MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

UNDERSTAND YOUR DATA

LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT

The level of measurement refers to the relationship among the values that are assigned to
the attributes for a variable. Each scale of measurement has certain properties which in
turn determine the appropriateness for use of certain statistical analyses. It is important
for the researcher to understand the different levels of measurement, as these levels of
measurement, together with how the research question is phrased, dictate what statistical
analysis is appropriate.

There are typically four levels of measurement that are defined:

1. Nominal
2. Ordinal
3. Interval
4. Ratio

The first level of measurement is NOMINAL Level of Measurement. In this level of

measurement, the numbers in the variable are used only to classify the data. In this level
of measurement, words, letters, and alpha-numeric symbols can be used. Suppose there are
data about people belonging to three different gender categories. In this case, the person
belonging to the female gender could be classified as F, the person belonging to the male
gender could be classified as M, and transgendered classified as T. This type of
assigning classification is nominal level of measurement.

The second level of measurement is the ORDINAL Level of Measurement. This level of
measurement depicts some ordered relationship among the variable's
observations. Suppose a student scores the highest grade of 100 in the class. In this case,
he would be assigned the first rank. Then, another classmate scores the second highest
grade of a 92; she would be assigned the second rank. A third student scores a 81 and he
would be assigned the third rank, and so on. The ordinal level of measurement indicates
an ordering of the measurements.

The third level of measurement is the INTERVAL Level of Measurement. The interval
level of measurement not only classifies and orders the measurements, but it also specifies
that the distances between each interval on the scale are equivalent along the scale from
low interval to high interval. For example, an interval level of measurement could be the
measurement of anxiety in a student between the score of 10 and 11; this interval is the

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MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

same as that of a student who scores between 40 and 41. A popular example of this level
of measurement is temperature in centigrade, where, for example, the distance between
940C and 960C is the same as the distance between 1000C and 1020C.

The fourth level of measurement is the RATIO Level of Measurement. In this level of
measurement, the observations, in addition to having equal intervals, can have a value of
zero as well. The zero in the scale makes this type of measurement unlike the other
types of measurement, although the properties are similar to that of the interval level of
measurement. In the ratio level of measurement, the divisions between the points on the
scale have an equivalent distance between them.

Compiled by: Dr. I. J. Raghavendra, Associate Professor, SMS, GIET University, Odisha 2
MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

CLASSIFICATION OF DATA

The process of grouping into different classes or sub classes according to some
characteristics is known as classification, tabulation is concerned with the systematic
arrangement and presentation of classified data. Thus classification is the first step in
tabulation. For Example, letters in the post office are classified according to their
destinations viz., Delhi, Madurai, Bangalore, Mumbai etc.,

a) Chronological Classification: In chronological classification the collected data are

arranged according to the order of time expressed in years, months, weeks, etc., The
data is generally classified in ascending order of time. For example, the data related
with population, sales of a firm, imports and exports of a country are always subjected
to chronological classification.

Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Birth rate 36.8 36.9 36.6 34.6 34.5 35.2 34.2

b) Geographical Classification: In this type of classification the data are classified

according to geographical region or place. For instance, the production of paddy in
different states in India, production of wheat in different countries etc.,

Country America China Denmark France India

Yield of Wheat in (kg/acre) 1925 893 225 439 862

c) Qualitative Classification: In this type of classification data are classified on the basis
of same attributes or quality like sex, literacy, religion, employment etc., such
attributes cannot be measured along with a scale. For example, if the population to be
classified in respect to one attribute, say sex, then we can classify them into two namely
that of males and females. Similarly, they can also be classified into ‘employed’ or
‘unemployed’ on the basis of another attribute ‘employment’. Thus when the
classification is done with respect to one attribute, which is dichotomous in nature, two
classes are formed, one possessing the attribute and the other not possessing the
attribute. This type of classification is called simple or dichotomous classification.
The classification, where two or more attributes are considered and several
classes are formed, is called a manifold classification. For example, if we classify
population simultaneously with respect to two attributes, e.g. sex and employment, then
population are first classified with respect to ‘sex’ into ‘males’ and ‘females’. Each of
these classes may then be further classified into ‘Urban’, ‘Semi-Urban’ and ‘Rural’ on

