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PREFACE

Welcome to the Sixth Canadian Edition of Basic Statistics for Business and Economics! As the
name implies, the objective of this textbook is to provide Canadian business students majoring in
economics, finance, marketing, accounting, management, and other fields of business adminis-
tration with an introductory survey of the many business applications of descriptive and inferen-
tial statistics.
Today’s business environment requires people with skills to deal with numerical information
from an increasingly wide variety of sources. We need to be critical consumers of the information
presented by others, and we need to be able to reduce large amounts of data into meaningful
formats, so that we can make effective interpretations, judgments, and decisions. Basic Statistics
for Business and Economics introduces students to these business applications, while maintain-
ing a student-oriented learning environment. Examples and problems are designed to teach the
basics while remaining relevant to the real world.

FEATURES OF THE NEW CANADIAN EDITION

The Sixth Canadian Edition makes every effort to support student learning. We present the con-
cepts clearly for students, and we support these concepts immediately with examples and exer-
cises. Improvements you will find in this edition include the following:

• Updated Practice Tests at the end of each chapter to give students an idea of content that
might ­appear on a test and how the test might be structured.
• Updated statistics throughout.
• Chapter-opening exercises in each chapter demonstrate how chapter content can be applied
to a real-world situation.
• Updated multi-step questions.
• Chapter Exercises arranged in order of difficulty in each chapter.
• Excel 2013 software used for all Excel screenshots and computer commands.

Learning Objectives and Chapter-Opening Exercise

Each chapter begins with an exercise that opens the chapter and shows how the chapter content
can be applied to a real-world situation. Chapters commence with a set of learning objectives
designed to provide a focus for the chapter and motivate learning. These objectives indicate what
students should be able to do after completing the chapter. S
­ tudents can also locate learning ob-
jectives in the margin where they occur in the text.

Introduction to the Topic

Each chapter starts with a review of the important concepts of the previous chapter and provides
a link to the material in the current chapter. This interconnected approach increases comprehen-
sion by providing continuity across concepts.

Example and Solution

After important concepts are introduced, we provide a straightforward, student-oriented exam-
ple, including a full solution. Examples with solutions are a key learning tool, as they serve two
purposes. First, they provide a “how to” illustration. Second, they show a relevant business or
economics application that helps answer the question “What will I use this for?” All examples at-
tempt to strike the appropriate balance, not only providing a realistic scenario or application, but
also making the size and scale of the math reasonable for students in introductory courses.

vii
viii Preface

Self-Review
Self-Reviews are interspersed throughout the chapter and are closely patterned after the preced-
ing examples. These reviews help students monitor their progress, and provide immediate rein-
forcement for the particular techniques illustrated in the examples. The worked-out solutions are
provided at the end of each chapter.

Statistics in Action
Statistics in Action boxes are scattered throughout the text. These boxes provide unique and in-
teresting applications and historical insights into the field of statistics.

Key Ideas
Key ideas are boldfaced within the text to emphasize important concepts.

Formulas
Formulas used for the first time are boxed and numbered for reference. In addition, a formula
card is available online, which lists these key formulas.

Exercises
Exercises can be found within the chapter and in the end-of-chapter material. Generally, the end-
of-chapter exercises are the most challenging and integrative of the chapter concepts. The an-
swers for most odd-numbered exercises appear at the end of the text.

Chapter Summary
Each chapter concludes with a Chapter Summary. This learning aid provides the opportunity to
review material, and summarizes the learning objectives.

Data Set Exercises

The last exercises at the end of each chapter are based on large data sets. A complete listing of all
the data sets used is available on page AP-1 of this text.
These data sets can be found on the McGraw-Hill online resource for Basic Statistics. They
present real-world applications of statistics and more complex applications of the concepts.

Computer Commands
Computer examples using Excel and MegaStat can be found throughout the text. But the explana-
tions of the computer input commands for each program are placed at the end of the chapter. This
allows students to focus on the statistical techniques rather than ways to input data.

Answers to Self-Reviews
The worked-out solutions to the Self-Reviews are provided at the end of each chapter.

Practice Test
The Practice Test that appears at the end of each chapter is intended to give students an idea of
content that might appear on a test and how the test might be structured. The Practice Test in-
cludes both objective questions and problems covering the material studied in the chapter.

Superior Learning Solutions and Support

The McGraw-Hill Education team is ready to help instructors assess and integrate any of our
products, technology, and services into your course for optimal teaching and learning perfor-
mance. Whether it’s helping your students improve their grades, or putting your entire course
Preface ix

online, the McGraw-Hill Education team is here to help you do it. Contact your Learning Solutions
Consultant today to learn how to maximize all of McGraw-Hill Education’s resources.
For more information, please visit us online: http://www.mheducation.ca/he/solutions

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Comments and suggestions that have been invaluable to the development of the Sixth Canadian
Edition were provided by a variety of reviewers, and a debt of gratitude is owed to the following
educators:
Carolina Di Santo Niagara College
Torben Drewes Trent University
Bruno Fullone George Brown College
Hayedeh Mottaghi Trent University
Julie Orsini Durham College
James Reimer Lethbridge College
Glen Stirling Western University
Kevin Willoughby Red Deer College
I also wish to thank the staff at McGraw-Hill Education. This includes: Sara Braithwaite, Portfolio
Manager; Amy Rydzanicz, Content Developer; J­ eanette McCurdy, Supervising Editor; Cathie
Lefebvre, Senior Marketing Manager; Valerie Adams, Copy Editor; and others who I do not know
personally, but who made important contributions.
Carol Ann Waite

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 CHAPTER 1
What Is Statistics?
Barnes & Noble, Inc.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
When you have completed this chapter, you
will be able to:
LO1-1 Explain why knowledge of statistics is
important.

LO1-2 Define statistics and provide an exam-

ple of how statistics is used.

LO1-3 Differentiate between descriptive and

inferential statistics.

LO1-4 Classify variables as qualitative or

quantitative, and discrete or
continuous.
Electronic book readers (e-readers) allow users to browse, shop,
LO1-5 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal,
download and read e-books, blogs, newspapers, and magazines all
interval, and ratio levels of
displayed in full colour. Assume that you know the number of units
measurement.
sold each day for the last month at the West Edmonton Mall.
Describe a condition in which this information could be considered LO1-6 Understand the values associated with
a sample. Illustrate a second situation in which the same data the practice of statistics.
would be regarded as a population. (See Exercise 9.)

1.1 INTRODUCTION
More than 100 years ago, H. G. Wells, an English author and historian, suggested that one day
quantitative reasoning will be as necessary for effective citizenship as the ability to read. He
made no mention of business because the Industrial Revolution was just beginning. Mr. Wells
could not have been more correct. Although “business experience,” some “thoughtful guess-
work,” and “intuition” are key attributes of successful managers, today’s business problems tend
to be too complex for this type of decision making alone.
One of the tools used to make decisions is statistics. Statistics is used not only by business
people, but we also apply statistical concepts in our lives. For example, to start the day, you
turn on the shower and let it run for a few moments. Then you put your hand in the shower to
sample the temperature and decide if you need to add more hot or cold water before you enter
the shower. Then, later in the day, you are at Costco and wish to buy a frozen pizza. One of the
pizza makers has a stand and offers you a sample. After sampling the pizza, you decide whether
or not to purchase the pizza. In both the shower and the pizza examples, you make a decision
and select a course of action based on a sample.
Businesses face similar situations. The Kellogg Company must ensure that the average
amount of Raisin Bran in the 375 gram (g) box meets label specifications. To do so, it sets a “tar-
get” weight somewhat higher than the amount specified on the label. Each box is then weighed
after it is filled. The weighing machine reports a distribution of the content weights for each hour
as well as the number “kicked out” for being under the label specification during the hour. The
Quality Control Department also randomly selects samples from the production line and checks
the quality of the product and the weight of the contents in the box. If the average (mean) prod-
uct weight differs significantly from the target weight or the percentage of kick-outs is too high,
the process is adjusted.
As a student of business or economics, you will need basic knowledge and skills to organize,
analyze, and transform data and to present the information. The purpose of this text is to develop

1
2 Chapter 1

your knowledge of basic statistical techniques and methods and how to apply them in order to
develop your ability to make effective business and personal decisions.

LO1-1 1.2 WHY STUDY STATISTICS?

If you look through any college or university catalogue, you will find that statistics is required for
many programs. Why is this so? As you investigate a future career in accounting, economics, human
resources, finance, or other business area, you will also discover that statistics is required as part of
these college programs. So why is an education in statistics a requirement in so many disciplines?
A major driver of the requirement for statistics knowledge is the technologies available
for capturing data. Examples include the technology that Google uses to track how Internet
users access websites. As people use Google to search the Internet, Google records every
search and then uses these data to sort and prioritize the results for future Internet searches.

Source: Courtesy of Domo, Inc.


