COMM 104

Assignment 3
Due: Wednesday March 29th by 11:59 PM (submit via Canvas)
Modules 8 and 9

Instructions (please read carefully!)

Please submit your assignment on Canvas by the deadline. Show all of your work unless the
question says otherwise. Your assignment must include a signed declaration of academic
integrity (provided below). You may either type your name in the name and signature fields, or
print the document and fill it in by hand. Failure to submit a signed declaration of academic
integrity will result in a grade of 0% on the assignment. You are encouraged to copy/paste
from tutorials and review questions to help save time typing formulae. If you complete your
assignment by hand, please ensure any pictures or scans you take are legible. Illegible work may
receive a grade of 0.

How to submit your assignment on Canvas

Make sure you're uploading one document. Multiple files will not be accepted. If you have
taken pictures of your handwritten work, insert the pictures into a Word document, convert that
Word document to a PDF file, and upload that PDF file. Here's how:

a. Save each picture as a .png or .jpg file

b. Go to Insert > Pictures > Picture from file, and select your first picture.
c. Ensure the picture is large enough to be read on a screen, and the image is not blurry.
d. Proceed to the next picture, starting from step a., until all pictures are contained in the Word
document. Save your Word document.
e. Convert your Word document to PDF. On a Mac, go to: File > Print… > PDF (bottom left
drop-down menu) > Save as PDF….On a Windows computer, go to: File > Export > Create
PDF/XPS (check the pop-up window says “Save as: PDF”)
f. Upload your PDF to Canvas.

What to do if you encounter technical difficulties

Make sure you're using a fully updated version of Google Chrome. You can check by clicking
the three vertical dots in the top right corner, and then click Settings. In the tab that opens, click
About Chrome on the left hand side at the bottom of the list. Chrome will automatically update if
there are any available. Then, clear the browser history and cache for Chrome. You can follow
the instructions from the link here: How do I clear my web browser cache/history?
Then, log out of PAWS and close Chrome entirely (don't just close the window!) and re-open it.

If you still encounter technical difficulties after following the above steps, please email me at
least 48 hours in advance of the deadline for assistance.

Please submit all content from pages 2 onward. Your answers to the questions should be
provided in this document. Delete this page (page 1) before converting to PDF to submit.

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Declaration of academic integrity

I, ________Sara LaFreniere________________________________________________
(printed or typed name as it appears in Canvas) declare that I did not use any unauthorized
resources when completing this assignment.

I understand that the authorized resources for this assignment are:

- The posted COMM 104 material on Canvas

- The YouTube videos linked to from the course syllabus posted on Canvas
- Office hours
- The Math & Stats Learning Centre
- Discussions with a classmate: I understand I may tell a classmate where to find an answer to a
similar question in the course material, but I must not share my answer.

I understand that posting these questions, or my answers, or the instructor’s answers to a website
or app will result in academic misconduct charges.

I understand that use of an unauthorized resource will result in academic misconduct charges.

I understand that academic misconduct charges carry a penalty of anywhere from 0% on the
assignment to expulsion from the university.

Signature: _____Sara LaFreniere___________________________________

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Assignment Questions

1. [13 marks] Suppose you are a member of a team of quality assurance specialists. Your team
wants to determine whether a product meets engineering design specifications provided by the
product design team. Your team gathers a sample of 36 units of product, and you measure the
height of each unit, in millimetres.

a) [5 marks] Suppose the population standard deviation is 0.65 mm, and the engineering design
specifications state that the population mean height must be 90 mm. What is the probability of
obtaining a sample mean height less than 89.8 mm, if the population mean height is 90 mm?
Declare the random variable of interest, show the probability you are asked to calculate, how you
standardize, your z-score (rounded to 2 decimal places if rounding is necessary), and your final
answer (rounded to 4 decimal places if rounding is necessary).

