Research Methodology - Statistical Applications
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL APPLICATIONS
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A manager in a business organization – whether in the top level, or the middle level, or the bottom level - has to perform an important role of decision making.
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO
STATISTICAL APPLICATIONS
A manager in a business organization – whether in the top level, or the middle level, or the bottom level - has to perform an important role of decision making. For solving any organizational problem – which most of the times happens to be complex in nature -, he has to identify a set of alternatives, evaluate them and choose the best alternative. The experience, expertise, rationality and wisdom gained by the manager over a period of time will definitely stand in good stead in the evaluation of the alternatives available at his disposal. He has to consider several factors, sometimes singly and sometimes jointly, during the process of decision making. He has to deal with the data of not only his organization but also of other competing organizations.
It would be a challenging situation for a manager when he has to face so many variables operating simultaneously, something internal and something external. Among them, he has to identify the important variables or the dominating factors and he should be able to distinguish one factor from the other. He should be able to find which factors have similar characteristics and which factors stand apart. He should be able to know which factors have an inter play with each other and which factors remain independent. It would be advantageous to him to know whether there is any clear pattern followed by the variables under consideration. At times he may be required to have a good idea of the values that the variables would assume in future occasions. The task of a manager becomes all the more difficult in view of the risks and uncertainties surrounding the future events. It is imperative on the part of a manager to understand the impact of various policies and programmes on the development of the organization as well as the environment. Also he should be able to understand the impact of several of the environmental factors on his organization. Sometimes a manager has to take a single stage decision and at times he is called for to take a multistage decision on the basis of various factors operating in a situation.
Statistical analysis is a tool for a manager in the process of decision making by means of the data on hand. All managerial activities involve an analysis of data. Statistical approach would enable a manager to have a scientific guess of the future events also. Statistical methods are systematic and built by several experts on firmly established theories and consequently they would enable a manager to overcome the uncertainties associated with future occasions. However, statistical tools have their shortcomings too. The limitations do not reflect on the subject. Rather they shall be traced to the methods of data collection and recording of data. Even with highly sophisticated statistical methods, one may not arrive at valid conclusions if the data collected are devoid of representative character.
In any practical problem, one has to see whether the assumptions are reasonable or not, whether the data represents a wide spectrum, whether the data is adequate, whether all the conditions for the statistical tests have been fulfilled, etc. If one takes care of these aspects, it would be possible to arrive at better alternatives and more reliable solutions, thereby avoiding future shocks. While it is true that a statistical analysis, by itself, cannot solve all the problems faced by an organization, it will definitely enable a manager to comprehend the ground realities of the situation. It will for sure provide a foresight in the identification of the crucial variables and the key areas so that he can locate a set of possible solutions within his ambit. A manager has to have a proper blend of the statistical theories and practical wisdom and he shall always strive for a holistic approach to solve any organizational problem. A manager has to provide some safe-guarding measures against the limitations of the statistical tools. In the process he will be able to draw valid inferences thereby providing a clue as to the direction in which the organization shall move in future. He will be ably guided by the statistical results in the formulation of appropriate strategies for the organization. Further, he can prepare the organization to face the possible problems of business fluctuations in future and minimize the risks with the help of the early warning signals indicated by the relevant statistical tools.
A marketing manager of a company or a manager in a service organization will have occasions to come across the general public and consumers with several social and psychological variables which are difficult to be measured and quantified.
Depending on the situation and the requirement, a manager may have to deal with the data of just one variable (univariate data), or data on two variables (bivariate data) or data concerning several simultaneous variables (multivariate data).
The unit on hand addresses itself to the role of a manager as a decision maker with the help of data available with him. Different statistical techniques which are suitable for different requirements are presented in this unit in a simple style. A manager shall know the strengths and weaknesses of various statistical tools. He shall know which statistical tool would be the most appropriate in a particular context so that the organization will derive the maximum benefit out of it.
The interpretation of the results from statistical analysis occupies an important place. Statistics is concerned with the aggregates and not just the individual data items or isolated measurements of certain variables. Therefore the conclusions from a statistical study will be valid for a majority of the objects and normal situations only. There are always extreme cases in any problem and they have to be dealt with separately. Statistical tools will enable a manager to identify such outliers (abnormal cases or extreme variables) in a problem. A manager has to evaluate the statistical inferences, interpret them in the proper context and apply them in appropriate situations.
While in an actual research problem, one has to handle a large quantum of data, it is not possible to treat such voluminous data by a beginner in the subject. Keeping this point in mind, any numerical example in the present unit is based on a few data items only. It would be worthwhile to the budding managers to make a start in solving statistical problems by practicing the ones furnished in this unit.
