Islamic Values

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Moral System Of Islam Human Rights In Islam Forgiveness Falsehood Jihad Explained Islam, Jihad, and Terrorism Jihad: Interpretation and Exceptionalism Muslims In Power Banking On Allah Al-Azhar Fatwa Declaring Interest Permissible Interfaith Marriages The Qur'anic Path Allah's Love Demystifying the Fatwa Violence in Islam? Freedom

(religion) II. Aql (intellect) III. Nafs (life) IV. Mal (property) V. Irdhi (dignity

Multidimensional scaling (MDS) is a series of techniques that helps the analyst to identify key dimensions underlying respondents evaluations of objects. It is often used in Marketing to identify key dimensions underlying customer evaluations of products, services or companies. Once the data is in hand, multidimensional scaling can help determine: what dimensions respondents use when evaluating objects how many dimensions they may use in a particular situation the relative importance of each dimension, and

 how the objects are related perceptually The purpose of MDS is to transform consumer judgments of similarity or preference (eg. preference for stores or brands) into distances represented in multidimensional space. The resulting perceptual maps show the relative positioning of all objects. Multidimensional scaling is based on the comparison of objects. Any object (product, service, image, etc.) can be thought of as having both perceived and objective dimensions. For example, a firm may see their new model of lawnmower as having two color options (red versus green) and a 24-inch blade. These are the objective dimensions. Customers may or may not see these attributes. Customers may also perceive the lawnmower as expensive-looking or fragile, and these are the perceived dimensions. The dimensions perceived by customers may not coincide with (or even include) the objective dimensions assumed by the researcher.
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The evaluations of the dimensions may not be independent and may not agree. For example, one soft drink may be judged sweeter than another because the first has a fruitier aroma, although both contain the same amount of sugar. Scenario Example We are interested in understanding consumers perceptions of six candy bars on the market. Instead of trying to gather information about consumers evaluation of the candy bars on a number of attributes, the researcher will instead gather only perceptions of overall similarities or dissimilarities. The data are typically gathered by having respondents give simple global responses to statements such as these: - Rate the similarity of products A and B on a 10-point scale - Product A is more similar to B than to C - I like product A better than product C From these simple responses, a perceptual map can be drawn that best portrays the overall pattern of similarities among the six candy

bars. The data are gathered by first creating a set of 15 unique pairs of the six candy bars (6C2). Respondents are then asked to rank the following 15 candy bar pairs, where a rank of 1 is assigned to the pair of candy bars that is most similar and a rank of 15 indicates the pair is least alike. The results for all pairs of candy bars for one respondent are shown below: Candy Bar A B C D E F A _ 2 13 4 3 8 B _ 12 6 5 7 C _ 9 10 11 D _ 1 14 E _ 15 F_
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The respondent represented above thought that candy bars D and E were most similar, then A and B, with E and F the least similar. If we want to illustrate the similarity among candy bars graphically, a first attempt would be to draw a single

Discriminant Function Analysis

PURPOSE
The main purpose of a discriminant function analysis is to predict group membership based on a linear combination of the interval variables. The procedure begins with a set of observations where both group membership and the values of the interval variables are known. The end result of the procedure is a model that allows prediction of group membership when only the interval variables are known. A second purpose of discriminant function analysis is an understanding of the data set, as a careful examination of the prediction model that results from the procedure can give insight into the relationship between group membership and the variables used to predict group membership.

EXAMPLES
For example, a graduate admissions committee might divide a set of past graduate students into two groups: students who finished the program in five years or less and those who did not. Discriminant function analysis could be used to predict successful completion of the graduate program based on GRE score and undergraduate grade point average. Examination of the prediction model might provide insights into how each predictor individually and in combination predicted completion or non-completion of a graduate program. Another example might predict whether patients recovered from a coma or not based on combinations of demographic and treatment variables. The predictor variables might include age, sex, general health, time between incident and arrival at hospital, various interventions, etc. In this case the creation of the prediction model would allow a medical practitioner to assess the chance of recovery based on observed variables. The prediction model might also give insight into how the variables interact in predicting recovery.

The Simplest Case

The simplest case of discriminant function analysis is the prediction of dichotomous group membership based on a single variable. An example of the simplest case is the prediction of successful completion of a graduate program based on the GRE verbal score. In this case, since the prediction model includes only a single variable, it gives little insight into how variables interact with each other in prediction. Thus prediction of group membership will be the major focus of the next section of this chapter. With respect to the data file and purpose of analysis, this simplest case is identical to the case of linear regression with dichotomous dependent variables. As discussed previously, data of this type may be represented in any number of different forms: scatterplots, tables of means and standard deviations, and overlapping frequency polygons. Because overlapping frequency polygons have such an intuitive appeal, they will be used to describe how discriminant function analysis works.

