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Insurance companies are interested in the average health costs each year for their clients, so that they can determine the costs of health insurance. Define the following in terms of the study. Give examples where appropriate.

  • A

    Population
  • B

    Sample
  • C

    Parameter
  • D

    Statistic
  • E

    Variable
  • F

    Data
  • A

    The clients of the insurance companies
  • B

    A group of the clients
  • C

    The average yearly health costs of the all health insurance clients
  • D

    The average yearly health costs of the clients in the sample
  • E

    X = the health insurance cost for a year for one client
  • F

    A value for X , such as $140, $725, $2143 etc.

A politician is interested in the proportion of voters in his district that think he is doing a good job. Define the following in terms of the study. Give examples where appropriate.

  • A

    Population
  • B

    Sample
  • C

    Parameter
  • D

    Statistic
  • E

    Variable
  • F

    Data

A marriage counselor is interested in the proportion the clients she counsels that stay married. Define the following in terms of the study. Give examples where appropriate.

  • A

    Population
  • B

    Sample
  • C

    Parameter
  • D

    Statistic
  • E

    Variable
  • F

    Data
  • A

    All the clients of the counselor
  • B

    A group of the clients
  • C

    The proportion of all her clients who stay married
  • D

    The proportion of the sample who stay married
  • E

    X = the number of couples who stay married
  • F

    yes, no

Political pollsters may be interested in the proportion of people that will vote for a particular cause. Define the following in terms of the study. Give examples where appropriate.

  • A

    Population
  • B

    Sample
  • C

    Parameter
  • D

    Statistic
  • E

    Variable
  • F

    Data

A marketing company is interested in the proportion of people that will buy a particular product. Define the following in terms of the study. Give examples where appropriate.

  • A

    Population
  • B

    Sample
  • C

    Parameter
  • D

    Statistic
  • E

    Variable
  • F

    Data
  • A

    All people (maybe in a certain geographic area, such as the United States)
  • B

    A group of the people
  • C

    The proportion of all people who will buy the product
  • D

    The proportion of the sample who will buy the product
  • E

    X = the number of people who will buy it
  • F

    buy, not buy

Airline companies are interested in the consistency of the number of babies on each flight, so that they have adequate safety equipment. Suppose an airline conducts a survey. Over Thanksgiving weekend, it surveys 6 flights from Boston to Salt Lake City to determine the number of babies on the flights. It determines the amount of safety equipment needed by the result of that study.

  • A

    Using complete sentences, list three things wrong with the way the survey was conducted.
  • B

    Using complete sentences, list three ways that you would improve the survey if it were to be repeated.

Suppose you want to determine the average number of students per statistics class in your state. Describe a possible sampling method in 3 – 5 complete sentences. Make the description detailed.

Suppose you want to determine the average number of cans of soda drunk each month by persons in their twenties. Describe a possible sampling method in 3 - 5 complete sentences. Make the description detailed.

726 distance learning students at Long Beach City College in the 2004-2005 academic year were surveyed and asked the reasons they took a distance learning class. ( Source: Amit Schitai, Director of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, LBCC ). The results of this survey are listed in the table below.

Reasons for taking lbcc distance learning courses
Convenience 87.6%
Unable to come to campus 85.1%
Taking on-campus courses in addition to my DL course 71.7%
Instructor has a good reputation 69.1%
To fulfill requirements for transfer 60.8%
To fulfill requirements for Associate Degree 53.6%
Thought DE would be more varied and interesting 53.2%
I like computer technology 52.1%
Had success with previous DL course 52.0%
On-campus sections were full 42.1%
To fulfill requirements for vocational certification 27.1%
Because of disability 20.5%

Assume that the survey allowed students to choose from the responses listed in the table above.

  • A

    Why can the percents add up to over 100%?
  • B

    Does that necessarily imply a mistake in the report?
  • C

    How do you think the question was worded to get responses that totaled over 100%?
  • D

    How might the question be worded to get responses that totaled 100%?

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Source:  OpenStax, Collaborative statistics homework book: custom version modified by r. bloom. OpenStax CNX. Dec 23, 2009 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col10619/1.2
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