Introduction to Minitab and Basic Graphical Analysis

This hands-on workshop is normally taught in 1 day (or 1.5 days with additional or custom content).

Decrease the time required for statistical analysis by quickly learning to navigate MINITAB’s user-friendly and customizable environment. Learn how to import/export data and output between MINITAB and various software and database systems. Enhance your ability to create, manipulate, and restructure data. Develop sound statistical approaches to data analysis by learning how to create and interpret a wide variety of graphs and numerical measures useful for quality improvement initiatives. This course focuses on the utilization of these tools as they pertain to applications commonly found in manufacturing, engineering, and business processes.

Topics covered include: Charts, Histograms, Boxplots, Dotplots, Scatterplots, Tables, Measures of Location and Variation, ODBC.

This workshop is a prerequisite for all other Minitab workshops.

Optional topics are special additions to standard Minitab training workshops, and extend the course by about 1/2 day. All Minitab training workshops use the latest, current version of Minitab, and authorized Minitab training materials.

Overview of Minitab

Minitab 9 graphs - click for larger image

Minitab file structure; navigating Minitab using Project Manager; Minitab windows, menus, toolbars and StatGuide;
basic graphical and statistical analysis;
Accessing multiple worksheets in a project; ReportPad, Related Documents; changing data types;
Basic graphs summaries (dotplots, graphical summary); removing incorrect values, updating a graph;
descriptive statistics, and interpretation;
multiple graph layouts; creating reports; shortcut keys;
interpretation of statistical output.

Optional: video on Normal Distribution (from Against All Odds: Inside Statistics series); discussion of distribution identification; 8 ways to identify Normal distribution; discussion of Hypothesis Testing, Truth Tables

Data Entry & Basic Charts

Minitab Graphical Summary - click for larger image

Entering data: Autofill
Pareto and Barcharts; Grouped BarChart
updating a graph after worksheet data changes; editing graphs after creation

Patterned Data

create data collection and sampling plans; generate patterned numeric, text and date/time data; generate random samples from a column of data;
Extracting text data from dates; splitting worksheets

Optional: Tree Diagrams to visualize Crossed and Nested designs for sampling plans (eg Measurement System Analysis); Multi-Vari charts to visualize results from crossed and nested datasets.

Basic Data Analysis

Minitab Dotplot graph - click for larger image

histograms, dotplots, boxplots, time series plots
Calculate and interpret descriptive statistics
Time series plot
Histograms; bins; distributions
editing graphs; visualizing statistics & summaries
Overadjusting a process

Optional: Demonstration of Deming Funnel Experiment – overadjusting a process increases process variability!

Importing and manipulating data

Multivari chart - click for larger image

(Minitab opens files directly from Excel, Quattro Pro, Lotus, dbase, txt and dat files);
previewing files to import; changing column names, data types before import; importing from Excel;
calculator; display descriptive statistics; coding data (numeric to text); tallying data; pareto chart;
creation and running of Minitab Execs (Minitab Macros).
Sorting data;
Importing from ODBC database; summarizing data; distribution shapes

Optional: video on Central Limit Theorem (from Against All Odds: Inside Statistics series)

Practice Exercises

Each participant receives an official Minitab workbook and data files, as well as a certificate for Recertification Units for completion of this workshop.

See other Minitab Training Courses and comments from previous participants in C.F. Kavanaugh's workshops!