Math 115

Name _________________
Homework/Exercises
Chapter 1/ Introduction to Statistics

1.1 Define the following terms:

a. Population

b. Sample

1.5 Define the following terms:

a. Observational study

b. Designed Experiment

In Exercises 1.7-1.12, classify each of the studies as either descriptive of inferential.

Explain your answers.

1.7 TV viewing Times. The Nielsen Company collects and publishes information on
the television viewing habits of Americans. Data from a sample of Americans
yielded the following estimates of average TV viewing time per month for all
Americans 2 years old or older. The times are in hours and minutes (NA, not
available). [SOURCE: Nielsens Three Screen Report, May 2008]

Viewing Method May 2008 May 2007 Change (%)

Watching TV in the home 127:15 121:48 4
Watching timeshifted TV 5:50 3:44 56
Using the Internet 26:26 24:16 9
Watching video on Internet 2:19 NA NA

Chapter 1 /Page 1 of 6
1.11 Dow Jones Industrial Averages. The following table provides the closing values
of the Dow Jones Industrial Averages as of the end of December for the years 2000
2008. [SOURCE: Global Financial Data.]

Year Closing value

2000 10,786.85
2001 10,021.50
2002 8,341.63
2003 10,453.92
2004 10,783.01
2005 10,717.50
2006 12,463.15
2007 13,264.82
2008 8,776.39

1.13 Thoughts on Evolution. In an article titled Who has designs on your students
minds? (Nature Vol 434 pp. 1062 1065), author Geoff Brumfiel postulates that
support for Darwinism increases with level of education. The following table
provides percentages of U.S. adults, by education level, who believe that evolution is
a scientific theory well supported by evidence.

Education Percentage
Postgraduate education 65%
College graduate 52%
Some college education 32%
High school of less 20%

a. Do you think that the study is descriptive or inferential? Explain your

answer.

b. If, in fact, the study is inferential, identify the sample and the population.

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In Exercises 1.17-1.22, state whether the investigation in question is an observational
study or a designed experiment. Justify your answer

1.17 The Salk Vaccine. In the 1940s and early 1950s, the public was greatly
concerned about polio. In an attempt to prevent this disease, Jonas Salk of the
University of Pittsburgh developed a polio vaccine. In a test of the vaccines
efficacy, involving nearly 2 million grade-school children, half of the children
received the Salk vaccine; the other half received a placebo, in this case an injection
of salt dissolved in water. Neither the children nor the doctors performing the
diagnoses knew which children belonged to which group, but an evaluation center
did. The center found that the incidence of polio was far less among the children
inoculated with the Salk vaccine. From that information, the researchers concluded
that the vaccine would be effective in preventing polio for all U.S. children;
consequently, it was made available for general use.

1.23 Ballistic Fingerprinting. In an on-line press release, ABCNews.com, reported

that 73% of Americans favor a law that would require every gun sold in the
United States to be test-fired first, so that law enforcement would have its
fingerprint in case it were ever used in a crime.
a. Do you think that the statement in the press release is inferential or
descriptive? Can you be sure?

b. Actually, ABCNews.com conducted a telephone survey of a random national

sample of 1032 adults and determined that 73% of them favored a law that
would require every gun sold in the United States to be test-fired first, so law
enforcement would have its fingerprints in case it were ever used in a crime.
How would you rephrase the statement in the press release to make it clear that
it is a descriptive statement? An inferential statement?

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2.2 Explain the meaning of
a. qualitative (categorical) variable.

b. discrete, quantitative (numerical) variable.

c. continuous, quantitative (numerical) variable.

2.4 Provide a reason why the classification of data is important.

2.5 Of the variables you have studied so far, which type yields nonnumeric data?

For each part of Exercises 2.6-2.10, classify the data as either qualitative (categorical)
or quantitative (numerical); if quantitative, further classify it as discrete or continuous.
Also, identify the variable under consideration in each case.

2.7 How Hot Does It Get? The highest temperatures on record for selected cities
are collected by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and
published in Comparative Climatic Data. The following table displays data for years
through 2007.

City Rank Highest temperature (F)

Yuma, AZ 1 124
Phoenix, AZ 2 122
Redding, CA 3 118
Tucson, AZ 4 117
Las Vegas, NV 5 117
Wichita Falls, TX 6 117
Midland-Odessa, TX 7 116
Bakersfield, CA 8 115
Sacramento, CA 9 115
Stockton, CA 10 115

Chapter 1 /Page 4 of 6
a. What type of data is presented in the second column of the table (Rank)?

b. What type of data is presented in the third column of the table (Highest
temperature)?

c. What type of data is provided by the information that Phoenix is in Arizona?

2.11 Top Broadcast Shows. The following table gives the top five television shows,
as determined by the Nielsen Ratings for the week of October 19 2008. Identify the
type of data provided by the information in each column of the table.

Rank is
Show title is
Network name is
Number of viewers is

Chapter 1 /Page 5 of 6
2.13 Smartphones. Several companies conduct reviews and perform
rankings of products of special interest to consumers. One such
company is TopTenReviews, Inc. As of October 2008, the top 10
smartphones, according to TopTenReviews, Inc., are as shown in the
second column of the following table. Identify the type of data
provided by the information in each column of the table.

Battery Internet Weight

Rank Smartphone (minutes) browser (oz)
1 Apple iPhone 3G 16GB 300 No 4.7
2 BlackBerry Pearl 8100 210 Yes 3.1
3 Sony Ericsson W810i 480 Yes 3.5
4 HP iPad 510 390 Yes 3.6
5 Nokia E6li 300 Yes 5.3
6 Samsung Instinct 330 No 4.8
7 BLackBerry Curve 8320 240 No 3.9
8 Motorola Q 240 Yes 4.1
9 Nokia N95 (8GB) 300 No 4.5
10 Apple iPhone 4 GB 480 Yes 4.8

Rank is
Brand of smartphome is
Battery life is
Internet browser (yes or no) is
Weight is

Chapter 1 /Page 6 of 6