Statistics in Action
• C anadian Business pub-
lishes an annual list of
the richest Canadians. As
of July 2016, the Thom-
son family tops the list
with a net worth of $36.8
billion, and Galen Weston
is second, with a net
worth of $13.7 billion
(canadianbusiness.com).
• The estimated population
in Canada is 36 286 400
as of July 1, 2016 (www.
statcan.gc.ca/tables-tab-
leaux/sum-som/l01/
cst01/demo02a-eng.
htm). The National House-
hold Survey (2011)
shows that 1 400 685
people had an Aboriginal
identity (www12.statcan.
gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/as-
sa/99-011-x/99-011-
x2011001-eng.cfm).
• The Canadian Real Estate
Association reports the
average house prices na-
tionally and in several ur-
ban centres across
Canada. For example, the
national average house
price in April 2017 was
estimated to be $559
317, which represents an
increase of 10.4% from
$506 596 in April 2016
(crea.ca).
What Is Statistics? 3
One recent estimate indicates that Google processes 20 000 terabytes of information per day.
Big-box retailers like Costco, Walmart, Target, and others scan every purchase and use the
data to manage the distribution of products, to make decisions about marketing and sales, and
to track daily and even hourly sales. Police departments collect and use data to provide city
residents with maps that communicate information about crimes committed and their location.
Every organization is collecting and using data to develop knowledge and intelligence that will
help people make informed decisions, and to track the implementation of their decisions. The
graphic below shows the amount of data generated every minute (www.domo.com). A good
working knowledge of statistics is useful for summarizing and organizing data to provide
information that is useful and supportive of decision making. Statistics is used to make valid
comparisons and to predict the outcomes of decisions.
In summary, there are at least three reasons for studying statistics: (1) data are collected
everywhere and require statistical knowledge to make the information useful, (2) statistical tech-
niques are used to make professional and personal decisions, and (3) no matter what your ca-
reer, you will need a knowledge of statistics to understand the world and to be conversant in
your career. An understanding of statistics and statistical methods will help you make more ef-
fective personal and professional decisions.
We call your attention to a feature called Statistics in Action. Read each one carefully to get
an appreciation of the wide application of statistics in management, economics, nursing, law
enforcement, sports, and other disciplines.
How are we to determine if the conclusions reported are reasonable? Was the sample large
enough? How were the sampled units selected? To be an educated consumer of this information,
we need to be able to read the charts and graphs and understand the discussion of the numerical
information. An understanding of the concepts of basic statistics will be a big help.
A second reason for taking a statistics course is that statistical techniques are used to
make decisions that affect our daily lives. That is, they affect our personal welfare. Here are
two examples:
• Insurance companies use statistical analysis to set rates for home, automobile, life, and
health insurance. Tables are available showing estimates that a 20-year-old female has about
61 years of life remaining, a 44-year-old man has about 25 years remaining, and a 50-year-old
woman has about 26 years remaining. Life insurance premiums are established on the basis
of these estimates of life expectancy. Tables can be found at statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/
sum-som/l01/cst01/health26-eng.htm.
• Medical researchers study the cure rates for diseases based on the use of different drugs and
different forms of treatment. For example, what is the effect of treating a certain type of
knee injury surgically or with physical therapy? If you take an aspirin each day, does that
reduce your risk of a heart attack?
A third reason for taking a statistics course is that the knowledge of statistical methods will
help you understand why decisions are made and give you a better understanding of how they
affect you.
No matter what line of work you select, you will find yourself faced with decisions where an
understanding of data analysis is helpful. To make an informed decision, you will need to be able to:
1. Determine whether the existing information is adequate or additional information is
required.
2. Gather additional information, if it is needed, in such a way that it does not provide mislead-
ing results.
3. Summarize the information in a useful and informative manner.
4. Analyze the available information.
5. Draw conclusions and make inferences while assessing the risk of an incorrect conclusion.
The statistical methods presented in the text will provide you with a framework for the
decision-making process.
In summary, there are at least three reasons for studying statistics: (1) data are everywhere;
(2) statistical techniques are used to make many decisions that affect our lives; and (3) no matter
what your career, you will make decisions that involve data. An understanding of statistical
methods will help you make these decisions more effectively.
4 Chapter 1

LO1-2 1.3 WHAT IS MEANT BY STATISTICS?

Statistics The science
of collecting, organizing,
presenting, analyzing, and
interpreting data to assist
in making more effective
decisions.
How do we define the word statistics? This question can be rephrased in two, subtly different
ways: what are statistics and what is statistics? To answer the first question, a statistic is a num-
ber used to communicate a piece of information. Examples of statistics are:
• The inflation rate is 2%.
• Your grade point average is 3.5.
• The price of a new Tesla Model S sedan starts at $86 000.
Each of these statistics is a numerical fact and communicates a very limited piece of informa-
tion that is not very useful by itself. However, if we recognize that each of these statistics is part of a
larger discussion, then the question “what is statistics” is applicable. Statistics is the set of knowledge
and skills used to organize, summarize, and analyze data. The results of statistical analysis will start
interesting conversations in the search for knowledge that will help us make decisions. For example:
• The inflation rate for the calendar year was 2%. By applying statistics we could compare this
year’s inflation rate to the past observations of inflation. Is it higher, lower, or about the
same? Is there a trend of increasing or decreasing inflation? Is there a relationship between
interest rates and government bonds?
• Your grade point average (GPA) is 3.5. By collecting data and applying statistics, you can
determine the required GPA to be admitted to other colleges and universities such as the
Master of Business Administration program (MBA) at Queen’s University in Kingston, On-
tario, or the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta. You can determine the likelihood
that you would be admitted to a particular program. You may be interested in interviewing
for a management position at a large accounting firm. Is there a range of acceptable GPAs?
• You are budgeting for a new car. You would like to own an electric car with a small carbon
footprint. The price for a new Tesla Model S sedan starts at $86 000 (www.tesla.com). By
collecting additional data and applying statistics, you can analyze the alternatives. For ex-
ample, another choice is a hybrid car that runs on both gas and electricity such as a Toyota
Prius, which starts at $25 995 (www.toyota.ca) or a Chevrolet Volt, starting at $38 490 (www
.chevrolet.ca). What are the differences in the cars’ specifications? What additional informa-
tion can be collected and summarized so that you can make a good purchase decision?
• Statistics Canada (Census Profile, 2016 Census) reports that 19.1% of the population in Can-
ada is 65 years of age and over (www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/
index.cfm?Lang=E).
These are all examples of statistics. A collection of numerical information is called
statistics (plural).
We frequently present statistical information in a graphical form. A graph is a visual way to
convey information and can be used to capture reader attention. For example, Chart 1–1 shows

CHART 1–1 Average Canadian House Prices, June 2016

Halifax

Saskatoon

Calgary

Vancouver

National
average
$0 $200 000 $400 000 $600 000 $800 000 $1 000 000 $1 200 000

Source: The Canadian Real Estate Association; crea.ca


LO1-3 1.4 TYPES OF STATISTICS
Descriptive statistics
Methods of organizing, sum-
marizing, and presenting
data in an informative way.
Inferential statistics The
methods used to estimate
a property of a population,
based on a sample.
Population The entire set of
individuals or objects of in-
terest or the measurements
obtained from all individuals
or objects of interest.
What Is Statistics? 5
the average house prices in four Canadian cities in June 2016, compared with the national aver-
age (The Canadian Real Estate Association; crea.ca). It requires only a quick glance to see that
Vancouver has the highest average house price in Canada.
These examples show that statistics is more than the presentation of numerical information.
As the definition suggests, the first step in using statistics is to collect relevant data. After the
data has been organized and presented, as in Chart 1–1, we can start to analyze and interpret
them. Statistics is about collecting and processing information to create a conversation, to stimu-
late additional questions, and to provide a basis for making decisions.
In this book, you will learn the basic techniques and applications of statistics that you can
use to support your decisions, both personal and professional. To start, we will differentiate be-
tween descriptive and inferential statistics.
When we use statistics to generate information for decision making from data, we use either de-
scriptive statistics or inferential statistics. Their application depends on the questions asked and
the type of data available.
Descriptive Statistics
Masses of unorganized data—such as the census of population, the weekly earnings of thou-
sands of computer programmers, and the individual responses of 2000 registered voters regard-
ing their choice for prime minister—are of little value as is. However, descriptive statistics can be
used to organize data into a meaningful form. The definition of statistics given earlier referred to
“organizing, presenting, analyzing . . . data.” This facet of statistics is usually referred to as
descriptive statistics.
The following are examples that apply descriptive statistics to summarize a large amount of
data and provide information that is easy to understand.
The Canadian government reports that the population of Canada was 18 238 000 in 1961;
21 568 000 in 1971; 24 820 000 in 1981; 28 031 000 in 1991; 31 050 700 in 2001; 31 612 895 in 2006;
35 158 300 in 2013; and 36 286 400 as of July 1, 2016. This information is descriptive statistics. It is
descriptive statistics if we calculate the percentage growth from one year to the next or from one
decade to the next. However, it would not be descriptive statistics if we used the data to estimate
the population of Canada in the year 2020 or the percentage growth from 2015 to 2025. Why?
Because these statistics are not being used to summarize past populations but to estimate future
populations.
The following are some other examples of descriptive statistics:
• The average hourly wage for employees in business, finance, and administrative occupa-
tions in Canada increased by 2.5% from June 2015 ($24.87) to June 2016 ($25.48) (statcan
.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/labr69a-eng.htm).
• The class average of the first test in statistics over the last ten years has been between 63%
and 72%.
Statistical methods and techniques to generate descriptive statistics are presented in
Chapters 2 and 3. These include organizing and summarizing data with frequency distribu-
tions and presenting frequency distributions with charts and graphs. (These procedures are
discussed in Chapter 2.) In addition, a number of statistical measures to summarize the char-
acteristics of a set of data—such as the mean and standard deviation—are discussed in
Chapter 3.
Inferential Statistics
The second type of statistics is inferential statistics—also called statistical inference. Note
the words population and sample in the definition of inferential statistics. We often make refer-
ence to the population of Canada or the fact that world population reached seven billion in 2011.
However, in statistics the word population has a broader meaning. A population may consist of
6 Chapter 1

