Unit 5 Data Modelling Assignment 1:
Introduction:
In this document, I will be explaining what the decision-making process is
and what stages are involved within the decision-making process and how
these stages help a company or individual. Doing this will later help me
develop data models and develop my skills with making spreadsheets and
help me identify information which has been given to me already and
information I will need to figure out myself.
Stages in the decision-making process:
The decision-making process consists of a variety of stages which helps
individuals or in most cases companies/businesses to approach their goals
in a professional manner which will help them figure out alternative ways
and procedures to reach their end goal and identify and issues they may
have along the way. The stages in the decision-making process are below
along with the explanation to what each of the stages mean:
The scenario:
The scenario is the first step within the decision-making process and is
practically the most important stage within this process. A scenario is
details which you have been give usually by a business or company which
may include problems and issues which you will need to help overcome
using your skills and other stages which are within the decision-making
process. In my context, I will need to understand what the scenario is
about and what information will be needed in the data models I will be
making using the scenario. Not understanding the scenario completely
from the beginning will cause issues and problems for me once I begin to
create the data models, so it is extremely important to understand the
scenario right from the start. There are also some positives from
understanding the scenario and some negatives if the scenario is not
understood. One positive from understanding the scenario is the
spreadsheets will meet the criteria's which were given in the scenario.
Another positive is the end-user who is reading the spreadsheet will be
able to read the spreadsheet quickly and efficiently and understand
components. One negative about not understanding the scenario is it may
cause information to be wrong in the spreadsheet which could create
challenges further on into the development of the data models.
In the scenario I have been given, I have joined a new company working
as a trainee data analyst. The company which I have been employed at
imports a wide range of different speciality cheeses from France and the
,Netherlands. The company I work at supplies the cheese to a variety of
different restaurants and delicatessens throughout the UK. The company I
work at faces various challenges because of the currency exchange, which
is between the euro they purchase the cheese in, and the pound they sell
the cheese in along with the variations in economic growth. As a
company, they have realised as their cheese is expensive, it sells better
when the economic growth is good and sells less when the economic
growth is poor. A part of my job working at the company will be to develop
a few data models which will help the company predict the future sales of
the cheese that will be sold. Before I begin working on developing the
models, the managers working within the company who have no previous
background within the IT sector have asked me to provide them with
report spreadsheet models.
Identifying information and sources:
Identifying information is another crucial step within the decision-making
process as it will help to identify information such as which information is
required, which information is available to you already and additional
information which may be needed. I will also be speaking about sources
where I will explain what sources are and what is
Information required:
Information required is all the information which you will need in the data
model spreadsheet which you will be creating. This is very important
because if information is missing, it could affect the data model
spreadsheet in the end and cause further challenges on top of the
challenges which have already been addressed which means it will be
extremely time consuming, so it is necessary to understand the
information which is required for the data model spreadsheet. Figuring
out which information is required will help you know whether that
information has been given or whether I will need to find the information
out myself. An example in my context is that the information required will
include the diverse types of cheese which the company sells which will
help me figure out the prices of the different cheeses in the end and the
profit which will be made from each of the cheeses which are available.
Another example is the names of the cheeses, the prices of the cheeses in
their specific currency and locations of where the company sells the
cheeses.
Information available:
Information available is usually the information which has already been
given to you. The information available is usually given in the scenario so
it is very important to read the scenario and understand the information
,that is given in the scenario because that is the same information you
may need in your data-model spreadsheet. For example, in my scenario, it
says “between the Euro they buy the cheese in, and the Pound that they
sell it in” This piece of information shows that we will need both the Euro
and Pound information within the data-model spreadsheet which will also
help you figure out the total amount of money you are spending along
with the profit you are making in different economic growths.
Additional information needed:
Additional information is information which is needed in the data-
modelling spreadsheet however, this information may not be given to you,
but it is information which could make the data-modelling spreadsheet
clearer and more concise for the user or client to read and understand. An
example of additional information in my context is historical data for
example, the most common cheese they may have sold in the past, the
customers they sold to, which specific area throughout the UK have
brought the most cheese in previous years and sometimes even the
feedback about the cheeses sold.
