The page counts of textbooks used in college courses.
> In a recent year, the value of cross-border trade in counterfeit and pirated goods was $254.63 billion.
> In an Eagleton Institute poll, surveyed men were asked if they agreed with this statement: “Abortion is a private matter that should be left to women to decide without government intervention.” Among the men who were interviewed by women, 77% agreed wit
> Consider the measurements described in Exercise 5. The relative error that the microbiologist makes in measuring a cell must be less than the relative error that the astronomer makes in measuring a galaxy.
> A microbiologist measures the distance across a red blood cell and an astronomer measures the distance across the Milky Way galaxy. The absolute error that the microbiologist makes in measuring the cell must be less than the absolute error that the astro
> A survey asked people about their party affiliation and recorded the responses as 1 for Democrat, 2 for Republican, 3 for Independent, and 4 for anything else. The survey found that the average (mean) party affiliation is 2.5.
> Explain why temperatures on the Fahrenheit or Celsius scales are at the interval level of measurement while distances are at the ratio level.
> What do we mean by data at the nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement?
> Distinguish between discrete and continuous data, and give an example of each.
> What is the difference between qualitative data and quantitative data?
> In a clinical trial of a new drug, subjects are placed in groups as follows: Subjects in Group 1 are each given a placebo containing none of the drug; subjects in Group 2 are each given 10-mg doses of the drug; subjects in Group 3 are each given 20-mg do
> Consumer Reports magazine lists a rating of “best buy,” “recommended,” or “not recommended” for each of several different computers.
> The Michelin tire company also rates restaurants, using 1 star, 2 stars, or 3 stars. Many other restaurants are deemed to have quality not good enough to earn any stars, and many others are not judged.
> In a survey of 1002 people, 701 (or 70%) said that they voted in the last presidential election (based on data from ICR Research Group). The margin of error for this survey was 3 percentage points. However, actual voting records show that only 61% of all
> The years in which FBI agents were hired (such as 2000, 1995, 2016) are used to determine their pension plans.
> Seniority of each agent at the Federal Bureau of Investigation is based on the length of time that has passed since the agent was first hired.
> The colors of plain M&M candies.
> The numbers 12, 74, 77, 76, 73, 78, 88, 19, 9 23, and 25 were sewn on the jerseys of the starting offense for the New Orleans Saints when they won a Super Bowl football game.
> Running times of winning horses in the annual Kentucky Derby race.
> A person with an SAT score of 2200 is twice as qualified for college as a person with a score of 1100.
> An actor given a salary of $2 million for a movie is twice as good as another actor given a salary of $1 million for the same movie.
> When a male and female engage in speed dating, the female rates how much she likes the male by using a scale from 1 to 10. One female rates two different males as 8 and 4.
> Using carbon dating, one sculpture is found to be 1000 years old while a second sculpture is found to be 500 years old, so the first sculpture is twice as old as the second.
> On August 6, the temperature was 80 F in New York City, so it was twice as hot as on December 7, when the temperature was 40 ° F.
> A study of 420,095 Danish cell phone users found that 0.032% of them developed cancer of the brain or nervous system. The margin of error is 0.006 percentage points.
> One subject has an IQ score of 140 and another subject has an IQ score of 70, so the first subject is twice as intelligent as the second subject.
> A Category 4 hurricane has wind speeds of 130 to 156 mi/h and is twice as intense as a Category 2 hurricane with speeds of 96 to 110 mi/h.
> A movie with a 4-star rating is twice as good as one with a 2-star rating.
> Consumer Reports safety ratings of cars: 0 = unsafe up to 3 = safest.
> Numbers of words spoken in a day by a sample of males.
> Social Security numbers.
> Final course grades of A, B, C, D, F.
> Results from a clinical trial consisting of “true positive,” “false positive,” “true negative,” or “false negative”.
> Classifications of cars by size as subcompact, compact, intermediate, and full-size.
> Names, such as Katrina and Sandy, used to identify different hurricanes.
> In a CBS News/New York Times poll of 1289 adults nationwide, asking whether they favor or oppose teachers and school officials carrying guns in school, 57% were opposed. The margin of error is 4 percentage points.
> “Categories” 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, used to describe the intensity of hurricanes
> Types of movies (drama, comedy, etc.)
> Scores of 0%, 1%, 2%, … 100% used to rate the quality of a movie.
> Weights of Corvettes that are currently registered in California.
> Body temperatures in Fahrenheit of all giraffes in Kenya.
> Number of stars in each galaxy in the universe.
> The movie ratings by a critic, which are expressed as 0 stars, ¹∕² star, 1 star, and so on
> The speeds of commercial aircraft in the air at any one point in time.
> Number of commercial aircraft in the air at any point in time.
> The times (years) it takes college students to earn a bachelor’s degree, such as 4 years, 4¹∕² years, 5 years, and so on.
> 106 adults are randomly selected and tested for their body temperatures. Based on that sample, it is estimated that the average (mean) body temperature is 98.2°F with a margin of error of 0.1°F.
> The exact times required by students to reach their first class.
> The arrival delay times recorded for a random sample of flights from New York to Chicago.
> The number of likes for a specific post on Facebook.
> The weights of textbooks used in college courses.
> The area codes (such as 617) of the telephone numbers of survey subjects
> The SAT scores of randomly selected applicants to colleges.
> The number of households with a television in use when surveyed by Nielsen Media Research
> The television shows being watched by households surveyed by Nielsen Media Research
> In studying different prehistoric societies, an archeologist measures head circumferences of skulls.
