![you
do not use paraphrasing or quotes from textbooks too much (even if you have used a
reference) as it may appear you do not understand what you are stating.
Unnecessary information and answers that appear to be “covering all bases” will be
marked
down. Just as this would not be acceptable when submitting a report to the managing
director of a company, it will not be accepted in this assignment.
Students should not include copies of any data sets in the assignment in any format
(unless
specifically asked for). In most cases we have copies of all the necessary data – you
do not
need to provide it to us a second time.
Each submission should use the layout specified to ensure homogeneity and fairness
across
submissions. We also do this to familiarise you with a specific layout request. For
instance,
your boss may ask you to produce a report in a certain style to allow integrating with a
much
larger report – failure to do this would mean making your boss frustrated. Page 3 of 14
ANDERSON (00001898); LENNON (09101940); EINSTEIN (14031879); CURIE
(07111867); MARLEY (06021945) Your answer to each part should appear on
separate pages. We would advise using PageBreaks (ctrl-enter or Insert > Page
Break in Word) to help with this layout requirement.
In addition, student surnames and student numbers must be listed in the header on
ALL
pages on the top left of the page, as in this format used at the top of THIS PAGE. List
the
surname in capitals followed by the student number in brackets. Separate each group
member by a semi colon. First names should not be included.
A cover page SHOULD NOT be included. If you include one then it will count
towards you
page count resulting in a deduction of marks.
Layout should use the following specification for ALL pages:
[ ] Body text: Arial 11 point font or Times New Roman 12 point font
[ ] Readable size text in tables or graphs (any font size and type is acceptable for
these)
[ ] No comment boxes or text boxes
[ ] 2.54cm margins on all sides (top, bottom, right and left) (the MS Word standard)
[ ] Single-spaced
[ ] Spelling and grammar checked
[ ] Appropriately labelled and presented (e.g. size) figures and tables.
[ ] No colour printouts – greyscale or black and white only
[ ] Single sided printing only
[ ] If required, referencing using appropriate style (e.g., Harvard) - ask Librarian for
help if
required.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/ensurethatstudentshavewelldevelopedcriticalandanalyticalskillsandbeabletoaccessandinterpretstatistic-180112102933/85/Ensure-that-students-have-well-developedFocus-Dreams-tutorialoutletdotcom-3-320.jpg)
![[ ] Page numbers on the bottom right of all pages
[ ] An indication of which assignment part is being attempted, along with indication of
where
each answer starts and ends. For example Q1.a, Q5.b.I, etc. There is no need to
include a copy of the question or any raw data (unless specifically requested).
[ ] Submission NOT in a plastic sleeve
[ ] Submission is stapled in the two places: the top left and bottom left (like a booklet)
[ ] Page limits (and page structure) followed
[ ] Header included as described 5. Marking Deductions Presentation Elements
Deductions of 10% for poor presentation can be made. Yes, if you do not do
something like
label a table/chart or use a different font to the one specified you will lose 10%.
Incorrect Student Names or Numbers Your assignment layout should include the
appropriate header with the surnames and
student numbers of each group member. Failure to include this header will result in an
automatic deduction of 10% for the whole group. This is on top of any previous
deductions
made on the basis of presentation.
NOTE: Failure to include (e.g., a group member’s surname is presented but number is
missing) or having one of the details incorrect (e.g. one of the digits in your student
number
is wrong) then the full 10% penalty will be applied. Page 4 of 14 Late Submissions In
turn, you are expected to meet your deadline. Do not leave this assignment to the last
minute. As such, issues with computers is not a satisfactory excuse for failing to
submit on
time. Instead, you are all encouraged to make backup/duplicates of your work
including a
photocopy of your assignment before it is handed in.
Late submissions will be accepted by delivery to the Discipline of Marketing (CB08,
Level
10) during office hours, but a deduction of 20% per day will occur. Assignments
submitted
more than five working days will not be marked. 6. Special Consideration
Students anticipating having difficulties with their assignment due to illness or
misadventure
are advised to complete an Application for Special Consideration form from UTS
Student
Admin Unit. This may be necessary to account for issues of peer evaluation etc. This
form
must be submitted to SAU, prior to the due date.
