The second assignment due in Unit 6 is a project. The deadline for this project is the Sunday before the term ends.
For the project, you will be analyzing a case and communicating your results with a PowerPoint presentation.
In this assignment, you will be assessed based on the following outcomes:
GB513-4: Evaluate real-world situations and present solutions using statistical methods.
PC-6.1: Incorporate data, inferences, and reasoning to solve problems.
The data you need for Part 2 is provided in the following Excel file. Be sure to use this file and do not type anything manually from the case or use other sources for the data.
Assignment Details
You will be analyzing the “Colonial Broadcasting†case. This can be found in the course pack you needed to purchase from Harvard Business Review at the beginning of the term. If you still need to purchase it, instructions and a link can be found in the syllabus. Begin by reading the description in the case. Then, answer the questions listed below, NOT the questions listed in the case. Ignore everything in the case document after the end of page 4.
The executives at CBC have four main areas in which they are interested: They want to see how they are doing in ratings against the other networks and how the ratings will continue to change in the upcoming months. They also want to know if hiring stars makes a difference and the impact of fact-based programming compared to hiring stars.
Remember that your audience is the management of CBC. Therefore, make sure your presentation is professional. Once you present your results, you need to justify and explain your findings with properly stated conclusions.
- Answer the following questions:
- What is the average rating for all CBC movies? How about ABN movies and BBS movies? Provide a bar chart that compares these averages.
- Include a table that shows the descriptive statistics using the data analysis tool pack in Excel for the ratings of the three networks (one column for each network).
- Comment on how the networks are performing, by comparing and interpreting the metrics in the descriptive statistics table. Your analysis must extend beyond simply comparing the average ratings for each network.
- Create a scatter graph of the monthly average ratings for CBC for the year. Note that there are multiple ratings data for the months; you will need to calculate an average for each month first, and then plot the averages. After you create the graph, fit a linear trend line and a 2nd order polynomial trend line, displaying the formula and the r-squared. Explain to the executives if you can use this time series data to forecast the ratings of upcoming months. Which forecasting method is better? How accurate can you expect this forecast to be?
- The executives wish to know if they should hire stars for their
programs. To answer this question, run a hypothesis test to see if the
ratings of shows with stars are higher compared to those without stars.
Use the data for CBC movies only. Use 95% confidence.
Your answer should include the following:
- The null and alternative hypotheses (state in full sentences).
- The test results: Run the test using Excel and include the output table. Use a t-test assuming equal variances.
- What is your recommendation to the executives? Justify your answer referring to the relevant figures.
- Run a multiple regression where the dependent variable is ratings
and the independent variables are star and fact. Use data from CBC only.
CBC Management has several questions:
- Executives wish to know how much being fact-based or having one star contributes to a movies rating. What can you tell them about this?
- Are either, both, or neither of the independent variables significantly related to the ratings at 95% confidence? Justify your answers referring to the relevant figures.
- How well does this regression analysis explain the ratings? Should the executives count on the results from this analysis? Justify your answers referring to the relevant figures.
Directions for Submitting your Assignment:
For this project, you will prepare a PowerPoint presentation to present your findings. The first slide after the title slide should be an “Executive Summary.†It should contain a very brief overview of all the answers. Your final slide should include “conclusions†and provide an overall assessment of the analysis.
Make sure you also submit the Excel file to show your work for Part 2. You will receive a 100-point reduction if you fail to include the Excel file showing your work.
Place all calculations for each of the questions on a separate worksheet. Then, using the results of your work from Excel, prepare PowerPoint slides to answer the questions in a presentation format. All relevant content should be on the slides; do not use the notes section or leave information in the Excel file. The executives reviewing the presentation should not need to switch to another document to see the required information.
The data you need is provided to you in the Unit 6 Excel file in Course Documents. Make sure to use that file. Do not type anything in manually or download anything from the Internet.
Submit your assignment to the Unit 6 Assignment Dropbox.