgets per hour. XYZ is going to test any new machines before purchasing.

Write the null and alternate hypotheses for the tests. Write the null and alternate in both the standard verbal format and the scientific notation format described in your text readings.

Should a company be pro-active or reactive in the use of research methodologies? Why or Why Not? Give examples that you have seen where a company should have been pro-active or reactive.

What is an example of a hypothesis that you have used in your personal and/or professional life? Please state what the hypothesis is, how you utilized it and what the outcome of the situation was

Week 2

What are the advantages of secondary data sources? What are some of the disadvantages?

Discuss the differences between quantitative and qualitative data? What are some examples of each?

Discuss the differences between primary and secondary data? Give examples of each.

What types of ethical issues arise when an organization conducts research?

Why should you question the motivation of the sources of secondary research? Does the motivation affect the results?

Discuss the use of loaded questions in survey design. What is an example of a loaded question?

What are real-world examples of a sample and a population? Compare and contrast probability sampling with non-probability sampling, providing an example of each.

Describe the data scales best suited for presentation in a pie chart. How effective are the pie charts that often accompany a newspaper article in explaining the statistics used in the article? Where could a Pareto chart be used within your company?

Does all data have a mean, median, or mode? Why or why not? When is the mean the best measure of central tendency? When is the median the best measure of central tendency?

Week 3

Define and discuss discrete and continuous data. What are some differences between discrete and continuous data?

Define and discuss the Pareto chart. Where/How would a Pareto chart be used in your company?

Can discrete data be analyzed using a normal distribution? Why or why not?

Define and discuss Bayes's Theorem?

State the General Law of Addition of Probabilities. Demonstrate the use of the General Law of Addition of Probabilities with an example from your work or life.

State the General Law of Multiplication of Probabilities. Demonstrate the General Law of Multiplication of Probabilities using an example from your life or work.

What type of graphical representation can be used with continuous data? What type of graphical representation can be used with discrete data?

What are some differences between discrete and continuous data?

Is the measurement of money continuous or discrete? Explain.

Can discrete data be analyzed using a normal distribution? Why or why not?

What are some differences between discrete and continuous data? Can discrete data be analyzed using a normal distribution? Why or why not?

Is the measurement of money continuous or discrete? Explain.

Can discrete data be analyzed using a normal distribution? Why or why not?

Week 4

Why is the population shape a concern when estimating a mean? What effect does sample size, n, have on the estimate of the mean?

Is it possible to normalize the data when the population shape has a known skew?

Define and discuss confidence intervals. Why are estimations and confidence intervals important? How can you use confidence intervals to establish statistical significance and/or lack of statistical significance?

How does the students t distribution compare to the normal z distribution? When do you use the student's t-test and when do you use the Z-test?

How can organizations be encouraged to adopt higher ethical standards?

In your opinion, who or what entity should be responsible for encouraging and maintaining higher standards?

A stakeholder is an individuals or groups who have a stake in what the organization does or how it performs. A stakeholder profits or losses from the actions that a company makes. Ch. 8 of Managing Business Ethics (Trevino & Nelson, 2007) separates stakeholders into four major stakeholder groups. How do you define stakeholders? Which groups interest is the most important, and why?

Week 5

What is a control chart? What are the grand mean, the UCL, and the LCL of

a control chart for the mean? Why do you suppose 3 standard errors are used

in control charts and not two or even one standard error? Explain.

A significance test is used to prevent a machine from under filling or overfilling quart bottles. On the basis of a sample, the null hypothesis is rejected and the machine is shut down for inspection. A thorough examination reveals that there is nothing wrong with the filling machine. From a statistical standpoint, was there a type error made? If yes, which type? Explain.

Suppose that you perform a significance test regarding a population mean and that the evidence does not warrant rejection of the null hypothesis. When formulating the conclusion to the test, why is the phrase fail to reject the null hypothesis more accurate than the phrase accept the null hypothesis? Why can the null hypothesis not be proved? Explain.