Quantitative Techniquesin

Business

Quantitative Techniques in Business (QTB)

Quantitative Techniques are the techniques used to gather, sort, analyze and interpret numerical data in order to improve business decisions.

Numerical dataNumerical data (or quantitative data) is data measured or identified on a numerical scale. Numerical data can be analysed using statistical methods, and results can be displayed using tables, charts, histograms and graphs

ExamplesCompany sales (millions) 18, 12, 20, etc

Number of employees in company(hundreds) 15, 8, 5, etc

Why Study QTBStudying QTB is essential as it enables to

Gather, sort, analyze and interpret the data Have needed, timely, accurate, yet relevant

information. Understand and compare different types of

situations Predict and forecast about the future needs of

the businessDevelop effective policies and business related

strategiesMake effective decisions to achieve business

goals efficientlyResearch is based on QTB Final thesis is based on QTB

Research Problem“Any problem or opportunity that needs to be addressed

through research process of data collection and analysis is called Research Problem”

Examples

Human Resource manager wants to develop HR policies regarding employees turnover in order to reduce it.

Marketing manager wants to launch a new product successfully using advertisement as promotional tool

Finance manager needs to invest excessive money profitably

Problem StatementA problem statement is a clear and concise

description of any business issue that seeks for Description, Association or difference of two or more variables.

ExampleMeasure the annual turnover of employees in Higher

educational sector of Pakistan Does advertisement contribute to the sales of a new

product in the marketWhich of the two options i.e. stock market or real estate is

better for investment.

What is Variable?Vary + able = Change + able

Variable is a characteristic of anything that can vary (Change).

Examples Gender (Male, Female) Age (20 years, 30 years, 50 years) Motivation level (High, Medium, Low)

Constant is a characteristic that do not varye.g. If all students are male in a class then Gender will

be constant

Advertisement

Sales

Types of Variablewith respect to relation

I n d e p e n d e n t d e p e n d e n t

Awareness

M e d i a t i n g

Competitors product, price, packaging,

placement

M o d e r a t i n g

Budget

Variable

Categorical

Nominal Ordinal

Numerical

Discrete Continuous

Gender1. Male2. Female

Motivation1. Highly Motivated2. Moderately

Motivated3. Less Motivated

1. No of students2. No of chairs3. Collar size

1. Height2. Weight3. speed

Types of Variablewith respect to data

Categorical VariableA variable whose values are not numerical in nature

Variables Values

Gender Male, female

Religion Islam, christianity, Jews, etc

Motivation level High, medium, low

Types of Categorical variable

1. Nominal variableA categorical variable whose values are not orderedExample

Gender Male, Female 2. Ordinal variable A categorical variable whose values are in ordered

ExampleEducation Metric, inter, graduation

Numerical VariableA variable whose values are numerical in nature

Variables Values

Collar size 14, 14.5, 15, 15.5……….

Height 5.7, 5.8, 5.3

No of employees 23, 45, 69, 100

Types of Numerical variable

1. Discrete variableA numerical variable whose values have same interval Example

collar size 14.5, 15, 15.5…….. 2. continuous variable A numerical variable whose values don’t have same interval

Examplespeed 40.1, 45, 67……….

Research QuestionResearch problem needs to be translated into one or more research questions that are defined as

“A research question is an interrogative statement that seeks for the tentative

relationship among variables and clarifies what the researcher wants to answer.”

Example What is the impact of advertisement on sales of a new

product in the marketWhat is the annual turnover of employees in Higher

educational institutions of Pakistan Does investing in stock market yield more return on

investment as compare to investment in real estate.

Type of Research QuestionDescriptive: A question that is answered through

Summarising data about a single variableE.g.: What is the annual turnover of employees in Higher

educational institutions of Pakistan

Associational: A question that is answered through determining strength and direction of relationship between two or more variables E.g.: What is the impact of advertisement on sales of a new

product in the market

Difference: A question that is answered through comparing and contrasting two groups or variablesE.g.: Does investing in stock market yield more return on

investment as compare to investment in real estate.

Research Hypotheses“Research hypotheses are predictive

statements about the relationship between two variables”

Types of Hypothesis

There are two types of hypothesis

1. Null HypothesisHo = There is no relationship between Advertising and

Sales

2. Alternative HypothesisH1 = There is relationship between advertising and sales

Research Question Vs. Hypothesis Research question Hypothesis

o Interrogative statement Simple statement

oNon-Predictive Predictive

oNon-Directional Directional

ActivityIn groups of four, use the variables provided

to write:An associational questionA difference questionA descriptive question

DataSet of raw facts figures is called Data

Example: Age- 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, Nationality- Pakistani, Indian, American

Types of Data

Data

Nature

Qualitative Quantitative

Time frame

Cross-sectional Time-Series

Gender1. Male2. Female

Motivation1. Highly Motivated2. Moderately

Motivated3. Less Motivated

1. No of students2. No of chairs3. Collar size

1. Height2. Weight3. speed

Types of Variablewith respect to data

Thank You!