Adult Male Polar Bears Are Expected to Weigh, on Average

Multiple Choice

Adult male polar bears are expected to weigh, on average, 370 kg. A polar bear's primary source of food are seals and other marine animals, which they hunt from a platform of sea ice. Scientists are concerned that global warming is melting these platforms earlier in the year, reducing the time polar bears are able to hunt and forcing them inland without the necessary fat reserves built up to survive summer and fall. The US Geological Survey (USGS) conducted a study in the Southern Beaufort Sea to investigate whether climate change has appeared to negatively impact the weight of polar bears. Eighty-three adult male polar bears were captured between March and May of the years 1990 and 2006 and their weights were recorded. The sample mean weight was 324.6 kg, the sam-ple median weight was 339.4 kg, and the sample standard deviation was 88.3 kg. A box plot of the data is shown below.
-Identify the appropriate parameter of interest for this study.

A) The number of underweight adult male polar bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea
B) The average weight of all adult male polar bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea
C) The true proportion of adult male polar bears in the Southern Beaufort Sea that weigh less than 370 kg
D) The weight of each adult male polar bear captured