Pratical applications

Question 1

Warnings when using graphs

Answer 1

• Different vertical axis starting points
• Context matters, shorter time frames may exaggerate

Question 2

Advantages of descriptive statistics

Answer 2

• Provide quixk overview
• Allow for easy comparisions
• show important patterns
• Provide foundations for further analysis
• Guide for more in depth analysis

Question 3

What to keep inmind when presenting tables of descriptive statistics?

Answer 3

• Clealry lable each varible with full name
• Do not use too many decimals
• Ensure values mean something

Question 4

Software for more advanced data anaylsis

Answer 4

• Stata
• R - Project
• Matlab
• Python

Question 5

Limitations of Excel

Answer 5

• Struggles with large dataset (above 1 m rows)
• Limited statistical functions compared to Python etc
• Lack regression diagnostics
• No easy way to track code versioning
• Manual operations (formatting, copy) increase risk of human error
• Prone to formatting errors (e.g dates incoreectly recognised)
• No interactive dashboards like power BI