Introduction

Question 1

Advanced analytics

Answer 1

predictive and prescriptive analytics

Question 2

Big data

Answer 2

Any set of data that is too large or too complex to be handled by standard data processing techniques and typical desktop software.

Question 3

Business analytics

Answer 3

The scientific process of transforming data into insight for making better decisions.

Question 4

Data dashboard

Answer 4

A collection of tables, charts, and maps to help management monitor selected aspects of the company’s performance.

Question 5

Data mining

Answer 5

The use of analytical techniques for better understanding patterns and relationships that exist in large data sets.

Question 6

Data query

Answer 6

A request for information with certain characteristics from a database.

Question 7

Data scientist

Answer 7

Analyst trained in both computer science and statistics who knows how to effectively process and analyze massive amounts of data.

Question 8

Data security

Answer 8

Protecting stored data from destructive forces or unauthorized users.

Question 9

Decision analysis

Answer 9

A technique used to develop an optimal strategy when a decision maker is faced with several decision alternatives and an uncertain set of future events.

Question 10

Descriptive analytics

Answer 10

Analytical tools that describe what has happened.

Question 11

Hadoop

Answer 11

An open-source programming environment that supports big data processing through distributed storage and distributed processing on clusters of computers.

Question 12

Internet of Things (IoT)

Answer 12

The technology that allows data collected from sensors in all types of machines to be sent over the Internet to repositories where it can be stored and analyzed.

Question 13

MapReduce

Answer 13

Programming model used within Hadoop that first divides the data into manageable subsets and distributes it to the computers in the cluster for storing and processing and second collects answers from the nodes and combines them into an answer to the original problem.

Question 14

Operational decision

Answer 14

A decision concerned with how the organization is run from day to day.

Question 15

Optimization model

Answer 15

A mathematical model that gives the best decision, subject to the situation’s constraints.

Question 16

Predictive Analytics

Answer 16

Techniques that use models constructed from past data to predict the future or to ascertain the impact of one variable on another.

Question 17

Prescriptive analytics

Answer 17

Techniques that analyze input data and yield a best course of action.

Question 18

Simulation

Answer 18

The use of probability and statistics to construct a computer model to study the impact of uncertainty on the decision at hand.

Question 19

Simulation optimization

Answer 19

The use of probability and statistics to model uncertainty, combined with optimization techniques, to find good decisions in highly complex and highly uncertain settings.

Question 20

Strategic decision

Answer 20

A decision that involves higher-level issues and that is concerned with the overall direction of the organization, defining the overall goals and aspirations for the organization’s future.

Question 21

Tactical decision

Answer 21

A decision concerned with how the organization should achieve the goals and objectives set by its strategy.

Question 22

Utility theory

Answer 22

The study of the total worth or relative desirability of a particular outcome that reflects the decision maker’s attitude toward a collection of factors such as profit, loss, and risk.