ACC 409 Chapter 5 Intro to data analytics in ACC
Extracting Data
Understand data needs and the data available perform the data extraction verify the data extraction quality and document what you have done
C
What do the letters in the acronym ETL stand for? A.Enrich, Transcribe, and Launch B.Extract, Transcribe, and Launch C.Extract, Transform, and Load D.Enrich, Transform, and Load
data lake
collection of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data stored in a single location
robotic process automation (RPA) software
computer software that can be programmed to automatically perform tasks across applications just as human workers do.
data swamps
data repositories that are not accurately documented so that the stored data cannot be properly identified and analyzed.
data marts
data repositories that hold structured data for a subset of an organization
data dashboard
display of important data points, metrics, and key performance indicators in easily understood data visualizations.
Start of part 2
electric boogaloo
Predictive analytics
information that results from analyses that focus on predicting the future—they address the question "what might happen in the future?" forecasting future events like stock prices or currency exchange rates
Structured data
refers to data that is highly organized and fits into fixed fields.
Data volume
refers to the amount of data created and stored by an organization.
Data variety
refers to the different forms data can take.
Data veracity
refers to the quality or trustworthiness of data.
Achievable:
should be able to be answered and the answer should cause a decision maker to take an action.
text qualifier
two characters that indicate the beginning and ending of a field and tell the program to ignore any delimiters contained between the characters.
metadata
data that describes other data.
unstructured data
data that has no uniform structure
semi-structured data
data that has some organization but is not fully organized to be inserted into a relational database
Big data
the term companies use to describe the massive amounts of data they now capture, store, and analyze.
RPA bot,
which is an autonomous computer program designed to perform a specific task.
D
Asking the right questions is the first step of an analytics mindset. Which of the following is not part of the analytics mindset as defined by the accounting firm EY? A.Extract, transform, and load relevant data B.Interpret and share the results with stakeholders C.Apply appropriate data analytic techniques D.Exercise professional skepticism when using data
C
At a local supermarket, a data analyst used video data of the parking lots to identify the times when customer carts are most often left out in the parking lot. The analyst then designed the scheduling program to schedule more employee baggers to work during the time when shopping carts are left outside. The data analyst used what type of analytics in this scenario? A.Descriptive analytics B.Diagnostic analytics C.Prescriptive analytics D.Predictive analytics
B
Cindy, the controller at the organization, asks David, an accounts receivable clerk, "We want to be able to collect all cash from customers who make purchases. Which customers were more than 30 days late paying for their merchandise?" This question does the worst at accomplishing which of the following SMART objectives? A.Measurable B.Timely C.Relevant D.Specific
C
Computer software that can be programmed to automatically perform tasks across applications just as human workers do is called _______. A.ETL software B.analytics software C.robotic process automation (RPA) software D.big data software
Transforming Data
Understand the data and the desired outcome. Standardize, structure, and clean the data. Validate data quality and verify data meets data requirements. Document the transformation process
A
Understanding what big data means helps to know what types of questions can be fruitfully examined using data. Big data differs from regular data in four ways, often called the "four V's." Which of the following is not one of the four V's? A.Validity B.Velocity C.Veracity D.Variety
C
What is the definition of a question that is measurable? A.A question that is direct and focused to produce a meaningful answer. B.A question that should be able to be answered and the answer should cause a decision maker to act. C.A question that is amenable to data analysis: the inputs are measurable with data. D.A question that has a defined time horizon for answering.
Timely:
must have a defined time horizon for answering
data owner
the person or function in the organization who is accountable for the data and can give permission to access and analyze the data.
B
A data owner sends you an e-mail with a file to prepare for analysis. The file contains data from multiple database tables all merged into a single file. There are multiple fields in the file each separated by a "~" symbol. For fields that contain large amounts of text, the file contains a "+" at the beginning and end of the text field. Indicate which of the following best describes (1) the type of file the data owner sent, (2), what the "+" is called, and (3) what the "~" is called. A.Relational database file, delimiter, text qualifier B.Flat file, text qualifier, delimiter C.Relational database file, text qualifier, delimiter D.Flat file, delimiter, text qualifier
ETL process
A set of procedures for blending data; extract, load, and transfer data
analytics mindset
A way of thinking that centers on the correct use of data and analysis for decision making.
C
The process of translating complex data into easier to understand terms is called ________. A.data transformation B.data visualization C.data storytelling D.data dashboard
C
According to EY, which of the following techniques should be developed to an "Awareness" level? A.Cluster analysis, inferential statistics B.Querying, regression C.Neural networks, artificial intelligence D.Forecasting, aggregation
D
Amitola created a dashboard showing key metrics about the accounts payable process at her organization. The dashboard showed various metrics including: the total number of vendors, the amount saved by paying vendors on early, and the number of late payments to vendors. Which of the following best describes the type of analytics included in the dashboard? A.Diagnostic analytics B.Predictive analytics C.Prescriptive analytics D.Descriptive analytics
D
An analytic that answers the question, "what might happen in the future?" is best described as which of the following? A.Descriptive analytic B.Prescriptive analytic C.Diagnostic analytic D.Predictive analytic
A B
Check each example of structured data in the list below. A.Phone numbers of employees saved in a database B.Customer addresses saved in a customer relation database C.Photographs of all employees saved in the human resource database D.HTML website data saved on the company's website
A B C D
Check each item listed below that is part of the process for transforming data. A.Document the transformation process B.Standardize, structure, and clean the data C.Validate data quality and verify data meets data requirements D.Understand the data and the desired outcome
B
Good questions should be "SMART." Which of the SMART objectives suggests that a question should relate to the objectives of the organization or the situation under consideration? A.Achievable B.Relevant C.Measurable D.Specific
Dark data
Information the organization has collected and stored that would be useful for analysis but is not analyzed and is thus generally ignored.