Hint: Example Video 9 in Module 9 should be extremely helpful here. Follow exactly the steps
as shown there, but modify numbers as appropriate. Notice this question is worth 5 marks, and 5
steps are shown in that document.

b) [6 marks] Suppose you obtain a sample mean height of 89.5 mm, and the sample standard
deviation is 2.5 mm. Use the empirical rule to calculate 68%, 95%, and 99.7% tolerance intervals
for the sample mean height, and interpret each of your intervals. Do not round your answers.
Show your work: show the formula you use, how you plug in, and your final answer for each
interval. Don’t forget to include the units.

Hint: Go to Modules > Module 8 > Module 8 Required Reading. See Example 11, and do
exactly as you see there. Remember “interpret” means “explain this numerical result”.

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c) [2 marks] Suppose the product design team changes their design specification: now, they say
that 95% of all units of product must have a height of at least 95 mm. Based on your tolerance
intervals from part b), do you believe that the new design specification is being met (answer
“yes” or “no”). Why or why not? Please explain in at most 3 sentences.

Hint: See the same example as for part b).

Yes or no: _no____

Explanation:

So, 95% of all units of product must have a height of at least 95 mm. The interval for 95%
is (84.5,94.5). this shows that 95 mm falls just outside of this interval and therefore the new
design specification is not being met.

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2. [5 marks] Suppose you are a member of a board of directors of a large company. The product
design team has been working on a new product. They present you with a report that indicates
the planned population mean weight of the units of product is 85g, with a population standard
deviation of 10g. The company completes a test run of the production system: they create 36
units of product. What is the probability that these 36 units have a sample mean weight within
1% of the planned population mean weight?

Hint: For example, suppose the planned population mean weight were, say, 1234. By “within
1% of the planned population mean weight”, I mean “from 1234 – (1234*0.01) = 1221.66 to
1234 + (1234*0.01) =1236.44”. So, I would need to find the probability that I get a sample mean
between 1221.66 and 1236.44 when I sample 36 values from the population of all unit weights.

a) [1 mark] Declare the random variable of interest:

The Random variable of interest is the sample mean weight of the 36 units of the new
product produced by the company.

b) [1 mark] Figure out what “within 1% of the planned population mean” means (see the hint
above for help with that part – copy/paste and change values!).

Within 1% of the planned population mean weight means that we want to find the
probability of getting a sample mean weight between 85- (850.01) = 84.15 and 8 + (850.01) +
85.85 when the sample 36 values from the population of all unit weights.

c) [3 marks] State the probability using proper notation (i.e., P(something)) and calculate it.
Show your work. Round your final answer to 4 decimal places, even if there are trailing 0s (that
means if your final answer is, say, 0.5000, then don’t write 0.5 – include all those “extra” 0s).

3. [7 marks] Go to Modules > Module 9 > Module 9 Required Reading and read section 7.3
before starting this question. Focus especially on Example 4.

Suppose you are an employee with the Ministry of Transport. The Ministry is interested in
determining whether significant road maintenance is necessary on a particular stretch of road. In
addition to assessing current damage to the road, the ministry would like an accurate
understanding of the frequency with which the road is used, and they give you the task of
figuring this out. You set up a camera to record passing vehicles for an entire year, and find that
on average, 90 vehicles pass the camera per day, with a standard deviation of 3 vehicles. Let X =

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the number of vehicles that pass the intersection per day.

a) [1 mark] In one sentence, explain why X is not normally distributed.

There are some days with fewer cars: that are holidays. There are some days with more
cars: festival days. So, number of vehicles in different days may vary. So, we cannot take
one-day distribution as normal. This also means that the distribution is varies and is not
symmetric therefore it cannot be normal distribution.

b) [1 mark] What is the probability that in a random sample of 40 days, 85 cars pass the
intersection on average? Please provide only a single number. Do not show any work.

the probability of obtaining a Z-score of -10.5379 or lower is approximately 0. Therefore,

the probability that in a random sample of 40 days, 85 cars pass the intersection on average
is very low.

