One of the products that Company W makes is snack foods. The research and development department of Company W has developed a new formula for one type of snack food that is cheaper to make than the current formula. They want to test the new formula with consumers. They want to see if consumers can tell the difference between the old and new formulas. You propose to conduct this test and analyze the results in line with WidgeCorp's approach to gathering statistical data and use it to form business intelligence decisions. You first need to explain the process to senior management at Company W. You advocate using an unbiased sample of consumers in their test, so that Company W is randomly selecting people based on the following: age; whether or not they have kids; where they live; how often they buy snack foods; and whether or not they already buy the current product.

Prepare a presentation that addresses the following:

• List at least 3 qualitative attributes of the snack food about which they might want to ask consumers. Make sure at least 1 of them is nominal.
• For each attribute that is ordinal, assign names for the endpoints of a 5 point rating scale.
• Explain the difference between nominal and ordinal data.
• Explain how nominal and ordinal data relate to a rating scale.
• List at least 2 quantitative attributes of snack food that the scientists might want to measure.
• Explain the difference between interval and ratio data.
• Include in your presentation the concept of business intelligence.
• Include in your presentation the difference between a population and a sample.
• Notewhyitisimportanttoavoidbiaswhenconductingresearch(seenotebelow).

Scenario

WidgeCorp became the market leader in snack foods after acquiring a rival company, Company W. Their management style and business decision-making differed. Employees at WidgeCorp collected relevant data and through statistical analysis used this information to draw conclusions and make appropriate recommendations. Company W tended to rely on the experience and judgment of its managers. For the time being, both companies are being managed separately, but within the next twelve months they will merge all management, processes, and accounting. You work for Company W and are a little nervous about this new way of working, but realize that you need to be able to present issues and recommendations with statistical verification to the WidgeCorp executives. You will also introduce and employ statistical analysis to the senior management of Company W's various departments such as Marketing, Sales, and Production. Part of your job will be to educate Company W as well.

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