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Suppose that a publisher conducted a survey asking adult consumers the number of fiction paperback books they had purchased in the previous month. The results are summarized in the table below. (Note that this is the data presented for publisher B in homework exercise 13).
| # of books | Freq. | Rel. Freq. |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 18 | |
| 1 | 24 | |
| 2 | 24 | |
| 3 | 22 | |
| 4 | 15 | |
| 5 | 10 | |
| 7 | 5 | |
| 9 | 1 |
- Are there any outliers in the data? Use an appropriate numerical test involving the IQR to identify outliers, if any, and clearly state your conclusion.
- If a data value is identified as an outlier, what should be done about it?
- Are any data values further than 2 standard deviations away from the mean? In some situations, statisticians may use this criteria to identify data values that are unusual, compared to the other data values. (Note that this criteria is most appropriate to use for data that is mound-shaped and symmetric, rather than for skewed data.)
- Do parts (a) and (c) of this problem give the same answer?
- Examine the shape of the data. Which part, (a) or (c), of this question gives a more appropriate result for this data?
- Based on the shape of the data which is the most appropriate measure of center for this data: mean, median or mode?
- IQR = 4 – 1 = 3 ; Q1 – 1.5*IQR = 1 – 1.5(3) = -3.5 ; Q3 + 1.5*IQR = 4 + 1.5(3) = 8.5 ;The data value of 9 is larger than 8.5. The purchase of 9 books in one month is an outlier.
- The outlier should be investigated to see if there is an error or some other problem in the data; then a decision whether to include or exclude it should be made based on the particular situation. If it was a correct value then the data value should remain in the data set. If there is a problem with this data value, then it should be corrected or removed from the data. For example: If the data was recorded incorrectly (perhaps a 9 was miscoded and the correct value was 6) then the data should be corrected. If it was an error but the correct value is not known it should be removed from the data set.
- xbar – 2s = 2.45 – 2*1.88 = -1.31 ; xbar + 2s = 2.45 + 2*1.88 = 6.21 ; Using this method, the five data values of 7 books purchased and the one data value of 9 books purchased would be considered unusual.
- No: part (a) identifies only the value of 9 to be an outlier but part (c) identifies both 7 and 9.
- The data is skewed (to the right). It would be more appropriate to use the method involving the IQR in part (a), identifying only the one value of 9 books purchased as an outlier. Note that part (c) remarks that identifying unusual data values by using the criteria of being further than 2 standard deviations away from the mean is most appropriate when the data are mound-shaped and symmetric.
- The data are skewed to the right. For skewed data it is more appropriate to use the median as a measure of center.
**Exercises 17 and 18 contributed by Roberta Bloom
For each situation below, state the independent variable and the dependent variable.
- A study is done to determine if elderly drivers are involved in more motor vehicle fatalities than all other drivers. The number of fatalities per 100,000 drivers is compared to the age of drivers.
- A study is done to determine if the weekly grocery bill changes based on the number of family members.
- Insurance companies base life insurance premiums partially on the age of the applicant.
- Utility bills vary according to power consumption.
- A study is done to determine if a higher education reduces the crime rate in a population.
- Independent: Age; Dependent: Fatalities
- Independent: Power Consumption; Dependent: Utility
Read also:
OpenStax, Collaborative statistics using spreadsheets. OpenStax CNX. Jan 05, 2016 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11521/1.23
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