Exam 1: Introduction

Most analysts focus on the cost of tuition as the way to measure the cost of a college education. But incidentals, such as textbook costs, are rarely considered. A researcher at Drummand University wanted to estimate the textbook costs of first-year students at Drummand. To do so, she monitored the textbook cost of 250 first-year students and found that their average textbook cost was $600 per semester. Identify the population of interest to the researcher.

TABLE 1-2 A Wall Street Journal poll asked 2,150 adults in the United States a series of questions to find out their view on the U.S. economy. -Referring to Table 1-2, the possible responses to the question "How would you rate the condition of the U.S. economy with 1 = excellent, 2 = good, 3 = decent, 4 = poor, 5 = terrible?" are values from a

Which of the following is most likely a population as opposed to a sample?

The answer to the question "How many hours on average do you spend watching TV every week?" is an example of a discrete variable.

In purchasing an automobile, there are a number of variables to consider. The body style of the car (sedan, coupe, wagon, etc.)is an example of a ________ variable.

A personal computer user survey was conducted. The number of years using a personal computer is an example of a ________ numerical variable.

A professor computing the sample average exam score of 20 students and using it to estimate the average exam score for the 1,500 students taking the exam is an example of inferential statistics.

TABLE 1-1 The manager of the customer service division of a major consumer electronics company is interested in determining whether the customers who have purchased a DVD player made by the company over the past 12 months are satisfied with their products. -Referring to Table 1-1, the possible responses to the question "How much time do you use the DVD player every week on the average?" are values from a

Most analysts focus on the cost of tuition as the way to measure the cost of a college education. But incidentals, such as textbook costs, are rarely considered. A researcher at Drummand University wanted to estimate the textbook costs of first-year students at Drummand. To do so, she monitored the textbook cost of 250 first-year students and found that their average textbook cost was $600 per semester. Identify the variable of interest to the researcher.

Most colleges admit students based on their achievements in a number of different areas. The total SAT score achieved by a student is an example of a ________ numerical variable.

The Dean of Students conducted a survey on campus. The number of credits currently enrolled for is an example of a ________ numerical variable.

The Commissioner of Health in New York State wanted to study malpractice litigation in New York. A sample of 31 thousand medical records was drawn from a population of 2.7 million patients who were discharged during 2010. Using the information obtained from the sample to predict population characteristics with respect to malpractice litigation is an example of ________.

The Human Resources Director of a large corporation wishes to develop an employee benefits package and decides to select 500 employees from a list of all (N = 40,000)workers in order to study their preferences for the various components of a potential package. The Director will use the data from the sample to compute ________.

The Quality Assurance Department of a large urban hospital is attempting to monitor and evaluate patient satisfaction with hospital services. Prior to discharge, a random sample of patients is asked to fill out a questionnaire to rate such services as medical care, nursing, therapy, laboratory, food, and cleaning. The Quality Assurance Department prepares weekly reports that are presented at the Board of Directors meetings and extraordinary/atypical ratings are easy to flag. True population characteristics estimated from the sample results each week are called ________.

The Dean of Students conducted a survey on campus. The gender of the student is an example of a ________ variable.

TABLE 1-2 A Wall Street Journal poll asked 2,150 adults in the United States a series of questions to find out their view on the U.S. economy. -Referring to Table 1-2, the possible responses to the question "How many out of every 10 U.S. voters do you think feel that the U.S. economy is in a good shape?" are values from a

An insurance company evaluates many numerical variables about a person before deciding on an appropriate rate for automobile insurance. The distance a person drives in a year is an example of a ________ variable.

The Human Resources Director of a large corporation wishes to develop an employee benefits package and decides to select 500 employees from a list of all (N = 40,000)workers in order to study their preferences for the various components of a potential package. In this study, methods that result in decisions concerning population characteristics based only on the sample results are called ________.

A sample is the portion of the universe that is selected for analysis.

The Human Resources Director of a large corporation wishes to develop an employee benefits package and decides to select 500 employees from a list of all (N = 40,000)workers in order to study their preferences for the various components of a potential package. In this study, methods involving the collection, presentation, and characterization of the data are called ________.