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MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

the basis of attribute ‘employment’ and as such Population are classified into four
classes namely.
(i) Male in Urban Area
(ii) Male Semi-Urban Area
(iii) Male in Rural Area
(iv) Female in Urban Area
(v) Female Semi-Urban Area
(vi) Female in Rural Area
Still the classification may be further extended by considering other attributes like
marital status etc. This can be explained by the following chart

S. No. Management Number of Schools

1 Government 4
2 Local Body 8
3 Private Aided 10
4 Private Unaided 2
Total 24

d) Quantitative Classification: Quantitative classification refers to the classification of

data according to some characteristics that can be measured such as height, weight,
etc., For example the students of a college may be classified according to weight. In
this type of classification there are two elements, namely
(i) The variable (i.e.) the weight in the above example, and
(ii) The frequency in the number of students in each class.
There are 50 students having weights ranging from 90 to 100 lb, 200 students having
weight ranging between 100 to 110 lb and so on.

Weight (in lbs) 90-100 100-110 110-120 120-130 130-140 140-150 Total
No. of
50 200 260 360 90 40 1000
Students

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MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

DATA FORMS FOR STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Univariate Analysis
 It explores each variable in a data set, separately. It looks at the range of values, as
well as the central tendency of the values. It describes the pattern of response to the
variable. It describes each variable on its own.
 Univariate analysis is the simplest form of analyzing data. “Uni” means “one”, so in other
words your data has only one variable. It doesn’t deal with causes or relationships
(unlike regression) and its major purpose is to describe; It takes data, summarizes that
data and finds patterns in the data.
 The most common univariate analysis is checking the central tendency (mean, median and
mode), the range, the maximum and minimum values, and standard deviation of a variable.
 Common visual technique used for univariate analysis is a histogram, which is a frequency
distribution graph.
 Univariate analysis is conducted in many ways and most of these ways are of a
descriptive nature. These are the Frequency Distribution Tables, Frequency Polygons,
Histograms, Bar Charts and Pie Charts

Bivariate Analysis
 Bivariate analysis is where you are comparing two variables to study their relationships.
 These variables could be dependent or independent to each other. In Bivariate analysis
is that there is always a Y-value for each X-value.
 The most common visual technique for bivariate analysis is a scatter plot, where one
variable is on the x-axis and the other on the y-axis.
 In addition to the scatter plot, regression plot and correlation coefficient are also
frequently used to study the relationship of the variables.
 For example, continuing with the iris dataset, you can compare “sepal length” vs “sepal
width” or “sepal length” vs the “petal length” to see if there is a relationship.

Multivariate Analysis
 Multivariate analysis is similar to Bivariate analysis but you are comparing more than two
variables. For three variables, create a 3-D model to study the relationship (also known
as Tri-variate Analysis).
 Multivariate analysis takes a whole host of variables into consideration. This makes it a
complicated as well as essential tool. The greatest virtue of such a model is that it
considers as many factors into consideration as possible. This results in tremendous
reduction of bias and gives a result closest to reality.

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MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

 Multivariate means involving multiple dependent variables resulting in one outcome.

This explains that the majority of the problems in the real world are Multivariate.
For example, we cannot predict the weather of any year based on the season. There
are multiple factors like pollution, humidity, precipitation, etc. Here, we will
introduce you to multivariate analysis, its history, and its application in different
fields.
 It considers more than one factor of independent variables that influence the
variability of dependent variables, the conclusion drawn is more accurate.

Comparision of these three techniques

Univariate Bivariate Multivariate

Basic Summarise only Compares two Compare more than two variables.
one variable at a variables
time
Deals Does not deals Deals with causes Deals with causes and relationships
with causes or and relationships and the analysis is done
relationships and the analysis is
done
Contains Does not contains Contain only one Contains more than one dependent
any dependent dependent variable variable.
variable
Purpose To describe To explain To study the relationships among
the P attributes, classify the n
collected samples into
homogeneous groups, and make
inferences about the underlying
populations from the sample.
Example Height Temperature and Suppose an advertiser wants to
Ice Cream sales in compare the popularity of four
summer advertisements on a website, then
their click rates could be measured
for both men and women and
relationships between variables can
be examined.

