Minitab
- Statistical software for analyzing data and supporting quality-improvement efforts.
- Provides statistical tests, data visualization, and quality-metrics calculations.
- Commonly used by researchers, statisticians, and engineers.
Definition
Section titled “Definition”Minitab is statistical software that is commonly used in data analysis and quality improvement projects. It is used by researchers, statisticians, and engineers to help them interpret data and make informed decisions.
Explanation
Section titled “Explanation”Minitab enables users to enter data, perform a range of statistical analyses, and produce graphical summaries to aid interpretation. For experimental studies, it supports hypothesis testing and visualizations such as scatter plots and box plots. For manufacturing and quality-improvement work, it can calculate quality metrics (for example, defect rate, average number of defects per unit, and number of defective units per batch) and create control charts to monitor processes over time and reveal trends or patterns to guide improvements.
Examples
Section titled “Examples”Experimental data (medication vs placebo)
Section titled “Experimental data (medication vs placebo)”A researcher studies the effect of a new medication on blood pressure levels. Participants are randomly assigned to receive either the medication or a placebo. The researcher measures blood pressure at various time points and uses Minitab to enter the data, perform statistical analyses to determine if there is a significant difference between groups, and visualize the results with scatter plots or box plots.
Manufacturing quality data (defects per batch)
Section titled “Manufacturing quality data (defects per batch)”A company collects data on the number of defects in each batch of products to reduce defects. Minitab is used to calculate quality metrics such as the defect rate, the average number of defects per unit, and the number of defective units per batch. The software can also create control charts to monitor the process over time, helping identify trends or patterns and inform changes to reduce defects.
Use cases
Section titled “Use cases”- Analysis of experimental data (e.g., comparing treatment and control groups).
- Quality-improvement and process-monitoring in manufacturing (e.g., tracking defect rates).
- General data analysis and visualization by researchers, statisticians, and engineers.
Related terms
Section titled “Related terms”- Scatter plots
- Box plots
- Control charts
- Defect rate
- Average number of defects per unit
- Number of defective units per batch
- Statistical analyses