Unit Question: How can we use data analysis in our day-to-day life to
make informed decisions?
Scenario:
Recently I posted a notice offer
organizations my help in organizing all of their data and help to analyze
future outcomes; at a price of 250dhs. I got a lot of replies some being from
the toy store Hamleys and some being from clothes store such as Mother Care.
However there was on that caught my eye. I had received an email from the
manager of Australia’s cricket team. He had offered me a job to help them
store, calculate, process and analyze the performance of the Australian cricket
team in order to improve on their weaknesses and perform better in the future.
I plan on using my ICT skills that I
learned in school. The software I plan on using is Ed Excel however I would
like to take a look at other software’s before I finalize on Ed Excel.
Before I begin adding my data in my
first step to this project is to look at how cricket works. So I will have to
do research on the sport. Find out its rules, how to play the game and the
roles each player has.
After that, I am going to provide a
design solution by first drawing it out as a sketch on paper and then
transferring in onto paint. The first step to my design brief is going to be
making player portfolios. I going to create brief player portfolios which will
contain the players name, age, date joined the team, bowler/cricketer, century
made or not, highest amount of runs/bowls, role in the team (captain) and their
picture. My design specifications will include first the amount of matches the
team has played and how many of them have they won or lost in 3 different types
of series. I will then take an average of how well they have played with their
opposing team in the year. Then I will focus on the amount of runs and bowls
made on an average scale. I will then find the average amount of runs/bowls
made. And finally I will look at the fielding of the team. I will finalize my
data with graphs that will help the coach indentify easily the weak points of
the team and therefore use that data to help the team overcome their
weaknesses.
The constraints on this project are
most likely going to be time management. I will have to make sure I stick to
task and I don’t exceed the time limit given. Another constraint might be
getting accurate information and information that is recent. Also cricket is a
very popular sport so therefore there will be a lot of information given and my
job will be to simply the data into only the parts I need, this process will
infact consume a lot of my time and once again as mentioned above up I will
need to be very firm with my time management.
How can I help my customer to
perform automatic calculations?
The software I’m using Ed Excel has
settings in which it automatically does the calculations for you once data is
inputted in. All you have to do is the following:
1.
One the worksheet, click on one the
cells which you would like to use to enter the formula
2.
Put the sign = , to start the
formula off
3.
Now click on the data you would like
to use
4.
Now if you need to use the following
symbols to do the following things:
Add
= +
Subtract
= -
Multiply
= *
Divide
= /
5.
When you click enter excel will
automatically do the math for you
For example:
=12.99+16.99
in cell C6
OR
You can simply click on the
autosum button on the top left corner
Research:
Before I begin my project I will need to do a series of
research based on the sport, in order to make an effective database. I will
first look at the rules and regulations and how the game operates, and what
type of games there are for example - test series, twenty 20 & one day. My research
will also include the following:
-
History
-
Players
-
How to Play
-
Australian Players:
-
Australia’s Achievements
It is essential I do my research
well cause if I don’t I would not be able to figure out how to organize the
data on the team; therefore I would not be able to do my job correctly.
Areas of Interaction:
The area of interaction that I have
chosen is Approaches to Learning. This is because Approaches to Learning is
about discipline, attitudes, and strategies, skills which are needed in order
to make critical coherent and independent evaluations. This means in order to fulfill
its requirements I will have to develop my skills further to create a strong
output of my product. My question for this unit is:
How can we use data analysis in our day-to-day life to make informed
decisions?
In order
to answer this question each of us individually have to create a scenario and
choose a software that we can use for our create. The software I have chosen is
Ed Excel as mentioned above. Ed Excel is a tool that is mainly used to
input/store data as it has the ability to automatically calculate the data
given. The reason I think Approaches to Learning is best suited for my project
is because in order to meet the requirements of my client I not only need to
learn about a whole new sport (cricket), but I also need to learn how to do automatic
calculations on Ed Excel and organize data is a way that it is easy to look at
it and draw conclusions/evaluations from. As for learning a new sport, I will
need to learn how the game is played, rules and regulations, Australia’s history,
different types of matches, how the game is scored and what positions do
players have. Once I’ve completed the research of both the things mentioned
above I will then need to input all my data onto Ed Excel with graphs and
smaller tables to help the coach understand the weak areas of his team.
Linking myself to this the AOI I will
need to be very critical when inputting my work and finalizing it before I hand
it in, as if I do wrong the coach may not pay me and therefore my work would be
for nothing. I need to make sure my information is correct, my data is inputted
correctly and is organized, I have visuals to help support the data and most
importantly the calculations I will do through formula’s are consistent and
will work on their own even if the coach himself imputed the information.
I will be measuring if my work was a
success or not by firstly looking at the performance of the team, they should
be improving in terms of their skills as through the data I will provide them they
will understand where their weak areas are and therefore proceed to overcome
them.
How
can I access information?
I can access the information from
numerous sites however the main one I’ve chosen is:
How
do I know if the information is reliable?
I will know the information is
reliable, because I go on different websites and compare the data from both sites
they should be the same. If they are not then they are not reliable and
therefore I will need to search for data that is.
What
will I do with this information?
As mentioned above I will use this
information to create a spreadsheet where I will input all the data, so the
coach of Australia’s cricket team understands where his team is weak and where
they are strong and therefore attempt to improve from there.
What
communication tools do I use?
Ed Excel
Which
ways of communicating do I need to improve on?
I will need to be careful when
inputting data and making sure its organized as I will be taking data from the
years 2012-2013
How
can I better communicate my understanding?
I will be using graphs
to help the coach get a visual perspective of how the data is, and therefore
make it easier for him to read the data.
How
can I better communicate my understanding?
I will be using graphs
to help the coach get a visual perspective of how the data is, and therefore
make it easier for him to read the data.
What
aspects of my organization do I need to develop?
I will need to be very aware of the
amount of time I have to complete this project
How
can I best organize myself?
I can best organize
myself by creating a Gantt chart, as it will help me stick to task and use my
time well.
(CLICK ON OLDER POSTS!!!!!!)
I took an average on the data I inputted and created graphs out of them, the formula i used was:
To count the number of matches I used the formula
To find the total number of wins in the year I used the formula
To find the total number of loses in the year i used the formula
