Week 6: Statistics It is difficult to watch the news or read the paper without running into statistics. Numbers are used to support claims, report poll results, or sway you to purchase a product via advertising. Most of this data is taken from a sample or small subgroup of the population, which reduces the accuracy. Sampling, or taking data from a subset of the population, creates an opportunity for error, as not everyone in the population is represented. You may have heard a claim made, such as “three out of four dentists recommend White X toothpaste.” This sounds impressive until you learn that these dentists that recommend White X toothpaste are also given hundreds of free samples to share with their clients. These values should be critically examined for bias, bad data collection methods, or the presence of outliers that skew statistics. This week, you will explore where data comes from, how to organize and summarize data, and how to use this to make decisions. Discussion: Avoiding Bad Statistics You may have heard the saying that ‘numbers never lie’. What could be more trustworthy than a solution to a mathematical equation? Enter statistics, an area of mathematics in which numbers can be used to mislead. This can be intentional, as is often the case in advertising campaigns. You might hear claims, such as the best weight loss program in the world will produce an average of 20 pounds of weight loss in the first month. Claims like these usually come with the footnote that "results are not typical" as outliers in data can affect an average value easily. One or two individuals who lost a great deal of weight can make the average value seem more impressive than it is. Misleading statistics can also be unintentional if the researcher does not consider all the important aspects. For this Discussion, you will explore some critical considerations when assessing the accuracy of statistics. To prepare for this Discussion: Imagine you have been hired to complete a data analysis project to promote social change in an area important to you. Some possible topics include public transportation, distribution of public services, health care, public education, or another topic of interest. View the video on ways to spot bad statistics and reflect on several aspects that Chalabi (2017) indicates are necessary to consider when assessing the accuracy of the values presented. Then, consider how these aspects apply to the topic you selected. Think about what kinds of data you would collect to present in a memo to your congress person or government representative, regarding the social change you are proposing for your topic, and how you plan to address uncertainty in your results. Think about how you will make sure your statistics are relatable. Note that the values presented should be relatable. Think about how you will plan the data collection for your study and what two things you will be cautious of when collecting that data. Consider how you will explain to your government representative why it is necessary to collect this data and why time and money should be allocated to you to collect it Chalabi, M. (2017, February). 3 ways to spot a bad statistic [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/mona_chalabi_3_ways_to_s...Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 12 minutes. Post at least 2 paragraphs in response to the following prompts: Describe the topic you have chosen to study and explain what kinds of data you will collect to present to your government representative. Describe two specific recommendations you would make to address uncertainty. Explain how you will make sure that your statistics are relatable so that it will be easy to understand for a diverse group of people. Explain two things you will be cautious of when collecting a data sample. Then, explain to your government representative why it is necessary to collect this data and why the time and money should be allocated to you to collect it.

Overview and RationaleIn this project you will use linear programming to maximize profit. This will help you understand business problems, translate the business requirements into mathematical terms, and apply linear algebra to problem-solving.Problem:A northern hardware company is studying a plan to open a new distribution center in the southeast. The company plans to rent a warehouse and an adjacent office and distribute its main products to the local dealers. The company has decided to initially start with four of its main products: Pressure washers, Go karts, Generators, and Water pumps. You will help the company maximize profits by using linear programming to find the best solution.Note: Since we will use sensitivity report, fractional solution is appropriate. Please round your final results to get an integer solution.

To prepare for this Assignment:Review the video, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).Review the following tutorials from the Green and Salkind text:Lesson 25, "One-Way Analysis of Variance"Lesson 26, "Two-Way Analysis of Variance"Review the Assignment Exemplar provided in this week’s Learning Resources.This week, you will run a one-way ANOVA using appropriate data from the IT Security Dataset located in this week’s Learning Resources.