Computer Applications for Business 11

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Computer Applications for Business (11)

• Last week successfully achieved
• Wrap-up of Database work
• Completing Mail-Merge with Database data
• Mail-Merge with Spreadsheet data
• This week
• Practice examinations
• http//www2.winchester.ac.uk/bm/courses/bs1904/ind
  ex.htmlexam
• Operating Systems introduction
• What have we missed?
• Questionnaire design
• Questionnaire to evaluate this module
• Optional Practical Excel Filtering and Pivot
  tables
• http//www.winchester.ac.uk/bm/courses/BS1904/BS19
  04wB.doc

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So far weve covered

• Introduction to the role of IT in Business
• Operational, Production, Decision-support
• Communications and how to get your point across
• Word-processing
• Fonts, Styles, Spell-checkers, Tables
• Spreadsheets
• What if models, Excel functions, Graphical
  reporting
• Composite documents putting things together
• Database
• Purposes types flat file versus Relational
  databases
• Mail-merge
• Driving Word from databases, spreadsheets and
  tables
• Therell be more about managing Information in
  the degree, but this module is the last
  skill-based one

Demonstrated in your assignment
Exam
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What Else do you Need?

• Lets try to list any areas omitted
• For example
• Graphics packages (CAD, image editors, Visio)
• Multimedia building/editing sound and movie
  clips
• PC maintenance and enhancement
• Fax
• Statistical packages
• Accounting packages
• Other applications of what you already know
• Well cover any burning issues next week

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Operating Systems

• What you actually see on a computer
• Windows, MacOS, zOS, VMS, UNIX
• Provide the building blocks of complex systems
• Common functions encapsulated
• Microsoft (or Apple, or IBM) supplies code to
  drive disks, so application programmer doesnt
  need to do it again
• Controls the hardware of the computer
• Application program instructs OS what to
  do(doesnt have authority to drive hardware)
• OS only performs valid actions
• Makes the computer appear to do several things at
  once
• Organizes saved data into files

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Understanding Hardware

• Most of our experience is of an Operating System,
  not a computer
• True of Windows, MacOS, UNIX, VM...
• Todays Macs run on Intel hardware, like Windows
• Need to think in lower-level terms to understand
  whats really happening
• Many things become clearer as a result
• Problem is that you cant easily start a PC
  without operating system
• Even DOS hides files, output etc.

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Common features of Computers 1

• The essence of all the machines used in
  Information Technology is that they are stored
  program computers. That is, they work by
  obeying a set of instructions stored in their
  memory, and what they do is almost entirely
  dependent upon the instructions that happen to
  have been stored there. Thus you can take
  something thats basically a PC, and make it
  function as a till, or a games console, or the
  controller of a cash-dispenser.
• For the normal general-purpose PC or mainframe
  computer, the memory is RAM random access
  memory. This consists of millions of little
  electronic switches, which can be off or on,
  representing the values 0 and 1 (these are called
  bits, a contraction of binary digits). The
  switches are organized into groups of eight, each
  group with an address effectively the offset
  from the beginning of memory. We use the word
  byte to describe these individually-addressable
  groups of eight bits. The reason its called
  random access memory is that you can get the
  contents of any byte in exactly the same time
  unlike a disk, where you have to wait for the
  right area of magnetic material to spin round to
  the read head.

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Common features of Computers 2

• The processor or CPU is the centre of the
  machine, and obeys instructions from memory,
  producing results that may be a new value in
  memory, or a dot on the screen, or a signal to a
  disk drive to move its head to a different
  location.
• RAM loses its contents when you switch off, so
  you need some kind of persistent storage as well.
  Disk storage is pretty well universal, and comes
  in two flavours the hard disk is buried in the
  machine and typically holds 100 million to 2
  billion bytes. In a PC, the (first) hard disk is
  called the C-drive. Diskettes (or floppy
  disks) hold 1.44MB and can be pushed into a drive
  that is called the A-drive.
• You also need input devices like a keyboard, and
  output like a display or printer. The path that
  connects all these components is called the bus
  of the computer.