Irrespective of circumstances you should still submit the assignment even if it is
incomplete.
This will help us gauge your learning even if marking accommodations need to be
made.
As this is a group submission we are aware that several people are responsible for
your](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/ensurethatstudentshavewelldevelopedcriticalandanalyticalskillsandbeabletoaccessandinterpretstatistic-180112102933/85/Ensure-that-students-have-well-developedFocus-Dreams-tutorialoutletdotcom-4-320.jpg)
Ensure that students have well developedFocus Dreams/tutorialoutletdotcom
- 1. Ensure that students “have well developed critical and analytical skills and be able to access and interpret statistics and business information” FOR MORE CLASSES VISIT www.tutorialoutlet.com Overview This section of the assignment document contains all the information about administrative matters relating to your submission. The final section details the actual questions themselves. Where applicable, a separate set of Excel data files will also be provided which you will use to answer the Excel based questions. In some cases, you may be required to input data yourselves (e.g., from a newspaper article) or locate publicly available data from an online source. Additional questions not answered in these documents can be asked on the UTSOnline Discussion Board (please search before posting a new question). 2. Role of the Assignment to Ensure Student Learning Objectives The questions are designed to combine your theoretical and practical based knowledge of Business Statistics and integrate this with developing your skills in using analytical software, namely Microsoft Excel. First, this assignment speaks to the assigned learning goal of Business Statistics in the Bachelor of Business, which is to ensure that students “have well developed critical and analytical skills and be able to access and interpret statistics and business information”. The assignment considers the subject objectives (objectives 1 and 4 listed below) that students are expected to successfully complete. These are: 1. Apply standard statistical tools in various business decision contexts within a professionally responsible framework; 2. Apply appropriate quantitative analytical techniques to qualify, support, select and evaluate data as information for business decision‐ making; 3. Effectively interpret and communicate results of quantitative analyses for business decision‐ making; 4. Effectively use a computer‐ based data analysis package (i.e. Excel) to critically analyse data. Finally, the assignment aims to aid students in their development of desirable the entire range of desirable graduate attributes. Graduate attributes that will receive greatest
- 2. development relate to: - Communication - Teamwork - Problem Solving - Planning and Organising - Technology Page 2 of 14 3. Marking Criteria Each part will ask you to consider one or more weeks of lecture topic materials. The due date submission will follow at least a week after you have completed a lecture and a tutorial on these particular topics. Each part of the assignment will contain several questions. The questions will consider your ability to justify your approach (e.g., why did you choose to use the median as a measure of central tendency) and present some information that you obtain using Excel (e.g., a scatterplot) and in some cases make a conclusion about what you have presented (e.g., should the manager launch the new product based on your analysis?). Unless noted otherwise (e.g. some questions ask only for one word answers), the following criteria will be used to evaluate your assignment submission: o Does it present a clear and well-constructed argument towards the use of this tool, approach or measure? o Does it present output correctly and accurately? o Is this output easy to understand and read? o Does it reflect a correct interpretation/conclusion about the output that has been generated? o Does it avoid the use of unnecessary information and presents a concise answer with a logical flow of ideas? o Does it communicate an answer in a suitable manner, and is it free from spelling and grammar mistakes? 4. Submission Layout / Requirements There is a strict upper maximum page limit of 12 pages. Your submission should not exceed this total. Nor do we think that you should use all 12 pages. An additional page for references is available if you need it, but it can only contain the reference list. We will assume that any statistical techniques or formulas you are using make reference to the text book (Black et al.), lecture notes or some other standard Business Statistics textbook (e.g., Berenson et al). So for this assignment only we will say there is no need to include references to formulas or techniques. You should not, however, simply paraphrase or directly quote passages that relate to theory or examples out of a text book without referencing – in such cases, a reference can be used. Be careful, however, that
