Practice 2 Solutions

Identify the population and sample from the scenario.

A university sends an email questionnaire to 500 alumni from the past five years.

Population: all alumni from the past five years
Sample: 500 alumni

Population: all players on the Lawrence High School basketball team
Sample: 5 players on the team

Determine if the question will result in descriptive or inferential statistics. Then name the population.

What percentage of customers who visited Love Ya Latte ordered the latte of the month?

Type: descriptive
Population: all customers of Love Ya Latte

What is the most popular genre of books among Ms. Henson’s ninth-grade English class?

Type: descriptive
Population: students of Ms. Henson’s ninth-grade English class

Is there a relationship between the amount of sleep a person gets and their reaction time?

Type: inferential
Population: all people

Do students at Washington High School who use a new online learning platform achieve higher test scores than those who use traditional methods?

Type: inferential
Population: students at Washington High School

Explain the study and type of variable(s).

To gauge satisfaction with public transportation, the local government surveyed 1,000 randomly chosen New Town citizens, inquiring if they were satisfied, neutral, or dissatisfied.

Sample: This is a sample survey study because the local government randomly selected citizens. The variables are categorical.

Over a ten-year period, a meteorologist observed hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean, documenting the number of named hurricanes and classifying them by category (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5).

This is an observational study because the meteorologist observed the number (Q) of hurricanes and noted their category (C).

Name the type of study conducted, the population, and name and classify the variables as quantitative (Q) or categorical (C).

A marketing team surveys 500 randomly selected residents of Shawnee, Oklahoma, to determine their preferred coffee shop.

Population: residents of Shawnee, Oklahoma
Type of study: survey
Variables: preferred coffee shop (C)

A medical research group conducted a three-month study on 100 men, aged 50–60, to measure their blood pressure and heart rate. The participants were divided into two groups: one maintained their existing exercise routines, while the other increased their daily exercise by 20 minutes.

Population: men between the ages of 50–60
Type of study: experimental
Variables: heart rate (Q), blood pressure (Q)

A wildlife biologist tracks the migration patterns of Monarch butterflies, noting the start and end dates of their migration.

Population: all Monarch butterflies
Type of study: observational
Variables: migration start date (C), end date (C)

The principals at Seymour High School want to know the average number of hours students spend on homework per night. They ask randomly selected students to report their homework time.

Population: students at Seymour High School
Type of study: survey
Variables: hours (Q) spent on homework