Minitab Tutorial
Please note: This tutorial is designed to
work you through exercises that will introduce you to Minitab. It is not meant
to stand alone. Minitab contains wonderful documentation within the program itself
in the online Help menu.
Minitab.
a. Capabilities
b. The Minitab Environment
c. Data Management
a. Display Descriptive
Statistics
3. Graphing
a. Overview
b. Time Series Plot
c. Histogram
d. Chart
e. Dotplot
f. Pie chart
g. Stem-and-Leaf
h. Boxplot
i. Probability plot
j. Character graphs
a. One-Sample Z-Test and
Confidence Interval
b. One-Sample t-Test and Confidence Interval
c. Two-Sample t-Test and Confidence Interval
d. Paired t-Test and Confidence Interval
e. Test and Confidence Interval of a Proportion
f. Test and Confidence Interval of Two Proportions
g. Correlation
h. Regression and Residuals
Minitab is a powerful statistical software
package that provides a wide range of data analysis and graphing capabilities
to the user. It is widely used in education, as well as in business, industry,
and research. Here are some of the capabilities of Minitab:
Descriptive statistics, with both graphical
and numerical summaries
-Confidence intervals
-One- and two-sample t-tests, paired t-tests
-Tests for proportions
-Normality tests
-Tests for equal variances
-Simple and multiple linear regression
-Plotting regression lines with confidence and prediction bands
-Identification of unusual observations and model diagnostics
-Residual plots
-ANOVA tests
-Goodness-of-fit test
-Contingency tables
-Power calculations
-Presentation-style graphics
-Scatterplots, box plots, histograms, charts, time series plots
-Built-in graphs in analysis commands
-High-resolution dotplots
-Ability to customize all attributes of every element in a graph: color, type
size, fonts, data display, and annotation
-Powerful, easy-to-use graph editor
-Ability to edit Minitab graphs in other applications
Back to Table of Contents
Minitab windows
·
The Session
window displays text output such as tables of statistics.
o
Data
windows are where you enter, edit, and view column data for each worksheet.
o
Graph
windows display graphs.
o
The
Project Manager window contains folders that allow you to navigate, view, and
manipulate various parts of your project. Just right-click on either the
folders or their contents to access menus that allow you to manage the Session
window.
Menus and Tools
·
The menu
bar is where you choose commands.
o
The
standard toolbar displays buttons for commonly used functions.
·
The
toolbar is dynamic and will change depending on the active window.
o
The
project manager toolbar provides shortcuts to Project Manager folders.
o
The
status bar displays explanatory text whenever you are pointing to a menu item
or toolbar button.
o
Shortcut
menus appear when you right-click on any window in Minitab or on any folder in
the Project Manager.
o
Two
graph editing palettes, the tool palette and the attribute palette, let you add
and change elements on graphs.
Getting Answers and Information
·
Online
help: Complete documentation on each Minitab feature and concept, written for
users of menus and dialog boxes.
Get to it by:
o
Help
> Search Help
o
Click
the Help button in any dialog box
o
Press F1
at any time
o
Click ? on the
toolbar
·
Session
command help: Documentation on each session command, including syntax and
examples.
Get to it by:
o
From the
Start menu, choose Programs > Minitab 13 for Windows > Session Command
Help
o
Choose
Help > Session Command Help
·
StatGuide:
Provides statistical guidance after you run a procedure in Minitab, primarily
focusing on interpreting results.
Get to it by:
o
the
symbol with the three sheets with sigma on the front sheet
o
Press
shift + F1
o
Right-click
in the active window or on a session title in the Project
·
Manager
Session folder and choose StatGuide
o
Choose
Help > StatGuide
Back to Table of Contents
·
Three
types of data:
1. Numeric data: Numbers
2. Text data: Characters that can consist of a
mix of letters, numbers, spaces, and special characters
3. Date/time: Can be dates in any format, times,
or both. Minitab stores dates and times internally as numbers, but displays
them in a format of your choice
·
Forms of
data:
o
Column:
Contains any type of data and is referred to by C + a number or by a name.
o
Stored
constant: Contains a single number or text string and is referred to by K + a
number or by a name.
o
Matrix:
Contains a rectangular block of cells containing numbers and is referred to by
M + a number or by name.
