QUESTION $3$

$(20$ Marks$)$

At Bakwena Telecoms, a Johannesburg$-$based ICT firm, the Human Resources $($HR$)$ team launches a staff wellness survey using a questionnaire that includes gender $($male$/$female$),$ job level $($junior$,$ middle, senior$),$ satisfaction ratings on a $1-5$ Likert scale, and exact number of sick days taken in the past year. When analysing the data, the junior analyst incorrectly attempts to calculate the mean of the gender variable and runs a regression using the job level without verifying whether the scale is appropriate. A senior data analyst raises concerns about the misuse of data types, noting that nominal and ordinal data were being treated as interval or ratio data. Despite the warning, the report is presented to leadership with flawed statistical interpretations. The executive team is left confused about the validity of the findings and unsure whether to act on them.

Critically analyse the importance of correctly identifying and analysing quantitative data types in business research, with specific reference to the Bakwena Telecoms staff wellness survey as a case example.