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MISY262: Fundamentals of Business Analytics: Data and Variables

This document discusses key concepts in business analytics including data, information, and knowledge. It defines data as facts and figures that become information when organized and analyzed in a meaningful way to derive knowledge. The document also discusses populations and samples, explaining that samples are subsets of populations examined to make inferences. It describes cross-sectional and time series data collection and structured versus unstructured data. Finally, it defines variables as characteristics that differ among observations, categorizing them as either categorical or numerical.

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55 views9 pages

MISY262: Fundamentals of Business Analytics: Data and Variables

This document discusses key concepts in business analytics including data, information, and knowledge. It defines data as facts and figures that become information when organized and analyzed in a meaningful way to derive knowledge. The document also discusses populations and samples, explaining that samples are subsets of populations examined to make inferences. It describes cross-sectional and time series data collection and structured versus unstructured data. Finally, it defines variables as characteristics that differ among observations, categorizing them as either categorical or numerical.

Uploaded by

Joshua chirchir
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MISY262: Fundamentals of Business

Analytics
Data and Variables

Ali Tosyali, PhD


Assistant Professor of MIS
Data, Information, and Knowledge
● Data are compilations of facts, figures, or other contents, both
numerical and nonnumerical.
● Data that have been organized, analyzed and processed in a
meaningful and purposeful way become information.
● We use a blend of data, contextual information, experience, and
intuition to derive knowledge that can be applied and put into action in
specific situations.
Sample vs. Population
A population consists of all observations or items of interest in an analysis. A
sample is a subset of the population. We examine sample data to make inferences
about the population.
We rely on sampling because ...
● Obtaining information on the entire population is expensive.
● It is impossible to examine every member of the population.
Cross-Sectional and Time Series Data
● Sample data are generally collected in one of two ways.
○ Cross-sectional data: refers to data collected by recording a characteristic of many subjects
at the same point in time, or without regard to differences in time.
Cross-Sectional and Time Series Data
● Sample data are generally collected in one of two ways.
○ Time series data: refer to data collected over several time periods focusing on certain groups
of people, specific events, or objects.
Structured vs. Unstructured Data
● Generally, structured data reside
in a predefined, row-column
format.
○ We use spreadsheets or database
applications to enter, store, query, and
analyze structured data.
○ Examples of structured data include
numbers, dates, and groups of words
and numbers, typically stored in a
tabular format.
Structured vs. Unstructured Data
● Unlike structured data, unstructured data do not conform to a predefined,
row-column format.
○ They tend to be textual (e.g., written reports, email messages, doctor's note, or open-ended
survey responses) or have multimedia contents (e.g., photographs, videos, an audio data) .
● Social media data such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and blogs are
examples of unstructured data.
Variables
● In business analytics, we focus on people, firms, or events with particular
characteristics.
○ When a characteristic differs in kind or degree among various observations (records), then the
characteristic can be termed a variable.
● Variables are classified as either categorical or numerical.
○ Categorical (qualitative): marital status, eye color, major, whether or not has a credit card, etc.
○ Numerical (quantitative): temperature, income, age, score of an exam, etc.

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