TMGT 361

  
V. Data collection and analysis.
a. Decide on something you are going to measure. In your initial post write up, include the following. Keep an industrial focus if possible but you can measure anything. The measurement instrument can be anything, e.g., your eyes, a bath scale, a micrometer, etc.
i. Define the population measured. 
ii. Define the unit of observation (e.g., case, subject).
iii. Define the sample measured and state the sample size (must be at least n=10).
iv. Describe the variable measured. Include scale level, i.e., nominal, ordinal, interval, or rank.
v. Describe the measurement tool and measurement method.
vi. Define the variable values measured and/or that could have been measured, e.g., there might have been green apples but none in your sample were.
vii. Calculate appropriate measures of central tendency and dispersion. 
viii. Create an appropriate chart to display the data. Does the data look like it fits a particular distribution; should it, i.e., does the data fit the definition of a particular distribution? 
b. Similar to example 5.8 in the Primer, calculate the mean and 3 sigma limits for 10 coin tosses. Toss an actual coin 10 times and compare the theoretical and actual results*. Are the theoretical and actual results different? If so, why? How do you interpret the control limits, e.g., what do they tell us?
c. Create your own probability example of compound events* (similar to examples 5.20 – 5.23 in the Primer).
d. Discuss the general principles of how to make something more reliable.
e. Do your own failure experiment.* Calculate Lambda and Theta.
Obviously, for a you have to measure something yourself and cannot get data from a source such as the internet, book, or company data.
For b, follow the example but use the values you need to for 10 coin tosses. You have to actually toss the coin to compare the theoretical population results with your actual sample results. 
For c, come up with your own example. The goal is to make you practice with something more real than the text book. Do not get an example from any source except your life or your imagination.
For e, you could test anything to failure. I would pick something that fails in short order under testing, e.g., flexing something until it breaks (the bends can be the unit instead of time, but time would work too if you keep your flex rate constant). You could consider a basketball shot the event and a miss as a failure. You could bother your roommate until he or she gets mad (the failure) and see how long that takes (maybe that isn’t a good idea)! The point is to really do this, with something simple if need be (and not use an internet or book example and merely change some words around).