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Chapter 1: Q3. (page 49)
List and define the four elements of a descriptive statistics problem.
Sample size, variables required, numerical summary tools, and conclusions are the four elements of a descriptive statistics problem.
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List the three major methods of collecting data and explain their differences.
Explain how populations and samples differ?
Treasury deficit prior to the Civil War. In Civil War History (June 2009), historian Jane Flaherty researched the condition of the U.S. Treasury on the eve of the Civil War in 1861. Between 1854 and 1857 (under President Franklin Pierce), the annual surplus/deficit was +18.8, +6.7, +5.3, and +1.3 million dollars, respectively. In contrast, between 1858 and 1861 (under President James Buchanan), the annual surplus/deficit was -27.3, -16.2, -7.2, and -25.2 million dollars, respectively. Flaherty used these data to aid in portraying the exhausted condition of the U.S. Treasury when Abraham Lincoln took office in 1861. Does this study represent a descriptive or inferential statistical study? Explain.
Current population survey. The employment status (employed or unemployed) of each individual in the U.S. workforce is a set of data that is of interest to economists, businesspeople, and sociologists. To obtain information about the employment status of the workforce, the U.S. Bureau of the Census conducts what is known as the Current Population Survey. Each month interviewers visit about 50,000 of the 117 million households in the United States and question the occupants over 14 years of age about their employment status. Their responses enable the Bureau of the Census to estimate the percentage of people in the labor force who are unemployed (the unemployment rate).
a. Define the population of interest to the Census Bureau.
b. What variable is being measured? Is it quantitative or qualitative?
c. Is the problem of interest to the Census Bureau descriptive or inferential?
d. In order to monitor the rate of unemployment, it is essential to have a definition of unemployed. Different economists and even different countries define it in various ways. Develop your own definition of an "unemployed person." Your definition should answer such questions as: Are students on summer vacation unemployed? Are college professors who do not teach summer school unemployed? At what age are people considered to be eligible for the workforce? Are people who are out of work but not actively seeking a job unemployed?
The economic return to earning an MBA. What are the economic rewards (e.g., higher salary) to obtaining an MBA degree? This was the question of interest in an article published in the International Economic Review (August 2008). The researchers made inferences based on wage data collected for a sample of 3,244 individuals who sat for the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT). (The GMAT exam is required for entrance into most MBA programs.) The following sampling scheme was employed. All those who took the GMAT exam in any of four selected time periods were mailed a questionnaire. Those who responded to the questionnaire were then sent three follow-up surveys (one survey every 3 months). The final sample of 3,244 represents only those individuals who responded to all four surveys. (For example, about 5,600 took the GMAT in one time period; of these, only about 800 responded to all four surveys.)
A. For this study, describe the population of interest.
b. What method was used to collect the sample data?
c. Do you think the final sample is representative of the population? Why or why not? Comment on potential biases in the sample.
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