BKU2032 Tutorial 1 Introduction to Statistics

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA PAHANG

BKU2032 PROBABILITY & STATISTICS
TUTORIAL 1 : INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS

1. Each of the following processes involves sampling from a population. Define the population,
and state whether it is tangible or conceptual.
a. A shipment of bolts is received from a vendor. To check whether the shipment is
acceptable with regard to shear strength, an engineer reaches into the container and
selects 10 bolts, one by one to test.
b. An engineer measures the length of a rod five times, being as careful as possible to take
the measurements under identical conditions.
c. A quality engineer needs to estimate the percentage of parts manufactured on a certain
day that are defective. At 2.30 in the afternoon he samples the last 100 parts to be
manufactured.

2. Determine whether the given value is a statistic or a parameter

a. A sample of household selected and the average income per household is RM 2500.
b. Currently, 42% of the governors of the United States are Democrats.
c. From all 2223 passengers aboard the Titanic, it is found that 706 survived when it sank.

3. In each of these statements, tell whether descriptive or inferential statistics have been used.
a. Nine out of ten on-the-job fatalities are men
b. Expenditures for the cable industry were $5.66 billion in 1996
c. Drinking decaffeinated coffee can raise cholesterol levels by 7%

4. Classify each as nominal-level, ordinal-level, interval-level, or ratio-level data.

a. Horsepower of motorcycle engines.
b. Ratings of newscasts in Houston (poor, fair, good, excellent).
c. Temperature of automatic popcorn poppers.
f. Marital status of respondents to a survey on savings accounts.
g. Ages of students enrolled in a martial arts course.
i. Rankings of weight lifters.

5. Classify each variable as qualitative or quantitative. If the variable is quantitative, state either
it is discrete or continuous.
a. Colors of automobiles in the faculty parking lot.
b. Number of desks in classrooms.
c. Classification of children in a day care center (infant, toddler, preschool).
f. Capacity (in gallons) of water in selected dams.
g. Number of off-road vehicles sold in the Malaysia.

6. In these statements, identify the type of sample obtained (simple random, stratified,
systematic, cluster).
a. A quality engineer wants to inspect rolls of wallpaper in order to obtain information on
the rate at which flaws in the printing are occurring. She decides to draw a sample of 50
rolls of wallpaper from a day’s production. Each hour for 5 hours, she takes the 10 most
recently produced rolls and counts the number of flaws on each.

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b. A psychologist wants to study the behavioral patterns of the 8,563 college students at
UMP. He decides to start by obtaining a random sample of 30 students and asking the
average number of hours each member of the sample sleeps on a weekday night.
i) Each student is assigned a number from 1 to 8563. A number from 1 to 285 is
randomly selected, and every 285th student on the list from that point on is then
included in the sample.
ii) Students are separated into academic majors and a proportional number of
students are selected from each academic major.
iii) Students are listed by number (1 to 8563) and a computer is used to randomly
generate a list of 30 numbers representing the students to be used in the sample.
iv) Students are listed by their school residence locations (dormitories or apartment
buildings). 3 residence locations are randomly selected. Then students from each
of these locations are chosen for the psychologist’s sample.

7. Identify each study as being either observational or experimental

a. A researcher stood at a busy intersection to see if the color of an automobile a person
drives is related to running red lights.
b. Subjects are randomly assigned to four groups. Each group is placed on one of four
special diets—a low-fat diet, a high-fish diet, a combination of low-fat diet and high-fish
diet, and a regular diet. After 6 months, the blood pressures of the groups are compared to
see if diet has any effect on blood pressure.

8. A quality-control technician selects assembled parts from an assembly line and records the
following information concerning each part:
A: defective or no defective
B: the employee number of the individual who assembled the part
C: the weight of the part
Based on the above problem,
a. What is the population under study?
b. Is the population tangible or conceptual?
c. Classify the variables A and B as either attribute or numerical.
d. Classify the level of measurement of the variables B and C as nominal, ordinal, interval
or ratio.

9. A manufacturer of computer chips claims that fewer than 10% of his products are defective.
When 1000 chips were drawn from a large production, 11.1% were found to be defective.
Based on this problem,
a. What is the population under study?
b. Is the population tangible or conceptual?
c. Which value is a statistic?
d. Identify the variable related to the statistic in part (c).
e. Classify the variable in part (d) as either attribute or quantitative.
f. Classify the level of measurement of the variable in part (d).
g. Decide whether descriptive or inferential statistics have been used.

10. A statistics class of 40 students took a quiz. The highest possible score was 4 points. 10
students scored 4 points, 12 students scored 3 points, 8 students scored 2 point, 6 students

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scored 1 point, and 4 students scored 0. Compute the mean and standard deviation of the
scores.

11. As part of a quality control study aimed at improving a production line, the weights (in gram)
of 50 bars of soap are measured. The results are as follows, sorted from smallest to largest.
11.6 12.6 12.7 12.8 13.1 13.3 13.6 13.7 13.8 14.1
14.3 14.3 14.3 14.8 15.1 15.2 15.6 15.6 15.7 15.8
15.8 15.9 15.9 16.1 16.2 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.5
16.5 16.6 17.0 17.1 17.3 17.3 17.4 17.4 17.4 17.6
17.7 18.1 18.3 18.3 18.3 18.5 18.5 18.8 19.2 20.3

a. What is the value of range of the data set?

b. Find the mean, standard deviation and variance using calculator.

12. A study measures the sorption (either absorption or adsorption) rate of three different types of
organic chemical solvents. These solvents are used to clean industrial fabricated-metal parts
and are potential hazardous waste. Independent samples of solvents from each type were
tested and their sorption rates were recorded as a mole percentage as given in table below.
Organic chemical solvents
Esters Chloroalkanes Aromatics
0.45 0.66 1.05
0.56 1.74 0.99
0.05 0.88 0.78
0.02 0.59 1.21
0.71 1.45 1.11
0.34 1.00
0.11

a. Calculate manually (using formula), the sample mean, variance, and standard deviations
for the three type of solvents.
b. Using calculator, find the sample mean and standard deviations for the three solvents.
c. Compare the variations among the solvents and interpret the result (hint: Which data set
is less disperse? which data set is more variable, which data set is better?)

13. A machine produces bullet shell with mean length 2cm and standard deviation 0.01cm. if
bullet shells that are less than 1.98cm and greater than 2.02cm are considered defective,
what is the percentage of defective bullet shells that are produced by this machine? Use
Chebyshev’s Theorem.