individuals—such as all persons living in Canada, or all students in Accounting 201, or all the
chief executive officers (CEOs) from the Fortune 500 companies. But a population may also
consist of objects, such as all SUVs (sport utility vehicles), or the accounts receivable at the end
of the second quarter or all insurance claims filed by residents of Fort McMurray after the May
2016 wildfires. The measurement of concern might be population numbers by province, the
grades on the first test of students in Accounting 201, or the dollar amount of the fire insurance
claims as a result of the wildfires. Thus, a population in the statistical sense, does not always re-
fer to people.
As there are times when we must make decisions based on a limited set of data, our in-
terest regarding inferential statistics is in finding something about a population from results
Sample A portion, or part, taken from a sample of that population. For example, a recent survey showed that only 46%
of the population of of high school students can solve problems involving fractions, decimals, and percentages,
interest. and that only 77% of high school students can correctly total the cost of a salad, a burger,
fries, and a cola on a restaurant menu. Since these are inferences about the population (all
high school students) based on sample data, we refer to them as inferential statistics. You
might think of inferential statistics as a “best guess” of a population value based on sample
information.
Why take a sample instead of studying every member of the population? Samples are
often used to obtain reliable estimates of population parameters. In the process, we make
trade-offs between the time, money, and effort to collect the data and the error of estimat-
ing a population parameter. For example, the process of sampling SUVs is illustrated in the
following graphic. We would like to know the mean or average fuel efficiency of all SUVs.
To estimate the mean of the population, six SUVs are sampled and their mean fuel efficiency
is tested. The mean fuel efficiency of the six is used to estimate fuel efficiency for the
population.

Population Sample
All items Items selected
from the population

Note that inferential statistics is widely applied learn something about a population in busi-
ness, agriculture, politics, and government, as shown in the following examples:
• Television networks constantly monitor the popularity of their programs by hiring Nielsen
and other organizations to sample the preferences of TV viewers. For example, in a sample
of 800 prime-time viewers, 320 or 40.0%, indicated that they watched The Big Bang The-
ory last week. These program ratings are used to set advertising rates or to continue or
cancel programs (www.nielsen.com).
• An accounting firm is conducting an audit of M Studios. To begin, the accounting firm
selects a random sample of 100 invoices (from a population of 2000 invoices) and
 What Is Statistics? 7

checks each for accuracy. There is at least one error on five of the invoices; hence the
accounting firm estimates that 5% of the population of invoices contains at least one
error.
• A random sample of 1260 marketing graduates showed their mean starting salary was
$45 694. We therefore estimate the mean starting salary for all marketing graduates to be
$45 694.
A feature of our text is self-review problems. There are a number of them interspersed
throughout each chapter. The first self-review follows. Each tests your comprehension of the
preceding material. The answer and method of solution are given at the end of the chapter. We
recommend that you solve each one and then check your answer.

self-review 1–1 The answers are at the end of the chapter.

Brandon Foods asked a sample of 1960 consumers to try a newly developed chicken dinner
called Chicken Delight. Of the 1960 sampled, 1176 said they would purchase the dinner if it is
marketed.
(a) What would Brandon Foods report to its Board of Directors regarding the percentage of
acceptance of Chicken Delight in the population?
(b) Is this an example of descriptive statistics or inferential statistics? Explain.

LO1-4 1.5 TYPES OF VARIABLES

There are two basic types of variables: (1) qualitative and (2) quantitative (see Chart 1–2). When
the characteristic being studied is non-numeric, it is called a qualitative variable or an attribute.
Examples of qualitative variables are gender, beverage preference, type of vehicle owned, country
of birth and eye colour. When a variable is qualitative, we are usually count the number of obser-
vations for each category and determine what percent fall in each category. For example, if we
observe the variable eye colour, what percent of the population has blue eyes and what percent
has brown eyes? If the variable is type of vehicle, what percent of the total number sold last month
Statistics in Action were SUVs? Qualitative variables are often summarized in charts and bar graphs (see Chapter 2).
Where did statistics get its
start? In 1662, John Graunt
published an article called CHART 1–2 Summary of the Types of Variables
“Natural and Political Observa-
tions Made upon Bills of Mor-
tality.” The author’s
Types of Variables
“observations” were the result
of his study and analysis of a
weekly church publication
called “Bill of Mortality,” which
Qualitative Quantitative
listed births, christenings, and
deaths and their causes.
Graunt realized that the Bills
of Mortality represented only • Brand of PC
a fraction of all births and • Marital status Discrete Continuous
deaths in London. However, • Hair colour
he used the data to reach
broad conclusions about the
impact of diseases, such as
the plague, on the general • Children in a family • Amount of income
population. His logic is an ex- • Strokes on a golf hole tax paid
ample of statistical inference. • TV sets owned • Weight of a student
His analysis and interpreta- • Yearly rainfall in
tion of the data are thought to Victoria, B.C.
mark the start of statistics.

8 Chapter 1

When the variable can be reported numerically, the variable is called a quantitative
variable. Examples of quantitative variables are the balance in your chequing account, the
ages of company CEOs, the life of a battery (such as 42 months), and the number of children
in a family.
Quantitative variables are either discrete or continuous. Discrete variables can assume
only certain values, and there are “gaps” between the values. Examples of discrete variables
are the number of bedrooms in a house (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.), the number of cars arriving at a shop-
ping centre in an hour (326, 421, etc.), and the number of students in each section of a statis-
tics course (25 in section A, 42 in section B, and 18 in section C). We count, for example, the
number of cars arriving at a shopping centre, and we count the number of statistics students
in each section. Note that a home can have 3 or 4 bedrooms, but it cannot have 3.56 bed-
rooms. Thus, there is a “gap” between possible values. Typically, discrete variables result
from counting.
Observations of a continuous variable can assume any value within a specific range.
Examples of continuous variables are the air pressure in a tire, and the weight of a shipment of
tomatoes. Other examples are the amount of raisin bran in a box and the duration of flights
from Vancouver to Calgary. Grade point average (GPA) is also a continuous variable. We could
report the GPA of a student as 3.2576952. The usual practice is to round up to two or three deci-
mal places, such as 3.26 or 3.258 in this example. Typically, continuous variables result from
measuring.

LO1-5 1.6 LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT

Data can be classified according to levels of measurement. The level of measurement deter-
mines how data should be summarized and presented. It will also indicate the type of statistical
analysis that can be performed. Here are two examples of the relationship between measure-
ment and how we apply statistics. There are six colours of candies in a bag of M&Ms. Suppose
we assign brown a value of 1, yellow 2, blue 3, orange 4, green 5, and red 6. The colour of an
M&M is a qualitative variable. If we add the assigned colour values and divide by the number of
candies and report that the mean colour is 3.56, does this mean that the average colour is blue
(3) or orange (4)? Of course not! So, how do we interpret this statistic? You would be correct in
concluding that it has no meaning as a measure of M&M colour. As a qualitative variable, we
can only report the count and percentage of each colour in a bag of M&Ms. As a second
example, in a high school 400-metre track meet, there are eight competitors in the 400-metre
run. We report the order of finish and that the mean finish is 4.5. What does the mean finish tell
us? Nothing! In both of these instances, we have not used the appropriate statistics for the level
of measurement.
There are four levels of measurement: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. The lowest,
or the most primitive, measurement is the nominal level. The highest is the ratio level of
measurement.

Nominal Level Data

For the nominal level of measurement, observations of a qualitative variable are measured
and recorded as labels or names, such as blue or red. The labels or names can only be classified
and counted. There is no particular order to the labels. The classification of the six colours of
M&M milk chocolate candies is an example of the nominal level of measurement. We simply
classify the candies by colour. There is no natural order. That is, we could report the brown
candies first, the orange first, or any of the colours first. Recording the variable gender is an-
other example of the nominal level of measurement. Suppose we count the number of students
entering a football game with a student ID and report how many are men and how many are
women. We could report either the men or the women first. For data measured at the nominal
level, we are limited to counting the number in each category of the variable, Sometimes, we
convert these counts to percentages. Table 1–1 shows a breakdown of the program majors at a
Canadian college. This is a nominal level variable because we record the information by pro-
gram major and there is no natural order. We could list the program majors in alphabetical order
or by number of students in each program.
 What Is Statistics? 9

TABLE 1–1 Business Administration Students by Major

Program Number of Students Code

Accounting 645 1
Marketing 746 2
Finance 343 3
Human 461 4
Resources
General Business 485 5
Total 2680

To process the data for a variable measured at the nominal level, we often numerically code
the names or labels. That is, we assign students in the accounting major a code of 1, students in
the marketing major a code of 2, students in the finance major a code of 3, and so on. This coding
facilitates counting by a computer, but realize that the number assigned to each program major
is still a name or label. Assigning these numbers to the various categories this does not give us
licence to manipulate the numbers. To explain, 1 + 2 does not equal 3; that is, the students in the
accounting major plus the students in the marketing major does not equal the students in the fi-
nance major.
To summarize, the nominal level has the following properties:
1. The variable of interest is represented as names or labels.
2. There is no order. They can only be classified and counted.