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Modern Computer Architecture
Processor
Memory
1234567890- QWERTYUIOP ASDFGHJKL ZXCVBNM,./
Output (Information)
Input (Data)
Bus
Other long-term Storage
Disk Storage

• Processor works on data in memory
• Other data flows through the bus

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Programming Languages

• In the beginning
• machine code(1948 to around 1950)
• Then Assemblers developed
• translate 11 into machine code
• Processor-dependent
• As complex as the processor (at least)
• Still in use today
• We used to include some of this in the module, to
  get students to understand what tiny things a
  computer does

• High-level compiled languages (from 1956)
• Processor-independent
• FORTRAN, Cobol, ALGOL, Pascal, C , PL/I
• Interpreted languages
• from late 1960s
• Basic, APL, REXX
• Object-oriented
• Visual Basic, C, Java

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Input and Output (I/O)

• Peripherals are much slower than CPU or memory
• Programs would have to keep waiting if they
  output direct to printer, or even to disk
• Best to write results into Buffers bit of
  memory from where it will be copied to the output
  device
• Stop processing every so often to copy some data
• Todays computers have special I/O processors
• Separate dedicated processors that drive I/O
  devices and have Direct memory access (DMA)
• CPU fires off the I/O processor, then goes back
  to work
• Printing is so slow we do it via SPOOL
• Program writes to disk, OS later copies to the
  printer

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Operating Systems Summary

• Though the processor is simple and serial, we
  want to do more complex things, often several at
  once
• An operating system is the program that
• Provides the building blocks of complex systems
• Controls the hardware of the computer
• Makes the computer appear to do several things at
  once
• It goes round looking for work keystrokes, mouse
  clicks...
• It then does a bit of the required work,
• then looks for other things to do, and so on
• We say the machine is doing things concurrently
  
• theyre not simultaneous, but they look it!
• Organizes saved data into files

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Notes about the Examination

• Entirely Practical
• No printing Youll be given an exam account, and
  we will mark what you store in its My Documents
• Accounts should be logged on when the exam starts
• Make sure you can extract contents from a zip
  file ?
• Timing
• Scheduled to last 1 hour 45 minutes
• Should be more than enough time to finish
• 2-hour slot booked on exam timetable, because
• You get extra time if you suffer a computer crash
  (rare, but it does happen make sure you keep
  saving)
• May take longer than planned to log everybody on

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Purpose of the Examination

• Goal is to check that youve achieved the
  learning outcomes not tested by the assignment
• Familiarity with the Windows environment
• Styles and fields in Word
• Using the Access database (queries and a simple
  report)
• Combining data and text with Mail-Merge
• Only 25 of the total assessment
• Designed to be progressive
• Several database examples, starting with very
  easy
• But even so theres low hanging fruit
  throughout,so dont give up at the first thing
  you cant do

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Practice Exams

• The real exam will be different, but on similar
  lines
• For practising, work on your normal IT account
• Find a practice paper at http//www2.winchester.ac
  .uk/bm/courses/bs1904/index.htmlexam
• Also helps you find the files referred to in the
  papers
• Make sure you follow the instructions remember
• Download materials in to My Documents (dont open
  them)
• Never edit anything inside a zip file
• Always extract materials into a folder in My
  Documents
• Keep saving your work
• Close Access when youve finished making changes
• That way it saves everything cleanly

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Surveys

• Including feedback on modules

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Surveying Opinions

• Businesses need to know the opinions of
• Customers and prospective customers, for
• Market research
• Satisfaction and Quality assessment
• Employees, for
• Morale
• Quality management
• Need to
• Ask the right questions..
• ..of the right people
• Also have to process their answers thoughtfully
• Usually accomplished with a questionnaire

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Questionnaire Design

• Questionnaires have to
• Be Ethical no impertinent questions no risk to
  respondents
• Engage support of respondents
• Be easy to fill in
• And be clear and free from accidental ambiguity
• Match the way people think about the topic
• Results will be used by the business
• So conclusions should be clear
• Respondents will also want to see the results
  (to encourage future support, or to enhance
  morale)
• Specialized tools are available, but we can also
• Develop the questionnaire with word processor
• Analyse and present results with a spreadsheet

