Homework Introduction to Statistics

1. Credit card usage is requiring an increasing amount of information from users in order to avoid credit card theft. For example, many gas stations require zip codes to be entered in addition to the credit card itself. Classify each of the following as qualitative or quantitative variables. (a) (b) (c) (d) Gender Annual Income Zip Code Telephone Number

2. A poll is to be conducted from the TV viewing public who watched last year s Super Bowl. Individuals are asked whether the Super Bowl commercials met their standards of decency. Eight hundred Super Bowl viewers will be selected randomly and asked their opinion. (a) (b) (c) (d) What is the population? What is the variable of interest? Is the variable of interest qualitative or quantitative? What is the sample?

3. Manufacturing all over the world is faced with what to do with hazardous waste materials. The following is a list of variables that might be collected from an area near a manufacturing facility. Classify each variable as either qualitative or quantitative. (a) (b) (c) (d) Amount of toxins in frogs captured in a nearby lake Air quality measured in the concentration of CO2 Price of homes in communities near the manufacturing facility Color of foliage near the manufacturing facility

4. A recent commercial stated that 7 out of 10 doctors recommend brand X pain relief over all other over the counter pain relief medicines. Does this conclusion come from looking at a population or at a sample? 5. Classify the following data as quantitative or qualitative for the students in a statistics class: (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) Ethnic classification of the student Weight of the student Number of textbooks used by the student during the current term Number of hours of physical exercise the student gets per week Telephone number of the student Student ID (or social security number)

6. Classify each of the following quantitative variables as discrete or continuous: (a) (b) (c) (d) The number of times each week that a person goes for physical exercise The monthly wages (in dollars) of federal employees The amount of snow falling per week at a ski area The number of California voters in a random sample of 100 voters who prefer raising taxes to cutting back on public services

7. According to the National Geographic (August 2004) obesity is rapidly becoming a serious problem in many parts of the world. Suppose that a researcher hypothesizes that more than 25% of the US population is obese. To test the hypothesis, 1000 members of the US population will be used to collect data.

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Describe the variable of interest Describe the population Describe the sample Describe what making a decision concerning the hypothesis would be in this situation