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MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

DATA CATEGORIES

Master Data
 Master Data is key business information that supports the transactions.
 Master Data describes the customers, products, parts, employees, materials, suppliers,
sites, etc. involved in the transactions.
 It is commonly referred to as Places (locations, geography, sites,
etc.), Parties (persons, customers, suppliers, employees, etc.), and Things (products,
items, material, vehicles, etc.).
 Master data already exists and is used in the operational systems, with some issues.
Master data in these systems is:
 Not high quality data,
 Scattered and duplicated;
 Not truly managed.
 Master Data is usually authored and used in the normal course of operations by existing
business processes. Unfortunately, these operational business processes are tailored
for an “application-specific” use case of this master data and therefore fail in achieving
the overall enterprise requirement that mandates commonly used master data across
applications with high-quality standards and common governance.

Examples of Master Data

 Customer: Customer profiles, where they shop, how they buy, what they buy. When a
customer buys a product from your website after clicking on a link in a social media
ad, the data on the social media site, customer profile, product, and ad all contribute
to master data.
 Financial: Asset management policies, accounting groups, financial regulations, and
financial account hierarchies. All the nooks and crannies of where your business
spends money as well as each expenditure’s ROI.
 Governance: Data supporting privacy and industry-specific regulations and the
guardrails defining where the compliance team steps in.
 Location: Where your businesses have offices, stores, and suppliers and where your
customers live.
 Employee: Data on how many you have, their salaries, roles, and hierarchy.
 Product: Product descriptions, inventory, the parts, and production supply chain, and
the stores and distribution centers carrying it. When there’s a product recall because
of a flaw or contamination at a specific supplier, which products have parts from that
supplier and which locations they’re at are all elements of master data.

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Reference Data
 Reference data are sets of values or classification schemas that are referred to by
systems, applications, data stores, processes, and reports, as well as by transactional
and master records.
 Reference data may be used to differentiate one type of record from another for
categorization and analysis, or they may be a significant fact such as country, which
appears within a larger information set such as address.
 It is data that is referenced and shared by a number of systems.
 Examples include lists of valid values, code lists, status codes, state abbreviations,
demographic fields, flags, product types, gender, chart of accounts, and product
hierarchy.
 Most of the reference data refers to concepts that either impact business processes
– e.g. order status (CREATED | APPROVED | REJECTED | etc.) - or is used as an
additional standardized semantic that further clarifies the interpretation of a data
record - e.g. employee job position (JUNIOR | SENIOR | VP | etc.).
 Some of the reference data can be universal and/or standardized (e.g. Countries – ISO
3166-1). Other reference data may be “agreed on” within the enterprise (customer
status), or within a given business domain (product classifications).
 Reference Data is frequently considered as a subset of master data. The full name for
this data category is Master Reference Data.

Transactional Data
 Transactional data describe an internal or external event or transaction that takes
place as an organization conducts its business.
 Transactional data describes business events. It is the largest volume of data in the
enterprise.
 Examples of business events include:
 Buying products from suppliers,
 Selling products to customers,
 Shipping items to customer sites,
 Hiring employees, managing their vacations or changing their positions.
 Examples include sales orders, invoices, purchase orders, shipping documents, passport
applications, credit card payments, and insurance claims.
 These data are typically grouped into transactional records, which include associated
master and reference data.
 Transactional Data is typically handled in operational applications, known under the
CRM, ERP, SCM, HR, etc. acronyms.

