«Name»
AP Statistics Students:
June 1st , 2013
Hello to you my upcoming students! I hope you are having a great end to the school year! I
hope that you are able to have a relaxing summer. This is why I only ask a few things of you as
a summer assignment. I have included a few short assignments to refresh your memory of the
background statistical measures and skills that you will be using in the beginning of the course.
(These are also on my website) Please complete these gradually during the time remaining this
year or over the summer as you prepare to take AP Statistics starting in the fall. Utilize websites
as assistance, such as Wikipedia or www.stattrek.com I will ask you to submit this work as the
evidence of your learning and preparation.
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Please watch the following video, from the TED conference held each year in
California, and respond fully to the accompanying set of questions.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html
Here is a second video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XyWTGepCHo . This
video quotes a great number of statistics. As you watch this video, determine what is
most influential and persuasive. Respond to the provided questions regarding this
video.
1 page Summer assignment questions
The goal of this or any first level college statistics course is to use and understand the context
of data and to become an analytical consumer of data in life experiences. The AP Exam is in
early May. As you begin the course this fall, we will investigate specific statistical skills that
will be tested. One of the keys to doing well on the exam is to also be able to clearly
communicate about statistics. You should begin to expand your knowledge base in this
direction. Over the summer, stay current with news reporting that share statistical comparisons
and studies that have been conducted. Learn to think critically about the reliability of what is
being reported. The past several years’ students did extremely well on the exam and I hope
some changes I have made, and will continue to make, to the course will help you to be even
more successful.
In May, after the AP Statistics date, you will be required to complete a data study project that
you conduct and present. Please use the time until then to think about possible topics that may
interest you. News media of current events may prove to be valuable resources in choosing
ideas. If you are interested in seeing the example projects that I have from this year and last
year, please feel free to stop by my classroom, B139. We will discuss this project in far greater
detail as the course begins. We will be utilizing the computer software MiniTab® throughout
the semester. Many of the students last year also found it valuable to have a USB flash drive to
store their project throughout that last portion of the course or to set up a Dropbox.com account
for sending files back and forth to their home computer.
Looking forward to seeing you in class this fall!
Mrs. Waddell
awaddell@qcsd.org
AP Statistics
Summer Assignment 2013
Directions: Carefully read the problems presented. Work each problem on your own paper.
All written answers must be in complete sentences. Proofread your answers. Be precise.
Our study of statistics revolves around analyzing data. The first task of the statistician is to put
the raw data into a form that supports this analysis.
To determine the death age reported in a major metropolitan U.S. city, a sociology class
randomly selected 37 obituaries from the city's largest newspaper. The sample consists of 18
males (DAgeM) and 19 females (DAgeF).
DAgeF
DAgeM
75
55
77
60
82
62
74
71
75
74
89
79
68
84
60
90
94
98
91
61
44
70
90
58
87
70
57
93
84
77
79
62
75
82
74
90
60
a. Using this data, create the following statistical graphs or plots
i. Parallel box-and-whiskers plots
ii. Histograms
iii. Back-to-Back Stem and Leaf Plot
b. Using your sets of statistic plots, describe the characteristics of these data sets,
specifically
i. The shape of the distribution of ages of death
ii. The centers of the distributions
iii. The range or spread of the data in each distribution
c. Besides the graphical interpretation of the data, calculate the following statistics for
both the male and female data
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
Mean
Median
Standard Deviation
Interquartile Range
d. The final task of a statistician is to interpret the data in a meaningful manner. Write a
brief paragraph (three to five sentences) that compares and contrasts these data sets
and provides some insight into the age of death of males and females in this city.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html
Malcolm Gladwell video Questions:
Respond to each question thoroughly ( put your responses on notebook paper or word process).
Your responses may include personal opinions and connections to prior knowledge.
1. Mr. Gladwell mentions the need to “Ask the right questions.” Specifically what was he
referring to and how does that relate to statistical data collections.
2. There is mention of a “mountain of data” and the necessary analysis. Explain your best
understanding of what he explains to the audience. Include any statistical measures that
seem appropriate to his study
3. What does the term “Experimental Design” mean? (in reference to Mr.Gladwell’s
description of Howard Moskowitz’s work and in other real-life data collections)
4. Beyond the video, what additional studies can you find or recall that have resulted in
business decisions that were made based upon the data. Use web resources, parents
conversations, your workplace, etc. to learn more about data analysis (sometimes called
quality control, risk management, data mining.) We will use your experiences as
reference points in class.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XyWTGepCHo
Internet Statistics video Questions
1. Which of the reported statistics surprised you the most? Explain why they are surprising.
2. Were there any statistics reported that you question the reliability or accuracy of the
calculation? Report your reasoning.
3. Many people would say that you can make a statistic say whatever you want. Presenting
information with quoted statistics often takes on a persuasive purpose. Describe a few
instances where you can recall this scenario in things you have read or watched.