MATH23153

CaseStudy:HospitalT
Submittedby:ShereenRichard
April9,2014

MynameisShereenRichard,andIaminmysecondsemesteratOurLadyoftheLake
College.MymajorisBiology:HumanMedicine,andIamenrolledinthe3+2Physicians
AssistantProgram.Thissemester,IhavebeenenrolledinStatisticsandhavelearnedmany
thingsthatwillhelpmeinmycareerinmedicine.
ThisCaseStudyProjectinStatisticswasassignedtometohelpmetoapplywhatIhave
learnedtoinformationrelatedtomyprofession.ThisProjectwillhelpmyclassmatesandIapply
whatweknowandhavelearnedfromasemesterofStatisticstoasetofdatafromacertain
hospital.Weallhavedifferenthospitalsanddata.Ourjobforthisprojectistomanipulatethis
dataandapplyalloftheformulas,definitions,andgraphstothedataprovidedfromeachofour
hospitals.
IwasassignedHospitalT.ThedatasetgivenfromHospitalTisprovidedbelow.The
abbreviationsineachcolumnstandforthefollowing:
EP:numberofpatientsseenbytheEmergencyRoomPhysicianatHospitalT
AD:numberofpatientsadmittedtothehospitalatHospitalT
AMB:numberofpatientsthatcametotheEmergencyRoombyambulanceatHospitalT

Hospital

Month

EP

AD

AMB

TOT

Jan

2963

477

603

3245

Feb

2964

456

526

3281

Mar

3219

607

599

3611

Apr

3134

540

617

3462

May

3393

557

651

3749

Jun

3384

485

671

3673

Jul

3585

512

731

3879

Aug

3513

562

740

3855

Sep

3420

548

682

3670

Oct

3499

607

646

3864

Nov

3274

560

621

3558

Dec

3769

655

685

4114

Statistics1isthestudyofhowtocollect,organize,analyze,andinterpretnumerical
informationfromdata.
TherearetwodivisionsofStatistics:DescriptiveStatisticsandInferentialStatistics.Descriptive
Statistics2involvesorganizing,picturing,andsummarizinginformationfromsamplesand
1 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 4)
2 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 10)
3

populations.IwillusethisdivisionofStatisticswhendevelopinggraphsfromdatafrom
HospitalT.InferentialStatistics3involvesusinginformationfromasampletodrawconclusions
regardingtothepopulation.IwillusethisdivisionofStatisticswhencomparinghowvariables
relatetooneanotherandwilltrytomakepredictionswiththedataprovidedfromHospitalT.
Datacomesintwocategories:quantitativeandqualitative.Quantitativedataaredata
thathasanumericalmeasurementforwhichoperationssuchasadditionortaveragingmakes
sense.4Qualitativedataaredatathatdescribeanindividualintoacategoryorgroup.5With
respecttoHospitalT,thenumberofpatientswhowereadmittedtoHospitalTinJanuaryis
Quantitativedata,andifweweretohavethenameofthepatientsadmittedtoHospitalTin
January,thiswouldbequalitativedata.
Indata,therearetwosourcesofwheretheinformationcouldcomefrom.Thedatacould
eithercomefromapopulation,whichiseveryindividualofinterest6,orfromasample,which
areonlysomeoftheindividualsofinterest7.HospitalTdataissampledatabecausethisdata
containsonlyinformationfromoneyearinHospitalT.Ifthiswereapopulation,allofthedata
fromtheopeningofHospitalTtothepresentmomentwouldbeincluded.Apopulation
3 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 10)
4 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 5)
5 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 5)
6 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 5)
7 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 5)
4