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Metadata:
 Metadata literally means “data about data.”
 Metadata label, describe, or characterize other data and make it easier to retrieve,
interpret, or use information.
 Technical metadata are metadata used to describe technology and data structures.
 Examples of technical metadata are field names, length, type, lineage, and database
table layouts.
 Business metadata describe the nontechnical aspects of data and their usage.
 Examples are field definitions, report names, headings in reports and on Web pages,
application screen names, data quality statistics, and the parties accountable for data
quality for a particular field.
 Audit trail metadata are a specific type of metadata, typically stored in a record and
protected from alteration, that capture how, when, and by whom the data were created,
accessed, updated, or deleted.
 Audit trail metadata are used for security, compliance, or forensic purposes.
 Examples include timestamp, creator, create date, and update date.
 Although audit trail metadata are typically stored in a record, technical metadata and
business metadata are usually stored separately from the data they describe.
 These are the most common types of metadata, but it could be argued that there are
other types of metadata that make it easier to retrieve, interpret, or use information.
 The label for any metadata may not be as important as the fact that it is being
deliberately used to support data goals.
 Any discipline or activity that uses data is likely to have associated metadata.

Historical Data
 Historical data contain significant facts, as of a certain point in time, that should not
be altered except to correct an error.
 They are important to security and compliance.
 Operational systems can also contain history tables for reporting or analysis purposes.
 Examples include point-in-time reports, database snapshots, and version information.

Temporary Data
 Temporary data are kept in memory to speed up processing.
 They are not viewed by humans and are used for technical purposes.
 Examples include a copy of a table that is created during a processing session to speed
up lookups.

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MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

DATA Vs. INFORMATION

Parameters Data Information

Qualitative Or Quantitative
It is a group of data which carries
Description Variables which helps to develop
news and meaning.
ideas or conclusions.
Information word has old French
Data comes from a Latin word,
and middle English origins. It has
datum, which means “To give
Etymology referred to the “act of informing.”.
something.” Over a time “data”
It is mostly used for education or
has become the plural of datum.
other known communication.
Data is in the form of numbers,
Format Ideas and inferences
letters, or a set of characters.
Represented It can be structured, tabular Language, ideas, and thoughts based
in data, graph, data tree, etc. on the given data.
Data does not have any specific It carries meaning that has been
Meaning
purpose. assigned by interpreting data.
Interrelation Information that is collected Information that is processed.
Information is the product and
Data is a single unit and is raw. It
Feature group of data which jointly carry a
alone doesn’t have any meaning.
logical meaning.
Dependence It never depends on Information It depended on Data.
Measuring Measured in meaningful units like
Measured in bits and bytes.
unit time, quantity, etc.
Support for
It can’t be used for decision It is widely used for decision
Decision
making making.
making
Contains Unprocessed raw factors Processed in a meaningful way
Knowledge
It is low-level knowledge. It is the second level of knowledge.
level
Data is the property of an
Information is available for sale to
Characteristic organization and is not available
the public.
for sale to the public.
Data depends upon the sources
Dependency Information depends upon data.
for collecting data.

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Sales report by region and venue. It

Example Ticket sales on a band on tour. gives information which venue is
profitable for that business.
Significance Data alone has no significance. Information is significant by itself.
Data is based on records and
It is considered more reliable than
observations and, which are
Meaning data. It helps the researcher to
stored in computers or
conduct a proper analysis.
remembered by a person.
The data collected by the It is useful and valuable as it is
Usefulness researcher, may or may not be readily available to the researcher
useful. for use.
It is always specific to the
requirements and expectations
Data is never designed to the
Dependency because all the irrelevant facts and
specific need of the user.
figures are removed, during the
transformation process.

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MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

3 V’S OF DATA

Volume
 In big data, Volume is the huge set of data which has huge form.
 The volume describes the huge set of data which is very complex to process further
for extracting valuable information from it.
 Volume does not describe actual size to grant it as big data, it has relatively big size.
The size could be in Terabyte, Exabyte or even in Zettabyte.

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 The size of big data makes perplex it to process.

 The large amounts of data enable organizations to get a more holistic view of a
customer by using current as well as historical data to derive insights.
 With such huge volumes of data, arises the need for the development of different
and unique data processing and storing technologies.
 These datasets are just too large to be processed by a traditional desktop computer
and processor.

