Appendix 1.1

Appendix 1.1

Appendix 1.1
(See related pages)

Getting Started With MINITAB

We begin with a look at some features of MINITAB that are common to most analyses. When the instructions call for a sequence of selections from a series of menus, the sequence will be presented in the following form:

Stat: Basic Statistics: Descriptive Statistics

This notation indicates that Stat is the first selection from the Minitab menu bar, next Basic Statistics is selected from the Stat pull-down menu, and finally Descriptive Statistics is selected from the Basic Statistics pull-down menu.

Starting MINITAB Procedures for starting MINITAB may vary from one installation to the next. If you are using a public computing laboratory, you may have to consult local documentation. For typical MINITAB installations, you will generally be able to start MINITAB with a sequence of selections from the Microsoft Windows Start menu something like the following:

Select Start: Programs: MINITAB 14 for Windows: Minitab 14

You can also start MINITAB with a previously saved MINITAB worksheet (like Coffee.mtw or one of the many other data files from the CD-ROM included with this text) from the Windows Explorer by double-clicking on the worksheet’s icon.

After you start MINITAB, the display is partitioned into two working windows. These windows serve the following functions:

The “Session” window is the area where MINITAB commands and basic output are displayed.
The “Data” window is a spreadsheet-style display where data can be entered and edited.

Help resources Like most Windows programs, MINITAB includes on-line help via a Help Menu. The Help feature includes standard Contents and Search entries as well as Tutorials that introduce MINITAB concepts and walk through some typical MINITAB sessions. Also included is a StatGuide that provides guidance for interpreting statistical tables and graphs in a practical, easy-to-understand way.

Entering data (entering the coffee temperature data in TABLE 1.7) from the keyboard:

In the Data window, click on the cell directly below C1 and type a name for the variable, Temp, and press the Enter key.
Starting in line 1 under column C1, type the values for the variable (coffee temperatures from TABLE 1.7) down the column, pressing the Enter key after each number is typed.

Saving data (saving the coffee temperature data):

Select File: Save Current Worksheet As.
In the “Save Worksheet As” dialog box, use the “Save in” pull-down menu to select the destination drive and folder. (Here we have selected the floppy drive, A:)
Enter the desired file name in the File name box. (Here we have chosen the name Coffee. Minitab will automatically add the extension .mtw.)
Click Save in the “Save Worksheet As” dialog box.

Retrieving a Minitab worksheet containing the coffee temperature data in TABLE 1.7 (data file: Coffee.mtw):

Select File: Open Worksheet
In the Open Worksheet dialog box, use the “Look in” pull-down menu to select the source drive and folder. (Here we have selected the floppy drive, A:)
Select the desired file name in the File name box. (Here we have chosen the Minitab worksheet Coffee.Mtw)
Click Open in the Open Worksheet dialog box.
Minitab may display a dialog box with the message, “A copy of the content of this file will be added to the current project.” If so, click OK.

Creating a runs (or time series) plot similar to Figure 1.3 (a) (data file: Coffee.mtw):

Select Graph: Time Series Plot.
In the Time Series Plots dialog box, select Simple, which produces a time series plot of data in a single column. Click OK in the Time Series Plots dialog box.
In the “Time Series Plot—Simple” dialog box, enter the name of the variable, Temp, into the Series box. Do this either by typing its name, by clicking on its name in the variables box on the left and then clicking on the Select button, or by double-clicking on its name in the variables box on the left.
Click OK in the “Time Series Plot—Simple” dialog box.
The runs (or time series) plot will appear in a graphics window.
The graph can be edited by right-clicking on the portion you wish to edit. For instance, here we have right-clicked on the data region. Selecting “Edit Data Region” from the pop up window yields a dialog box that allows you to edit this region. The x and y scales, x and y axis labels, title, plot symbols, connecting lines, data region, figure region, and so forth can all be edited by right-clicking on that particular portion of the graph.
For instance, here we have right-clicked on the data region and then selected “Edit Data Region” from the pop up menu. The Edit Data Region dialog box allows us to edit various attributes of this region. As shown, selecting Custom and clicking on the Background Color arrow allows us to change the background color of the data region.

