Problem Set 1
Statistics for Business Decision
Gunawan, Ph.D.
1. What is the level of measurement for each of the following variables?
a. Student IQ ratings.
b. Distance students travel to class.
c. The jersey numbers of a sorority soccer team.
d. A student's state of birth.
e. A student's academic class-that is, freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior.
f. Number of hours students study per week.
2. Slate is a daily magazine on the Web. Its business activities can be described by a
number of variables. What is the level of measurement for each of the following
variables?
a. The number of hits on their website on Saturday between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00
a.m.
b. The departments, such as food and drink, politics, foreign policy, sports, etc.
c. The number of weekly hits on the Sam's Club ad.
d. The number of years each employee has been employed with Slate.
3. On the Web, go to your favorite news source and find examples of each type of
variable. Write a brief memo that lists the variables and describes them in terms of
qualitative or quantitative, discrete or continuous, and the measurement level.
4. For each of the following, determine whether the group is a sample or a population.
a. The participants in a study of a new cholesterol drug.
b. The drivers who received a speeding ticket in Kansas City last month.
c. People on welfare in Cook County (Chicago), Illinois.
d. The 30 stocks that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
5. Explain the difference between qualitative and quantitative variables. Give an
example of qualitative and quantitative variables.
6. A pie chart shows the relative market share of cola products. The "slice" for Pepsi
has a central angle of 90 degrees. What is its market share?
7. In a marketing study, 100 consumers were asked to select the best digital music
player from the iPod Touch, Sony Walkman, and the Zune HD. To summarize the
consumer responses with a frequency table, how many classes would the frequency
table have?
8. A total of 1,000 residents in Minnesota were asked which season they preferred. One
hundred liked winter best, 300 liked spring, 400 liked summer, and 200 liked fall.
Develop a frequency table and a relative frequency table to summarize this information.
9. Two thousand frequent business travelers were asked which midwestern city they
prefer: Indianapolis, Saint Louis, Chicago, or Milwaukee. One hundred liked
Indianapolis best, 450 liked Saint Louis, 1,300 liked Chicago, and the remainder
preferred Milwaukee. Develop a frequency table and a relative frequency table to
summarize this information.
10. Wellstone Inc. produces and markets replacement covers for cell phones in five
different colors: bright white, metallic black, magnetic lime, tangerine orange, and fusion
red. To estimate the demand for each color, the company set up a kiosk for several
hours in the Mall of America and asked randomly selected people which cover color
was their favorite. The results follow:
a. What is the table called?
b. Draw a bar chart for the table.
c. Draw a pie chart.
d. If Wellstone Inc. plans to produce 1 million cell phone covers, how many of
each color should it produce?