> In a Harris Interactive survey of 1006 adults, 96% say that they wash their hands when in a public restroom. The margin of error is 3 percentage point.
> The responses (yes, no, or no response) from survey subjects when asked a question
> Olympic athletes are categorized according to the sport in which they compete, such as track and field, cycling, or gymnastics.
> Measurements of blood alcohol concentration (BAC), which represent how much alcohol is found in blood
> In a simple random sample of adults, the pulse rate is measured for each subject.
> The common blood groups are A, B, AB, and O.
> The year 2050 will be halfway through the twenty-first century.
> Los Angeles reached a temperature of 100°F today, which was twice as hot as the 50°F in Denver.
> ZIP codes are quantitative data because, in general, lower numbers are in the east and higher numbers are in the west
> Why are self-selected surveys almost always prone to participation bias?
> Describe and contrast selection bias and participation bias in sampling.
> USA Today reported that among 6028 adults observed in restrooms, 85% washed their hands. The margin of error is 1 percentage point.
> What is peer review? How is it useful?
> Briefly describe the eight guidelines for critically evaluating a statistical study
> A USA Today headline reported “China thrown off balance as boys outnumber girls,” and an accompanying graph showed that for every 100 girls born in China, 116.9 boys are born.
> A USA Today headline reported “More companies try to bet on forecasting weather.” The article gave examples of companies believing that long-range forecasts are reliable, and four companies were cited.
> CNN reports on a Zagat survey of America’s top restaurants, which found that “only nine restaurants achieved a rare 29 out of a possible 30 rating and none of those restaurants are in the Big Apple.”
> A USA Today “Snapshot” reported that the percentage of people with diabetes who don’t know that they have diabetes is “1 in 4.” The source was given as the American Diabetes Association.
> “Sex more important than jobs” A survey found that 82% of 500 people interviewed by phone ranked a satisfying sex life as important or very important, while 79% ranked job satisfaction as important or very important (Associated Press).
> “Drugs shown in 98 percent of movies” A “government study” claims that drug use, drinking, or smoking was depicted in 98% of the top movie rentals (Associated Press).
> A Gallup poll asked the following two questions: • Do you favor a tax cut or “increased spending on other government programs”? Result: 75% for the tax cut. • Do you favor a tax cut or “spending to fund new retirement savings accounts, as well as incre
> Princeton Survey Research Associates did a study for Newsweek magazine illustrating the effects of wording in a survey. Two questions were asked. • Do you personally believe that abortion is wrong? • Whatever your own personal view of abortion, do you
> In a Pew Research Center poll of 1501 randomly selected adults in Latin America, 77% said that global warming is already harming people around the world. The margin of error is 2 percentage points.
> You plan to conduct a survey to find the percentage of people in your state who can name the lieutenant governor, who plans to run for the United States Senate. You obtain addresses from a list of property owners in the state and you mail a survey to 850
> You receive a call in which the caller claims to be conducting a national opinion research poll. You are asked if your opinion about Congressional candidate John Sweeney would change if you knew that Sweeney once had a car crash while driving under the i
> When author Shere Hite wrote Women and Love: A Cultural Revolution in Progress, she based conclusions about the general population of all women on 4500 replies that she received after mailing 100,000 questionnaires to various women’s groups.
> The New York Times published an article that included a statement that chocolate “moves toward its rightful place in the food pyramid, somewhere in the high-tone neighborhood of red wine, fruits and vegetables, and green tea.” It was noted that studies s
> A survey included this question: “Do you favor or oppose raising taxes to be used for wasteful spending on science research projects?”
> An independent research firm conducts a survey of adults who view movies. Each interview subject is asked this question: “Is there is too much violence in movies?”
> After conducting a survey about texting and driving, a researcher discovers that the practice is very dangerous and believes that he is doing a public service by exaggerating the results of the study
> A journal article reports very favorable results from tests of a statin designed to lower cholesterol levels. The researchers received funding from the pharmaceutical company that produces the statin.
> A clinical trial of a treatment intended to help smokers stop smoking was conducted. The sample consisted of male college students, and the trial showed that, for American adults, the treatment is effective.
> Researchers conclude that the drought mitigation system used to conserve water in California is more effective than a competing system used in Hawaii.
> In an Accountemps survey of 150 senior executives, 47% said that the most common job interview mistake is to have little or no knowledge of the company where the applicant is being interviewed.
> In a survey of 1200 college students, each was asked whether he or she was a good person.
> A clothing company sponsored a survey showing that dressing stylishly is critically important for success in a job interview.
> My experiment proved beyond a doubt that vitamin C can reduce the severity of colds, because I controlled the experiment carefully for every possible confounding variable.
> A pollster plans to improve survey results by only conducting polls in which the margin of error is zero.
> If you use a large enough sample, it does not matter if the sample is biased, so the treatment must have practical significance.
> More than 1 million people sent texts in response to a TV survey question, so this survey result is clearly more valid than any survey of a few hundred people.
> Which siding lasts longer on a home: aluminum, vinyl, or wood?
> A company is developing a new battery for smartphones, and it is claimed that the new battery lasts significantly longer than those currently in use.
> Does the herb echinacea help prevent colds?
> Does listening to Beethoven make teenagers more intelligent?
> In a test of the effectiveness of garlic for lowering cholesterol, 47 adult subjects were treated with Garlicin, which is garlic in a processed tablet form. Cholesterol levels were measured before and after the treatment. The changes in the subjects’ lev