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Question Types

• Matters of fact
• Yes/No other binary questions such as
  Male/Female
• Numbers, selections from list, or values
• Demographic questions facts about the
  respondent
• Needed to analyse views of subsets of
  respondentsis popularity of deep-fried Mars
  bars highest in Scotland?
• Often involves putting oneself into a category
• under 20
• 20-29
• 30-39
• 40 and over
• Subjective views
• Usually choosing points on a continuum of opinion

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Demographic Questions

• Some are very clear
• Age, sex, post-code
• Others are much more difficult to pin down
• What is the principal job responsibility of the
  head physics teacher management, teaching,
  admin?
• Does income include interest, spouses salary?
• Even clear questions may be impertinent or
  intrusive
• Income, ethnic origin, political affiliations
• Some options for question design
• Collect data (e.g. age) and divide into buckets
  later, or
• Get respondent to choose a range (e.g. 45-54)
• First is clearer and open to different analyses,
  but may be viewed as too intrusive

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Question Clarity

• Where you ask respondent to pick a category,
  think of logical way to list the categories
• Good
• Tick the box corresponding to your age
• under 20
• 20-29
• 30-39
• 40 and over
• Bad
• Enter the number corresponding to your age
• 1. under 20 2. 20-29
• 3. 30-39 4. 40 and over

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Multiple Answers

• Some questions have more than one valid response,
  for exampleWhich of the following cereals do
  you eat in a typical week? Special K Rice
  Krispies Fibre 1 Corn Flakes Other
  branded cereal (Kellogg's, Nestle, Jordans)
  Supermarket or unbranded cereal Porridge

• To get the best responses, put most generic low
  in the list, otherwise people may tick general
  item before seeing the exact match
• May be interesting to get items listed in a
  sequence
• Put 1 by product you eat most often, 2 by
  next...

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Opinions

• Peoples views form part of a continuum
• Questionnaire should reflect this
• Try to make descriptions symmetrical
• Satisfied versus Dissatisfied
• Agree versus Disagree (not Oppose)
• Otherwise youre biasing the way people respond
• Theres a risk of respondents sitting on the
  fence
• Counter this by having an even number of opinions
  no middle choice

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Be Consistent

• If 1 is the most favourable response in one
  question, dont make it the least favourable in
  another
• May want to use letters where the values are
  reversed, e.g. How long does it take you to find
  your chosen cereal?
• A) Over 2 minutes
• B) 1-2 minutes
• C) Under a minute
• Avoid numbers where theres no sequence of
  goodness
• for example Do you think the pace of the course
  was
• Too slow
• About right
• Too fast

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Word-processing the Survey

• Devise a consistent set of styles for
• Question heading
• Question text
• The bit the respondent answers there will
  probably be different styles for the various
  kinds of question, e.g.
• Yes/No
• Choosing from a list
• Expressing an opinion (best to use a graphic)
• Any explanatory text
• Think about the respondent, not data-entry clerk
• You can always provide an overlay for this
  purpose
• Or have small codes by the choices

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Data Analysis

• Collect data for each respondent, for example in
  a database or spreadsheet
• Decide on categories for analysis
• Certainly analyse the all-respondent case
• Plus any demographic splits (M/F, local/remote)
• Count responses for each part of each question
• So if Q1 is a Y/N, count the number of Ys and Ns
  across the selected population
• If its an opinion, count the 1s, 2s, 5s over
  respondents
• Display the counts as percentage of responses
• Dont be tempted to average numeric responses
• 10 twos and 40 threes may be OK
• 35 twos, 5 fours and 10 fives is not (still
  averages 2.8)

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Displaying Results

• Bar charts are clear but space-consuming
• For discrete information, need separate bars
• For Opinion/distribution data, stack the bars
• Can save space by making the bars horizontal
• Be consistent with colours and direction
• e.g. Good on left in BlueBad on right in
  RedNeutral in middle and blank

Pie-chart better here why?
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Next Week

• More exam practice
• Revision of entire course

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Please do Survey before you Escape