A
Jane needs to create a data dashboard for each employee showing their performance during the last quarter. To build this dashboard, she must download data from a system, reformat it, upload it to a new system, and then build a visualization. To do this, Jane uses a program to automatically do all of these steps. What Jane built is an example of which of the following? A.Automation B.Diagnostic Analytic C.Data storytelling D.Descriptive Analytic
Specific:
needs to be direct and focused to produce a meaningful answer.
four step transformation process
1. Understand the data and the desired outcome. 2. Standardize, structure, and clean the data. 3. Validate data quality and verify data meets data requirements. 4. Document the transformation process.
C (for some reason... I'm not mad YOURE mad >:( )
An analytic that answers the question, "why did this happen?" is best described as which of the following? A.Diagnostic analytic B.Predictive analytic C.Descriptive analytic D.Prescriptive analytic
D
Before becoming the CEO, Kurt designed a new toy for the company. Although the sales of the new toy are the same as other toys in the company, the CEO gives employees in the new toy division a reward and bonus. The CEO is likely showing what? A.A data sharing error B.A data analysis error C.Correlation can be causation D.A confirmation bias
A
Bernard prepares a data dashboard to send to the CFO. The CFO's objective for the dashboard is to see the "free cash" position of the company each morning in less than one minute. The dashboard fits on a single computer screen and contains 22 different charts. Which storytelling principles are supported by this dashboard? A.None of these B.Communicate quickly C.Communicate effectively D.Appropriate level of detail
B C
Check each option below that demonstrates when data analytics may not be the correct tool for making a decision. A.When decisions must be accurate B.When making an ethical decision C.When something is very difficult to measure, such as emotions D.When there is a long history of reliable data
A C
Check good visualization design principles among the four options given. A.Choose the right type of visualization B.Use text and not data visualizations C.Simplify the presentation of data. D.Do not use data dashboards
A D
Check the likely benefits of using robotic process automation among the four options below. A.RPA performs tasks faster than a human. B.RPA is better adapting to changing environments than a human. C.RPA can do more cognitively challenging tasks than a human. D.RPA will make fewer mistakes for rules based tasks than a human.
Good principles of visualization design include:
Choosing the right type of visualization. Simplifying the presentation of data. Emphasizing what is important. Representing the data ethically.
D
Chunhua has been building financial forecasting models for the company for several years. For each model, she saves all the data that could possibly be used in the model, even if she doesn't use all the data in her finished model. She does not document anything about the different items she has saved. When her intern, Minsuh pulls the data, she cannot understand what all the fields mean. How would Minsuh most accurately describe the data? A.The data is now dark data B.The data contains metadata C.The data is not part of the data warehouse D.The data has become a data swamp
Loading Data
Ensure the transformed data is stored in a format and structure acceptable to the receiving software understand how the new program will interpret data formats
Automation
The application of machines to automatically perform a task once performed by humans. is the application of machines to automatically perform a task once performed by humans. For example, instead of manually copying and pasting data from a computer database into another program, a computer program can be written that automatically performs this task.
A
When accountants build bots to help them with the tasks of their job, what description best explains the type of bot they would build? A.A computer program that is designed to perform a specific task B.None of these C.A robot that uses artificial intelligence to act like a human D.A machine that performs a task more quickly than a human
D
Which of the following is the best example of correlation not being the same as causation? A.After a poorly performing quarter, a company sends out coupons in the mail and sees an increase in sales. The company concludes that sending coupons causes sales to increase. B.A company redesigns a production process and afterwards it takes less time to produce products. The company concludes that redesigning processes causes production efficiency gains. C.A company pays sales employees more for each sale and each employee starts selling more goods. The company concludes that paying employees more for a sale causes employees to sell more items. D.During an economic downturn, a company changes its computer policy to only allow purchases of windows-based laptops and see profits go down. The company concludes that windows-based laptops cause profits to go down.
delimiter
a character, or series of characters, that marks the end of one field and the beginning of the next field.
Mindsets
analytics mindset, global mindset, growth mindset, innovative mindset.
Diagnostic analytics
build on descriptive analytics and try to answer the question "why did this happen?" These types of analytics attempt to determine causal relationships—for example, does increasing the IT budget in an organization increase employee efficiency and effectiveness?
Prescriptive analytics
information that provide a recommendation of what should happen; they answer the question "what should be done?" creation of algorithms that predict whether an individual or company will pay back their loan and then make a recommendation about whether a loan should be extended or not
Descriptive analytics
information that results from the examination of data to understand the past. "what happened?" or "what is happening? The computation of accounting ratios, such as return on investment or gross margin, is an example
Data storytelling
is the process of translating often complex data analyses into more easy to understand terms to enable better decision making. This can help simplify all of the complexities that go into the process of gathering data, analyzing data, and interpreting data.
Data visualization
is the use of a graphical representation of data to convey meaning. A shorthand name for data visualizations used in practice is "viz" or "vizs." A common way to display data vizs is with a data dashboard, or dashboard for short.
mindset
mental attitude, a way of thinking, or frame of mind. Mindsets are powerful collections of beliefs and thoughts that shape how you think and feel and what you do.
Measurable:
must be amenable to data analysis and thus the inputs to answering the question must be measurable with data.
Behaviors
professional skepticism, critical thinking, logic, lifelong learning, embraces challenges, adaptability to new situations, adaptability when interacting with others, cultural awareness, curiosity, and leadership.
Knowledge
proficiency in accounting and auditing, technology, psychology, and communication.
Data velocity
refers to the pace at which data is created and stored.
Relevant:
should relate to the objectives of the organization or the situation under consideration.
flat file
text file that contains data from multiple tables or sources and merges that data into a single row.
