You are on page 1of 6

Statistics Project

Question 1.

1. A school held an evening disco which was attended by 500 students. The disco
organizers were keen to assess the success of the evening. Having decided to
obtain information from those attending the disco, they were undecided whether
to use a census or a sample survey.
a.) Which method would you recommend them to use? Provide a reason(s) for your
recommendation.
 The method I would recommend them to use for their collection of data from those
attending the evening disco is a sample survey. My major point of view would be since
the number is large enough to deal and get information from all of them. Sample survey
will allow you to keenly observe the data presented for the evening disco.

b.) Give one advantage and one disadvantage associated with your recommendation.

Advantages “High Representatives”: Surveys provide a high level of general capability in


representing the large population of the 500 students attending the evening disco. The data being
collected possess a better description of the relative characteristics of the general population
involved in the study. Surveys are able to extract valuable data that are near to the exact values
of the larger population compared to other methods of data collection.

Disadvantages: Surveys may at some point of time be inaccurate, meaning that, the respondents
may not be honest with their answers leading us as the researchers with wrong data.

1
Statistics Project

Question 2.

1. A school of 1000 pupils is divided into year groups as follows:


Year Number of students
7 150
8 150
9 150
10 150
11 150
12 125
13 125

A survey is to be carried out and a committee representative of the school is to be formed


consisting of 40 students.
It is decided that stratified sampling should be used.
A. Calculate the number of the students chosen from each year group.

Year Number of students chosen


7 (150/1000) * 40 = 6
8 (150/1000) * 40 = 6
9 (150/1000) * 40 = 6
10 (150/1000) * 40 = 6
11 (150/1000) * 40 = 6
12 (125/1000) * 40 = 5
13 (125/1000) * 40 = 5

B. Explain how to choose the students from year 7?


 The best way to choose the six students in the year 7 is by performing a simple random
sampling. Ib this method all the names of the students involved in the year 7 are used.
These names are written on a piece of paper and six from the 150 are randomly picked.
Through this method each and everyone has an equal opportunity of being selected that
represent that specific group.

2
Statistics Project

Question. 3
2. A car dealer wishes to reduce prices on a sample of 15 cars selected from his stock of 240
cars, which are painted white, blue red or grey.
I. Name EACH of the following sampling methods A, B, C, and D which are
suggested as possible ways of selecting the sample of 15 cars.

A. Group the cars by color and select cars at random from within each group in proportion to
the number of cars that make up the group. –––– Stratified Sample
B. Select a car randomly from the first k cars on a numbered list, and every kth car
thereafter. –– Systematic Sampling
C. Select 15 cars at random from the stock of 240 car. ––– Simple Random Sampling
D. Select 8 white cars, 5 blue cars and 2 red cars. ––– Quota Sampling

II. Given 112 of 240 cars are white, calculate how many white cars are in the sample
selected according to method A.
(112/240) * 15 = 7 white cars
III. State Two different variables, other color, by which the cars could be grouped in
sampling method A.
Two distinct variables that can be used to group cars in sampling method A would be by
using the brand of the car and the year of manufacture.
IV. Calculate the value of k I sampling method B above.
K = (240/15)
= 16
V. Explain ONE disadvantage of sampling method C.
 A major and most obvious disadvantage obtained in simple random sampling method is
the fact of needing a complete list if all the population. This list must be complete and
updated before any sampling can be done. In most cases, this is not used for large
population, infact other wiser suitable methods are used for this population.
B.) Distinguish between:
a) A Population and a Sample:
 A population is a set of entities that make the total of all possible observations within the
range of the study, it is usually accounted in using for representation of all possible
measurements or outcomes that are of interest to the researcher; on the other hand, a
sample is a subset of a population which is studied from.

3
Statistics Project

CON’T QuesTiON 3
b) A census and a sample survey:
 A census is when every member of the population is surveyed, this process simply
gathers complete and precise data from the respondents on the population. While, a
sample survey means that the population is divided into subsets and uses a given
population to define its characteristics, with this they covered less than a 100% from the
entire population studied.

c.) A parameter and a statistic


 A parameter is a descriptive technique of information of a population. On the other hand,
a statistic is a descriptive measure characteristic of a sample, such as average which is
used to estimate a parameter.

C.) justify the use of the sample survey in the given example, briefly describe ONE
example where a sample survey is carried out, as opposed to a census.
 Using sample survey is very effective and much easier and less time consuming to gather
up all the necessary information. Since, it is a subset of a given population inorder to
determine the characteristics of this. On the other hand, a census is one where it will be
more time consuming and instead of using a subset of the population we use the entire
population. An example where sample survey can be carried out is in both tertiary and
university level where one could actually research for a specific class on specific topic.
Example for psychology class and you are focusing on the behavioral traits.

4
Statistics Project

Question 4.
A.) Briefly explain:

i. Why it is often desirable to take samples.


 Samples are often used as all possible data could be impossibly large to actually obtain.
Samples are somehow less time consuming to gain information, since the data can be
gained relatively cheaply because it is not all the population being sampled and if incase
the sample is a true representation of the population it must be giving us an accurate
indication of its own characteristics.

i. What you understand by a sampling frame.


A sampling frame is a listing the items or people which forms a population from which a sample
is taken from, this list must include specific names for the individual members.
B.) State two circumstances when you would consider using clustering.
 When the population is actually concentrated in natural cluster.
 When constructing a complete list of population elements are actually
difficult, impossible and very costly.
C.) Give two advantages and two disadvantages associate with quota sampling.
Advantages:
 It is very cheap and can be set up very quick without any complications.
 It doesn’t require the use of a sampling frame and it may be a one resource if a
much better way is available.
Disadvantages:
 Participants who refuse to take part in the research, make it difficult since a
replacement must be done for them.
 Since the sample is chosen in random selection, quota sampling makes it
impossible to detect a potential sampling error.

5
Statistics Project

Reference:
Mahadeo,R.(n.d. Statistical Analysis The Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examinations, A
Comprehensive Text. Caribbean Educational.
NOOA. (.d.) Retrieved September 12, 2017, From http:// www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/recreational-
fishers/understanding-estimation/census-vs-sampling

You might also like