Introduction to Minitab

(Student and Professional Versions 15)

OVERVIEW

In this lab, you will become familiar with the general features of Minitab statistical analysis
software, as well as some specialized features for conducting introductory statistical analysis
and graphing.

OBJECTIVES
By the end of the laboratory, you will be able to
• Enter data in Minitab.
• Save both Projects and Worksheets.
• Use Minitab’s pull down menus and the submenus.
• Calculate with columns of data.
• Use Minitab to calculate descriptive statistics.
• Draw histograms, boxplots, and scatterplots.

EQUIPMENT
• PC with Minitab
• Computer diskette or USB device to save files

BACKGROUND MATERIAL

Minitab is statistical analysis software. It can be used for learning about statistics as well as
statistical research. Statistical analysis computer applications have the advantage of being
accurate, reliable, and generally faster than computing statistics and drawing graphs by hand.
Minitab is relatively easy to use once you know a few fundamentals.

Note: The computer icon, , indicates you will need to complete the procedure on the
computer. The book icon, , indicates that you will need to read the information.

Ginger Holmes Rowell, Ph. D. and Megan Duffey, MTSU 2004

OPENING MINITAB IN WINDOWS 95, 98, NT, OR XP

Open Minitab following the steps below.

• Click the Start button in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.
• Select Programs >Minitab 15>Minitab 15.
Or
• Double click the Minitab icon on the desktop.
• Minitab will open.

GENERAL LAYOUT

When you first open Minitab, you will see two windows, a Session window and a
Worksheet window.
• Session Window: The area that displays the statistical results of your data analysis.
(Also used to enter commands and macros.)
• Worksheet Window: A grid of rows and columns used to enter and manipulate the data.
Note: This area looks like a spreadsheet but will not automatically update the columns
when entries are changed.

Other windows include

• Project Manager: Allows you to navigate, view, and manipulate various parts of your
project such as session window output, graphs, worksheets, and related project areas.
Note: This window is minimized at startup.
• Report Window: Found in the Project Manager for creating, arranging, and editing,
reports of your work.
• Graph Window: When you generate graphs, each graph is opened in its own window.

DATA TYPES

• Numerical: Numerical data is the only type Minitab will use for statistical calculations.
Numerical data is aligned on the right side of the column. Minitab will not recognize
numbers with commas as numbers but will consider them text.
• Text: Text cannot be used for computations. Though “text” generally means words or
characters, numbers can be classified as text. If column 1 has text in it, the column label

Ginger Holmes Rowell, Ph. D. and Megan Duffey, MTSU 2004

 will change from C1 to C1-T. Data types can be changed. See the details in the
Manipulating Data section.
• Date/Time: Minitab recognizes 3/5/00 as a date and 4:30 as a time but will store these
internally as a number so you can manipulate them. The column label will indicate a date
or time value by putting a D after the column name (for example C1-D).

ENTERING DATA

You can enter your data going down or across. In the top left corner of the Worksheet
window, there is a cell with an arrow in it. Click this cell to change the action of the Enter key.
• If the arrow is pointing down, then the cursor will go down the column when you press
Enter.
• If the arrow is pointing to the right, then the cursor will go across the row, to the next column
when you press Enter.

Enter the data from the scenario below.

Scenario
An individual took measurements of the temperature and the amount of water s/he consumed
during a three-hour period outside. The data, shown below, was collected for seven random days
during the summer.

Water
Temperature Consumption
(F) (ounces)
75 16
83 20
85 25
85 27
92 32
97 48
99 48

Entering data is really two steps: entering column headings and entering data.

1. Enter the column headings. Column headings must be entered above Row 1.
• Enter “Temperature (F)” in the first cell in Column 1. (Note: The first cell is above
Row 1.)
• Enter “Water Consumption (ounces)” in first cell in Column 2.

Ginger Holmes Rowell, Ph. D. and Megan Duffey, MTSU 2004

 2. Enter the data. Enter the corresponding temperature and water consumption values in
the appropriate columns as shown. Do not change the order of the items. Make sure the
items were entered as numbers not text.

Usually, it is best to take time to think about how you will be analyzing the data before you enter
it. That can save trouble later. However, if your data is not entered in the best format the first
time, you can manipulate it and may not have to re-enter it.

MANIPULATING DATA

Minitab can change data types within limits. You cannot make a simple switch of
people’s names to numeric values, but if you have a column of numbers that was accidentally
entered as text, then you can change those numbers to numeric values. Minitab makes the
following types of transformations.

To make these changes in Minitab, from the main menu select DATA > CHANGE DATA
TYPE. Then, select the option that you want and fill in the dialog box.

Ginger Holmes Rowell, Ph. D. and Megan Duffey, MTSU 2004

 Check to make sure that the temperature/water data has been entered as numbers. If
not, change the data to numeric using the DATA> CHANGE DATA TYPE menu.

CALCULATING WITH DATA

You can add columns together, calculate the sum of a column or each row, or convert a column’s
values to their Z-scores. These and other calculations can be completed under the main menu
item of CALC.

Assume that the data collector for the temperature/water example learned that the
thermometer that was used gave incorrect readings. For example, let’s say the thermometer read
the temperature ten degrees too low. Therefore, we want to create a column called “Temp plus
10” and have Minitab add ten degrees to the temperature in column C1.