parameterisanumericalmeasurethatdescribesanaspectofapopulation8andasample
statisticisanumericalmeasureusedtodescribeanaspectofasample9.Apopulationparameter
wouldbeallofthedatafromallofthepatientswhohaveevervisitedHospitalT.Thedatainthe
tableformHospitalTprovidedisanexampleofasamplestatisticbecauseitcontainsonlyone
yearofinformationfromHospitalT.NotationforapopulationisNandnotationforasampleis
n.
InStatistics,wemustclassifythedatathatwearemeasuring.Therearefourcategoriesin
whichdatacanbeclassifiedas:nominal,ordinal,interval,andratio.Nominaldataisdatathat
consistsofnames,labels,orcategories10.AnexampleofnominaldatawithregardtoHospitalT
isthenameofeachpatientthatwasadmittedintoHospitalT.Ordinaldataisdatathatcanbe
arrangedinorder,butdifferencesbetweenthedatavaluesaremeaningless.11Ifweranked
HospitalTinrelationtoallotherHospitalsintheareabasedonpatientsadmitted,theranking
wouldbeanexampleofordinaldata.Intervaldataisdatathatcanbearrangedinorderand
differencesbetweendatavaluesaremeaningful.12Thenumberofmonthswhereover600
patientswereadmittedtoHospitalTbyambulancetoHospitalTisanexampleofintervaldata.

8 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).

Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 5)
9 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 5)
10 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 7)
11 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 7)
12 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 7)
5

Ratiodataisdatathatcanbearrangedinorder,andbothdifferencesbetweendatavaluesand
ratiosofthedatavaluesaremeaningful.13Anexampleofratiodatacouldbetheageofeach
patientwhowasadmittedtoHospitalTinacalendaryear.
Withrawdata,itishardtotellwhatthedatameans.Thereisnowaytotellifthedatais
relatedorhasanymeaningunlessoneorganizesthedata.Therearemanywaystoorganizedata.
Threeexamplesofhowtoorganizedataistoarrangethemintoabargraph,acirclegraph,ora
pareto.
Bargraphscanbeusedtodisplayquantitativeorqualitativedata.Thebarscanbe
verticalorhorizontal,mustbeuniforminwidthandspacing,usethesamemeasurementscale,
andmusthaveatitle,barlabels,andahorizontalandverticalscale14.Thebargraphmustalso
haveasourcetellingwherethedataiscomingfromandallofthebarsshouldbelabeledforeasy
accessofinformation.Abargraphisthemostcommonandagreatwaytoorganizedata.Thebar
graphpresentsdatainanorganizedwaythatmakesiteasierforaspectatortopickoutimportant
informationquicklyandeasily,suchaswhichmonthoutoftheyearwerethemostpatientsseen
byandEmergencyRoomPhysicianatHospitalT.Abargraphdisplayingthenumberofpatients
seenbyanemergencyroomphysicianeachmonthofacalendaryearatHospitalTisdisplayed
below:

13 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6 th Edition).

Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 7)

14 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th

Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 54-55)

The Number of Patients Seen by an Emergency Room Physician Each Month in a Calendar Month at Hospital T
December
November

Months of the Year

3769
3274

October

3499

September

3420

August

3513

July

3585

June

3384

May

3393

April

3134

March

3219

February

2964

January

2963

WecanconcludeformthisbargraphthatthemonthofDecemberhadthemostnumberof
patientsseenbyanemergencyroomphysicianandthemonthofJanuaryhadtheleastnumberof
patientsseenbyanemergencyroomphysician.
Anotherwaytoorganizerawdataisbyusingacirclegraph.Thistypeofgraphisalso
knownasapiechart.Inacirclegraph,wedgesofacirclevisuallydisplayproportionalpartsof
thetotalpopulationthatshareacommoncharacteristic.Thistypeofgraphisusefulforshowing
thedivisionofatotalquantityintoitscomponentparts15.Theentirecircleisequalto100%.
Eachpartofthedividedcircleisapartofthe100%circle.Acirclegraphdisplayingthesame

15 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th

Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 57)

informationasthebargraph,thenumberofpatientsseenbyanemergencyroomphysicianeach
monthinacalendaryearatHospitalT,isbelow:

The Percentage of Patients Seen by an Emergency Room Physician Each Month in a Calendar Year at Hospital T

January February March April May June July August September October
December; 9% January; 7%
February; 7%
November; 8%
March; 8%
October; 9%
April; 8%
September; 9%
November December