Velocity
a. In big data, Velocity demonstrate two things mainly, Speed of growth of data and
Speed of transmission of data
b. Velocity refers to data generating, increasing and sharing at a particular speed
through the resources.
c. Speed of growth of data:
 The data increases day by day through various resources. Some of the resources
are explained below,
 Internet of Things (IOT): IOT is prominent for contributing in big data. It
generates data through IOT devices placed in automated vehicles, digital IOT
bulbs, IOT based robots etc.
 Social Media: As you see, users on social media increasing day by day so that they
exactly generating huge batches of data.
 Such as many other resources, who generates data at such high speeds.
d. Speed of transmission of data:
 The speed is also take major role in identifying big data.
 Big data increasing in rapid fast manner which makes it very complex to process
fast and makes difficult to transmit it quickly through fiber optic or
electromagnetic way of transmission.
 Therefore, this term is very important to demonstrate velocity.
 For Example: Twitter generates 500 Million tweets per day, rate of speed of
generation of data and rate of speed of transmission of data is very high.

Variety
a. In big data, Variety is nothing but different types of data.
b. This term demonstrates various types of data such as texts, audios, videos, XML file,
data in rows and columns etc.
c. Each type of data has separate way to process itself therefore, it is necessary to
categorize different types of data.
d. In Big Data, data is categorizing in mainly three types as follows,

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 Structured Data: The data which is in the format of relational database and have
structured properly in rows and columns format is known as Structured Data.
 Unstructured Data: The data which includes various types of data such as audio,
video, XML file, word file etc. and does not organize in proper format then it is
said to be Unstructured Data.
 Semi-structured Data: Semi-structured data is self-explanatory that it is the
data which not fully structured or unstructured. In it, data is partially structured
and mixed with unstructured format of data.
For Example: The social media contains photos, videos and texts of people in huge figure.
This data is nothing but big data, it can be well-structured or unstructured or semi-
structured.

Veracity
Not that all data that come for processing are valuable. So, unless the data is cleansed
correctly, it is not wise to store or process complete data. Especially when the volume is
such massive, there comes this dimension of big data – veracity. These particular
characteristics also help determine whether the data is coming from a reliable source or
the right fit for the analytic model.

Value
The primary interest for big data is probably for its business value. Perhaps this is the
most crucial characteristic of big data. Because unless you get any business insights out
of it, there is no meaning of other big data characteristics.

Variability
In Big data analysis, data inconsistency is a common scenario that arises as the data is
sourced from different sources. Besides, it contains different data types. Hence, to get
meaningful data from that enormous amount of data, anomaly and outlier detection are
essential. So, variability is considered as one of the characteristics of big data.

Visualization
Big data processing is not the only means of getting a meaningful result out of it. Unless
it is represented or visualizes in a meaningful way, there is no point in analysing it. Hence,
big data must be visualized with appropriate tools that serve different parameters to
help data scientists or analysts understand it better.
However, plotting billions of data points is not an easy task. Furthermore, it associates
different techniques like using tree maps, network diagrams, cone trees, etc.

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Validity
Validity has some similarities with veracity. As the meaning of the word suggests, the
validity of big data means how correct the data is for its purpose. Interestingly a
considerable portion of big data remains un-useful, which is considered as ‘dark data.'
The remaining part of collected unstructured data is cleansed first for analysis.

Volatility
Volatility refers to the time considerations placed on a particular data set. It involves
considering if data acquired a year ago would be relevant for analysis for predictive
modelling today. This is specific to the analyses being performed. Similarly, volatility also
means gauging whether a particular data set is historic or not. Usually, data volatility
comes under data governance and is assessed by data engineers.

Vulnerability
Big data is often about consumers. We often overlook the potential harm in sharing our
shopping data, but the reality is that it can be used to uncover confidential information
about an individual. For instance, Target accurately predicted a teenage girl’s pregnancy
before her own parents knew it. To avoid such consequences, it’s important to be mindful
of the information we share online.

