Chapter 5 - Generating and collecting data

Here's a website with some summary information about experimental design.


HW due Wednesday, 11/19/08: Problems 2006-5 and 2004-2 from the AP exams. Do the work on a separate piece of paper. No credit will be given for work done on the handout. If you missed class on Tuesday, swing by before school to get a copy or go to the AP website to retrieve a copy, but be prepared for class! Your test is on Thursday.

HW due Tuesday, 11/18/08: Problems 5.46-5.49. Your test on Chapter 5 is Thursday.
HW due Monday, 11/17/08: Problem 5, part c from the 2005 exam. The original question is found at www.collegeboard.com/apstudents.
A survey will be conducted to examine the educational level of adult heads of households in the United States. Each respondent in the survey will be placed into one of the following two categories:

• Does not have a high school diploma
• Has a high school diploma

The survey will be conducted using a telephone interview.
(c) Since education is largely the responsibility of each state, the agency wants to be sure that estimates are available for each state as well as for the nation. Identify a sampling method that will achieve this additional goal and briefly describe a way to select the survey sample using this method.

Your answer must be written and complete and reflect your best reasoning.

Your test on this chapter is Thursday.

HW due Friday: 5.9, 5.10, 5.13, 5.14. Know how each of these types of bias occurs and what its implications are: response, non-response, voluntary response, wording, undercoverage. Also, how does convenience sampling lead to bias?

Know also how to conduct surveys using each of these methods:
Stratified random sample: Create layers of homogeneous groups and randomly sample from each.
Systematic random sample: Select every nth person for the survey.
Cluster sampling: Survey a smaller heterogeneous group that has characteristics similar to the entire population.
Simple random sampling of size n: (the ideal) use random methods that ensure that every person has the same likelihood of selection AND that every possible group of n people has the same likelihood of selection.

Your HW due Wednesday 11/12 is 5.1-5.5 (after reading the first four pages of the chapter).

Here are the questions that will be on the long form and the short form of the census in 2010. The actual date of the census will be April 1, 2010.