May; 8%
August; 9%
June; 8%
July; 9%

Againallgraphsmusthaveasourceandmustbelabeledforthereadertoquicklyandeasily
understandthedata.Thiscirclegraphdisplaysthepercentagesofthetotalpatientseachmonth,
whichmakesthedatanotasclearasthebargraph.Otherthanthis,onecanstillseethe
comparisonofpercentagesbetweeneachmonth.Wecanconcludethattheamountofpatients
seenbyanemergencyroomphysicianeachmonthinacalendaryearatHospitalTwere
relativelyclosetothesameamounteachmonthoftheyear.
AnotherwaytoorganizedatawouldbeinaParetoChart.AParetoChartisabargraph
inwhichthebarheightrepresentsfrequencyofanevent,andthebarsarearrangedfromleftto
8

rightaccordingtodecreasingheight.ManytimesaParetoChartisusedtomanagequality
controlwithcompanies16.AwaytoapplythistoHospitalTwouldbetosaythatoutofthetotal
numberofpatientswhowereadmittedtoHospitalTbyambulanceduringthemonthofJanuary
(603Patients)cameinfordifferentreasons.286cameinforbrokenbones,226cameinfor
migraineheadaches,56cameinforstomachpains,and35cameinfordehydration.Toorganize
thisdataintoaParetochart,wemustknowthefrequencyofeachevent.TheParetoforthis
informationisbelow:

Reasons Patients at Hospital T were Brought in by Ambulence in a Calendar Year

Reaons Patients at Hospital T were Brought in by Ambulance in a Calendar Year

YoucandeterminefromtheParetothatBrokenBoneswasthemostfrequentreasonpatients
cameinonambulancesanddehydrationwastheleastfrequentreasonatHospitalTinaCalendar
Year.

16 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th

Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 56)

Anothermethodonecanusetomanipulatedataismeasuresofcentraltendency.The
goalofthesemeasuresistotrytofindtheaverageofyourdata17.Therearethreemeasuresof
centraltendency:mode,median,andmean.Themodeofadatasetisthevaluethatoccursmost
frequently18.WithregardtoHospitalTandthenumberofpatientsadmittedtotheHospitalina
calendaryear,themodewouldbe607becausethevalue607istheonlyvaluethatrepeatsitself.
Themedianofadatasetisthecentralvalueofanordereddistribution.Inordertofindthe
median,onemustorderthedatafromsmallesttolargest.Ifthedatasethasanoddnumberof
datavalues,themedianisthemiddledatavalue.Ifthedatasethasanevennumberofdata
values,themedianisthesumofthemiddletwovaluesdividedbytwo.19Forthenumberof
patientsadmittedtotheHospitalTinacalendaryear,Iwouldfindthemodethisway:
1) Orderthedatafromsmallesttolargest
456,477,485,512,540,548,557,560,562,607,607,655
2) Thereisanevennumberofdatavalues.Thetwomiddlenumbersare548and557.There
sumis1105.1105dividedby2isequalto552.50.Themedianofthisdatasetis552.50
patientsadmittedtoHospitalTinacalendaryear.

17 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th

Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp.82 )
18 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th
Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 82)
19 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th
Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 83)

10

Themeanofadatasetisthesumofalltheentriesdividedbythetotalnumberofentries.The
meanisusuallythemostusedmeasureofcentraltendencytofindtheaverage20.Theformulafor
themeanofapopulationmeanis=x/N, andtheformulaforthemeanofasampleisXbar=
x/nwheresigmameansthesumof.Thisdataisasample,soIwillusetheXbarformula.To
findthemeanofthenumberofpatientsadmittedtotheHospitalTinacalendaryear,Iwould:
1) Findthesumofallthedatavalues:
Sum=6566
2) Dividethesumtotalbythenumberofdatavalues
6566/12=547.17
Xbar=547.17patientsadmittedtoHospitalTinacalendaryear
Itisimportanttoalwaysincludeunitsandwhatyouaremeasuringsothereaderknows
whattheyarereadingabout.
Anaveragemaynotalwaysbeabletobeverymeaningfulwithrespecttocertaindata.Thisis
whenweusemeasuresofvariation,whichmeasuresthespreadofdata21.Weuserange,which
isameasureofvariation,attimestoobtainmoremeaningfuldata.Therangeisthedifference
betweenthelargestandsmallestvaluesofdatadistribution22.Therangeofthenumberof
patientsadmittedtotheHospitalTinacalendaryearwouldbecomputedbysubtractingthe
smallestnumber,456,fromthelargestnumber,655,Therangeofthisdatais199patients
admittedtoHospitalTinacalendaryear.
20 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th
Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 85)
21 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th
Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 93)
22 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th
Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 93)

