BUSINESS ANALYTICS 306 EXAM QUESTIONS AND
VERIFIED ANSWERS
analytics - Answers - the use of data, statistical analysis, quantitative methods, and
mathematical and/or computer-based models to help make better, fact-based decisions
descriptive analytics - Answers - uses data to understand past and present
tries to answer "what happened, or is happening?"
predictive analytics - Answers - analyzes past performance to predict the future
tries to answer "what will happen?"
prescriptive analytics - Answers - uses optimization techniques to provide potential
actions based on analytics
tries to answer "what should we do?"
central tendency - Answers - average and median measurements
average absolute deviation - Answers - measure of spread
how far away data point is from average, then average of that number
can only have 0 if all points are the same
variance - Answers - subtract data point from the average, then square the data points
and find new average
skewed by outliers
can only be 0 if all points are the same
standard deviation - Answers - square root of variance
range - Answers - maximum value minus minimum value
percentile - Answers - value below which a given percentile of data falls
interquartile range - Answers - distance between the 75th (upper median) and 25th
(lower median) percentiles
, histogram - Answers - shows a distribution between variables
no gaps
binning - Answers - combining data into groups
danger zone charts - Answers - 3D, dual axis, pie of pie, bubble
basic charts - Answers - pie, bar, line, stacked bar, area
numerical data - Answers - discrete and continuous
discrete - Answers - how many times did you ski this winter?
countable
continuous - Answers - how far away do you live?
measurable
categorical data - Answers - regular and ordinal
regular categorical - Answers - are you a PC or Mac user?
ordinal - Answers - please rate this product on a scale of 1 to 5
scatterplot - Answers - plotting 2 variables against each other to look for relationship
correlation - Answers - statistical measure of the dependence between 2 variables
Pearson's correlation - Answers - reflects a linear relationship between two variables
-1 perfect negative correlation
+1 perfect positive correlation
0 uncorrelated
trendline - Answers - creates "best fit" for data
upward slope= positive correlation
downward slope= negative correlation
flat slop= no correlation
covariance - Answers - measures how much the movement in one variable predicts the
movement in a corresponding variable
VERIFIED ANSWERS
analytics - Answers - the use of data, statistical analysis, quantitative methods, and
mathematical and/or computer-based models to help make better, fact-based decisions
descriptive analytics - Answers - uses data to understand past and present
tries to answer "what happened, or is happening?"
predictive analytics - Answers - analyzes past performance to predict the future
tries to answer "what will happen?"
prescriptive analytics - Answers - uses optimization techniques to provide potential
actions based on analytics
tries to answer "what should we do?"
central tendency - Answers - average and median measurements
average absolute deviation - Answers - measure of spread
how far away data point is from average, then average of that number
can only have 0 if all points are the same
variance - Answers - subtract data point from the average, then square the data points
and find new average
skewed by outliers
can only be 0 if all points are the same
standard deviation - Answers - square root of variance
range - Answers - maximum value minus minimum value
percentile - Answers - value below which a given percentile of data falls
interquartile range - Answers - distance between the 75th (upper median) and 25th
(lower median) percentiles
, histogram - Answers - shows a distribution between variables
no gaps
binning - Answers - combining data into groups
danger zone charts - Answers - 3D, dual axis, pie of pie, bubble
basic charts - Answers - pie, bar, line, stacked bar, area
numerical data - Answers - discrete and continuous
discrete - Answers - how many times did you ski this winter?
countable
continuous - Answers - how far away do you live?
measurable
categorical data - Answers - regular and ordinal
regular categorical - Answers - are you a PC or Mac user?
ordinal - Answers - please rate this product on a scale of 1 to 5
scatterplot - Answers - plotting 2 variables against each other to look for relationship
correlation - Answers - statistical measure of the dependence between 2 variables
Pearson's correlation - Answers - reflects a linear relationship between two variables
-1 perfect negative correlation
+1 perfect positive correlation
0 uncorrelated
trendline - Answers - creates "best fit" for data
upward slope= positive correlation
downward slope= negative correlation
flat slop= no correlation
covariance - Answers - measures how much the movement in one variable predicts the
movement in a corresponding variable