Ordinal Level Data

The next higher level of data is the ordinal level. For this level of measurement, a qualitative
variable or attribute is either ranked or rated on a relative scale. This type of scale is used when
students rate professors on a variety of attributes. One attribute may be “Overall, how did you
rate the quality of instruction in this class?” A student’s response is recorded on a relative scale
of inferior, poor, good, excellent, and superior. An important characteristic of using a relative
measurement scale is that we cannot distinguish the magnitude of the differences between
groups. We do not know if the difference between “Superior” and “Good” is the same as the dif-
ference between “Poor” and “Inferior.”
Table 1–2 lists the frequencies of student ratings of instructional quality for Professor James
Brunner in an Introduction to Finance course. The data are summarized based on the order of the
scale used to rate the professor. That is, they are summarized by the number of students who in-
dicated a rating of superior (6), good (28), and so on.

TABLE 1–2 Rating of a Finance Professor

Rating Frequency
Superior 6
Good 28
Average 25
Poor 12
Inferior 3

Ordinal level data are also used to rank items in a list. An example can be found in Table 1–3,
Provinces and Territories in Canada Listed by Total Area.
The rankings are an example of an ordinal scale because we know the order or ranks of the
provinces and territories according to total area. For example, Nunavut is ranked first as Nuna-
vut has the largest total area. Prince Edward Island—with the smallest total area—is ranked last
at thirteenth. Nova Scotia is ranked lower than New Brunswick as the total area in Nova Scotia
is less than the total area in New Brunswick. Note that British Columbia is ranked fifth, but we

10 Chapter 1

TABLE 1–3 Provinces and Territories in Canada Listed by Total Area

Total Area
Rank Provinces and Territories Province or Territory (km2)
1 Nunavut Territory    2 093 190
2 Quebec Province    1 542 056
3 Northwest Territories Territory 1 346 106
4 Ontario Province 1 076 395
5 British Columbia Province       944 735
6 Alberta Province     661 848
7 Saskatchewan Province       651 900
8 Manitoba Province 647 797
9 Yukon Territory   482 443
10 Newfoundland & Labrador Province    405 212
11 New Brunswick Province        72 908
12 Nova Scotia Province        55 284
13 Prince Edward Island Province            5 660

Source: Natural Resources Canada, GeoAccess Division. http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som

/l01/cst01/phys01-eng.htm. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.

cannot say that the total area in Nunavut is five times larger than the total area in British Colum-
bia because the magnitude of the differences between total area is not the same.
In summary, the properties of an ordinal level of measurement are as follows:
1. Data recorded is based on a relative ranking or rating of items based on a defined attribute
or qualitative variable.
2. Variables based on this level of measurement are only ranked or counted.

Interval Level Data

The interval level of measurement is the next highest level. It includes all the characteristics
of the ordinal level, but in addition, the difference between values is a constant size. The Celsius
temperature scale is an example of the interval level of measurement. Suppose the high
temperatures on three consecutive winter days are 0, −2, and −3 degrees Celsius. These tem-
peratures can be easily ranked, but we can also determine the difference between temperatures.
This is possible because 1 degree Celsius represents a constant unit of measurement. Equal dif-
ferences between two temperatures are the same, regardless of their position on the scale. That
is, the difference between 10 degrees Celsius and 15 degrees is 5, and the difference between
30 and 35 degrees is also 5 degrees. It is also important to note that 0 is just a point on the
scale. It does not represent the absence of the condition. Zero degrees Celsius does not rep-
resent the absence of heat, just that it is cold! A major limitation of a variable measured at
the interval level is that we cannot make statements similar to “20 degrees Celsius is twice as
warm as 10 degrees Celsius.” The ratio is not reasonable. In short, if the distances between
the numbers make sense, but the ratios do not, then you have an interval scale of
measurement.
The properties of interval level data are as follows:
1. Data classifications are ordered according to the amount of the characteristic they possess.
2. Equal differences in the characteristic are represented by equal differences in the
measurements.

Ratio Level Data

Almost all quantitative data are at the ratio level of measurement. The ratio level is the “highest”
level of measurement. It has all the characteristics of the interval level, but in addition, the 0
point is meaningful, and the ratio between two numbers is meaningful. Examples of the ratio
scale of measurement include wages, units of production, weight, changes in stock prices, dis-
tance between branch offices, and height. Money is a good illustration. If you have $0, then you
 What Is Statistics? 11

have no money, and a wage of $50 per hour is two times that of $25 per hour. Weight is another
example. If there is nothing on a scale, then the weight will be zero since there is a complete ab-
sence of weight. As well, a 1 kilogram (kg) bag of oranges is half as heavy as a bag of oranges
that weighs 2 kg.
Table 1–4 illustrates the ratio scale of measurement for the variable income for four father-
and-son combinations.

TABLE 1–4 Father–Son Income Combinations

Name Father Son

Lahey $80 000 $40 000
Nale 90 000 30 000
Rho 60 000 120 000
Steele 75 000 130 000

Observe that the senior Lahey earns twice as much as his son does. In the Rho family, the
son makes twice as much as the father does.
The difference between interval and ratio measurements can be confusing. The fundamental
difference involves the definition of a true zero and the ratio between two values. If you have $50
and your friend has $100, then your friend has twice as much money as you do. If you spend your
$50, then you have no money. This is an example of a true zero. As another example, a sales rep-
resentative travels 150 kilometres (km) on Monday and 300 km on Tuesday. The ratio of the dis-
tances travelled on the two days is 2/1; converting the distances to metres or miles will not
change the ratio. It is still 2/1. Suppose that on Wednesday, the sales representative works at
home and does not travel. The distance travelled on Wednesday is zero, and this is a meaningful
value. Hence, the variable distance has a true zero point.
In summary, the properties of ratio level data are as follows:
1. Data classifications are ordered according to the amount of the characteristics they possess.
2. Equal differences in the characteristic are represented by equal differences in the numbers
assigned to the classifications.
3. The zero point is the absence of the characteristic and the ratio between two numbers is
meaningful.
Chart 1–3 summarizes the major characteristics of the various levels of measurement.

CHART 1–3 Summary of the Characteristics for Levels of Measurement

Levels of Data

Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio

Data may only be Data are ranked Meaningful difference Meaningful 0 point and
classified between values ratio between values

• Jersey numbers • Your rank in class • Temperature • Number of patients

of football players • Team standings in • Shoe size seen
• Make of car the NHL • IQ scores • Number of sales
calls made
• Distance to class

12 Chapter 1

self-review 1–2 What is the level of measurement reflected by the following data?
(a) The ages of the persons in a sample of 50 adults who listen to one of the Oldies radio sta-
tions in Canada are as follows:

35 29 41 34 44 46 42 42 37 47
30 36 41 39 44 39 43 43 44 40
47 37 41 27 33 33 39 38 43 22
44 39 35 35 41 42 37 42 38 43
35 37 38 43 40 48 42 31 51 34

(b) In a survey of 200 luxury-car owners, 100 were from Victoria, 50 from Halifax, 30 from
Calgary, and 20 from Winnipeg.

EXERCISES
The answers to the odd-numbered exercises are in Appendix A.1.
1. What is the level of measurement for each of the following variables?
a. Student IQ (intelligence quotient) ratings.
b. Distances students travel to class.
c. Student scores on the first statistics test.
d. A classification of students by province of birth.
e. A ranking of students by letter grades.
f. Number of hours students study per week.
g. The political parties in Canada.
h. Team standings in the National Hockey League (NHL).
i. Jersey numbers in basketball.
j. The number of car sales in the last six months.
2. What is the level of measurement for these items related to the newspaper business?
a. The number of papers sold each Sunday during 2016.
b. The number of employees in each of the departments, such as editorial, advertising, sports,
and so on.
c. A summary of the number of papers sold by county.
d. The number of years with the paper for each employee.
e. The number of male and female employees.
f. The height of each employee.
3. Look in the latest edition of your local newspaper and find examples of each level of measure-
ment. Write a brief memo summarizing your findings.
4. For each of the following, determine whether the group is a sample or a population:
a. The participants in a study of a new diabetes drug.
b. The drivers who received a speeding ticket in Halifax last month.
c. Those on welfare in Victoria, B.C.
d. The 30 stocks reported as a part of the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX).

