Question A

Introduction

Analysis of data using various statistical measures is an integral step in the research
process which gives meaningful interpretation of the data. Descriptive statistics like
measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion and measures of relative standing
help to develop specific indices from the raw data (Kothari, 2004). A summary measure
called a measure of central tendency, also known as a measure of centre or a measure of
central location, aims to characterise all aspects of a set of data with a single number that
corresponds to the centre or centre of its distribution. The three basic measures of this are
mean. Median and mode. When data is normally distributed, then the mean equals to the
median, when the data is positively skewed, i.e., a longer upper tail in the normal curve,
then the mean will be higher than the median and if the data is negatively skewed then mean
will be less than median. Measures of dispersion is the measure of spread of data from the
mean and it includes Range and Standard Deviation. Range is the difference between
maximum value and Minimum value in a data set. Standard deviation measures how much
data varies from the mean of the data set. Measures of relative standing measures the
variability of a specific data from the rest of the data in a data set.

Data analysis

The data collected by a data consultancy agency from the customers of four energy
company regarding the time taken by these companies to respond to the complaints
have been given in the question. In order to find out the best company regarding the
customers complaint response mechanism, various statistical measures such as
measures of central tendency, measures of dispersion and measures of relative standing
is applied. All the measures are calculated in Excel using excel data analysis tool pack
through descriptive statistics methods. It is done by clicking Data > Data analysis >
Descriptive statistics. Give the cell reference where the data contains. Repeat the same
procedures to find out the descriptive statistics for each company.

Relative standing measure called Inter quartile range is calculated by subtracting first
quartile(Q1) from third quartile (Q3). Q1 and Q3 is found using excel function Quartile.
For this type the formula in a cell as <=Quartile> and then click and drag to the end of
the cell where data contains then give the quart value as 0.25 and 0.75 for first and third
quartiles respectively. Repeat the same procedures to find out interquartile range for
each company.

The following table shows the result of these measures.

Table I. Descriptive Statistics

Company Energy Energy Energy Energy
Company I Company II Company III Company IV
Mean 173.48 153.78 161.6 167.56
Median 171 147 157 157.5
Mode 139 147 179 163
Range 161 181 123 243
Standard 31.65 30.50 26.75 43.39
deviation
Inter Quartile 40.5 23.8 44.3 50.8
Range

Z score

Z score is another measure of relative standing. It measures how closely a value relates
to the mean of a group of values. Each companies’ z score for each observation is
calculated first. Then it is arranged in a frequency distribution table by making Z scores
into different classes and noting down corresponding frequencies for each company in a
separate column. The table of frequency distribution of Z score is presented below.

Table II. Frequency Distribution of Z Score.

Company I Company II Company III Company IV
Z Frequenc Z score Frequency Z score Frequenc Z Frequency
score y y score
-2 0 -2 0 -2 0 -2 0
-1 17 -1 8 -1 20 -1 9
0 36 0 56 0 35 0 54
1 32 1 21 1 25 1 23
2 11 2 9 2 19 2 9
 3 2 3 5 3 0 3 3
4 2 4 0 4 1 4 2
5 0 5 1 5 0 5 0
Graphical representation of the data obtained from the customers of four companies
have given in figure 1 to figure 4.

Figure 1. Complaint response time - Company I

Company I
28
30
20 19
Frequency

20 14 11 Frequency
10 2 3 2
1 0
0
120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 More
Complaint Response Time

Figure 2. Complaint response time - Company II

Company II
47
40
22
Frequency

20 11
3 5 5 3 3 Frequency
0 0 1 0
0
90 110 130 150 170 190 210 230 250 270 290 ore
M
Complaint Response Time

Figure 3.. Complaint response time - Company III

Company III
40
29
30 24
Frequency

18 19
20
10 6 3 Frequency
1 0 0
0
125 145 165 185 205 225 245 265 More
Complaint Response Time
Figure 4.. Complaint response time - Company IV

Company IV

30 25 22
19
20
Frequency

11
10 6 4 4
1 4 2 1 0 1 0 Frequency
0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 14 18 22 26 30 34
Complaint Response Time

Figure 5 to figure 8 shows the graphical representation of the frequency distribution of z

score.

Figure 5. Z score of Company I

Company I
40 36
32
30
Frequency

20 17
11 frequency
10
0 2 2
0
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4
Z score

Figure 6. Z score of Company II

company II
56
60
Frequency

40
21 Frequency
20 8 9 5 0 1
0
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Z score
Figure 7. Z score of Company III

35Company III
40
35
30
25
Frequency
25
20 19
20
15
Frequency
10
5 1
0 0
0
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4

Z score

Figure 8. Z score of Company IV

60
Company IV
54
50
Frequency

40
Frequency
30
23
20
9 9
10
3 2
0 0
0
-2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
Z score

Mean and standard deviation of each company are presented in a multiple bar diagram
in figure 9.

figure 9. Compalint Responds time

200 173.48
161.6 167.56
153.78
150

100
43.40
50 31.65 30.50 26.75

0
Energy Company I Energy Company II Energy Company III Energy Company IV

MEAN SD