Question: DECISION ANALYSIS MONTHLY
Peter Finch looked at the numbers for the renewals of subscriptions to Decision Analysis Monthly magazine. For both May and June he had figures for the percentage of expiring subscriptions that were gift subscriptions, promotional subscriptions, and from previous subscribers. Furthermore, his data showed what proportion of the expiring subscriptions in each category had been renewed (see Table 7.3). Finch was confused as he considered these numbers. Robert Calloway, who had assembled the data, had told him that the overall proportion of renewals had dropped from May to June. But the figures showed clearly that the proportion renewed had increased in each category. How could the overall proportion possibly have gone down? Peter got a pencil and pad of paper to check Calloway's figures. He had to report to his boss that afternoon and wanted to be able to tell him whether these figures represented good news or bad news.
1. Do the data represent good news or bad news regarding renewal trends? Why?