A manager in a business organization – whether in the top level, or the middle level, or the bottom level - has to perform an important role of decision making. For solving any organizational problem – which most of the times happens to be complex in nature -, he has to identify a set of alternatives, evaluate them and choose the best alternative. The experience, expertise, rationality and wisdom gained by the manager over a period of time will definitely stand in good stead in the evaluation of the alternatives available at his disposal. He has to consider several factors, sometimes singly and sometimes jointly, during the process of decision making. He has to deal with the data of not only his organization but also of other competing organizations.
It would be a challenging situation for a manager when he has to face so many variables operating simultaneously, something internal and something external. Among them, he has to identify the important variables or the dominating factors and he should be able to distinguish one factor from the other. He should be able to find which factors have similar characteristics and which factors stand apart. He should be able to know which factors have an inter play with each other and which factors remain independent. It would be advantageous to him to know whether there is any clear pattern followed by the variables under consideration. At times he may be required to have a good idea of the values that the variables would assume in future occasions. The task of a manager becomes all the more difficult in view of the risks and uncertainties surrounding the future events. It is imperative on the part of a manager to understand the impact of various policies and programmes on the development of the organization as well as the environment. Also he should be able to understand the impact of several of the environmental factors on his organization. Sometimes a manager has to take a single stage decision and at times he is called for to take a multistage decision on the basis of various factors operating in a situation.
Statistical analysis is a tool for a manager in the process of decision making by means of the data on hand. All managerial activities involve an analysis of data. Statistical approach would enable a manager to have a scientific guess of the future events also. Statistical methods are systematic and built by several experts on firmly established theories and consequently they would enable a manager to overcome the uncertainties associated with future occasions. However, statistical tools have their shortcomings too. The limitations do not reflect on the subject. Rather they shall be traced to the methods of data collection and recording of data. Even with highly sophisticated statistical methods, one may not arrive at valid conclusions if the data collected are devoid of representative character.
In any practical problem, one has to see whether the assumptions are reasonable or not, whether the data represents a wide spectrum, whether the data is adequate, whether all the conditions for the statistical tests have been fulfilled, etc. If one takes care of these aspects, it would be possible to arrive at better alternatives and more reliable solutions, thereby avoiding future shocks. While it is true that a statistical analysis, by itself, cannot solve all the problems faced by an organization, it will definitely enable a manager to comprehend the ground realities of the situation. It will for sure provide a foresight in the identification of the crucial variables and the key areas so that he can locate a set of possible solutions within his ambit. A manager has to have a proper blend of the statistical theories and practical wisdom and he shall always strive for a holistic approach to solve any organizational problem. A manager has to provide some safe-guarding measures against the limitations of the statistical tools. In the process he will be able to draw valid inferences thereby providing a clue as to the direction in which the organization shall move in future. He will be ably guided by the statistical results in the formulation of appropriate strategies for the organization. Further, he can prepare the organization to face the possible problems of business fluctuations in future and minimize the risks with the help of the early warning signals indicated by the relevant statistical tools.
A marketing manager of a company or a manager in a service organization will have occasions to come across the general public and consumers with several social and psychological variables which are difficult to be measured and quantified.
Depending on the situation and the requirement, a manager may have to deal with the data of just one variable (univariate data), or data on two variables (bivariate data) or data concerning several simultaneous variables (multivariate data).
The unit on hand addresses itself to the role of a manager as a decision maker with the help of data available with him. Different statistical techniques which are suitable for different requirements are presented in this unit in a simple style. A manager shall know the strengths and weaknesses of various statistical tools. He shall know which statistical tool would be the most appropriate in a particular context so that the organization will derive the maximum benefit out of it.
The interpretation of the results from statistical analysis occupies an important place. Statistics is concerned with the aggregates and not just the individual data items or isolated measurements of certain variables. Therefore the conclusions from a statistical study will be valid for a majority of the objects and normal situations only. There are always extreme cases in any problem and they have to be dealt with separately. Statistical tools will enable a manager to identify such outliers (abnormal cases or extreme variables) in a problem. A manager has to evaluate the statistical inferences, interpret them in the proper context and apply them in appropriate situations.
While in an actual research problem, one has to handle a large quantum of data, it is not possible to treat such voluminous data by a beginner in the subject. Keeping this point in mind, any numerical example in the present unit is based on a few data items only. It would be worthwhile to the budding managers to make a start in solving statistical problems by practicing the ones furnished in this unit.
The
candidates are suggested to use hand calculators for solving statistical
problems. There will be frequent occasions to use statistical tables of
f-values furnished in this unit. The candidates are suggested to have with them
a copy of the tables for easy, ready reference. The books and articles listed
under the references may be consulted for further study or applications of
statistical techniques in relevant research areas.
Tags : Research Methodology - Statistical Applications
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