Hint: This is something you can figure out without using any formulae. All you need are some
definitions and some logic. The words “on average” are key here.

c) [4 marks] What is the probability that in a random sample of 40 days, fewer than 91 cars pass
the intersection on average?

Hint: start by declaring an appropriate random variable. That random variable will have two
parameters; do not round either of them.

[1 mark] Declare the random variable of interest:

X ~ N(90, 3^2/40)

[1 mark] Show the probability you are asked to calculate:

P(X < 91)

[1 mark] Calculate that probability (show at least one step):

P(X < 91) = P((X-90)/(3/sqrt(40)) < (91-90)/(3/sqrt(40))) = P(Z < 0.4714) = 0.6808

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[1 mark] Final answer (rounded to 4 decimal places):

0.6808
d) [1 mark] What is the probability that in a random sample of 40 days, 90 or fewer cars pass the
intersection on average? Please provide only a single number. Do not show any work.

Therefore, the probability that in a random sample of 40 days, 90 or fewer cars pass the
intersection on average is 0.5.

(Disclaimer: All answers are highlighted and in bold to prevent confusion. Answers for
question 3c are written and typed out for possible legibility reasons)
Hint: This is something you can figure out without using any formulae. All you need are some
definitions and some logic. The words “on average” are key here.

Common questions about this assignment

Question: In Question 1 part a) and Question 2 part a) and Question 3 part c), what does “declare
the random variable of interest” mean?

Answer: For example, if I wanted to tell the reader that I’m working with a Poisson random
variable with mean 5, then I would declare it like this: X ~ Poi(5). Here are all of the options in
this course so far for declaring/defining/stating a random variable (don’t forget to plug in the
parameter values). You need one of these:

X ∼ Bin(n , p)
X Poi(μ)X Unif (a , b)X exp(μ)X N (μ , σ ) X N μ , ( σ
√n )
Question: In Question 2, isn’t a standard deviation of 10g rather large when the population mean
is 85g?

Answer: Yes, but that’s what this fictitious company decided to do.

Question: In Question 2 part a), I think my random variable should have a normal distribution,
but how do I know whether I need X or X ?

Answer: If you need to find a probability related to a sample mean, then you need X . If, instead,
you need to find a probability related to a normal random variable, but not a sample mean, then
use X . Read the question carefully!

Question: In Question 2 part c), does it matter if I use a “less than” sign or a “less than or equal
to” sign?

Answer: Yes, if your random variable is discrete; no, if your random variable is continuous.

Question: In Question 2 part c), how much work should I show?

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Answer: Part c) is worth 3 marks: 1 mark for the final answer, and 1 mark each for showing 2
steps, one of which must be the probability statement. There are many more steps you could
show, but there are also many ways you could answer this question. All require at least 2 steps.

Question: In Question 3 part a), I know you said to use one sentence, but can I use more?

Answer: No, please provide only one sentence.

Question: In Question 3 parts b) and d), I know you say not to show any work, but can I?

Answer: No, please provide only your final answer.

Question: In Question 3 part d), what do you mean by “90 or fewer cars”?

Answer: Well, you can’t have half of a car, so 90 cars, or 89 cars, or 88 cars, etc.

Additional hints for Question 3:

Part a): The question only asks why the random variable is not normal - it doesn't ask for a
specific probability distribution, so you don’t have to provide one. Hint: which two probability
distributions did we use when we were talking about cars passing an intersection, and which one
is more relevant here? Is either of them the normal distribution?

Part b): The question asks for the probability that in a random sample of 40 days, exactly 85 cars
pass the intersection on average. To answer this question, think about what you're calculating a
probability of. Is this a regular random variable, or do you need the sampling distribution of the
sample mean? Is there a theorem that could help you? As a general hint, if it's a number you can
figure out without any formulae, there are only three such probabilities that can be found this
way: 0, 0.5, and 1. So the answer is one of these values!

Once you've answered parts a) and b), I think parts c) and d) will become much clearer.