Printing a high-resolution graph similar to Figure 1.3 (a) (data file: Coffee.mtw):

Click in the graphics window to select it as the active window.
Select File: Print Graph to print the graph.
Select the appropriate printer and click OK in the Print dialog box.
When finished with the graph window, you can close it by clicking on the button in the upper right corner of the graphics window.

Saving the high-resolution graph:

Select File: Save Graph As.
In the “Save Graph As” dialog box, use the “Save in” pull-down menu to select the destination drive and folder (here we have selected the floppy drive, A:).
Enter the desired file name in the File name box (here we have chosen the name Coffee). MINITAB will automatically add the extension .MGF.
Click Save in the “Save Graph As” dialog box.

Printing data from the Session (shown) or Data window (data file: Coffee.mtw):

To print selected text from the Session window:

Use the mouse to select the desired text.
Select File: Print Session Window.
In the Print dialog box, note that the Print range “Selection” option is selected. To print the entire Session window, select Print range “All”.
Click OK in Print dialog box.

To print a Minitab worksheet from the data window:

Click in the Data window to select it as active.
Select File: Print Worksheet.
Click OK in the Data Window Print Options dialog box.
Click OK in the Print dialog box.

Including MINITAB output in reports The immediately preceding examples show how to print various types of output directly from MINITAB. Printing is a useful way to capture a quick hard-copy record of an analysis result. However, you may prefer at times to collect selected analysis results and arrange them with related narrative documentation in a report that can be saved and printed as a unit. This is easily accomplished by copying selected MINITAB results to the Windows clipboard and pasting them into your favorite word processor. Once copied to a word processor document, MINITAB results can be documented, edited, resized, and rearranged as desired into a cohesive record of your analysis. The following sequence of examples illustrates the process of collecting MINITAB output into a Microsoft Word document.

Copying session window output to a word processor document:

Be sure to have a word processing document open to receive the results.
Use the scroll bar on the right side of the Session window to locate the results to be copied and drag the mouse to select the desired output (selected output will be reverse-highlighted in black).
Copy the selected output to the Windows clipboard by clicking the Copy icon on the MINITAB toolbar.
Switch to your word processor document by clicking the button on the Windows task bar (here labeled MS Word Report.doc...).
Click in your word processing document to position the cursor at the desired insertion point.
Click the Paste button on the word processor power bar.
Return to your MINITAB session by clicking the MINITAB button on the Windows task bar.

Copying high-resolution graphics output to a word processor document:

Be sure to have a word processing document open to receive the results.
Copy the selected contents of the high-resolution graphics window to the Windows clipboard by right-clicking in the graphics window and then clicking Copy Graph on the pop up menu.
Switch to your word processor document by clicking the button on the Windows task bar (here labeled MS Word Report.doc...).
Click in your word processing document to position the cursor at the desired insertion point.
Click the Paste button on the word processor power bar.
Return to your MINITAB session by clicking the MINITAB button on the Windows task bar.

Results Here is how the copied results might appear in Microsoft Word. These results can be edited, resized, repositioned, and combined with your own additional documentation to create a cohesive record of your analysis.

We complete this appendix by demonstrating how MINITAB can be used to generate a set of random numbers (as in Example 1.1).

To create 100 random numbers between 1 and 2136 similar to those in Table 1.1(b):

Select Calc: Random Data: Integer
In the Integer Distribution dialog box, enter 100 into the “Generate rows of data” window.
Enter C1 into the “Store in column(s)” window.
Enter 1 into the Minimum value box and enter 2136 into the Maximum value box.
Click OK in the Integer Distribution dialog box.

The 100 random numbers will be placed in the Data Window in column C1. These numbers are generated with replacement. Repeated numbers would be skipped if the random numbers are being used to sample without replacement.

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