- 3. you do not use paraphrasing or quotes from textbooks too much (even if you have used a reference) as it may appear you do not understand what you are stating. Unnecessary information and answers that appear to be “covering all bases” will be marked down. Just as this would not be acceptable when submitting a report to the managing director of a company, it will not be accepted in this assignment. Students should not include copies of any data sets in the assignment in any format (unless specifically asked for). In most cases we have copies of all the necessary data – you do not need to provide it to us a second time. Each submission should use the layout specified to ensure homogeneity and fairness across submissions. We also do this to familiarise you with a specific layout request. For instance, your boss may ask you to produce a report in a certain style to allow integrating with a much larger report – failure to do this would mean making your boss frustrated. Page 3 of 14 ANDERSON (00001898); LENNON (09101940); EINSTEIN (14031879); CURIE (07111867); MARLEY (06021945) Your answer to each part should appear on separate pages. We would advise using PageBreaks (ctrl-enter or Insert > Page Break in Word) to help with this layout requirement. In addition, student surnames and student numbers must be listed in the header on ALL pages on the top left of the page, as in this format used at the top of THIS PAGE. List the surname in capitals followed by the student number in brackets. Separate each group member by a semi colon. First names should not be included. A cover page SHOULD NOT be included. If you include one then it will count towards you page count resulting in a deduction of marks. Layout should use the following specification for ALL pages: [ ] Body text: Arial 11 point font or Times New Roman 12 point font [ ] Readable size text in tables or graphs (any font size and type is acceptable for these) [ ] No comment boxes or text boxes [ ] 2.54cm margins on all sides (top, bottom, right and left) (the MS Word standard) [ ] Single-spaced [ ] Spelling and grammar checked [ ] Appropriately labelled and presented (e.g. size) figures and tables. [ ] No colour printouts – greyscale or black and white only [ ] Single sided printing only [ ] If required, referencing using appropriate style (e.g., Harvard) - ask Librarian for help if required.
- 4. [ ] Page numbers on the bottom right of all pages [ ] An indication of which assignment part is being attempted, along with indication of where each answer starts and ends. For example Q1.a, Q5.b.I, etc. There is no need to include a copy of the question or any raw data (unless specifically requested). [ ] Submission NOT in a plastic sleeve [ ] Submission is stapled in the two places: the top left and bottom left (like a booklet) [ ] Page limits (and page structure) followed [ ] Header included as described 5. Marking Deductions Presentation Elements Deductions of 10% for poor presentation can be made. Yes, if you do not do something like label a table/chart or use a different font to the one specified you will lose 10%. Incorrect Student Names or Numbers Your assignment layout should include the appropriate header with the surnames and student numbers of each group member. Failure to include this header will result in an automatic deduction of 10% for the whole group. This is on top of any previous deductions made on the basis of presentation. NOTE: Failure to include (e.g., a group member’s surname is presented but number is missing) or having one of the details incorrect (e.g. one of the digits in your student number is wrong) then the full 10% penalty will be applied. Page 4 of 14 Late Submissions In turn, you are expected to meet your deadline. Do not leave this assignment to the last minute. As such, issues with computers is not a satisfactory excuse for failing to submit on time. Instead, you are all encouraged to make backup/duplicates of your work including a photocopy of your assignment before it is handed in. Late submissions will be accepted by delivery to the Discipline of Marketing (CB08, Level 10) during office hours, but a deduction of 20% per day will occur. Assignments submitted more than five working days will not be marked. 6. Special Consideration Students anticipating having difficulties with their assignment due to illness or misadventure are advised to complete an Application for Special Consideration form from UTS Student Admin Unit. This may be necessary to account for issues of peer evaluation etc. This form must be submitted to SAU, prior to the due date. Irrespective of circumstances you should still submit the assignment even if it is incomplete. This will help us gauge your learning even if marking accommodations need to be made. As this is a group submission we are aware that several people are responsible for your
- 5. submission. The group should be working far enough ahead of the deadline to accommodate the problems (or errors) of any one member. The failure of one member (for whatever reason) does not constitute a good excuse for the group not submitting. Extensions for assignments will not be granted even if you (or a member of your group) have applied for special consideration. At the end of the semester, a review of grades will be made by the subject coordinator and possible readjustment of grades will take place. This process will be informed by your performance in other assessments. 