Assessment #1

Question 1

(a) A recent survey by the alumni of a major university indicated that the average salary of
10,000 of its 300,000 graduates was $125,000. Does this value describe a parameter or a
statistic? Explain your reasoning. [2 marks]
The values describes a statistic. This is so because statistics gives a numerical value
determined from a sample of a population, while parameter is a numerical value
determined from an entire population. Based on the question given, a sample of 10,000
graduates out of a population of 300,000 was used to determine this numerical value.
(b) Thirty of the 198 students enrolled in Statistics 101 were asked if they wanted Exam II to be
a take-home or an in-class assessment. Twenty, or about 67%, of the students polled indicated a
preference for an in-class exam. The professor concluded that the majority of students in
Statistics 101 would prefer an in-class examination for the second assessment. Did the professor
perform a descriptive study or an inferential study? Explain your reasoning. [2 marks]
An inferential study was performed by the professor. Inferential study are generalizations
or predictions made from a sample observation of a population. In this case, a
generalization was made from a sample of 20 students out of the 30 students which makes
up the full population to conclude that an in-class examination is preferred.
Question 2
(a) The administration of a large university is interested in learning about the types of wellness
programs that would interest its employees. To do this, they plan to survey a random sample of
employees. Under consideration are several plans for selecting the sample. Name the sampling
strategy for each.
i) There are five categories of employees (administration, faculty, professional staff, clerical and
maintenance). Use simple randomly select individuals from each category, in proportion to the
population.
This type of sampling is known as stratified random sampling.
ii) Each employee has an ID number. Use the computer to randomly select 50 numbers.
This type of sampling is simple random sampling.
iii) Randomly select a school within the university (e.g., Business School) and survey all of the
individuals (administration, faculty, professional staff, clerical and maintenance) who work in
that school.
This type of sampling is cluster sampling.
 iv) The HR Department has an alphabetized list of newly hired employees (hired within the last
five years). After starting the process by randomly selecting an employee from the list, then
every 5th name is chosen to be included in the sample.
This type of sampling is systematic random sampling.
(b) The residents of one town are classified by a social scientist as follows.
Lower income: 890
Middle income: 3115
Upper income: 4895
The scientist wishes to use stratified sampling, with proportional allocation, to select a
sample of 200 of the residents for a study.

Calculate the number of residents that should be selected from each of the income
categories. [4 marks]

Formula: nh = (Nh/N)* n where nh is sample size of the hth stratum, Nh is the

population of the hth stratum, N is the entire population and n is the sample size.

Lower Income: nh = (Nh/N) * n

nh = (890/8900) * 200 = 20
Middle Income: nh = (Nh/N) * n
nh = (3115/8900) * 200 = 70
Upper Income: nh = (Nh/N) * n
nh = (4895/ 8900) * 200 = 110

Total = 20 + 70 + 110 = 200 residents

Question 3

Identify the number as either continuous or discrete.

(a) The average height of all freshmen entering college in a certain year is 68.4 inches.
Continuous
(b) The number of limbs on a 2-year-old oak tree is 21.
Discrete
(c) The height of 2-year-old maple tree is 28.3 ft.
Continuous
(d) The total number of phone calls a sales representative makes in a month is 425.

Discrete
 [4 marks]

Question 4

Determine which of the four levels of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio) is most
appropriate.
(a) Salaries of college professors.
Nominal
(b) Survey responses of "good, better, best".

Ordinal
(c) Temperatures of the ocean at various depths.

Interval
(d) The subjects in which college students major.
Nominal

Question 5
87 76 96 77 91 98 88 85 66 89
79 92 51 94 83 88 82 52 18 69
Stem and leaf of N = 20
Stem unit = 10
Leaf unit = 1
Stem Leaf
1 8
2
3
4
5 12
6
69
7
679
8
2357889
9 12468