BDM 1

Business Decision Making
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Lesson Outcomes
Identify the various types of data
Identify the sources of secondary data
Be aware of the advantages /

disadvantages of types of survey
Be able to design questionnaires
What is Data?
Data is simply a scientific term for facts,

figures, information and measurements
Data is raw. It simply exists and has no

significance beyond its existence. It
can exist in any form, usable or not.
Data can be qualitative or quantitative.
data
Qualitative
(attributes)
Quantitative
(variables)
Discrete
(whole units)
Continuous
(all values)
Data Sources
Data collected by an organisation may be:
Internal (from the organisation itself)
eg. Sales, financial, employee, transport,

stock etc
External (from outside the organisation).
eg. Government, institutions, market

research companies, media etc.
In order to make decisions
Primary;
Data needs to be collected.
Secondary;
Tertiary
Primary Data
Information which is collected first hand,
and especially for the purpose of whatever
survey is being conducted.
For example, a pop poll interview on a
street, commissioned by an organisation,
intended to gain specific market share data.
Primary Data
Primary data is captured using a variety

of processes, for example:
Surveys;
Interviews;
Focus groups;
Questionnaires;
Audits.
Secondary Data
Already available, and collected by

someone other than the user.
Examples of secondary data sources:
Journals;
Books;
Census data;
Newspaper articles;
Biographies
Attributes
A quality, property or feature belonging

to or representing a person or thing.
Something an object has/has not got

A specific value on a variable
Variables
Something which can be measured.
e.g. height
Can be classified as discrete (a finite

or countable number of values within a
given range), or continuous (may take
on any value, measured rather than
counted)
Internal Data
Relate to activities or transactions

performed within the organisation.
Examples: Administrative tasks such

as correspondence or payroll
calculation, the production of products
and services, or the sales of those
products.
Internal Data
Internal sources of data can be

classified according to the department
of the organisation to which it relates:
e.g. Purchasing,
Production,
Sales,
Marketing etc.
Gathering internal data/

information from inside the
organisation involves:
Establishing a system for collecting or

measuring data . As to what data is
collected, how frequently, by whom and
by what method
Relying to some extent on the informal

communication lines between
managers and staff eg, word of mouth,
conservations at meetings, email etc.
External Data
Organisations need to collect data relating to

the outside world or the environment of the
organisation
Data relating to the environment of an

organisation might be classified under:
Political
Economic
Social
Technological
Competitive
3 main types of Data

Collection
Census
Sample Survey
Administrative by-product data
Census
This refers to data collection about

everyone or everything in a group or
population.
e.g. if you collected the age of everyone

in your department, it would be
regarded as a department census.
High degree of accuracy

Costly and time consuming
Sample Survey
In this type of data collection only part of the

total population is approached for data.
e.g. If you have collected the age of 10 people

in a department of 50, it would be a sample
survey of the department rather a census.
Surveys cost less than census and results are

obtained at a greater speed.
Depending on sample size there can be

inaccuracies, and information in small
populations may not be obtainable
Administrative by-product data
Collected as a by-product of an organisations

day to day operations.
e.g. Include data on births, deaths, marriages,

divorces, airport arrivals and motor vehicle
registrations.
Advantage high degree of accuracy as data is

collected on everyone associated with the
service
Data is on-going so trends can be observed

Lack of flexibility
Methods of obtaining
sample data
Observation
Experimentation
Questionnaires
Qualitative techniques
Consumer panels
Trade audits or retail audits
Primary & Secondary