Prediction Accuracy
A single interval variable might discriminate between groups in an almost perfect fashion, not at all, or somewhere in between. For example, if one wished to differentiate adult males and females, one could collect information on how many bras the person owned, score on the last statistics test, and height. In the case of the number of bras, the discrimination would be very good, but not perfect (some women don't own any bras, some men do). In the case of the score on the last statistics test, little discrimination would be possible because males and females generally score about the same. In the case of height, some discrimination between adult males and females would be possible, but it would be far from perfect. In general, the larger the difference between the means of the two groups relative to the within groups variability, the better the discrimination between the groups. The following program allows the student to explore data sets with different degrees of discrimination ability.

Many statistics books begin by defining the different kinds of variables you might want to analyze. This scheme was developed by Stevens and published in 1946.

A categorical variable, also called a nominal variable, is for mutual exclusive, but not ordered, categories. For example, your study might compare five different genotypes. You can code the five genotypes with numbers if you want, but the order is arbitrary and any calculations (for example, computing an average) would be meaningless. A ordinal variable, is one where the order matters but not the difference between values. For example, you might ask patients to express the amount of pain they are feeling on a scale of 1 to 10. A score of 7 means more pain that a score of 5, and that is more than a score of 3. But the difference between the 7 and the 5 may not be the same as that between 5 and 3. The values simply express an order. Another example would be movie ratings, from * to *****. A interval variable is a measurement where the difference between two values is meaningful. The difference between a temperature of 100 degrees and 90 degrees is the same difference as between 90 degrees and 80 degrees. A ratio variable, has all the properties of an interval variable, and also has a clear definition of 0.0. When the variable equals 0.0, there is none of that variable. Variables like height, weight, enzyme activity are ratio variables. Temperature, expressed in F or C, is not a ratio variable. A temperature of 0.0 on either of those scales does not mean 'no temperature'. However, temperature in Kelvin is a ratio variable, as 0.0 Kelvin really does mean 'no temperature'. Another counter example is pH. It is not a ratio variable, as pH=0 just means 1 molar of H+. and the definition of molar is fairly arbitrary. A pH of 0.0 does not mean 'no acidity' (quite the opposite!). When working with ratio variables, but not interval variables, you can look at the ratio of two measurements. A weight of 4 grams is twice a weight of 2 grams, because weight is a ratio variable. A temperature of 100 degrees C is

not twice as hot as 50 degrees C, because temperature C is not a ratio variable. A pH of 3 is not twice as acidic as a pH of 6, because pH is not a ratio variable.
1. Make customer service priority number one. Linking business objectives to customer retention helps offset the cost of obtaining new business. This new business is what helps the company to grow, so having more money to devote to winning it is important. Keep current customers happy and the money they spend will increase the marketing budget. 2. Diversify communication tools to meet customer preferences. Some customers enjoy email communication, while others prefer a good, old-fashioned phone call. Still others are fans of Skype chat or Twitter communications. Businesses must change with the times, taking advantage of various forms of technology for communication purposes. 3. Simply communicating electronically, via mail, social media sites, and in person at trade shows and other local events is not enough unless it is done consistently. Staying in touch with customers through active

communication is critical for retention. This might go without saying for some companies but others are sorely lacking in this department 4. Encourage customers to communicate by including requests for feedback in newsletters and emails. Give customers an easy way to submit comments via the company website and encourage product reviews on the company Facebook page. 5. When customers leave, they often do so because the competition has oneupped your company. Decrease the chances of this by developing customer loyalty programs and building brand loyalty by offering the highest-quality and most useful products or services. Keep promotions and special offers flowing and diverse. Everyone loves a great deal and these offers may keep customers loyal even when the competition is fierce.

6. If the competition offers a better deal, even a loyalty program will not retain customers. Therefore, it is important to maintain competitive pricing, which requires keeping an eye on prices offered by the competition. It may also be necessary to adjust prices according to the economy such as during periods of high inflation. 7. Staying relevant to customer desires helps maintain the customer base. Customer tastes change, as do societal trends, so be aware of these shifts before they happen. Once an opportunity is recognized, develop a product or service around it. Test it on a sampling of customers and solicit their feedback regarding improvements. 8. Look internally when trying to satisfy customers because happy employees lead to happy customers. Subject employees to ongoing training on customer service skills. Provide them

with opportunities to present feedback and ideas, exercise leadership skills, and play an active role in operations. Implementing a corporate bonus program based on company performance gives each employee a reason to focus on retaining customers. 9. Offer products or services of the highest quality because these increase the chances of repeat business. No matter how happy employees are, they cannot make up for low-quality products or services. Whether a business is new or has been around for years, quality should be an ongoing focus. 10. Have fun! It is possible to be

professional while at the same time loving what you do. A simple smile can diffuse an otherwise tense situation and make any interaction more memorable. People can hear the smile in your voice over the telephone, see it in person,

and infer it through wording used in an email.