LO1-6 1.7 ETHICS AND STATISTICS

You have probably heard the old saying that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and
statistics. This saying is attributable to Benjamin Disraeli and is over a century old. It has also
been said that “figures don’t lie; liars figure.” Both these statements refer to the misuse of statis-
tics whereby data are presented in ways that are misleading.
Following recent events of Ponzi schemes—which swindled billions from investors—
financial misrepresentations by Enron and other corporate disasters, business students need to
understand that these events were based on the misrepresentation of business and financial data.
In each case, people within each organization reported financial information to investors that
indicated the companies were performing much better than the actual situation. When the true
 What Is Statistics? 13

financial information was reported, the companies were worth much less than advertised. The
result was that many investors lost all or nearly all of the money they put into these companies.
The article “Statistics and Ethics: Some Advice for Young Statisticians,” in The American
Statistician 57, no. 1 (2003), offers some guidance. The authors advise us to practise statistics
with integrity and honesty and urge us to “do the right thing” when collecting, organizing, sum-
marizing, analyzing, and interpreting numerical information. The real contribution of statistics to
society is a moral one. Financial analysts need to provide information that truly reflects a com-
pany’s performance so as to not mislead individual investors. Information regarding product de-
fects that may be harmful to people must be analyzed and reported with integrity and honesty.
As you progress through this text, we will highlight ethical issues in the collection, analysis,
presentation, and interpretation of statistical information. We also hope that as you learn about
using statistics, you will become a more informed consumer of information. For example, you
will question a report based on data that do not fairly represent the population, a report that does
not include all relevant statistics, one that includes an incorrect choice of statistical measures, or
a presentation that introduces the writer’s bias in a deliberate attempt to mislead or misrepresent.

1.8 COMPUTER APPLICATIONS

Computers are now available to students at many colleges and universities. Spreadsheet pro-
grams, such as Microsoft Excel, and statistical software packages, such as MINITAB, are avail-
able in most computer labs. In this text, we use both Excel and an Excel add-in called MegaStat.
This add-in gives Excel the capability to produce additional statistical reports and charts.
The following example shows the application of computers in statistical analysis. In Chap-
ters 2 and 3, we illustrate methods for summarizing and describing data. An exercise used in
those chapters refers to the list price of homes in Whistler, BC. The following Excel output re-
veals, among other things, that (1) 85 homes were listed, (2) the average (mean) list price was
$735 511, and (3) the list prices ranged from $56 900 (minimum) to $1 999 999 (maximum). The
full data set and others are available on this text’s website.

Had we used a calculator to arrive at these measures and others needed to fully analyze the
list prices, hours of calculations would have been required. The likelihood of an error in arithme-
tic is high when a large number of values are concerned. However, statistical software packages
and spreadsheets can provide accurate information in seconds. We will see more such data in
subsequent chapter exercises.

14 Chapter 1

Chapter Summary
I. Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing, presenting, analyzing, and interpreting data to assist
in making more effective decisions.
II. There are two types of statistics.
A. Descriptive statistics are procedures used to organize and summarize data.
B. Inferential statistics involve taking a sample from a population and making estimates about a popula-
tion based on the sample results.
1. A population is an entire set of individuals or objects of interest or the measurements obtained
from all individuals or objects of interest.
2. A sample is a part of the population.
III. There are two types of variables.
A. A qualitative variable is non-numeric.
1. Usually, we are interested in the number or percentage of the observations in each category.
2. Qualitative data are usually summarized in graphs and bar charts.
B. There are two types of quantitative variables and they are usually reported numerically.
1. Discrete variables can assume only certain values, and there are usually gaps between values.
2. A continuous variable can assume any value within a specified range.
IV. There are four levels of measurement.
A. With the nominal level of measurement, the data are sorted into categories with no particular order to
the categories.
B. The ordinal level of measurement presumes that one classification is ranked higher than another.
C. The interval level of measurement has the ranking characteristic of the ordinal level of measurement
plus the characteristic that the distance between values is a constant size.
D. The ratio level of measurement has all the characteristics of the interval level, plus there is a meaning-
ful zero point, and the ratio of two values is meaningful.

