Download Quantitative or Qualitative


Explain the difference between a population
and a sample.

Explain the term “descriptive statistics.”

Explain the term “inferential statistics.”

____________ are the characteristics of the
individuals of the population being studied.

Contrast the differences between qualitative
and quantitative variables.

Discuss the differences between discrete and
continuous variables.

In your own words, define the four levels of
measurement of a variable. Give an example
of each.

The age of a person is commonly considered
to be a continuous random variable. Could it
be considered a discrete random variable
instead? Explain.

Phone number
◦ Qualitative

Assessed value of a house
◦ Quantitative

Number of unpopped kernels in a bag of ACT
microwave popcorn
◦ Quantitative

Number of days during the past week that a
college student aged 21 years or older has
had at least one drink
◦ Quantitative

Number on a football player’s jersey
◦ Qualitative

Temperature
◦ Quantitative

Grams of carbohydrates in a doughnut
◦ Quantitative

Gender
◦ Qualitative

Nation of origin
◦ Qualitative

Zip code
◦ Qualitative

Number of siblings
◦ Quantitative

Air pressure in pounds per square inch in an
automobile tire
◦ Continuous

Points scored in an NCAA basketball game
◦ Discrete

Internet connection speed in kilobytes per
second
◦ Continuous

The distance a 2007 Toyota Prius can travel
in city driving conditions with a full tank of
gas
◦ Continuous

Temperature on a randomly selected day in
Memphis, Tennessee
◦ Continuous

Number of sequoia trees in a randomly
selected acre of Yosemite National Park
◦ Discrete

Length of a country song
◦ Continuous

The number of cars that arrive at a
McDonald’s drive-through between 12:00 PM
and 1:00 PM
◦ Discrete

Volume of water lost each day through a
leaky faucet
◦ Continuous

Runs scored in a season by Babe Ruth
◦ Discrete

The number of heads obtained after flipping
a coin five times
◦ Discrete

Nation of origin
◦ Nominal

Gender
◦ Nominal

Movie ratings of one star through five stars
◦ Ordinal

Volume of water used by a household in a day
◦ Ratio

Temperature
◦ Interval

Year of birth of college students
◦ Interval

Highest degree attained (high school,
bachelor’s, etc)
◦ Ordinal

Number of days during the past week that a
college student aged 21 years or older has
had at least one drink
◦ Ratio

Eye color
◦ Nominal

Letter grade earned in your statistics class
◦ Ordinal

Assessed value of a house
◦ Ratio

Time of day measured in military time
◦ Interval

A __________ is obtained by dividing the
population into groups and selecting all
individuals from within a random sample of
the groups.
◦ Cluster

A _________ is obtained by dividing the
population into groups of the same kind and
randomly selecting individuals from each
group.
◦ Stratified

To estimate the percentage of defects in a
recent manufacturing batch, a quality-control
manager at Intel selects every 8th chip that
comes off the assembly line starting with the
3rd until she obtains a sample of 140 chips.
◦ Systematic

To determine the prevalence of human
growth hormone (HGH) use among high
school varsity baseball players, the State
Athletic Commission randomly selects 50
high schools. All members of the selected
high schools’ varsity baseball teams are
tested for HGH.
◦ Cluster

To determine customer opinion of its
boarding policy, Southwest Airlines randomly
selects 60 flights during a certain week and
surveys all passengers on the flights.
◦ Cluster

A member of Congress wishes to determine
her constituency’s opinion regarding estate
taxes. She divides her constituency into three
income classes: low-income households,
middle-income households, and upperincome households. She then takes a simple
random sample of households from each
income class.
◦ Stratified

In an effort to identify if an advertising
campaign has been effective, a marketing
firm conducts a nationwide poll by randomly
selecting individuals from a list of known
users of the product.
◦ Random

A radio station asks its listeners to call in
their opinion regarding the use of U.S. forces
in peacekeeping missions.
◦ Convenience

A farmer divides his orchard into 50
subsections, randomly selects 4, and samples
all the trees within the 4 subsections to
approximate the yield of his orchard.
◦ Cluster

A school official divides the student
population into five classes: freshman,
sophomore, junior, senior, and graduate
student. The official takes a simple random
sample from each class and asks the
members’ opinions regarding the student
services.
◦ Stratified

A survey regarding download time on a
certain website is administered on the
Internet by a market research firm to anyone
who would like to take it.
◦ Convenience

The presider of a guest-lecture series at a
university stands outside the auditorium
before a lecture begins and hands every fifth
person who arrives, beginning with the third,
a speaker evaluation survey to be completed
and turned in at the end of the program.
◦ Systematic

To determine his DSL Internet connection
speed, Shawn divides up the day into four
parts: morning, midday, evening, and late
night. He then measures his Internet
connection speed at 5 randomly selected
times during each part of the day.
◦ Stratified

24 Hour Fitness wants to administer a
satisfaction survey to its current members.
Using its membership roster, the club selects
40 club members names out of a hat and
asks them about their level of satisfaction
with the club.
◦ Random