Classify each of the studies as either descriptive or inferential. Explain your answers.

A company provides an online database that provides real estate information for homes that are for rent or sale in a certain country. It also presents statistics on recently sold homes. The following table gives various information on all homes sold in several different cities in the country for one month.

City Price per square foot Sale to list price ratio % foreclosure re-sales

Scottsdale, AZ $167 0.973 12.43%
Washington, DC $436 0.990 2.88%
San Francisco $636 1.026 6.55%
as Vegas, NV $74 1.000 19.45%
Nashville, TN $106 0.973 18.09%

You work as the sales manager for a company that sells office supplies to businesses of all sizes. because the profit margins are razor-thin, you need to ensure that you are getting the very best prices on paper, pencils, pens, post-it notes, and other office supplies from the manufacturers. when reviewing the quarterly profit statement, you realize that your costs are higher than they should be, and you trace the higher costs back to an employee who has been lax about getting competitive bids to ensure the lowest prices. when you conduct your research to determine the reason for the higher costs, and take action to bring those costs back down, in which of the key management processes are you taking part?