7. Plagiarism Plagiarism is considered intellectual theft and, hence, penalties are in accordance with its seriousness. Plagiarism includes use of another persons’ work including authors (use referencing where applicable) and other students. If you feel pressured to copy another student's work then consider the penalties of simply delaying your submission relative to being reprimanded for plagiarism. Reprimands for plagiarism can be severe and may affect your standing within the university. Please note we check for plagiarism each semester and catch at least one act of plagiarism. There is to be only ONE submission per group. No two assignments should be the same. If you lend your assignment out to someone else and they copy it, or you work together but hand in a separate assignment, you have contributed to plagiarism and will be reprimanded. Just because you were the one who lent the assignment and you may have not known the extent to which they copied your work is NO EXCUSE – you are just as much to blame as the person who copied your work. So, we advise that you … DO NOT LEND OUT YOUR SOLUTIONS TO ANOTHER PERSON OUTSIDE OF YOUR GROUP! Page 5 of 14 8. Assistance/Help with Completing the Assignment Several resources are available to help you complete the assignment. UTSOnline: You can ask general questions about the assignment on the assignment discussion board. Administrative matters can also be dealt with here. Please follow the rules of the discussion board before posting. We will not be providing answers in this forum. Instead we will provide general advice and clarification of any ambiguities arising. DO NOT put anything resembling a solution or comment on a solution, as these posts will be
- 6. deleted. DO NOT "fish" for answers, as these types of posts will be deleted. You may also be reprimanded on the basis of assisting others, which may be interpreted as plagiarism. Your text book: This text book was chosen because of its ability to discuss materials in an applied fashion. It also offers specific help on using Excel to do various tasks. Other textbooks: Don't feel limited to using the prescribed text book. For instance, there are plenty of other books on how to do something in Excel. Some of these texts are specifically mentioned in the ‘other readings’ section of the subject outline. When coming out of the elevator lobby heading towards the student study pods, the assignments boxes are on the left. The box will be marked with “UTS Business School, Marketing Discipline Group, Business Statistics 26134”. Assignments either accidentally or deliberately submitted to another location (e.g. the wrong assignment box) will be deemed to have not been received and will not be marked. Make sure to submit to the right location. 10. Reminder about Due Dates You can submit your assignment to the assignment box at any time prior to the time and date listed on the front of this document. Any benefit of an additional lecture or tutorial for students is negligible, as all materials required for the assignment would have been covered prior. We would like to advise that students should introduce a buffer into their timeline. For instance, you may like to think of the assignment due the week prior so that all group members can meet at least a week before and fine tune the final submission. Time Page 6 of 14 management is key in meeting your assessment requirements. You can also start your assignment before you have found all your group members – you can then compare each person’ interpretation of the question and settle on the most appropriate response. 11. How much is the assignment worth? As per the subject outline, this will form 20% of your total grade. The other 75% will be formulated based on your performance in the mid-semester examination and final examination. 12. How much are the exams worth? The mid-semester examination is worth 30% of your total grade. The final examination is worth 50% of your total grade. You do not have to pass every assessment to pass overall. 13. Group Size
- 7. You will submit all parts of your assignment as a group submission, but any issues of working in a group should be managed by yourselves. Groups must consist of THREE, FOUR or FIVE people. You should note that NO special allowances will be made at ALL in marking your work based on group size. All group members will receive the same mark for any one submission regardless of contribution. You should provide adequate warning to a group member who is not pulling their weight and let them know that they are not contributing equally. If we receive an assignment as an individual or two persons, the individual/pair will receive a 50% deduction on their assignment grade. So feel free to work on your own, but you WILL NOT pass! Likewise, if we receive an assignment with six or more persons, the group will receive a 50% deduction on their assignment grade. You cannot complete the assignment by yourself. 14. Who can be in your group Your group may consist of ANY student enrolled in Business Statistics 26134 from any tutorial (that is, you don't have to all be in the same tutorial group) or any day (that is, you may be taking class on Tuesday and they made take class on Thursday). 15. Finding Group Members Your tutor will NOT be assigning you to groups. It is up to you to form your own groups in your own time. Consider asking around your tutorial and lecture for available people. Groups can also be formed using the ‘Find Group Members’ discussion forum available on UTS Online if you find your personal schedule makes it difficult to find group members. Do not use any group email facilities to find group members. Page 7 of 14 In using this UTSOnline ‘Find Group Members’ discussion board facility, we would advise noting your lecture day and time and perhaps tutorial time to make finding group members easier. Simply start a new post (after checking out the other posts). For example, the appropriate standard thread heading is recommended if a group is looking for a new member to join an existing group: WE REQUIRE 1 MORE MEMBER: Tue 11.30pm Lecture; 4pm Tutorial Or, if you are a student looking to join a group, use: I AM LOOKING FOR A GROUP: Thu 6pm Lecture; 7.30pm tutorial With your contact details (e.g., student email) contained in the post. Can we also request that you make a note to users on the discussion thread once a group member has been found. “FOUND” in the reply subject heading would be sufficient.
