Data Analysis Exercise

1.In Week 1 you identified a process collected 10 to 30 consecutive data points. All of the data should have been collected under essentially the same conditions. The differences between the values should be expected to represent nothing more than random variation. (If during the data collection, you observed a significant change in values due to a possible change in conditions, don’t reject the data points; simply make a note of it and include this information in your commentary.) You collected and recorded the consecutive data points into a single column in a Minitab Worksheet. You saved the file as a Minitab project using the menu bar at the top: File>Save Project As>file name. The file name will automatically be given the .mpj suffix.

2.Now is the Week 2 assignment. Create a graphical summary of the data as follows: Stat>Basic Statistics>Graphical Summary. This will open the Graphical Summary window. Double click on your data column in the left pane and this will select your data and place it into the Variables pane. (Click on Help to learn much more about this function.) Click on OK. The results should look as follows:

3.Write a short commentary on Graphical Summary results. Pay particular attention to the histogram, mean, standard deviation and outliers. Describe how the histogram and statistics relate to the process from which the data were collected.

Please submit your assignment in report form as a Word document, as if submitting to management or a client. Cut and paste pertinent Minitab graphs and analysis. Attach the Minitab file as a supporting document.

If you have any problems concerning Minitab, please post the question in the Study Hall Forum. The instructor will monitor this forum but a fellow student may respond even more quickly. Feel free to work together to figure out Minitab, but I think that you will find it to be very user friendly.