Apply the SPSS in the department of academic accreditation of graduate Assignment

Apply the SPSS in the department of academic accreditation of graduate certificates from the International Schools, Colleges and Universities - Assignment Example Over time, the definition of quality has transformed with changing perceptions among customers. Presently, in many organizations quality is defined as understanding, meeting, and surpassing customer needs and expectations (Besterfield, 2009). According to Montgomery (2005), quality is now one of the most important factors in selection of goods and services. Statistical tools are very important in quality management, they allow measurement and evaluation of performance in an organization and they are therefore regularly applied in decision support (Karuppusami and Gandhinathan, 2006). Total Quality Management tools and techniques are categorized into quantitative and non-quantitative, the quantitative tools generally consist of what is called statistical process control (SPC). SPC comprises of a number of statistical tools, usually seven, including Histograms, Pareto Charts, Process Flow Diagrams, Control Charts, Scatter Diagrams, Check Sheets and Effect Diagrams (Karuppusami and Gandhinathan, 2006). This report applies basic statistical tools of quality control in assessing the benefits of academic accreditation of graduate certificates from international schools, colleges and universities by the ministry of higher education in the Sultanate of Oman. Four main SPC tools are utilized including histograms, Pareto diagrams, scatter diagra ms, and control charts. The main objective of the report is to utilize SPC tools in assessing the efficiency of the accreditation process with the aim of improving it to meet or exceed customer needs. Histograms are special bar charts that are used to measure the frequency of occurrences (Goestch, 2005). The only difference between a bar chart and histogram is that the X-axis in a bar chart lists categories while in a Histogram it consists of a measurement scale with no gaps between the adjacent bars. Pareto diagrams