Source of additional information:
Sources of additional information are places where you get the additional
information for the spreadsheet from. In most cases, sources for additional
information will usually be on websites. In certain cases, additional
information can be from forms which may have been given for example in
my scenario, forms might be sent out which would help me decide which
cheese that the company occupies in is a customer favourite.
Requirements for verifying sources:
There are various requirements which need to be taken into consideration
for verifying whether sources are true or not. For example, the first
requirement is that you need to make sure that the information is from a
trusted source and that the information is in date because if you take
information from a source which is old, you may not get information which
is up to date which will not help your company or business grow or expand
, due to unreliable data being recorded. An example of this based off my
scenario is that if I get information about Cheese we previously sold and
that the cheese was very popular a year ago, in the current time another
cheese may now be better than the one that was popular last year which
will decrease the number of sales of that specific cheese.
Factors affecting quality information:
For this stage of the decision-making process, there are two main factors
which would affect the quality of information produced on the data model.
The two factors which would affect the quality of information are Data
Currency and Data Accuracy. I will be explaining these two factors below
and other external factors which would affect the quality of information.
Data Currency:
The term data currency means data which is the latest and newest
information which can be provided. This is extremely important as data
which is old could cause further challenges and data which is older
wouldn’t be quite as reliable as data which is new. An example based on
my scenario is basing the cheese from its previous selling rate may not be
the most accurate as it may have sold more in a certain season for
example it may have sold more in spring whereas, cheese may not sell
the same in summer so you will need to be specific and see which cheese
is being sold more often in the current era and base your prediction of
future sales on that and not completely relying on information which is
old.
Data accuracy:
The term Data Accuracy means how accurate the data which is stored on
the spreadsheet really is. Data Accuracy will help your spreadsheet be
more reliable and accurate as a whole. Failing to meet Data Accuracy will
mean the data within the spreadsheet may not be reliable. Based on my
scenario, the price of the cheese which we are selling including the
exchange rate needs to be accurate which will prevent confusion and
challenges when the data model is complete.
External factors:
External factors are factors which are not within the data model created
itself however, it is factors which is outside the data model which at some
point it could affect the information which is within the data model which
is created. Using my scenario, you could say that one external factor could
be competitors who have new variants of cheese which this could affect
the information within my data model as the cheese I have may be sold
Introduction:
In this document, I will be explaining what the decision-making process is
and what stages are involved within the decision-making process and how
these stages help a company or individual. Doing this will later help me
develop data models and develop my skills with making spreadsheets and
help me identify information which has been given to me already and
information I will need to figure out myself.
Stages in the decision-making process:
The decision-making process consists of a variety of stages which helps
individuals or in most cases companies/businesses to approach their goals
in a professional manner which will help them figure out alternative ways
and procedures to reach their end goal and identify and issues they may
have along the way. The stages in the decision-making process are below
along with the explanation to what each of the stages mean:
The scenario:
The scenario is the first step within the decision-making process and is
practically the most important stage within this process. A scenario is
details which you have been give usually by a business or company which
may include problems and issues which you will need to help overcome
using your skills and other stages which are within the decision-making
process. In my context, I will need to understand what the scenario is
about and what information will be needed in the data models I will be
making using the scenario. Not understanding the scenario completely
from the beginning will cause issues and problems for me once I begin to
create the data models, so it is extremely important to understand the
scenario right from the start. There are also some positives from
understanding the scenario and some negatives if the scenario is not
understood. One positive from understanding the scenario is the
spreadsheets will meet the criteria's which were given in the scenario.
Another positive is the end-user who is reading the spreadsheet will be
able to read the spreadsheet quickly and efficiently and understand
components. One negative about not understanding the scenario is it may
cause information to be wrong in the spreadsheet which could create
challenges further on into the development of the data models.
In the scenario I have been given, I have joined a new company working
as a trainee data analyst. The company which I have been employed at
imports a wide range of different speciality cheeses from France and the
,Netherlands. The company I work at supplies the cheese to a variety of
different restaurants and delicatessens throughout the UK. The company I
work at faces various challenges because of the currency exchange, which
is between the euro they purchase the cheese in, and the pound they sell
the cheese in along with the variations in economic growth. As a
company, they have realised as their cheese is expensive, it sells better
when the economic growth is good and sells less when the economic
growth is poor. A part of my job working at the company will be to develop
a few data models which will help the company predict the future sales of
the cheese that will be sold. Before I begin working on developing the
models, the managers working within the company who have no previous
background within the IT sector have asked me to provide them with
report spreadsheet models.
