Statistics in Business

Statistics in Business

Brittany Folse

QNT/275

September 28, 2015

Joshua West

Statistics in Business

Define Statistics

A statistic is a property of data, be it a number such as an average or a graph that displays information (Stine, R., & Foster, D., 2014). Statistics deals with gathering data, analyzing and evaluating it to make predictions based on observations using mathematics. Statistics can be applied to make predictions to answer questions in many areas like economics, politics, business and medical studies.

Identify Different Types and Levels of Statistics

There are two types of statistics categorical and numerical data. Categorical variables identify group membership (Stine, R., & Foster, D., 2014). These variables of observation are like labels, which identify each group. Numerical variables describe quantitative attributes of the observations (Stine, R., & Foster, D., 2014). These variables of observation can be measured or ordered. There are four levels of statistics nominal, ordinal, ratio, and interval. Nominals variables name categories without implying an ordering, whereas the categories of an ordinal variable can be ordered (Stine, R., & Foster, D., 2014). An example of nominal variables are hair color and favorite sport; ordinal variables are like surveys of satisfaction. Interval variables are numerical; these variables are two different number that can be added or subtracted from each other. An example of interval variables are weight and salary. Ratio variables are also numerical, but they compare two different number like MPH (Miles Per Hour).

Describe the Role of Statistics in Business Decision-Making

Businesses use statistics to present models, patterns, and previews for sound reasons for their decisions to prospective investors. They can also use statistics in many other ways like for supply and demand purposes or even finance management.

Two Examples of Statistics

One...