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- QUESTION
Using Minitab
This week, you learned about the statistical software applications used to analyze data for research analysis. For this week's discussion, you will use Minitab to run descriptive statistics, create graphs and respond to the following:
- How could you use Minitab descriptive statistics for data analysis research?
- What are your plans for learning more about Minitab and how will the information you learned about this software be of benefit in your future analysis of research data?
Refer to this week’s readings and video tutorials before starting this two part discussion question assignment. You will also have access to the Assignment Resources Step-by-Step Guide, accessed through the Assignment Resources Icon located to the right of the grading criteria above.
Step 1: Entering Data
Open Minitab
You will now use Minitab to enter a sample dataset by following the steps below and referring to the examples in the Assignment Step-by-Step guide. Begin by opening Minitab. Once open, you will see two windows. The Session Window is in the top half of the screen and the Worksheet is below. Only one window is active at a time.
Dataset Options
In many cases, researchers may have the data from their study in another software package like Microsoft Excel. However, if the data is not available in a software spreadsheet you can manually enter the data. You may now choose to populate your Minitab worksheet using the provided Excel worksheet in Option 1 or try Manual Data Entry by following the instructions in Option 2.
Option 1: Using Excel to populate Minitab
To access the Excel worksheet populated with data, go to the Data Set Icon located to the right of the grading criteria above. You can copy and paste the data set directly from Excel into Minitab.
Or
Option 2: Manual Data Entry
In the Worksheet window, type “Age” in C1. Enter the numbers as shown in the dataset below. Enter the remaining data as shown below (set up your column labels i.e., variable). The measure reflects math anxiety and the study variables (cringe, uneasy, afraid, worried, understand) the math anxiety range is from 1–5 with low being the least and 5 the highest.
A ge
Cringe
Uneasy
Afraid
Worried
Understand
28
5
3
4
4
3
34
2
5
3
2
1
25
4
4
4
2
5
56
3
4
3
1
2
23
5
4
3
3
4
29
1
5
3
2
3
30
3
3
5
2
5
59
2
5
5
1
2
45
4
2
5
3
3
38
1
2
4
1
1
33
3
2
4
3
2
47
4
2
3
4
5
24
1
5
3
4
4
29
5
4
2
1
3
53
3
1
5
2
1
48
4
4
1
5
3
27
2
5
4
3
4
34
4
4
3
2
5
26
4
5
2
3
2
36
5
5
5
4
3
Step 2: Run Descriptive Statistics Now that your data is in Minitab, you will look at the descriptive statistics for this dataset. Select the Ribbon at the top titled “Statistics,” and then select “Descriptive Statistics”. Under the “Data tab” select a variable, under the “Statistics tab” check all the boxes, then click “OK”.
Discussion Question Part 1:
How could you use Minitab descriptive statistics for data analysis research? Write about your experience running descriptive statistics. Use the results in the Session Window to support your response. Then add to your discussion with the information you learn when completing Step 3.
Step 3: Minitab and Graphs
You will now look at graphing. Select the Ribbon at the top titled “Graph,” then select “Histogram,” and then select “Simple.” Choose one of the variables and select "Ok". You can create other Histogram graphs by choosing different variables. You can also choose from the other ten graph choices shown on the Graph ribbon. Remember you can use the left navigation column to access your work.
Discussion Question Part 2: What are your plans for learning more about Minitab and how will the information you learned about this software be of benefit in your future analysis of research data? Copy and paste your graph(s) in a Word document and attach to your discussion response.
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| Subject | Statistics | Pages | 7 | Style | APA |
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Answer
Using Minitab
Discussion Question Part 1:
Bickel & Lehmann (2012) posit that descriptive statistics entails different aspects of a study sample such as measures of location like the mean and mode, standard deviation, and measures of dispersion or skewness. Minitab descriptive statistics enable a researcher to describe the various components of data considering a few indices. The Minitab application can be used to determine measures of central tendency and measures of variability as well as construction of graphs to give a summary of the parameters of the research at a glance. In this example, a histogram was draw using Minitab to describe the variability of individuals experiencing cringe in the data. Therefore, I would use each measure to determine the characteristics of each variable. The output of each analysis will be located in the Session window. The descriptive statistics will be important particularly in univariate analysis.
In the case example, the variables such as cringe, afraid, uneasy, worried, and understand can be analyzed based on their means, standard deviations, medians, and the quartiles that are already available on the Session window. These simple summaries would outline the prominent features of each variable. For example, the mean for understand is 3.050 while the median is 3.000 an indication that the level of understanding math among the participants is good based on a 1-5 scale. Additionally, I would perform bivariate analysis by using the Session window display to compare the variables. For example, uneasy had the highest mean of 3.700 indicating that the level of feeling uneasy concerning math anxiety is the highest compared to other feelings related to math. The graphical representations such as the histogram also provide a summary of the variations and dispersion of the measures. For example, I would read the base figure of the tallest bar of the cringe histogram to determine the most frequent cringe level, which is level 4.
I have come to learn in step three that running Minitab descriptive statistics is one simple process because the application performs all the calculations as ordered. The only tedious process was the manual entering of the data from the assignment sheet. It requires keenness to manually enter the data in the Minitab window because the quality of the outcome would depend on the accuracy of the data entered. However, once the data are entered, the Minitab performs other tasks as ordered by the clicks. The histogram was drawn upon entering the variable and clicking “OK”. Additionally, several histograms for the other variables can be obtained in a short time. The most advantageous experiences with the Minitab application is that it is simple to use and it saves a lot of time in calculating the characteristics for each variable. The number of the variable, mean, standard deviation, quartiles, and median for all the measures could be obtained at once.
Discussion Question Part 2:
I have plans to further my knowledge on using Minitab to perform statistical analysis successfully. First, I intend to create a period of 3 hours every day for the next five weeks to learn more about Minitab. Secondly, the resources I will use are laptop, my colleagues, and the internet. I will read the Statguide and the tutorials available in the application at least five times and write short notes during the personal study sessions. I will download and watch YouTube videos providing guidelines on how to use Minitab for data storage and analysis. Most importantly, I will use Minitab website to get their free online outlet for the beginners through video tutorials. The Minitab website provides online training using videos and an individual do not need a subscription or registration to access the training services (Mahmoud, 2016). I will watch the videos and make summary notes for referral. The fifth week will be for revision of the work I shall have done on Minitab. I will compile several data and use the guidelines from the study to conduct their analyses.
Afterwards, I will share the knowledge with colleagues at work to ensure I understand all the comprehensive details on Minitab. Lastly, the information on Minitab will be important for my future research analysis. As a researcher, analysis is one of the important parts of a research study that can provide strength to its internal validity. I would use Minitab to provide accurate and quicker ways for the calculations used in analysis of data such as mean, mode, and standard variation. Secondly, I would use Minitab to draw graphs such as histograms that can be used for graphical analysis.
References
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Bickel, P. J., & Lehmann, E. L. (2012). Descriptive statistics for nonparametric models I. Introduction. In Selected Works of EL Lehmann (pp. 465-471). Springer US.
Mahmoud, A. (2016). How to Learn Minitab for Free. Retrieved April 20, 2016, from http://howtolearn.me/how-learn-minitab-free/
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