Virality
This describes how quickly information gets dispersed across people to people networks.
Virality measures how quickly data is spread and shared to each unique node. Time is a
determinant factor along with the rate of spread.

Viscosity
Viscosity measures the resistance to flow in the volume of data. This resistance can come
from different data sources, friction from integration flow rates and processing reuired
to turn the data into insights. Technologies to deal with viscosity include improved
streaming, agile integration bus and complex event processing. This is all about whether
or not the big data sticks with you or does it call for action.

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MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

DATA COLLECTION METHODS

Primary Data Collection Methods

Surveys
 Surveys are used to collect data from the target audience and gather insights into their
preferences, opinions, choices, and feedback related to their products and services.
 Most survey software often a wide range of question types to select.
 Online surveys can be customized as per the business’s brand by changing the theme,
logo, etc.
 They can be distributed through several distribution channels such as email, website,
offline app, QR code, social media, etc.
 Depending on the type and source of your audience, you can select the channel.
 Once the data is collected, survey software can generate various reports and run
analytics algorithms to discover hidden insights.
 A survey dashboard can give you the statistics related to response rate, completion
rate, filters based on demographics, export and sharing options, etc.

Polls
 Polls comprise of one single or multiple choice question.
 When it is required to have a quick pulse of the audience’s sentiments, you can go for
polls.
 Because they are short in length, it is easier to get responses from the people.
 Similar to surveys, online polls, too, can be embedded into various platforms.
 Once the respondents answer the question, they can also be shown how they stand
compared to others’ responses.

Interviews
 In this method, the interviewer asks questions either face-to-face or through
telephone to the respondents.
 In face-to-face interviews, the interviewer asks a series of questions to the interviewee
in person and notes down responses.
 In case it is not feasible to meet the person, the interviewer can go for a telephonic
interview.
 This form of data collection is suitable when there are only a few respondents.
 It is too time-consuming and tedious to repeat the same process if there are many
participants.

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Delphi Technique
 In this method, market experts are provided with the estimates and assumptions of
forecasts made by other experts in the industry.
 Experts may reconsider and revise their estimates and assumptions based on the
information provided by other experts.
 The consensus of all experts on demand forecasts constitutes the final demand
forecast.

Focus Groups
 In a focus group, a small group of people, around 8-10 members, discuss the common
areas of the problem.
 Each individual provides his insights on the issue concerned.
 A moderator regulates the discussion among the group members.
 At the end of the discussion, the group reaches a consensus.

Questionnaire
 A questionnaire is a printed set of questions, either open-ended or closed-ended.
 The respondents are required to answer based on their knowledge and experience with
the issue concerned.
 The questionnaire is a part of the survey, whereas the questionnaire’s end-goal may or
may not be a survey.

Secondary Data Collection Methods

The secondary data collection methods, too, can involve both quantitative and qualitative
techniques. Secondary data is easily available and hence, less time-consuming and expensive
as compared to the primary data. However, with the secondary data collection methods,
the authenticity of the data gathered cannot be verified.

Internal Sources of Secondary Data External Sources of Secondary Data

 Organization’s health and safety  Government reports
records  Press releases
 Mission and vision statements  Business Journals
 Financial Statements  Libraries
 Magazines  Internet
 Sales Report
 CRM Software
 Executive summaries

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ROLE OF COMPETENCIES

Data analytics competencies help define success in any data analytics role. The skills and
abilities collected below include specific behaviors and technical skills that are consistently
exhibited by professionals in the data analytics field.

Four Key Competencies

Other Data Competencies

A. Data Analysis
The competency, “knowledge of and practices with data analysis” involves the process
of applying statistical and graphical techniques to data in order to discover useful
information. Without data analysis skills, library staff can draw only very limited
conclusions about patron data, reference statistics, and other library data. In general,
data analysis requires:
 Apply statistical skills to data sets
 Use data analysis software
 Read and create charts and graphs
For most library staff, the ability to use spreadsheet software, such as Excel or Google
Sheets, will be sufficient, but some specialized positions may require the use of
statistical software or data-related programming.

