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1.2 Data, sampling, and variation in data and sampling  (Page 9/56)

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Students often ask if it is "good enough" to take a sample, instead of surveying the entire population. If the survey is done well, the answer is yes.

Try it

A local radio station has a fan base of 20,000 listeners. The station wants to know if its audience would prefer more music or more talk shows. Asking all 20,000 listeners is an almost impossible task.

The station uses convenience sampling and surveys the first 200 people they meet at one of the station’s music concert events. 24 people said they’d prefer more talk shows, and 176 people said they’d prefer more music.

Do you think that this sample is representative of (or is characteristic of) the entire 20,000 listener population?

Try it solutions

The sample probably consists more of people who prefer music because it is a concert event. Also, the sample represents only those who showed up to the event earlier than the majority. Thesample probably doesn’t represent the entire fan base and is probably biased towards people who would prefer music.

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Collaborative exercise

As a class, determine whether or not the following samples are representative. If they are not, discuss the reasons.

  1. To find the average GPA of all students in a university, use all honor students at the university as the sample.
  2. To find out the most popular cereal among young people under the age of ten, stand outside a large supermarket for three hours and speak to every twentieth child under age ten who enters the supermarket.
  3. To find the average annual income of all adults in the United States, sample U.S. congressmen. Create a cluster sample by considering each state as a stratum (group). By using simple random sampling, select states to be part of the cluster. Then survey every U.S. congressman in the cluster.
  4. To determine the proportion of people taking public transportation to work, survey 20 people in New York City. Conduct the survey by sitting in Central Park on a bench and interviewing every person who sits next to you.
  5. To determine the average cost of a two-day stay in a hospital in Massachusetts, survey 100 hospitals across the state using simple random sampling.

Variation in data

Variation is present in any set of data. For example, 16-ounce cans of beverage may contain more or less than 16 ounces of liquid. In one study, eight 16 ounce cans were measured and produced the following amount (in ounces) of beverage:

  • 15.8
  • 16.1
  • 15.2
  • 14.8
  • 15.8
  • 15.9
  • 16.0
  • 15.5

Measurements of the amount of beverage in a 16-ounce can may vary because different people make the measurements or because the exact amount, 16 ounces of liquid, was not put into the cans. Manufacturers regularly run tests to determine if the amount of beverage in a 16-ounce can falls within the desired range.

Be aware that as you take data, your data may vary somewhat from the data someone else is taking for the same purpose. This is completely natural. However, if two or more of you are taking the same data and get very different results, it is time for you and the others to reevaluate your data-taking methods and your accuracy.

Questions & Answers

Discuss the differences between taste and flavor, including how other sensory inputs contribute to our  perception of flavor.
John Reply
taste refers to your understanding of the flavor . while flavor one The other hand is refers to sort of just a blend things.
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While taste primarily relies on our taste buds, flavor involves a complex interplay between taste and aroma
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omeprazole
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Nency Reply
Not really sure
Eli
to drain extracellular fluid all over the body.
asegid
The lymphatic system plays several crucial roles in the human body, functioning as a key component of the immune system and contributing to the maintenance of fluid balance. Its main functions include: 1. Immune Response: The lymphatic system produces and transports lymphocytes, which are a type of
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Anatomy is the identification and description of the structures of living things
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Anatomy is the study of the structure of the body, while physiology is the study of the function of the body. Anatomy looks at the body's organs and systems, while physiology looks at how those organs and systems work together to keep the body functioning.
AI-Robot
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Mohammed Reply
Enzymes are proteins that help speed up chemical reactions in our bodies. Enzymes are essential for digestion, liver function and much more. Too much or too little of a certain enzyme can cause health problems
Kamara
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Prince
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it is because of the enzyme that the stomach produce that help the stomach from the damaging effect of HCL
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Ali
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37 degrees selcius
Xolo
37°c
Stephanie
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Mark
36.5
Simon
37°c
Iyogho
the normal temperature is 37°c or 98.6 °Fahrenheit is important for maintaining the homeostasis in the body the body regular this temperature through the process called thermoregulation which involves brain skin muscle and other organ working together to maintain stable internal temperature
Stephanie
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Wulku
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anaemia is the decrease in RBC count hemoglobin count and PVC count
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Organ Systems Of The Human Body (Continued) Organ Systems Of The Human Body (Continued)
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Source:  OpenStax, Introductory statistics. OpenStax CNX. May 06, 2016 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11562/1.18
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