Chapter Exercises
5. Explain the difference between qualitative and quantitative data. Give an example of qualitative and
quantitative data.
6. Explain the difference between a sample and a population.
7. Explain the difference between a discrete variable and a continuous variable. Give an example of each
not included in the text.
8. A company conducts a survey of a large number of college undergraduates for information on the follow-
ing variables: the name of their cell phone provider (e.g., Rogers, Bell), the numbers of minutes used last
month (e.g., 200, 400), and their satisfaction with the service (e.g., Terrible, Adequate, Excellent). What is
the level of measurement for each of these three variables?
9. Electronic book readers allow users to browse, shop, download, and read e-books, blogs, newspapers,
and magazines, all displayed in full colour. Assume that you know the number of units sold each day
for the last month at the West Edmonton Mall. Describe a condition in which this information could be
considered a sample. Illustrate a second situation in which the same data would be regarded as a
population.
10. Using data from magazines or your local newspaper, give examples of nominal, ordinal, interval, and ra-
tio levels of measurement.
11. A random sample of 300 executives out of 2500 employed by a large firm showed that 270 would move to
another location if it meant a substantial promotion. On the basis of these findings, write a brief note to
management regarding all executives in the firm.
12. A random sample of 500 customers is asked to comment on the take-out service at The Chicken Hut. Of
the 500 customers surveyed, 400 said it was excellent, 32 thought it was fair, and the remaining customers
had no opinion. On the basis of these sample findings, make an inference about the reaction of all custom-
ers to the take-out service.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 “I know you were at the bottom of it,” charged Frances.
“My dear child—” began Champney.
“I’m not your child, and I’m not a child, and I won’t be deared by
you,” cried Frances.
“Madame Antiquity,” responded Champney, bowing, “I assure you,
that far from wishing to force you to go on this trip with me, I only
agreed to take you, at your father’s request, and at a great personal
sacrifice to myself.”
Frances turned, and banged down the lid of her trunk. Then she
banged it again, to get the hasp to fit. Then she picked up a pair of
discarded boots and threw them across the room, hitting Freddy,
who entered at that moment.
“Why, sweetness!” gasped Freddy, who did not see Champney.
“Oh, go away,” cried Frances, blushing. “Don’t bother me! Can’t
you see I’m too busy to waste time now?”
And to illustrate the callousness of man to true love, it is
regrettable to state that Champney slipped out of the door at this
point, with an expression of great muscular tension about his mouth,
and no sooner was he in the hall than the brute reeled up against the
wall and, leaning there, laughed to a sinful degree.
Then he walked to the end of the hall, and entering a room, also
cluttered with trunks, he sat upon one of them and retold the scene
to the woman packing. “I never saw anything so delicious in its way,”
he laughed. “I really believe the medicine’s begun to work already.
But do you know, Frances promises to be a tremendous beauty. Just
now, when her cheeks and eyes were blazing so, she was simply
glorious to look at.” Which shows that Champney’s cool, disregarding
manner was not more than skin deep, and that unlimited
possibilities lay underneath. Perhaps, too, another potion was
beginning to work.
“I’m sorry she is so childish with you, Champney,” said Mrs. De
Witt.
“Don’t trouble yourself about that. I really don’t mind it; indeed, I
am afraid I rather enjoy it. It’s much rougher on her than on me, for
she really feels it, and it’s the person who loses his or her temper who
suffers the most.”
 “I hope the dear child will try to be more amiable, for naturally
she’s sweetness itself, and it’s bad enough to be saddled with us
without making your trip worse than need be. It’s so good of you to
take us!”
“Dear lady,” answered Champney, tenderly, “it’s nothing but a
little set-off against your years of goodness to me. You have really
given me a second home; nothing I can ever do will make me other
than your debtor.”
“It’s nice to hear you say so, Champney,” said Mrs. De Witt,
affectionately. “I have always felt as if you were a son of mine.”
“Then don’t talk to me about my goodness in taking you.”
“But it is good of you.”
“I don’t think Freddy and Frances think so.”
“Oh, Champney! Tell me, how did you find out their foolishness?”
“That is a secret,” chuckled Champney, “that goes with me to the
grave.”
⁂
Nor was it any better for Cupid the next day at the steamer. The
evil genius of the little god, in the shape of Potter, persisted in
following Frances about, and not a moment did she or Freddy find to
swear constancy or anything else to each other. Only a hand squeeze,
while the whistle was blowing “all ashore,” did they get to feed their
hearts upon during the separation.
Freddy went home, and, going to his room, flung himself on his
bed, and moaned, and bit the pillow, and felt he was feeling great
thoughts, and thought he was having great feelings.
And the little lady?
“No,” she declared, “I don’t want to walk with you; I don’t want a
steamer chair; I don’t want anything; I only want to be left al-o-o-o-
o-ne,” and—running to her stateroom, she flung herself upon the
lounge and wept over her unhappiness. “Oh, Freddy, Freddy,” she
sobbed, “only be true to me, that’s all I ask.”
But, alas, how is humanity constituted! The next morning, Freddy,
after a final look at himself in a tall mirror, remarked to the vision:
“Yes, that’s very tony. Now, I’ll take a walk on the Avenue, so as to
give the girls a treat.” As for Frances, after an hour’s rapid walk with
Champney in the crisp, sunny air, she came down to the breakfast-
table, and said: “Yes, steward, I’ll begin with fruit and oatmeal, and
then I’ll have chocolate, and beefsteak, and an omelette, and fried
potatoes, and hot rolls, and marmalade. Oh! And, steward, do you
have griddle cakes?”
Thus, despite their mutual intentions, the thought of each other
lessened daily, till even the inevitable correspondence lost interest
and flagged. Frances discovered that London, Paris, and the Riviera
offered greater attractions than Freddy’s witless and vapid “chronicle
of small beer;” while Freddy found that listening to the conversation
of a girl, present, was a far better way of spending time than reading
the letters of a girl, absent. Finally, Frances found a letter at the
bankers at Berne which ended the correspondence,—a letter over
which she laughed so heartily that Champney looked up from his
own bundle of mail and asked, “What is it that’s so funny?”
“Freddy’s engaged to Kitty Maxwell,” replied Frances.
“I don’t think you ought to be so gleeful at other people’s
misfortunes,” reproved Champney, laughing himself, however, while
speaking, as if he, too, saw something humorous in the
announcement.
“I—I wasn’t—I was laughing at something else,” Frances told him.
“What?” asked Champney.
“A secret,” replied Frances, blushing a little, even while laughing.
“Not from me?” urged Champney.
“Yes; I sha’n’t even tell you. Not a person in the world will ever
know it, and I’m very glad,” asserted Frances.
“I suspect I know it already,” suggested Champney. “I am a great
hand at finding out secrets. I have a patent method.”
“What is that?” asked Frances.
“That, too, is a secret,” laughed Champney.
⁂
When next we meet any of our characters, they—or at least two of
them—are toiling up a steep mountain path in the Bavarian Tyrol.
Frances leads, for the way is narrow, and Champney follows.
Conversation is at a marked discount; but whether this is due to the
natural incompatibility of the two, or merely to the exertion of the
climb, is unknown to history.
“She gets lovelier every day,” finally remarked Champney.
Frances stopped, and turned. “What did you say?” she asked.
“I didn’t speak,” answered Champney.
“I’m sure you did,” said Frances.
“No,” denied Champney, “I was merely thinking.”
“You did say something, I’m sure,” responded Frances, turning,
and resuming the climb.
Another five minutes brought them to the top of a little plateau set
in between two ranges of mountains, and dividing two lakes, famous
the world over. Even after the couple reached their destination,
however, they stood silent for a minute. Then Frances exclaimed,—
“Isn’t it glorious?”
“Lovely,” assented Champney, emphatically, but staring all the
time at Frances, making it doubtful of what he was speaking.
Frances, being quite conscious of this gaze, looked all the harder at
the view. “The mountains shut in so grandly!” she remarked, after a
pause.
“Such perfect solitude!” said Champney, enthusiastically.
“Yes,” assented Frances, with apparent reluctance in admitting the
fact. “But I suppose we must be going down again; mama will be
lonely.”
Champney calmly seated himself on a stone, unstrung his field-
glass, and surveyed through it the edge of the lake, far below them.
“Your mother,” he announced, “is sitting on the rug, just where we
left her. Her back is against the tree, and she is pretending to read.
But she’s doing nothing of the kind. She is taking a nap on the sly.
Surely you don’t want to disturb her?”
“It must be nearly luncheon time.”
“The boatmen haven’t even begun to unpack yet. Johann is just
taking the Vöslauer out of the boat, to cool it in the lake. They won’t
be ready for half an hour.”
 Frances began to look a little worried. There was a dangerous
persistence in this evident desire to remain on the alp. “I think I’ll go
down, anyway,” she said.
“You mustn’t do that,” begged Champney, laying the field-glass on
the rock.
“Why not?” demanded Frances.
“Because I have something to say to you,” said Champney.
Silence and apparent interest in the view on the part of Frances.
“Do you know,” asked Champney, “that I planned to be away for
only two months?”
“Yes.”
“And that I have been over here more than eight?”
“Oh, not so long as that,” denied Frances.
“Eight months and four days.”
“How quickly the time has gone!”
“But it has gone, and that’s the trouble. I have decided that I must
go back in September.”
Frances hesitated, and then said bravely, “We shall be very sorry to
have you go.”
“That makes it all the harder,” groaned Champney, rising and
joining Frances. “In fact, I hate so to leave you” (“you” can be plural
or singular) “over here that—that I want you to go back with me. Will
you?”
“Why, that is for mama and papa to settle,” remarked Frances,
artfully dodging the question, though perfectly understanding it.
“This isn’t to be settled by fathers and mothers. My dar—my—I
want you to go—because you have become so dear to me. I want to
tell you—to tell you how I have grown to love you in these months.
How happy you can make me by a single word. I—you—once you told
me you were not ‘my dear child.’ Oh, Frances, won’t you be my
dearest love?”
“If you want me to be,” acceded Frances.
⁂
 One of the simplest laws of natural philosophy is that a thing
descends more easily than it ascends. Yet it took those two over four
times longer to come down than it had taken them to go up,—which
proves that love is superior to all the laws of gravity; though it is not
meant to suggest by this that it has aught to do with levity. From
among a variety of topics with which they beguiled this slow descent
the following sentences are selected:
“I can’t believe it yet,” marvelled Champney. “It doesn’t seem as if
our happiness could have depended on such a small chance.”
“What chance?”
“Why—on that evening. When I found your mother wasn’t in, I
half turned away, but after hesitating, decided to wait. And then,
when I found you two in the morning room, I decided that I would
leave you, and go and read in the library. I was just about to say so,
when you told me to sit down by you on the sofa. That led to our
coming off here together, and really finding out about each other. Of
course that was equivalent to my falling desperately in love.”
“But you could have done that at home,” laughed Frances, merrily.
“No, I should have come off here, and some other man would have
won you.”
“Champney! I never could love any one but you.”
Champney swallowed the absurd statement rapturously. “That’s
just like the angel that you are,” he declared.
“But I knew you had something to do with our coming,” asserted
Frances, “though you did deny it.”
“No; like a consummate donkey, I didn’t want to be bothered with
you. Conceive of it, dear one, that I could ever think you a bother!”
“You didn’t know me,” laughed Frances happily, and with no
intention of vanity.
“No, I should think not. I wanted your father to take you. But I
shall never want any one else to do that in the future.”
“But why did you want me to go to Europe, if it wasn’t to be with
me?”
“Why—um—because, dear one, I saw a little girl that night who
was longing so for love that she was accepting a cheap and flashy
counterfeit in its stead. I didn’t want her to waste a real heart on such
an apology for a man, and so I interfered.”
“But how did you know?” cried Frances, looking bewildered. “We
had only just—you couldn’t have known it then?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Champney laughed as he replied: “That’s telling.”
⁂
And now, another leap, please, back to that fireplace, and sofa,
again occupied by two—but not the same two—or, at least, only half
the same.
“Well,” groaned Champney, “I suppose I ought to be going, for you
must look your prettiest to-morrow, otherwise malicious people will
say it’s a match arranged for the business.”
“Let them,” laughed Frances. “By the way, how have you arranged
about that? You are such a good business man, and papa and mama
are so delighted, that I know you have the best of it.”
“Of course I have. And she’s sitting beside me now. But nothing
mercenary to-night, Madam,” ordered Champney. “Cupid, not
cupidity.”
“Well, Champney, dear, at least do tell me how you found out
about—about—” Frances stopped there.
“Never,” persisted Champney, nestling back on the sofa and
laughing.
“I don’t think it’s nice for a man to have secrets from his wife,”
reproved Frances, taking an eminently feminine view of man’s
knowledge.
“That is to be,” corrected Champney.
“Will you tell me—after to-morrow?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s too good to be told.”
“Ah, Champney!” And a small hand strayed round his neck, and
rested lightly against his cheek. Champney looked very contented.
 “Please, dear.” And a pair of lips came dangerously close to his
own.
Champney groaned a satisfied groan. “Well,” he began, “do you
remember when I came in the evening before we sailed, how Freddy
was sitting over there, and you were sitting just where you are?”
“Yes.”
“And how you let me sit down here, just where I am?”
“Yes.”
“And how I chatted for a moment and then suddenly became
silent?”
“Yes.”
“That was when I discovered it.”
“How?”
“I found that the seat I was sitting in was warm!”
 “SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE IS SAUCE FOR THE
GANDER”

“Oh, my dear!” cried her mother.

