MIS770 – Foundation Skills in Data Analysis

Particulars
• Marks: 30%
• Submission: Online to the MIS770 assignment two drop box in CloudDeakin no later than
11:59pm on the 9th of May 2019. Email submissions will not be accepted
• Submission Files: Two files. One Excel (.xlsx) file with the results of your analysis. One Word
(.docx) file (no more than 2 pages) with your written responses to each question.
• Note: This assignment is to be completed individually
Assurance of Learning
This assignment assesses the following Graduate Learning Outcomes and related Unit Learning
Outcomes:
Graduate Learning Outcome (GLO) Unit Learning Outcome (ULO)
GLO4: Critical thinking: evaluating information
using critical and analytical thinking and judgment
ULO2: Manipulate and summarise data that
accurately represents real world problems
ULO3: Interpret and appraise statistical output to
assist in real-world decision making
Overview
The purpose of this assignment is to investigate a dataset which will enable you to answer questions
posed in an email. In order to answer the questions posed in the email, you will need to analyse
data, interpret the results, and then draw appropriate conclusions.
The aims of the assignment are to:
• provide you with some examples of the application of data analysis
• test your understanding of the material presented in the relevant topics
• test your ability to analyse data and interpret your results
• test your ability to effectively communicate your results to others
Before attempting the assignment, make sure you have prepared yourself well. At a minimum,
please read the relevant sections of the prescribed textbook and review the materials provided in
Modules 1 and 2.
MIS770, T1 2019 Assignment Two 2 | Page
Scenario
You are Nick Black, a specialist analyst for Business Intelligence (BI). BI are data analytics research
service consultants that provide data modelling solutions to large organisations and governments, as
well as supporting various niche research projects across a variety of industry sectors.
Australian rural communities make a considerable contribution to the Australian economy yet very
little research has been done on the specific business communities that support the rural sector. For
example, little is known about the market place confidence and expectation of businesses that exist
in the townships that support these rural communities.
BI has been contracted because some rural municipal authorities have identified a need to focus
expenditure and related activities to assist in business growth. One such municipal authority is the
Ballarat City Council. In an effort to understand the marketplace confidence of the Ballarat
businesses that support their local community, BI has taken a random sample of 150 businesses in
the region. As well as asking them for useful demographic characteristics, BI have asked questions
about trading patterns, business confidence and business expectations. You have received an email
from the Ballarat City Council that contains specific questions that you must answer.
MIS770, T1 2019 Assignment Two 3 | Page
To: Nick Black
From: Ballarat City Council
Subject: Further analysis of Business confidence and expectation

With the exception of the first question, in which I only require a summary of the sample data, please provide
conclusions for all of our regional businesses. That is, I have been led to believe that because your data was
collected randomly, you can use your dataset to make inferences about all of our regional businesses. With
that in mind, I hope you are able to assist me.
1. Can you provide an overview of the number of people that local businesses employ in our region?
2. Can you estimate the proportion of all businesses in our region that do have a growth strategy?
3. The Creswick/Clunes Chamber of Commerce recently indicated that the proportion of businesses
registered in their region that do have a growth strategy was 76%. They then went on to suggest in a
confidential report that any proportion less than this value contributed to a significant reduction in the
revenue generated in the region.
a. Is there any evidence to suggest that the proportion of our local businesses that do have a
growth strategy could be less than this suggested figure and thus impacting on revenue in our
region?
b. Can you estimate the average number of staff for businesses with and without a growth strategy
and can we therefore conclude that businesses with a growth strategy have a higher number of
employees on average, and might therefore be more successful?
4. I have been told that our local business managers are rather young. This seems at odds with a recent
report that stated the average age of managers in Australian businesses was 50 years of age. Can you
please determine if the average age of our local business managers is indeed less than 50 years?
5. Over the years we have observed that an average of 10 businesses open each year. What is the likelihood
that next year:
a. More than 15 businesses will open?
b. The number of businesses that open will be 5 or less?
6. Finally, when we conduct this survey again next year, we would like to be able to:
a. Estimate the average number of people that local business employ to within 4 employees, and,
b. Estimate the percentage of business with a growth strategy to within 2%.