·
Using
the data window:
o
View the
columns of data stored in the worksheet
o
Enter
and edit values
o
Manipulate
columns by changing format, font, name, width, description, and position of
columns
·
Entering
data:
o
The data
window works similar to a spreadsheet for data entry. Note the arrow in the
upper left hand corner of the data window.
o
When the
arrow is pointing down, data may be entered column-wise and pressing tab or
enter will move you down a column.
o
When the
arrow is pointing to the right, data may be entered row-wise and pressing tab
or enter will move you across a row.
o
You may
also enter data within a block. Highlight the area within which you wish to
work. Enter the data. The active cell moves only within the selected area.
o
If you
make a mistake, just highlight the old value and type a new one.
o
You may
copy and paste data within Minitab, or into Minitab
from other applications available at RVGS, including Microsoft Excel, a table
in a word processor, text in the body of a word processing document, or another
Minitab session window.
Special note: Much of what you use in Minitab
will be intuitive. Do not be afraid to experiment with the program. You may be
surprised at how easy it is to use!
Back to Table of Contents
I. Display Descriptive
Statistics
·
To
calculate descriptive statistics:
o
Choose
Stat > Basic Statistics > Display Descriptive Statistics.
o
In
Variables, enter the column(s) containing the data you want to describe or
highlight those variables you wish to describe and click Select
o
If you
like, use one or more of the options and click OK.
·
In the
display in the session window, you will see each of the following statistics:
o
Number
of nonmissing values
o
Number
of missing values
o
Mean
o
Trimmed
mean: Minitab removes the smallest 5% and the largest 5% of the values and then
finds the average of the remaining data
o
Standard
error of the mean: Calculated by dividing the standard deviation by the square
root of the number of data points
o
Standard
deviation: Standard sample standard deviation calculation
o
Minimum
o
Maximum
o
Median
o
First
and third quartiles
·
In the
graphical summary of descriptive statistics, you will see each of the following
statistics:
o
Number
of non-missing values
o
Mean
o
Confidence
interval for the population mean
o
Standard
deviation
o
Confidence
interval for the population standard deviation
o
Variance
o
Minimum
o
Maximum
o
Median
o
Confidence
interval for the median
o
First
and third quartiles
o
Skewness
o
Kurtosis
(A measure of how different a distribution is from normal)
o
Normality
test statistic, p-value
Practice
Enter the following data into a new Minitab
worksheet. Name C1 'Ruth' and name C2 'Maris'. Enter the following homerun data
into the appropriate columns and verify that you have entered the data
correctly.
Ruth 54 59 35 41 46 25 47 60 54 46 49 46 41
34 22
Maris 13 23 26 16 33 61 28 39 14 8
Answer the following questions based on the
above data:
1. What are the values for the mean number of
homeruns hit by Ruth and Maris?
2. What is the 5-number summary for each of the players?
3. What is the standard deviation for the number of homeruns hit by each
player?
4. Are the data for either player normally distributed? Why or why not?
Back to Table of Contents
Each of the graphs discussed in this section
may be found in the Graph menu. Except for the character graphs, which appear
in the Session window, all graphs described will appear in the graph windows.
A TSP displays a quantitative variable on the
y-axis versus a variable stated in terms of time on the x-axis. By default, the
data points on a TSP are connected by lines. An assumption is made that the
dependent variable data occurred in the order that the values appear in the
column, in equally-spaced time intervals. If the data did not occur that way,
consider using the plot command.
The time scales can be labeled in a variety
of ways:
·
index
units: integers that represent units of time (each individual observation is
labeled with a consecutive integer)
·
date/time
stamp: taking values from an assigned date/time column
·
calendar
units: days, months, quarters, or years, or up to three in combination
·
clock
units: days, hours, minutes, or seconds, or up to three in combination
To create a TSP:
1. Choose Graph > Time Series Plot or Stat
> Time Series > Time Series Plot.
2. In Y, enter the column of numeric data.
3. Under Time Scale, choose the appropriate time scale.
Note: When using Date/Time Stamp, enter the
column that contains your desired time unit. When using Calendar or Clock,
choose a time unit from the drop down menu.
4. Choose any of the graphics options and click OK.
To specify a time range or
interval,
1. In the Time Series Plot main dialog box, choose a time scale.
2. Click Options for a subdialog box that contains features for the scale you
chose.
3. Under Assignment of Time to Data,
click in the Cycle through values box for the time you want to affect.
4. Type a range and the intervals
within that range that you wish to display.
·
Specify
a range by typing two numbers separated by a colon
·
Specify
an interval by typing a slash and a number:
5.
Click OK.
To
specify a start time:
1. In the Time Series Plot main dialog
box, chose a time scale.