“I hope you have properly considered? He is charming, of course,
but—well—he is such a club habitué.”
“What? Well, well!” exclaimed her father. “Bless me, Meg, I had no
idea— Give me a kiss, if you have any to spare for your old dad now.
Why, of course, I consent, if you care for him. Only tell Mr. Tyler I
hear he spends too much time at his clubs.”
“Margaret! How nice!” ejaculated her sister. “I’ve liked him from
the start, and hoped—people said he was too fond of his club ever to
care to marry, and so I thought—but now it’s all right.”
“I knew he meant biz,” asserted her brother, “the moment he
began to keep away from the club, and put in so much time with
you.”
“I cannot tell you, my dearest Margaret (if I may call you that?),”
wrote his mother, “how happy I am over what my dear boy has just
told me. The luxury and ease of club life are now so great that I had
almost feared Harry could not be weaned from them. But since he
has chosen such a dear, beautiful, and clever girl, my worst anxiety is
over.”
“You are indeed to be congratulated, niece,” declared her aunt. “He
is a most eligible parti—good looks, position, and wealth. If you can
only keep him away from his clubs, I am confident you will be a very
happy and domestic couple.”
 “I have been certain of it for weeks,” her dearest feminine friend
assured her. “There isn’t a man I would rather have had you take, for
he is so much at his club that I shall still see something of you.”
“Er, Miss Brewster,” said one of her rejected lovers, “let me offer
you my best wishes. At the club we all swear by Harry, and we
actually think of going into mourning over the loss. Er, the fellows
are laying bets as to whether we shall ever see him there again. The
odds are six to one on the club,—but the fellows don’t know you, you
know.”
“I want to offer you my heartiest congratulations,” gushed the girl
who had tried for him. “Mr. Tyler has always been one of my best
friends, and I am sure you will be very happy. He isn’t, of course,
very fond of women’s society, but— Have you asked him to resign
from his clubs?”
⁂
“Don’t you want to sit down, Harry?” asked Margaret, making
room on the little sofa beside the fire.
The young couple had enjoyed four months of ecstatic travel, thirty
days of chaos while they settled their household goods, and then a
recurring Indian-summer honeymoon of two months in front of their
own fireside in the charmingly cosey library where the above remark
was made. Upon this particular evening, however, Harry, in
following his wife from the dining-room, took neither his customary
seat beside his wife on the sofa nor lighted a cigar. On the contrary,
he stood leaning against the mantel with anything but an expression
or attitude of ease, and, noting this, Margaret had asked her
question.
“Not to-night, dear,” said Harry. “The truth is—well—I met
Parmlee on my way up town, and I—that is—he asked me to come
round to the club this evening—and, well—I didn’t like to disappoint
him. And then, a fellow mustn’t stag—that is—don’t you think, my
darling, that it’s a mistake for married people to see too much of each
other—and—”
“Oh, Harry!” cried Margaret, interrupting and rising. “You said
you never could have enough—”
 “And I can’t, dearest,” interrupted Harry, hurriedly. “But you know
— Well—can’t you—”
“I feel as if it were the beginning of the end,” said Margaret, wildly.
“Now, my darling,” pleaded Harry, “do be reasonable. You know—
There, don’t cry. I won’t go. Sit down here and let me tell you how
much I love you.”
This occupied some time, but the clock never told on them, so it is
impossible to say just how long. Presently Margaret said:
“Harry, did you really want to—to leave me?”
“Not a bit,” lied Harry. “It was only to keep my word to Parmlee.”
“I suppose it’s too late now?” questioned Margaret, hopefully.
“Late? Oh, no! Fun’s just beginning. But I’m going to stay with
you, sweetheart.”
There was a moment’s silence, and then Margaret said: “If you
want to go, I want you to do it, Harry.”
“Well,” responded Harry, rising, “if you insist, dearest.”
“I do,” assented Margaret, in the most faint-hearted of voices.
“That’s a darling!” said her husband. “It’s half-past nine, so you’ll
only have a few minutes of loneliness before you go to bed.”
“I sha’n’t go to bed, Harry,” sighed Margaret, dolefully.
“Why, my darling,” protested Harry, a little irritably, “you don’t
want to make me miserable thinking of you as here by yourself.
Please be reasonable and don’t sit up for me. Leave me free to come
home when I want.”
“Very well, Harry,” acceded Margaret, dutifully, “if you insist I
won’t wait for your return.”
Harry took the charming face in his hands, and kissed each eyelid,
and then the lips. “I don’t deserve such an angel,” he asserted, his
conscience pricking him, “and— Oh, hang Parmlee!” he growled, as
her eyes, a little misty, looked up into his own. However, she
belonged to him, and there were plenty of evenings, and—well—
“Good-night, my treasure,” he ended.
⁂
 Margaret remained standing where Harry had left her until she
heard the front door close; then she collapsed on the sofa and softly
sobbed her sense of desertion and grief into the pillow. The warnings
of her family and friends recurred to her, and added to the pain of
the moment a direful dread of the future. Not knowing that most
bachelors are regular club men merely because it is the nearest
approach to home life they can attain, she dwelt on his having been
apparently wedded to these comforters of men, before marriage, and
inferred a return to his former daily frequenting of them.
Her grief was keen enough to prevent her from noticing that the
front door was presently opened, and not till she heard a faint cough
in the room did she raise her head from the pillow. It was to find a
servant with his back turned to the sofa, occupied, apparently, in
setting a chair in a position entirely unsuited to it,—a proceeding he
made far more noisy than became a well-trained butler, and which
he accompanied with two more coughs.
Hurriedly wiping her eyes, Margaret asked, “What is it, Craig?”
With his eyes carefully focussed to see everything but his
mistress’s face, the man came forward and held out his tray.
Almost mechanically she took the card upon it, and after a mere
glance she directed,—“Say that Mrs. Tyler is not receiving this
evening, and begs to be excused.”
Left alone once more, the young wife sat down upon a stool near
the fire, and looked into the blaze, idly twirling the card. “I wonder,”
she soliloquised presently, “if he would have done the same.” Again
she lapsed into meditation, for a few minutes; then suddenly she sat
up straight, with an air of sudden interest which was clearly derived
from her own thoughts. A moment later, she gave a short, hesitating
laugh. “If I only dared! I wonder if he would? Men are—” she said
disconnectedly; but even as she spoke, her face softened. “Poor
dear!” she murmured tenderly. Yet the words of pity melted into
another laugh, and this time merriment and not guilt was as the
dominant note. Springing to her feet with vivacity, she sped into the
hall, and placed the card on the tray, and that in turn conspicuously
on the hatrack. A second action consisted in turning on all the
electric lights of the chandelier. This done, she touched the bell.
 “You may close the house, Craig,” she ordered, when the servant
responded to the summons, “but as Mr. Tyler has gone to his club, I
wish you to leave these lights just as they are. I prefer that he should
not come home to a darkened house, so don’t turn out one.” Giving
one last glance, half merry and half guilty, at the bit of pasteboard
put in so prominent a position, Margaret lightly tripped upstairs,
humming something to herself.
⁂
Meantime Harry had wended his way to the club.
“Hello, Tyler!” said the man his wife had refused. “Don’t mean to
say you’ve actually ceased to be one of the ‘submerged tenth?’ How
and where is your superior moiety?”
“When I left Mrs. Tyler before her fire, ten minutes ago, she was
very well.”
“By George, if I had as clever and pretty a wife I don’t think I
should dare to leave her alone. I should be afraid of the other men.”
Harry turned away to hide his frown, but as he went towards the
door of the billiard room, rejoined: “Perhaps it wouldn’t be safe with
your wife.” To himself he carolled gleefully: “That cuts both ways.”
“But you are not afraid, I understand,” called the man, irritatingly,
“so I take it you won’t mind if I drop round there for a few moments
this evening, eh?”
“Certainly not,” responded Harry, suavely, but gritting his teeth.
“Hang the fellow,” he muttered. “How do such cads ever get into
decent clubs? As if Margaret’s refusing him twice wasn’t enough to
make him understand that she doesn’t want him round!”
Tyler’s anger was quickly forgotten in the warm reception his
cronies gave him, and a tumbler of “unsweetened” and a cue quickly
made him forget both the incident and the passing hours. Not till the
marker notified the players that the time limit had come did he wake
to the fact that it was two o’clock.
With a sense of guilt the husband hurried home. In the hallway, as
he took off hat and coat, he noticed the card, and picked it up. “So he
did come,” he growled, with a frown. “I hope Meg had gone to bed
before he got here. Not, of course, that it really matters,” he went on.
“She told me she never could endure him, so he’s welcome to call as
often as he likes to be snubbed.” To prove how little he cared, the
husband crushed the card viciously, and tossed it on the floor.
The light in Margaret’s room was burning low, Harry noticed when
he had ascended the stairs, and, peeping in, he saw that she was
sleeping peacefully. Entering quietly, he looked at her for a moment,
thinking with a little pang that he had given her pain. “You don’t
deserve such an angel,” he said aloud. “See how she has done just
what you asked her to do, with never a word of— There isn’t another
woman who would have taken it so sweetly. You’re an ass! And for
what? Four hours of—of nothing, when I might have been with her.”
He leaned down to very softly kiss a stray curl, and went towards his
own room, while saying: “How pretty and dainty she is! She’s worth
all the clubs in the world!” What was more, for a minute he believed
it.
The moment Harry was gone Margaret opened her eyes very wide,
rose softly, and looked at the clock. Then she went back to bed,
smiling demurely.
⁂
The next morning, when Harry entered the breakfast room a little
late, he was received with a kiss, and no word of reproach. Margaret
chatted over the meal in her usual entertaining, happy mood, telling
him the news she had already extracted from the morning’s paper.
“She’s too clever ever to nag a man,” thought Harry, and assured
that he was not to be taken to task, he became equally amiable, and
told her whom he had seen at the club, and of his score.
“I’m glad you had such a pleasant evening!” said Margaret,
sweetly. “I hope you didn’t stay so late as to tire yourself.”
“I didn’t notice the time,” fibbed Harry, “but probably I was in by
twelve.”
“Oh, no, dear,” said Margaret, pleasantly, “for I didn’t get home till
after one myself, and you weren’t back then.”
⁂
Twenty times Harry has tried to persuade his wife into
acknowledging that she spoke in jest, but Margaret only looks at him
with wideopen, questioning eyes, as innocent as a child’s. Her
husband firmly believes that she went to bed ten minutes after he left
the house, and always ends his unsuccessful attempts to get her to
confess the fact by taking Margaret in his arms and telling her of his
belief. This faith his wife rewards with a tender kiss, but only a kiss,
and still maintains her demure silence.
Harry spends no more evenings at the club, and every woman who
knows him holds him up to other men as an ideal married Benedick.
 THE CORTELYOU FEUD

