Chapter 1
Data and Statistics
Learning Objectives
1.
Obtain an appreciation for the breadth of statistical applications in business and economics.
2.
Understand the meaning of the terms elements, variables, and observations as they are used in
statistics.
3.
Obtain an understanding of the difference between qualitative, quantitative, crossectional and time
series data.
4.
Learn about the sources of data for statistical analysis both internal and external to the firm.
5.
Be aware of how errors can arise in data.
6.
Know the meaning of descriptive statistics and statistical inference.
7.
Be able to distinguish between a population and a sample.
8.
Understand the role a sample plays in making statistical inferences about the population.
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Chapter 1
Solutions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Statistics can be referred to as numerical facts. In a broader sense, statistics is the field of study
dealing with the collection, analysis, presentation and interpretation of data.
a.
9
b.
4
c.
Country and room rate are qualitative variables; number of rooms and the overall score are
quantitative variables.
d.
Country is nominal; room rate is ordinal; number of rooms and overall score are ratio.
a.
Average number of rooms = 808/9 = 89.78 or approximately 90 rooms
b.
2 of 9 are located in England; approximately 22%
c.
4 of 9 have a room rate of $$; approximately 44%
a.
10
b.
Fortune 500 largest U.S. industrial corporations
c.
Average revenue = $142,275.9/10 = $14,227.59 million
d.
Using the sample average, statistical inference would let us estimate the average revenue for the
population of 500 corporations as $14,227.59 million.
a.
3
b.
Industry code is qualitative; revenues and profit are quantitative.
c.
Average profit = 10,652.1/10 = $1065.21 million
d.
8 of 10 had a profit over $100 million; 80%
e.
1 of 10 had an industry code of 3; 10%
6.
Questions a, c, and d are quantitative.
Questions b and e are qualitative.
7.
8.
a.
The data are numeric and the variable is qualitative.
b.
Nominal
a.
2,013
b.
Qualitative
c.
Percentages since we have qualitative data
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Data and Statistics
9.
d.
(0.28)(2013) = 563.64 Must have been 563 or 564.
a.
Qualitative
b.
30 of 71; 42.3%
10. a.
Quantitative; ratio
b.
Qualitative; nominal
c.
Qualitative (Note: Rank is a numeric label that identifies the position of a student in the class. Rank
does not indicate how much or how many and is not quantitative.); ordinal
d.
Qualitative; nominal
e.
Quantitative; ratio
11. a.
Quantitative; ratio
b.
Qualitative; ordinal
c.
Qualitative; ordinal (assuming employees can be ranked by classification)
d.
Quantitative; ratio
e.
Qualitative; nominal
12. a.
The population is all visitors coming to the state of Hawaii.
b.
Since airline flights carry the vast majority of visitors to the state, the use of questionnaires for
passengers during incoming flights is a good way to reach this population. The questionnaire
actually appears on the back of a mandatory plants and animals declaration form that passengers
must complete during the incoming flight. A large percentage of passengers complete the visitor
information questionnaire.
c.
Questions 1 and 4 provide quantitative data indicating the number of visits and the number of days in
Hawaii. Questions 2 and 3 provide qualitative data indicating the categories of reason for the trip
and where the visitor plans to stay.
13. a.
Quantitative
b.
Time series with 7 observations
c.
Number of riverboat casinos.
d.
Time series shows a rapid increase; an increase would be expected in 1998, but it appears that the
rate of increase is slowing.
14. a.
4
b.
All four variables are quantitative.
c.
Time series data for 1993 to 1996.
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Chapter 1
15.
Crossectional data. It is based on the 1996 performance data that was available April 1997.
16. a.
We would like to see data from product taste tests and test marketing the product.
b.
Such data would be obtained from specially designed statistical studies.
17.
Internal data on salaries of other employees can be obtained from the personnel department.
External data might be obtained from the Department of Labor or industry associations.
18. a.
(48/120)100% = 40% in the sample died from some form of heart disease. This can be used as an
estimate of the percentage of all males 60 or older who die of heart disease.
b.
19. a.
The data on cause of death is qualitative.
All subscribers of Business Week at the time the 1996 survey was conducted.
b.
Quantitative
c.
Qualitative (yes or no)
d.
Crossectional - 1996 was the time of the survey.
e.
Using the sample results, we could infer or estimate 59% of the population of subscribers have an
annual income of $75,000 or more and 50% of the population of subscribers have an American
Express credit card.
20. a.
56% of market belonged to A.C. Nielsen
$387,325 is the average amount spent per category
b.
3.73
c.
$387,325
21. a.
The two populations are the population of women whose mothers took the drug DES during
pregnancy and the population of women whose mothers did not take the drug DES during pregnancy.
b.
It was a survey.
c.
63 / 3.980 = 15.8 women out of each 1000 developed tissue abnormalities.
d.
The article reported “twice” as many abnormalities in the women whose mothers had taken DES
during pregnancy. Thus, a rough estimate would be 15.8/2 = 7.9 abnormalities per 1000 women
whose mothers had not taken DES during pregnancy.
e.
In many situations, disease occurrences are rare and affect only a small portion of the population.
Large samples are needed to collect data on a reasonable number of cases where the disease exists.
22. a.
All adult viewers reached by the Denver, Colorado television station.
b.
The viewers contacted in the telephone survey.
c.
A sample. It would clearly be too costly and time consuming to try to contact all viewers.
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Data and Statistics
23. a.
Percent of television sets that were tuned to a particular television show and/or total viewing
audience.
b.
All television sets in the United States which are available for the viewing audience. Note this would
not include television sets in store displays.
c.
A portion of these television sets. Generally, individual households would be contacted to determine
which programs were being viewed.
d.
The cancellation of programs, the scheduling of programs, and advertising cost rates.
24. a.
This is a statistically correct descriptive statistic for the sample.
b.
An incorrect generalization since the data was not collected for the entire population.
c.
An acceptable statistical inference based on the use of the word “estimate.”
d.
While this statement is true for the sample, it is not a justifiable conclusion for the entire population.
e.
This statement is not statistically supportable. While it is true for the particular sample observed, it is
entirely possible and even very likely that at least some students will be outside the 65 to 90 range of
grades.
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