Assignment: Turning Variables into Knowledge
Imagine that you are hired as a data analyst for a bank. The bank would like to learn more about its customers' spending and banking habits to identify areas of improvement. You have been asked to review the bank's income statements over the last 5 years and identify trends that will allow them to better understand their customers.
Download your chosen bank's annual income statements from the last 5 years from the Mergent database in the Ashford University Library. Review the Getting Started with Mergent resource for tips on accessing and searching the Mergent database. Use the "Company Financials" tab in Mergent to access the income statements.
Identify three variables or categories that the bank may be interested in further researching, such as sales or revenue. Using these three variables or categories, build a frequency table, a bar chart, and a pie chart using Excel. Review the Microsoft Excel Help Guide for resources to help utilize Microsoft Excel. You will be using the same three variables in each table and chart, so the same data will be displayed in three different formats.
After creating the three tables, which of the tables and charts do you find most useful for communicating information about the bank's customers? Write a brief case report summarizing your analysis and results.
In your paper,
1) Identify three variables in the income statements that the bank may be interested further researching to learn more about its customers.
2) Develop a frequency table, a bar chart, and a pie chart using variables in the income statements for your bank.
3) Analyze the table and charts to find the most useful information for communicating information about the bank's customers.
4) Summarize your analysis and results, including how the charts were useful in your research.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
(1) The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
(2) The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
(3) Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.