Database Project

What have I learned?

The database project taught me how important it is not only to collect data but also to manage data in an efficient and effective way. Creating a database with a good and logical underlying structure is helpful and necessary to leverage and analyze one’s data. I learned which functions Access incorporates, I got to know how user friendly Access is and I collected experiences working with it. Learning by doing is always better than just watching and hearing and so the “hands-on”-task was really helpful in understanding and the learning process itself. Concluding I can say that databases (and related topics) were always a closed book to me, but know I understand what it is, how they function and the purpose why it is necessary to have databases.

How could the functionality be enhanced?

The functionality of the database being created in the project could be enhanced by visual aids like graphs and figures. Access offers the functions of generating graphs and figures when creating a report. So as an example for the graphical representation of “Recently Departed Members Report” one could have included a graph showing the distribution of members leaving the fitness center on a monthly basis. This could be done by creating another report, clicking on the graph symbol in the ribbon bar, choosing bar graphs and using only the left date as input for the graph. Graphic 1 shows how it could look like.

Graphic 1: Screenshot of Access showing the graph

By having e.g. a bar graph it would be easier to see the fluctuations of numbers of people leaving the gym and might give some hints for the reasoning behind their decisions to quit, because maybe it is season- or month-related. This insights could be used for e.g. marketing and advertising, or decision making in general. 

Graphic 1 by Nina Maria Scherl.

Week 11: Clear

Data Mining

Every day companies create heaps of data which has to be stored, processed and analyzed, and the total amount skyrockets. Thanks to Moore’s Law, which holds true so far, the prices for storages and processing capacity decrease, making the storing and processing of such vast amounts of data possible and affordable. However, modern data sets can be so large that it might be impossible for humans to recognize and spot the underlying trends. Stated differently, a good analysis done by individuals is difficult if not even impossible.

Graphic 1: Huge Amount of Data

 So how can we analyze these data in an efficient and effective way?

Which tools can help us doing it?

For the answers to these questions data mining comes into play. Data mining is the process of using computers to identify hidden patterns, and to build models from large data sets. With the help of computers and automated searches, people are able to analyze data and get sufficient and helpful insights and results.

There are many areas where data mining can be used to analyze data. Some of the key areas are:

Graphic 2: Areas for Data Mining

Hiring and promotion to determine characteristics which are related and consistent with employee success.

Fraud detection to uncover patterns being consistent with criminal activity.

Marketing and promotion targeting to examine which customers respond to which type of offer for which price and at what time.

Customer churn to find out which customers are likely to leave, and create and employ strategies and tactics to retain these customers.

Market basket analysis to identify which kind of products customers are likely to buy together or at the same time, in order to enable the company to cross-sell more of its products and services.

Collaborative filtering to make an experience of an individual customer personalized by basing it on the preferences and trends examines across similar customers.

Financial modeling to build trading systems to capitalize on historical trends.

Customer segmentation to analyze and find out which customers are most valuable to a firm.

Data mining seems to be quite helpful and usable in many areas. However, for data mining to work two critical conditions have to be met. 

First of all the organization must have clean, well-organized, and consistent data, and second, the events in that data should reflect current and future trends in order to analyze and predict more reliable trends.

Graphic 1:

Original photo by gruppetto on wikimedia.org:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Exquisite-folder_pictures.png

Original photo by Przykuta on Wikimedia.org:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Exquisite-folder_document_vip.png

Original photo by BJJ_White_Belt.svg on Wikimedia.org:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_belt.svg

Modified by Nina Maria Scherl.

Graphic 2:

Original photo by Angie on wikimeida.org:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shovels.jpg

Modified by Nina Maria Scherl.

Week 10: Clear

MS Access

Probably everyone has seen MS Access in the MS Office package, but not everyone has a clue about its purpose and functions.

In the following I will give some basic insights into the usage of MS Office Access.

Graphic 1: Layout of Access

MS Office offers Access as an easily-usable program to store and administer data. Generally, a MS Access-database consists of four different basic elements: Tables, Forms, Queries and Reports. As can be seen from Graphic 1, all four elements serve different purposes, but are linked with each other. Following I will explain the purpose of each basic element.

Tables

Tables save the data and hence, represent some kind of data collection. They can be seen as the backbone of the database.

Forms

Forms make the entry of data into tables and the modification of data in tables easier.

Queries

Queries access the data in tables, can display chosen data next to each other and it is even possible to do calculations within queries, e.g. add one variable to another as functions can be used.

Reports

Reports are based on queries and serve the purpose of displaying data and providing a basis for nice print-outs.

By providing the possibility to store, modify, administrate and print data in an easy and convenient way, MS Access is a great program not only for large companies and organizations, but also for small or medium sized enterprises. Even individual people, like you and me, can use it in our everyday-lives e.g. for the management of a DVD collection.

Graphic 1 by Nina Maria Scherl.

Excel Project

Project

The Excel Project was about a research study on the effectiveness of a particular workout program being conducted by a large fitness center. 1000 participants of both genders and different age groups were part of the study. To assess the effectiveness of this particular workout the heart rate was measured at the start of the 15 minutes workout, at one minute intervals during workout, and at one minute intervals during the 5 minute cooldown phase after the workout was finished

.

For the maximum cardiovascular benefit, it is important that the participants reach a particular target heart rate, which is a certain percentage number of their maximum heart rate. Therefore, it was examined whether the participants reached these target rates. Moreover, the owner required to be flexible to choose different target heart rates being based on different percentage numbers.

Another aspect the owner wantsed to investigate is the percentage by which the heart rate increased from the start of the workout program till the maximum heart rate was reached.

Graphic 1: "AvgIncrease" pivot table

Finally, in order to visualize the data and the results two Pivot charts had to be created as those make it much easier for the manager(s) of the fitness center to get an overview about the research study and its implications.

Skills

During the project I learned different skills. First, of all I had to learn how to apply the knowledge I gained in the previous week to a practical real-life example. So the transmission from comprehension to action had to be made. Furthermore, I learned how to create clear excel sheets that are user-friendly. I got to know how to adjust the size of columns and rows and how to make a print-out look good. In addition, I practiced using basic and more complicated functions like the if-function for example. Finally, by creating Pivot tables I learned how to easily prepare visual and clear tables to present the main points of a research study. 

All in all, the project helped me to learn how to upgrade basic Excel sheets, and to become more secure and efficient in handling Excel.

Graphic 1 by Nina Maria Scherl.