BSAN 160 Test Questions
and Answers
Four components of BI - Answer-1. Data Warehouse
2. Business Analytics
3. Business Performance Management
4. User Interface
Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) Systems - Answer-handles a company's routine
ongoing business
Goal: capture the data accurately and store it reliably
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) Systems - Answer-gives management the ability
to scour data for information about the business and support/guide decisions
uses data warehouses
Goal: make relevant data available quickly and conveniently (single repository) for
analysis
Data (definition) - Answer-facts (plural of datum)
collections of observations, transactions, or experiences, as measurements of a set of
variables
Data (consists of) - Answer-numbers, words, and images
Raw Data (consists of) - Answer-errors, uncertainty, nuances, and biases
Descriptive Analytics - Answer-provides knowledge of what's happening in and around
an organization and can enable identification of underlying patterns, causes, and effects
ex. in hospitals:
patterns in variables - likely values of hospitalization cost, trend in patient volume.
relationship between variables - patient volume vs waiting time
Contemporary Data Visualization Tools - Answer-facilitates powerful insights in a firm's
operations or business environment
,Predictive Analytics - Answer-the use of statistical techniques and data mining to predict
what is going to happen (future/unknown values of an outcome of interest) using current
and past data
Predictive Model (PM)
Prescriptive Analytics - Answer-aims to not only predict what is going to happen but
compare different actions/decisions and select best decisions based on certain
performance criteria
Prescriptive Model
Structured Data - Answer-1. easier for computers to process
2. categorical vs numerical
organized in tabular arrays with variables, observations, and values.
ex. a spreadsheet
Unstructured Data - Answer-easier for humans to process/digest
Semi-structured Data - Answer-XML, HTML, Log files, etc.
Categorical Variables - Answer-classifies information into categories
ex. nationality, college major, animal breed, etc.
A variable is numerical if... - Answer-meaningful arithmetic can be performed on it
ex. age, income, service duration, etc.
Variable - Answer-characteristic of members of a population
ex. age, gender, etc.
Observation - Answer-conceptually, what is observed for a variable with respect to a
member of the dataset
Value - Answer-the specific datum (number, letters, etc.) observed for one variable with
respect to a member of the dataset
Summary Measures - Answer-describes how a set of data 'looks' and thereby answers
common questions of interest
, Business Intelligence (BI) - Answer-concerned with managing and using complex,
multidimensional data to support business decisions and improve performance
Business Analytics - Answer-component of BI
the process of developing actionable decisions or recommendations for actions based
on insights generated from historical data
Data Visualization - Answer-the use of visual representations to explore, interpret, and
communicate data or information derived from the data
Goal: presents key insights from data in ways that reduce the cognitive burden for the
audience
facilitates the generation and presentation of insights to support decisions
Traditional Reporting - Answer-entails manual collection and processing/analysis of
data to obtain information for decisions
time consuming and adapts slowly
Decision Support System (DSS) - (later known as BI systems) - Answer-combines
human expertise with computer capabilities, utilizing data and models to solve problems
BI Systems (formerly DSS) - Answer-combines databases, analytical tools, and
advanced software applications to produce interactive reports and analyses.
based on the transformation of data to information, then information to decisions and
actions
possibility to perform arithmetic on numerical variables allows for summary measures
Mean - Answer-a set of numerical values is the arithmetical average of all values in the
set
large outliers will have a large effect (positive or negative)
Mode - Answer-a set of numerical values that appears most frequently
there can be one mode or no mode. it depends on the data.
Median - Answer-the middle observation when data are sorted from smallest to largest
if odd, there is one median. if even, there are two medians.
it is more robust to outliers than the mean
and Answers
Four components of BI - Answer-1. Data Warehouse
2. Business Analytics
3. Business Performance Management
4. User Interface
Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) Systems - Answer-handles a company's routine
ongoing business
Goal: capture the data accurately and store it reliably
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) Systems - Answer-gives management the ability
to scour data for information about the business and support/guide decisions
uses data warehouses
Goal: make relevant data available quickly and conveniently (single repository) for
analysis
Data (definition) - Answer-facts (plural of datum)
collections of observations, transactions, or experiences, as measurements of a set of
variables
Data (consists of) - Answer-numbers, words, and images
Raw Data (consists of) - Answer-errors, uncertainty, nuances, and biases
Descriptive Analytics - Answer-provides knowledge of what's happening in and around
an organization and can enable identification of underlying patterns, causes, and effects
ex. in hospitals:
patterns in variables - likely values of hospitalization cost, trend in patient volume.
relationship between variables - patient volume vs waiting time
Contemporary Data Visualization Tools - Answer-facilitates powerful insights in a firm's
operations or business environment
,Predictive Analytics - Answer-the use of statistical techniques and data mining to predict
what is going to happen (future/unknown values of an outcome of interest) using current
and past data
Predictive Model (PM)
Prescriptive Analytics - Answer-aims to not only predict what is going to happen but
compare different actions/decisions and select best decisions based on certain
performance criteria
Prescriptive Model
Structured Data - Answer-1. easier for computers to process
2. categorical vs numerical
organized in tabular arrays with variables, observations, and values.
ex. a spreadsheet
Unstructured Data - Answer-easier for humans to process/digest
Semi-structured Data - Answer-XML, HTML, Log files, etc.
Categorical Variables - Answer-classifies information into categories
ex. nationality, college major, animal breed, etc.
A variable is numerical if... - Answer-meaningful arithmetic can be performed on it
ex. age, income, service duration, etc.
Variable - Answer-characteristic of members of a population
ex. age, gender, etc.
Observation - Answer-conceptually, what is observed for a variable with respect to a
member of the dataset
Value - Answer-the specific datum (number, letters, etc.) observed for one variable with
respect to a member of the dataset
Summary Measures - Answer-describes how a set of data 'looks' and thereby answers
common questions of interest
, Business Intelligence (BI) - Answer-concerned with managing and using complex,
multidimensional data to support business decisions and improve performance
Business Analytics - Answer-component of BI
the process of developing actionable decisions or recommendations for actions based
on insights generated from historical data
Data Visualization - Answer-the use of visual representations to explore, interpret, and
communicate data or information derived from the data
Goal: presents key insights from data in ways that reduce the cognitive burden for the
audience
facilitates the generation and presentation of insights to support decisions
Traditional Reporting - Answer-entails manual collection and processing/analysis of
data to obtain information for decisions
time consuming and adapts slowly
Decision Support System (DSS) - (later known as BI systems) - Answer-combines
human expertise with computer capabilities, utilizing data and models to solve problems
BI Systems (formerly DSS) - Answer-combines databases, analytical tools, and
advanced software applications to produce interactive reports and analyses.
based on the transformation of data to information, then information to decisions and
actions
possibility to perform arithmetic on numerical variables allows for summary measures
Mean - Answer-a set of numerical values is the arithmetical average of all values in the
set
large outliers will have a large effect (positive or negative)
Mode - Answer-a set of numerical values that appears most frequently
there can be one mode or no mode. it depends on the data.
Median - Answer-the middle observation when data are sorted from smallest to largest
if odd, there is one median. if even, there are two medians.
it is more robust to outliers than the mean
