Managament accounting

Sample and population data (a) Sample data are data arising as a result of investigating a sample. A sample is a selection from the population. (b) Population data are data arising as a result of investigating the population. A population is the group of people or objects of interest to the data collector.

Secondary data:

The main sources of secondary data are: governments; banks; newspapers; trade journals; information bureaux; consultancies; libraries; and information services.

Advantage of secondary data: They are cheaply available. Disadvantage of secondary data: Since the investigator did not collect the data, they are therefore unaware of any inadequacies or limitations of the data.

Big Data:

Big Data refers to the mass of data that society creates each year, extending far beyond the traditional financial and enterprise data created by companies. Sources of Big Data include social networking sites, internet search engines, and mobile devices.

The main characteristics of Big Data are volume, velocity and variety. (a) Volume. The scale of information which can now be created and stored is staggering. Advancing technology has allowed embedded sensors to be placed in everyday items such as cars, video games and refrigerators. Mobile devices have led to an increasingly networked world where people's consumer preferences, spending habits, and even their movements can be recorded. Advances in data storage technology as well as a fall in price of this storage has allowed for the captured data to be stored for further analysis. (b) Velocity. Timeliness is a key factor in the usefulness of financial information to decision makers, and it is no different for the users of Big Data. One source of high-velocity data is Twitter. (c) Variety. Big Data consists of both structured and unstructured data.

The key role of Big Data is to analyze all relevant information and to generate a predictive model of what the outcome of the decision will be.

The key effects of Big Data on decisions can be summarized as follows:

(a) Decisions can be made quickly. (b) Businesses can respond earlier to environmental changes and be more flexible in their response. (c) Decisions can be based on current situation but also have an element of taking potential future situations into account. (d) Decisions are made on hard data evidence that can be quantified. (e) Decisions can be made on a collaborative basis because data is easily shared and converted from one form into another. (f) 'Outside the box' decisions are more likely because all factors are taken into account, not just the ones managers think of.