2. Click Options.
3. Under Start times, click in row 1
under the time unit you want to affect. Type the starting value.
4. Fill in start values for any other
cells in row 1.
5. If you specified several time plots
in the Time Series Plot dialog box, you may specify a separate set of start
times for each plot.
6. Click OK.
Practice
The monthly sales figures (in $1000s) for an
athletic shoe store are presented below for the years 1992, 1993, and 1994. The
data should be read across the rows.
- 204 188 235 227 234 264 302 293 259 229 203
229
- 242 233 267 269 270 315 364 347 312 274 237 278
- 284 277 317 313 318 374 413 405 355 306 271 306
Create a detailed time series plot of this
data and answer the following questions:
1. What trends do you notice in the
data?
2. Are there any particular months in
which trends seem obvious year after year?
3. If you were an advertising
consultant for this company, what recommendations would you make?
Back to Table of Contents
A histogram displays a bar for each class or group
in a quantitative variable. These groups are continuous intervals of data. For
each interval, the height of the bar corresponds to the class count (number of
observations in the interval) or frequency. You can change the way the
intervals are calculated or specify which intervals you want to display. You
can also change the y-axis from a frequency scale to a percent or cumulative
scale.
To create a histogram:
1. Choose Graph > Histogram.
2. In X, enter the column containing the data
you wish to analyze.
3. If you would like to use any of the following
options, click OK.
a. Change the way the data is displayed
b. the histogram by adding a title, text,
footnotes, lines, polygons, markers, or data labels
c. Change the frame by specifying the axes, tick
marks, grids, reference lines, or the scale
d. Modifying regions within the graph itself
e. Grouping the graphs in a manner other than
the default
4. When changing the y-axis, you may choose to
use on of six types of scales;
a. Frequency: The height of the bar equals the
number of observations that fall in that interval.
b. Percent: The height of the bar equals the
percentage of the total number of observations that fall in that interval.
c. Density: The height of the bar equals a function
of the area of the interval. The total of all of the bars is one. The area of
one bar is the proportion of the observations in that interval.
d. Cumulative Frequency, Cumulative Percent, or
Cumulative Density: The height of the bar equals the frequency, percentage, or
density of that interval plus all previous intervals.
5. To change the y-scale:
a. In the Histogram main dialog box, click
Options.
b. Under Type of Histogram, choose the scale you
want.
6. To change the placement of the tick marks:
a. In the Histogram main dialog box, click
Options.
b. Under Type of Intervals, choose MidPoint or CutPoint.
c. Click OK.
7. To define the number and position of
intervals:
a. In the Histogram main dialog box, click
Options.
b. Under Type of histogram, choose MidPoints or CutPoints.
c. Under Definition of intervals, choose one of
three options: Automatic, Number of intervals, or Midpoint/cutpoint positions.
i.
If you
choose Number of intervals, select how many intervals you want (from 2 to 100)
ii.
If you
choose Set midpoint/cutpoint positions for midpoint selection, the position of
each midpoint tick must be equally spaced
iii.
If you
choose Set midpoint/cutpoint positions when cutpoint is selected, the first
value you type is the left boundary of the first interval; the second value is
the boundary between the first and the second interval, etc. The positions of
the cutpoints do not have to be equally spaced.
For example, a histogram of capital expenses
with ticks at cutpoints shows the first tick at 3.5 and the last tick at 38.5.
You decide that it would look nicer with a range of 5 to 40, with intervals
every five values. When you choose Midpoint/cutpoint positions, type
Practice
Use the data on Babe Ruth's and Roger Maris's
homeruns to create a histograms. Use some of the options to make the histograms
useful to the reader. Answer the following questions:
1. Do the data seem to be normally distributed?
2. Why is there no column above 30?
3. From the shape of the histogram, would you
expect the mean to be much less than the mean, about the same as the mean, or
much greater than the mean? Compare you answer with the results obtained when
you calculated the basic statistics. Do they agree?
4. Instead of using the default axes, create
histograms with the same axes for both Ruth and Maris. What information is
apparent from looking at both of these histograms?
Back to Table of Contents
You can produce many kinds of charts with Minitab,
including bar charts, line charts, symbol charts, and projection charts. We are
going to focus on bar charts. Bar charts can take on two forms:
·
A chart
of counts shows the count of each unique observation.
·
A chart
of function by group uses one column of measurement data for the y-axis and a
second column as a category or grouping of the variable that appears on the
x-axis.
For a chart of counts, you will need one column of categorical data for the x-