- 8. From time to time, the online team may hide such completed posts to streamline this system. 16. Avoiding Group Contribution Issues You are expected to resolve any group problems you are having yourselves. It is no good handing the assignment in and then saying that you had a group issue. Likewise, if the group issue arises in the few evenings or weekend before the assignment it is due, then the group’s poor time management implies the group itself is just as much to blame for an individual group member being unavailable than simply that individual. The assignment should be approached consistently by the group over the semester. We ask that you monitor the contribution made by your other group members. This can be done by recording attendance at meetings, actions agreed upon and keeping correspondence in emails. If the group member fails to contribute then you should confront the group member early on. Give the person an opportunity to respond and recognise that their expectations may not have been aligned with the rest of the group. Explain your expectations as a group. If the issue still remains or cannot be resolved then indicate to the group member that their name will not be included on the group assignment if their behaviour is not adjusted. Again, leaving this decision until the week before the assignment is due is unreasonable given the assignment is designed to be approached as a week by week exercise. In terms of group tasks, be inclusive – calling a person with one hour’s notice or scheduling meetings on a weekend when a person is playing sport and then turning around and saying they didn’t turn up to group meetings is not fair. Organise your group to be inclusive so that everyone is given the opportunity to contribute. You should recognise that contribution does not simply constitute knowledge. A student may simply not have the skills to be accurate in their responses or analysis. However, if they make an effort to construct a response to the best of their ability, this is deemed a contribution. On the other hand, simply turning up to meetings and providing no input through silence is not contributing. You should help each other and we recommend that you do not leave the responsibility of a single question to a single individual. Let an individual manage the process (e.g., decides
- 9. when to do the analysis; collates the responses from each member) but not having a Page 8 of 14 mechanism to check each other’s contributions nor leaving time to do this is likely to end in disaster. We have seen the two issues of time and responsibility ruin a project too many times. Take note! Rather than allocate group members a single question, we would suggest that each member attempts the question, a comparison is made of each attempt and that you discuss any differences and why they occurred. This results in a self-checking mechanism and you are more likely to generate a better answer (hence, reflected in your marks) using this approach. 17. Peer Evaluation Peer evaluation need only completed if: a) you feel someone has not made a satisfactory contribution, but they have been adequate warnings and opportunities to do so; or, b) you have been asked by the subject coordinator to do so. If you have been asked to do so and do not respond, we will assume that you are happy with performance of all members’ of your group including your own. Peer evaluation will be undertaken electronically as required. You will be asked to indicate each person’s contribution to the group on items such as attendance and participation in group discussions or meetings; contribution of ideas; quantity of work done; quality of work done relative to skill level. In serious cases, a poor peer evaluation may result in the downgrading of an individual’s mark. This downgrading will be based on a number of factors including the group’s comments, ratings, students’ performance in other assessments as well as the student’s own comments about the matter. No “upgrading” will occur for members that have contributed more than others. Please note, group issues arising at the last minute will be given little consideration. THIS IS THE END OF THE GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS SECTION OF THIS DOCUMENT THE NEXT PAGE CONTAINS THE TASK YOU NEED TO COMPLETE Page 9 of 14 Business Statistics 26134 Autumn 2017 Group Assignment – The Task The purpose of this assignment is to improve your understanding in choosing between and using methods to assess the relationship between variables and make comparisons
- 10. across different segments. It will develop your skills in being able to critically think and enhance your analytical skills. Specifically, we want you to access the Excel database provided on UTSOnline that describes 400 mobile phone users and their experiences in shopping online using a range of different electronic devices. We then want you to investigate using the various tools you have been exposed to in Business Statistics and answer several managerial questions. You must complete this as a group of three, four or five students. There are five questions that each group must complete.