It could never have happened to us anywhere in New York but at

Mrs. Baxter’s. I say this not with bitterness at, but in calm
recognition of, the merits and demerits of that universally esteemed
lady. Abroad, with the lords chamberlain, herald’s offices, and
peerages, it would be impossible. In the far West, where the
biography and genealogy of the leading families are not subjects for
polite conversation, it might occur frequently. But in New York, lying
between these two extremes, one is safe, except from accidents due
to the unfortunate existence of a peculiar class of people.
The kind I refer to are those described as having a good heart.
Such an organ involves, as a natural corollary, a weak head. These
qualities in combination are a terrible menace to society; for, owing
to the very goodness of heart, their possessors are pardoned over and
over again, and repeat their ill deeds with as much immunity from
punishment as a New York police captain. Every social circle has one
or more of these half-criminals, and in that in which my lot was cast
Mrs. Baxter was unequalled for the number, ingenuity, and
innocence of her mistakes. Omitting all hearsay and they-say
knowledge, I was her forty-seventh victim; and as pœnologists affirm
that more than half of the criminal acts are undiscovered, it can at
once be seen how society is menaced by people with good hearts.
The lady who always tells me when I do wrong—and to married
men I need not be more descriptive—has held me responsible for
that evening; and, since she married me, her husband is not the one
to impeach her discrimination. She insists that, knowing Mrs.
Baxter, I should have come early, and so had time to arrange matters
quietly. I appeal to any man if it would ever occur to him to get to a
dinner early on the possibility he was to sit next a lighted shell, in
order that he might express to his hostess his dislike of explosives.
All New York has known for years of our family feud. It’s been
common property ever since our esteemed ancestors thrashed it out
in court, to the enjoyment of the public and the disruption of our
family. For thirty years dinners, luncheons, yacht cruises, and house
parties have been arranged so as to keep a proper distance between
the descendants of my grandfather John Cortelyou and of his
nephew Dabney. Sometimes I have seen one of the latter at the
opposite end of a large dinner-table, and here and there I have had
other glimpses of them. But until that evening, no matter how close
chance brought us together, we had always succeeded in maintaining
a dignified unconsciousness of each other’s existence.
I was, let it be confessed, thirty minutes late, and merely accepting
the last little envelope on the tray the footman offered me, hurried
towards the drawing-room. On my way I naturally looked at the card
inside and read:
Mr. Pellew.
Miss Cortelyou.
That meant nothing to me. The name is not an uncommon one, and I
have taken in my aunts often enough to get accustomed to the
occurrence, even in the family. So, without a second thought of the
matter, I passed through the doorway and discharged my devoirs
with Mrs. Baxter.
“I was on the point of suicide, thinking you had failed me,” she
said. “As it is, Mr. and Mrs. Dana have just sent me word that they
can’t come because Milly has croup.”
“My note said half after seven,” I stated boldly. When one is very
late it is always best to put one’s hostess in the wrong, and a mistake
more or less to Mrs. Baxter was immaterial.
“Oh, never!” she declared, so guiltily that I was really sorry for her.
“Well, we can’t discuss it now. We were just going in without you,
and we’ll go on, leaving you to find your partner by the process of
elimination. I haven’t left you Hobson’s choice, however.”
I glanced round, and as the couples had gravitated together, I
easily picked out the only single figure left, and went towards it. She
was turned from me, standing by Ferdie Gallaudet and his partner,
who had not yet moved.
“That back is too young and pretty for Aunt Ellen or Madge,” was
my first thought. My second was a spoken one, and merely consisted
of the trite, “I am to have the pleasure, Miss Cortelyou.”
She was saying something to the girl, and went on saying it, with
her head over her shoulder, even as she rested her hand on my arm
and let me lead her away. And just as I was going to look at her, I
caught sight of Ferdie’s face, and fell to wondering what could ail him
that he looked so queer. We had been close to the door, and before
she had finished her remark, or I had ceased from wondering, we
were through it and in the half-gloom of the hall.
“I beg your pardon,” said she, turning to me, and speaking very
sweetly. “It was a message, and I had only just begun when you
came.”
“What a nuisance messages are!” was my remark. “What a nice
voice you have!” was my thought. Then we entered the dining-room,
and I glanced at my partner. It was Kate Cortelyou!
She looked at me at the same moment, and as our eyes met, an
expression of consternation appeared on both our faces. At least,
that’s what I felt in myself and saw in her. Horror succeeded as a
next sensation and expression. Womanlike, she cast her eyes
appealingly towards her hostess, and, manlike, I took a step towards
the hall door. In another second I think I should have bolted, but just
then Ferdie Gallaudet said, “Here’s your seat, Jack,” with a grin like a
Cheshire cat on his face. I looked at Kate and she looked at me. Then
we both looked at the chairs. Mechanically I stepped to them and
pulled out that on the right of mine. Kate’s eyelashes fluttered for a
moment, as if she were hesitating; then she slipped into the seat, and
the next moment I was sitting beside her. But enchantingly pretty as
I thought her (and I was either too fair-minded or she was too
beautiful for me not to acknowledge it, however much I might dislike
to do so), I could only wish I had broken my leg on my way to the
house.
I turned to my left to see if any escape were possible, but my
neighbour on that side was that horrible perpetual motion of a Mrs.
Marvin, and, besides, she was very properly occupied with her
partner. I peered furtively behind Kate to see if she could escape me,
for anything was better than the alternative. Next her were two
empty seats. Mrs. Baxter’s capacity for social blundering had done its
worst.
There is this to be said for the Cortelyou women, whether friends
or enemies: I’ve never seen one show the white feather in action. Just
as I was preparing to collapse under this accumulation of horrors,
Kate turned to me, with the friendliest of smiles, and murmured,—
“It’s ghastly, but every one except Mrs. Baxter is watching us.”
I took a furtive glimpse of the other guests. They were all
pretending to talk, but all clearly were missing nothing of our
tableau vivant. Wasn’t she clever to have seen it so quickly?
“They hope we’ll make a show of the family for their benefit,” I
growled.
“Can’t we—” suggested Kate, and then hesitated, and blushed very
prettily. The Cortelyou women are plucky, but Kate was only
nineteen.
I never was good as leader, but at the shafts I’m steady and
reliable. “Of course we can,” I responded, won by that blush.
“Don’t frown, then,” smiled Kate.
“I was not frowning at you,” I protested.
“But they’ll think you are,” she replied.
I tried to appear as pleased as Kate so successfully pretended to be,
and she rewarded me with an encouraging “That’s better,” and a very
refreshing look at her eyes.
“Now,” she continued, “how can we do it?”
“I’m pretty well up on the litany,” I whispered. “If you can do the
supplications I can respond with the ‘miserable sinner’ part.”
Kate laughed merrily, even while shaking her head reprovingly.
Kate has nice teeth. “You are painfully frank,” she told me.
“Frank?”
“Yes. You are probably not a bit more miserable than I am, but I
don’t groan aloud.”
“Oh, I say!” I exclaimed, rather horrified at the construction my
speech had been given. “It would be pure form, you know, quite as it
is in church, and not mean a bit more than it does when the sinner’s
pretty and wears a French gown.”
Kate drew her mouth down into a church-going expression, which
was very fetching in its demureness, but which wasn’t suitable for
our public performance, so I remarked:
“Don’t look so disapproving. The saintly vein suits the Madonna
type, but the Cortelyou forte lies in quite another direction.”
I won another laugh from those unsaintly lips. “You are worse than
I thought,” she added.
“Then you have thought of me?” I inquired, beginning to mellow
under her laugh. That was a mistake, for her face instantly became
serious, and her eyes gave a flash.
“What I think is my own concern,” she responded. The Cortelyou
women are stunning when they look haughty.
Being one of the family, however, I am too accustomed to the look
to be as entirely crushed by it as others are. “Who’s frowning now?” I
asked. I thought I’d learn what kind of a temper Kate had.
She still smiled as if she liked being put next me, but her eyes
gleamed, and I knew she’d pay me for my speech if the opportunity
occurred.
“We can’t begin like this,” she said. “Suggest something else.”
“I once heard of a poor couple in an English county who were
always sitting next each other, so they agreed to count alternative
tens up to a thousand,” I answered.
“I’m afraid you haven’t enough facial control for that,” replied
Kate, sweetly, appearing the picture of contentment. I thought her
remark unnecessary, considering we had been face to face only a few
minutes, and that she had just lost control of hers.
“Then suggest something yourself,” I muttered.
“As the photographer says, ‘A little more smile, please,’” corrected
Kate. “Yes, you unquestionably have the Cortelyou temper,” she
added serenely.
“If I had,” I asserted, “I should long since have turned to Mrs.
Marvin, who is dying for a listener.” I thought I’d let Kate understand
I wasn’t sitting next two empty chairs.