Identifying information and sources:
Identifying information is another crucial step within the decision-making
process as it will help to identify information such as which information is
required, which information is available to you already and additional
information which may be needed. I will also be speaking about sources
where I will explain what sources are and what is
Information required:
Information required is all the information which you will need in the data
model spreadsheet which you will be creating. This is very important
because if information is missing, it could affect the data model
spreadsheet in the end and cause further challenges on top of the
challenges which have already been addressed which means it will be
extremely time consuming, so it is necessary to understand the
information which is required for the data model spreadsheet. Figuring
out which information is required will help you know whether that
information has been given or whether I will need to find the information
out myself. An example in my context is that the information required will
include the diverse types of cheese which the company sells which will
help me figure out the prices of the different cheeses in the end and the
profit which will be made from each of the cheeses which are available.
Another example is the names of the cheeses, the prices of the cheeses in
their specific currency and locations of where the company sells the
cheeses.
Information available:
Information available is usually the information which has already been
given to you. The information available is usually given in the scenario so
it is very important to read the scenario and understand the information
,that is given in the scenario because that is the same information you
may need in your data-model spreadsheet. For example, in my scenario, it
says “between the Euro they buy the cheese in, and the Pound that they
sell it in” This piece of information shows that we will need both the Euro
and Pound information within the data-model spreadsheet which will also
help you figure out the total amount of money you are spending along
with the profit you are making in different economic growths.
Additional information needed:
Additional information is information which is needed in the data-
modelling spreadsheet however, this information may not be given to you,
but it is information which could make the data-modelling spreadsheet
clearer and more concise for the user or client to read and understand. An
example of additional information in my context is historical data for
example, the most common cheese they may have sold in the past, the
customers they sold to, which specific area throughout the UK have
brought the most cheese in previous years and sometimes even the
feedback about the cheeses sold.
Source of additional information:
Sources of additional information are places where you get the additional
information for the spreadsheet from. In most cases, sources for additional
information will usually be on websites. In certain cases, additional
information can be from forms which may have been given for example in
my scenario, forms might be sent out which would help me decide which
cheese that the company occupies in is a customer favourite.
Requirements for verifying sources:
There are various requirements which need to be taken into consideration
for verifying whether sources are true or not. For example, the first
requirement is that you need to make sure that the information is from a
trusted source and that the information is in date because if you take
information from a source which is old, you may not get information which
is up to date which will not help your company or business grow or expand
, due to unreliable data being recorded. An example of this based off my
scenario is that if I get information about Cheese we previously sold and
that the cheese was very popular a year ago, in the current time another
cheese may now be better than the one that was popular last year which
will decrease the number of sales of that specific cheese.
Factors affecting quality information:
For this stage of the decision-making process, there are two main factors
which would affect the quality of information produced on the data model.
The two factors which would affect the quality of information are Data
Currency and Data Accuracy. I will be explaining these two factors below
and other external factors which would affect the quality of information.
Data Currency:
The term data currency means data which is the latest and newest
information which can be provided. This is extremely important as data
which is old could cause further challenges and data which is older
wouldn’t be quite as reliable as data which is new. An example based on
my scenario is basing the cheese from its previous selling rate may not be
the most accurate as it may have sold more in a certain season for
example it may have sold more in spring whereas, cheese may not sell
the same in summer so you will need to be specific and see which cheese
is being sold more often in the current era and base your prediction of
future sales on that and not completely relying on information which is
old.
Data accuracy:
The term Data Accuracy means how accurate the data which is stored on
the spreadsheet really is. Data Accuracy will help your spreadsheet be
more reliable and accurate as a whole. Failing to meet Data Accuracy will
mean the data within the spreadsheet may not be reliable. Based on my
scenario, the price of the cheese which we are selling including the
exchange rate needs to be accurate which will prevent confusion and
challenges when the data model is complete.
External factors:
External factors are factors which are not within the data model created
itself however, it is factors which is outside the data model which at some
point it could affect the information which is within the data model which
is created. Using my scenario, you could say that one external factor could
be competitors who have new variants of cheese which this could affect
the information within my data model as the cheese I have may be sold
