Question

For a presentation, you want to sort customer orders for the quarter from largest to smallest, and also highlight orders that are larger than the average order amount. How will you do this?

A) Use a spreadsheet software to sort orders in descending order and apply conditional formatting to highlight orders above the average.
B) Manually review each order and rearrange them based on size, then use a highlighter to mark orders exceeding the average.
C) Create a bar chart with order amounts and manually adjust the order of bars to represent the size, then visually identify orders above the average.
D) Utilize a database query to retrieve orders in descending order and filter orders larger than the average.

Answer 1

To sort customer orders from largest to smallest and highlight those above the average order amount, use a spreadsheet software like Excel, sort the data in descending order, and apply conditional formatting for orders that exceed the average.

Step-by-step explanation:

To sort customer orders for the quarter from largest to smallest and highlight orders that are larger than the average order amount, the most effective and efficient method would be: A) Use a spreadsheet software to sort orders in descending order and apply conditional formatting to highlight orders above the average. This approach involves using descriptive statistics techniques in the spreadsheet to organize and summarize the data.

• First, input all the customer orders into the spreadsheet.
• Next, calculate the average order amount by using the average function.
• Then, sort the data in descending order from largest to smallest values.
• Finally, apply conditional formatting to highlight all cells with values greater than the average order amount.

This method is preferable because it leverages the powerful data analysis features of spreadsheet software, minimizing the risk of human error that comes with manual sorting and calculation (Option B), and it is more straightforward and less labor-intensive than creating and adjusting a bar chart (Option C) or utilizing a database query (Option D).

Inferential statistics and graphical representations such as histograms and boxplots can help in understanding the distribution and variability of the data. However, for the purpose of sorting and highlighting as mentioned in the question, the above steps in a spreadsheet software would suffice.