1. Label column 3 as “Temp plus 10.”

2. Select CALC > CALCULATOR.
3. In the "Store result in variable:" box, select C3 (Temp plus 10).
4. In the "Expression" box, we want to put the expression that tells Minitab to add ten to the
contents in the temperature column. To do that, select C1 (Temperature), then click on "+"
(the plus sign) found next to the number 9 on the Calculator, then enter the number "10."
The result in the expression box should look approximately like 'Temperature' + 10.
5. Click OK.
6. Look in the worksheet window. Column C3 should contain seven temperatures that are each
ten degrees higher than the corresponding temperatures in column C1.

SAVING DATA

In Minitab, you can save data in two different formats. You can save the worksheet by itself or
the entire project. Saving the worksheet as a separate file is a good habit. Then you will always have
access to the data, even if the project you are working with becomes corrupted. To save the data in a
worksheet by itself

1. Select FILE > SAVE CURRENT WORKSHEET AS.

2. Use the arrow beside the Save in: field to select the 3½ Floppy (A:) or the location of
your diskette or USB device.
3. In the File Name field, type the name of the worksheet. Minitab will automatically add
the extension MTW for Minitab worksheet.

Ginger Holmes Rowell, Ph. D. and Megan Duffey, MTSU 2004

 4. Click Save.

You have saved only the worksheet with the data.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Minitab will conduct a variety of statistical calculations. These are found under the main
menu option of STAT. Each category also has subcategories. In this introductory lesson, we are
interested in the Basic Statistics. A menu of the statistics categories and the subcategories for
Basic Statistics from Student Version 14 are shown below. (Note: Professional Version 15 has
additional options.)

For the temperature/water data, find the mean and standard deviation.
You should have the temperature in column C1 and the water consumption in column C2. For
this exercise, we will ignore the values in C3.

1. Select STAT > BASIC STATISTICS > DISPLAY DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS.

2. In the Variables box, select C1 (Temperature).
3. Click OK.
4. Look in the Session window. You should see the following display.
Descriptive Statistics: Temperature (F)

Variable N N* Mean SE Mean StDev Minimum Q1 Median Q3

Temperature (F) 7 0 88.00 3.20 8.47 75.00 83.00 85.00 97.00

Variable Maximum

Ginger Holmes Rowell, Ph. D. and Megan Duffey, MTSU 2004

Temperature (F) 99.00

Terms in the output and some definitions

• N = number of data items in the sample
• N* = number of items in the sample that have missing values (N* may not appear when there
is no missing data.)
• Mean = average
• SE Mean = standard error of the mean = standard deviation divided by the square root of the
sample size
• StDev = standard deviation
• Minimum = smallest data value
• Q1 = 25th percentile = first quartile
• Median = 50th percentile
• Q3 = 75th percentile = third quartile
• Maximum = largest data value

GENERATING GRAPHS

For this example, we will draw a histogram and boxplot of the temperature data and a
scatterplot of the water consumption versus the temperature.

1. To draw a histogram, select GRAPH > HISTOGRAM. 3

2. Choose Simple and click OK.

3. In the Graph Variables box, select C1 (Temperature). 2
Frequency

4. Click OK.
5. Compare your answer with the resulting histogram shown 1

on the right. (Note: You can change the settings for the
width of the bars in the histogram by clicking the x-axis 0

and clicking EDITOR > EDIT X-Scale and then 75 80 85 90

Temperature
95 100

selecting the Binning tab).

100
6. To draw a boxplot, select GRAPH > BOXPLOT.
7. Choose Simple under One Y and click OK.
(Note: If your data is broken down into categories, choose
Temperature

90
another type of boxplot. For example if you were
graphing GPA by Gender, you would choose With
Groups to get two box plots, one for each gender.) 80

8. In the Graph Variables, select C1 (Temperature).

9. Click OK.
50
Water Consumption

Ginger Holmes Rowell, Ph. D. and Megan Duffey, MTSU

40 2004

30

20

80 90 100
Temperature
10. Compare your answer with the resulting boxplot shown on the right.
11. To graph a scatterplot for water consumption based on temperature, select GRAPH >
SCATTERPLOT.
12. Choose Simple, and Click OK.
13. In the first row, under Y, select C2 (Water Consumption) and under X, select C1
(Temperature).
14. Click OK.
15. Compare your graph with the graph shown on the right.

SAVING THE DATA AND ANALYSIS AND GRAPHS

(SAVING THE PROJECT)

Save the project, including graphs on your diskette with the filename thirstydata.

• Select FILE > SAVE PROJECT AS.

• Use the arrow beside the Save in: field to select the 3½ Floppy (A:) or the location of your
diskette or USB device.
• In the File Name field type “Thirsty Data.” Minitab will automatically add the extension
MPJ for Minitab project.
• Click SAVE.

Hand-in Assignment

1) Find the mean and standard deviation using Minitab for the "water consumed" sample data
given in this laboratory.

2) Draw a histogram and boxplot of the water consumption data.

3) Draw a scatterplot of the temperature based on the water consumption. (i.e. Let temperature
be the y variable and water consumption be the x variable.) Compare this scatterplot with the
one that you created earlier in the tutorial. What do you notice? Which scatterplot is more
representative of the original scenario? Why?

4) Print the results and graphs from this Hand-in Assignment section only. Write your response
to the questions in this section directly on the scatterplot printout. Put your name on these
pages and submit ONLY these pages.

Ginger Holmes Rowell, Ph. D. and Megan Duffey, MTSU 2004