About

In this section, we will be using Tableau to learn concepts on data outliers, seasonality effect, and the relationships and impacts. There is no R coding in this lab session.

Setup

This worksheet will be used to capture your images from Tableau and to share your observations. Example of capturing and including an image is included at the end of this sheet for your reference. You will need to log onto Tableau and Connect/Import the file EuroStore.xls found in the ‘bsad_lab10’ folder.

Remember to always set your working directory to the source file location. Go to ‘Session’, scroll down to ‘Set Working Directory’, and click ‘To Source File Location’. Read carefully the below and follow the instructions to complete the tasks and answer any questions. Submit your work to RPubs as detailed in previous notes.

Note

For your assignment you may be using different data sets than what is included here. Always read carefully the instructions on Sakai. Tasks/questions to be completed/answered are highlighted in larger bolded fonts and numbered according to their particular placement in the task section.

PART A: DATA OUTLIERS AND SEASONALITY EFFECT

First get familiar with the data and what each columns represent. A description of the data is provided in a seperate sheet called ‘Desc’ in the same Excel file. Refer to Lab05 for early exercise using Tableau.

In a new Tableau sheet

TASK 1: Plot Sales (Rows) versus Week (Columns). Include a snapshot here, Analyse the data source and explain in clear words the behavior you observe.

##ANSWER TASK 1: There was a dramatic drop in sales between weeks 23-25 and then sales recovered by week 26.

TASK 2: Switch from SUM(Sales) to Average AVG(Sales). Change the Sales scale to be more reflective of the data. Include a snapshot here. Explain the new behavior relative to 1A).

##ANSWER TASK 2: The drop in sales is no longer there because the weeks of 23-25 only have one sale per day versus the other weeks that all have more than one so when you take the average those weeks have less weight. However, there is a downward trend starting after week 30.

TASK 3: Add Temp to the Color scale found in Marks. Change SUM(Temp) to AVG(Temp). Edit the color legend to be more reflective of hot and cold temperatures. Include a snapshot here. Explain the combined behavior of sales and temperature.

##ANSWER TASK 3: Based on the temp the sales are impacted. Colder weather indicates lower sales and hotter weather indicates a rise in sales ———-

PART B: RELATIONSHIPS AND IMPACTS

In a seperate Tableau sheet

TASK 4: Plot Sales (Rows) versus TV (Columns). Switch both measures from SUM() to Dimension. The plot should look more like a scatter plot. Include a snapshot here. Explain the behavior of Sales versus TV. How much you think is the upper limit amount that should be invested in TV ads?

##ASNWER TASK 4: 100 should be the upper limit, but their isn’t much of a relationship because sales are high and low even when you spend no money in TV advertising.

TASK 5: Overlay Radio to the previous plot using the Size. scale found in Marks. Include a snapshot here. Explain how the additional Radio ads to Tv ads is impacting Sales.

##ANSWER TASK 5: Both Radio and TV are similar, but when you begin to spend more than 250 Radio sales are impacted more than TV.

In a separate Tableau sheet

TASK 6: Plot Sales versus Fuel Volume. Switch both measures from SUM() to Dimension. Explain behavior.

##ANSWER TASK 6: There is correlation between sales and fuel volume. If you drew a diagnal line through the scatter plots you would see many of the dots near the line. I wouldn’t say it’s a really strong correlation, but neverless there is a correlation.

TASK 7: Overlay Temperature using the Color scale. Follow TASK 3 for temperature settings. Explain the new combined behavior and the impact of temperature.

##ANSWER TASK 7: Sales are highest when Fuel Volume is up and temperature is higher.

TASK 8: Overlay Holiday using the Label scale. Include a snapshot here. Explain the new combined behavior and the impact of Holiday.

##ASNWER TASK 8: There are more 1s towards the top and when temp and fuel volume is higher. So the coclusion is that holidays and hot weather is good for sales

In a separate sheet

TASK 9: Use a Tree Map to best show the combined effect of Sales, Fuel Volume, Temp, and Holiday. A sample view is shown below. Consider using the Quick Filter on Holiday and Temp to isolate and better view the impact of each. You can have more than one filter at a time. Include a snapshot here.
TASK 10: Write a small paragraph summarizing your final conclusions on what you think most affect Sales and under what conditions.

ASNWER TASK 10: Based on the graphs it is clear that temp and fuel volume have the largest affect on sales. After that I would conclude that holidays play an affact on the sales. Also, based on the data collected from the graphs on spending amounts it was difficult to tell the optimum amount of money to spend on ads for Tv and radio to increase radio. Maybe the product being sold is a seasonal item and that spending on ads should be speant upon the build up of summer.