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MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

B. Data Planning & Resource Management

The competency, “knowledge of and practices with data collection planning and resource
management” involves the following:
 Defining the problem that needs to be solved
 Identifying data sources, and creating a data collection plan and setting goals
 Developing a plan for curating and managing collected data
The purpose of this competency area is to familiarize library professionals on what the
current best-practices for data collection planning and resource management are so
that professionals have a better understanding of how to implement these skills within
their workplace.

C. Data Storytelling & Advocacy

The competency, “communicating data and using different types of data for advocacy
and storytelling” involves the following:
 Define your goal & audience
 Choose the right data & find hidden insights
 Select effective visualizations to communicate a compelling story
Using visual data analysis, professionals extract insights to find a narrative thread. By
tailoring to the right audience, professionals can select the most effective
format/visualization to communicate a compelling story.

D. Communicating Data to Inform Decisions

The competency, “communicating data to inform decision-making” involves the following:
 Analyzing survey data
 Using collected data to revise and/or create library programming
 Ability to frame an array of data points to set a baseline or present context.

E. Research & Evaluation Methods

The competency, “knowledge of and practices with public library research and evaluation
methods” involves the following:
 Research design (case study, observation study, historical, longitudinal study, etc.)
 Instrument and protocol design (observations, surveys, interviews, & focus groups)
 Plan for data documentation and management
This competency is intended to help public library staff understand and effectively
utilize the various forms of research and evaluation methods used in public libraries. To
become familiar with this step will allow public library staff to move into the next phase
of data analysis.

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MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

COPING WITH INFORMATION OVERLOAD

 Information overload describes the excess of information available to a person aiming

to complete a task or make a decision. This impedes the decision-making process,
resulting in a poor (or even no) decision being made. When designing products (e.g.,
websites or apps), designers should be especially careful to ensure they prevent
information overload from affecting the users' experience.
 The term was coined by Bertram Gross, professor of political science, in his 1964
work, The Managing of Organizations. Information overload has been a problem
throughout history, particularly during the Renaissance and Industrial Revolution
periods. However, the dawn of the Information Age and access to powerful and low-
cost data collection on an automated basis have brought us more information than was
available at any other point in history.
 Information overload is a state of being overwhelmed by the amount of data presented
for one’s attention or processing. The term is used to refer not only to situations
involving too much data for a given decision but also the constant inundation of data
from many sources that is characteristic of modern life.
 It reduces our capacity to function effectively, which can lead to poor decisions in both
work and life as well as the inability to make decisions, which is sometimes referred to
as analysis paralysis. When the situation persists, burnout is a common result.
 Information overload is one of the major areas identified for reform by the humane
tech movement, which seeks to realign technology with human needs rather than
exploiting human vulnerabilities for profit, as has far too often been the case.

The Causes of Information Overload Today

 Huge volumes of new information being constantly created
 Pressure to create and compete in information provision - leading to a quantity over
quality effect in many industries
 The simplicity of creating, duplicating and sharing of information online
 The exponential increase in channels to receive information by; radio, television, print
media, websites, e-mail, mobile telephony, RSS feeds, etc.
 The increasing weight of historical data available to us
 High volumes of conflicting, contradictory and plain old inaccurate information
 No simple methodologies for quickly processing, comparing and evaluating information
sources
 A lack of clear structure in groups of information and poor clues as to the
relationships between those groups.

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MBA I Year II SEM (Academic Lecture Material) Unit-II: Business Analytics

How to avoid Information Overload?

 Keep things simple. The less information you present – the easier it is to understand.
 Keep it relevant. Information that actually meets the user’s needs is less likely to
overwhelm.
 Keep it clear. Simplicity and relevance are good but information needs clarity to be
effective.
 Provide supporting information. If a user needs more information, make sure it’s
easily accessible for them.
 Provide balanced information. You should present both sides of the coin rather than
just one.
 Make it clear what is to be done with the information. What action should the
user take? Why should they take it?
 Make it easy for the user to take action. If they need to complete a task, there
and then make it accessible and make it obvious.

Note: Refer class notes for more clarity

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