Research
To generate the data/information

requirements you need to define and report
the following:
Scope: means the boundaries of what you

are doing
Focus: means what you are collecting data
about
Contexts: means the factors in the
immediate environment of the problem area.
Quantitative Research
Quantitative research is used to measure how

many people feel, think or act in a particular
way.
These surveys tend to include large samples anything from 50 to any number of interviews.
Structured questionnaires are usually used

incorporating mainly closed questions questions with set responses.
There are various vehicles used for collecting

quantitative information but the most common
are on-street or telephone interviews.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative research seeks out the

why, not the how of its topic through
the analysis of unstructured information
things like interview transcripts and

recordings, emails, notes, feedback
forms, photos and videos.
It doesnt just rely on statistics or

numbers, which are the domain of
quantitative researchers.
Qualitative research is used to gain

insight into people's attitudes,
behaviours, value systems, concerns,
motivations, aspirations, culture or
lifestyles.
It is used to inform business

decisions, policy formation,
communication and research.
Focus groups, in-depth interviews,

content analysis and semiotics are
among the many formal approaches.
Collecting and analysing this

unstructured information can be messy
and time consuming using manual
methods.
When faced with transcripts, emails,

pictures, diaries and audio or video
material - finding themes and extracting
meaning can be a daunting task.
Data Manipulation
After editing, data may be manipulated

by computer to produce the desired
output.
Some typical ways that software can

manipulate data:
Spreadsheets
Databases
Charts
Spreadsheets
These are used to create formulas that

automatically add columns or rows of
figures, calculate means and perform
statistical analyses.
They can be used to create financial

worksheets such as budgets or
expenditure forecasts, balance
accounts and analyse costs.
Databases
These are electronic filing cabinets.

They are used to systematically store
data for easy access to produce
summaries, stock takes or reports.
A database program should be able to

able to store, retrieve, sort and
analyse data.
Charts
These can be created from a table of

numbers and displayed in a number of
ways, to show the significance of a
selection of data.
Bar, line, pie and other types of charts

can be generated and manipulated to
advantage.
Sampling
Sampling involves selecting a sample of

items from a population.
It is subject to quantitative methods.

In most practical situations the
population will be too large to carry out
a complete survey and only a sample
will be examined.
Methods of Sampling
Random sampling
Quasi-random sampling
Non-random sampling
Random Sampling
A random sample is a sample selected in such

a way that every item in the population has an
equal chance of being included.
Example: if you wanted to take a random

sample of library books, it would not be
good enough to pick them off the shelves,
even if you picked at random.
This is because the books which were out

on loan would not stand a chance of being
chosen. The library catalogue can be used
for this purpose.
Quasi-random sampling
This sampling provides a good

approximation to random sampling,
necessitates the existence of a sample
frame.
The main methods of quasi-random

sampling are:
Systematic sampling
Stratified sampling
Multistage sampling
Non-random sampling
There are two main methods of nonrandom sampling, used when a

sampling frame cannot be established.
Quota sampling
Cluster sampling

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Business Decision Making

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Identify the various types of data

Identify the sources of secondary data

Be aware of the advantages /

Be able to design questionnaires

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Data is simply a scientific term for facts,

Data is raw. It simply exists and has no

Data can be qualitative or quantitative.

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Data collected by an organisation may be:

Internal (from the organisation itself)

eg. Sales, financial, employee, transport,

External (from outside the organisation).

eg. Government, institutions, market

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

In order to make decisions

Data needs to be collected.

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Primary data is captured using a variety

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Already available, and collected by

Examples of secondary data sources:

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

A quality, property or feature belonging

Something an object has/has not got

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Something which can be measured.

Can be classified as discrete (a finite

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Relate to activities or transactions

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Examples: Administrative tasks such

Internal sources of data can be

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Gathering internal data/

Establishing a system for collecting or

Relying to some extent on the informal

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Organisations need to collect data relating to

Data relating to the environment of an

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

3 main types of Data

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

This refers to data collection about

e.g. if you collected the age of everyone

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

High degree of accuracy

In this type of data collection only part of the

e.g. If you have collected the age of 10 people

Surveys cost less than census and results are

Depending on sample size there can be

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Administrative by-product data

Collected as a by-product of an organisations

e.g. Include data on births, deaths, marriages,

Advantage high degree of accuracy as data is

Data is on-going so trends can be observed

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

Primary & Secondary