Exam 1: Defining and Collecting Data

A telecommunications provider conducted a survey on mobile phone usage in Australia.The length (in minutes)of the longest call made per month is an example of a_________ numerical variable.

The Vice Chancellor of a major university was concerned about alcohol abuse on her campus and wanted to find out the proportion of students at her university who visited the campus bar on the weekend before the final exam period.Her advisor took a random sample of 250 students.The total number of students in the sample who visited the campus bar on the weekend before the final exam period is an example of

A study is under way in the Otway National Park to determine the mature height of Mountain Ash gum trees.Specifically,the study is attempting to determine what factors aid a tree in reaching heights greater than 60 metres tall.It is estimated that the park contains 25,000 mature Mountain Ash gum trees.The study involves collecting heights from 250 randomly selected mature Mountain Ash gum trees and analysing the results. - Identify the variable of interest in the study.

In purchasing a motor vehicle,there are a number of variables to consider.The colour of the car is an example of a _________variable.

The oranges grown on commercial farms in Victoria were damaged by some unknown fungi a few years ago.Suppose the manager of a large orchard wanted to study the impact of the fruit flies on the orange crops on a daily basis over a six-week period.On each day a random sample of orange trees were selected from within a random sample of acres.The daily average number of damaged oranges per tree and the proportion of trees having damaged oranges were calculated.The two main measures calculated each day (i.e.,average number of damaged oranges per tree and proportion of trees having damaged oranges)may be used on a daily basis to estimate the respective true population _________.

The Talent Retention Officer of a large corporation wishes to develop employee newly expanded 'soft' benefits package for employee retention and recruitment purposes,and decides to select 500 employees from a list of all (N = 40,000)workers in order to study their preferences for possible perks to be included in the potential package.Information obtained from the sample will be used to draw conclusions about the true population _________.

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

The quality ('terrible','poor','fair','acceptable','very good' and 'excellent')of a day care centre is an example of a nominal scaled variable.

Problems may arise when statistically unsophisticated users who do not understand the assumptions behind the statistical procedures or their limitations are misled by results obtained from computer software.

Most analysts focus on the cost of Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS)fees as the way to measure the cost of a university education.But incidentals,such as textbook costs,are rarely considered.A researcher at the University of Adelaide wishes to estimate the textbook costs of first-year students at the University.To do so,she monitored the textbook cost of 250 first-year students and found that their average textbook cost was $300 per semester. -Identify the population of interest to the researcher.

The Dean of Students conducted a survey on campus.Major area of study is an example of a _________variable.

The personnel director at a large company studied the types of foods that employees purchased from the company's food vending machines.The director noted the frequency with which employees purchased pre-packaged snack foods,fresh fruit,or dairy products.The goal of the study was to improve the availabilities of the types of food most commonly purchased.This type of data collection would best be considered as

A researcher is investigating which publishing companies have experienced financial growth within the last three financial years.To do so,he gathers information on annual performance figures from a database online to which publishing companies had submitted earnings and other pieces of financial data.Which of the four methods of data collection was he using?

One of the 'big four' Australian banks is conducting research in order to understand the banking needs of Australian residents.Another option is to collect data using focus groups which is an example of _________research.

The possible responses to the question 'How long have you been living at your current residence?' are values from a continuous variable.

Separate subpopulations composed of items with similar characteristics are known as _________.

An insurance company evaluates many numerical variables about a person before deciding on an appropriate rate for automobile insurance.How long a person has been a licensed driver is an example of a _________ numerical variable.

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.Values computed from the sample results each week are called _________.

Data from a categorical variable can be measured on a ratio scale or on an interval scale,whilst data from a numerical variable are measured on a nominal scale or on an ordinal scale.

The collection and summarisation of the socioeconomic and physical characteristics of the employees of a particular firm is an example of