11

Attimes,therangemaynottelluseverythingweneedtoknow.Therangedoesnottellushow
muchallofthevaluesvaryfromoneanotherorfromthemean.Thisiswhywehavevariance
andstandarddeviation.Thesevalueswillmeasurethedistributionofdataaroundthemean.
Standarddeviationishowmuchavaluedeviatesfromthemean,andvarianceistheaverageof
the(xxbar)2values.23
Thenotationforsamplevarianceiss2andtheformulaforsamplevarianceis
s2=(xxbar)2/n1.Thenotationforpopulationvarianceis2andtheformulaforpopulation
varianceis2=(x)2/N.
Thenotationforsamplestandarddeviationissandtheformulaforsamplestandarddeviationiss
=(xxbar)2/n1.Thenotationforpopulationstandarddeviationisandtheformulafor
populationstandarddeviationis=(x)2/N.
Standarddeviationandvariancearefoundbyusingthefollowingmethod:
1. Makeatable
2. Fillinthetable
3. Substitutethevaluesfoundinthetableintotheformula
WithregardtothenumberofpatientsadmittedtoHospitalTinacalendaryear,thisishowI
wouldfindthesamplevarianceandthesamplestandarddeviation:
XValues
477.00
456.00
607.00

(XXbar)
70.17
91.17
59.83

(XXbar)2
4923.83
8311.97
3579.63

23 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th

Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 94-95)

12

540.00
557.00
485.00
512.00
562.00
548.00
607.00
560.00
655.00
Totals:

7.17
9.83
62.17
35.17
14.83
0.83
59.83
12.83
107.83

6566.00 0.04

51.41
96.63
3865.11
1236.93
219.93
0.6889
3579.63
164.61
11627.31
37657.68

Xbar=547.17patientsadmittedtoHospitalTinacalendaryear.
n=12
SampleStandardDeviation=s=(xxbar)2/n1=37657.68/11=58.51patientsadmittedto
HospitalTinacalendaryear
ThismeansthatthenumberofpatientsadmittedtotheHospitaldeviatesabout59patientsfrom
themean.
SampleVariance=s2=(xxbar)2/n1=37657.68/11=3423.43patientsadmittedtoHospitalT
inacalendaryear.
Standarddeviationisagreatwaytoseehowfaryourdatadeviatesfromthemeanofthe
data,butstandarddeviationisnotidealforwhencomparingtwodatasetsbecausethedata
valuesmaynotbeinthesameunitsorsize.WeuseCoefficientofVariance,whichexpressesthe
standarddeviationasapercentageofthesampleorpopulationmean24,todirectlycomparedata.
TheCoefficientofVariationforasampleisdefinedtobeCV=(s/xbar)*100%wheresisthe
24 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th
Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 100)

13

samplestandarddeviationandxbaristhemeanofthedataset.TheCoefficientofVariationfor
apopulationisdefinedtobeCV=(/)*100%,whereisthemeanofthepopulationandis
thepopulationstandarddeviation.UnitsforCoefficientofVariancearealwayspercent.Thisis
howtocomputetheCoefficientofVarianceusingthedataabovewiththesampleofthepatients
admittedtoHospitalTinacalendaryear:
CV=(s/xbar)*100%
X-bar=547.17patientsadmittedtoHospitalTinacalendaryear
S=58.51patientsadmittedtoHospitalTinacalendaryear
CV=(58.51/547.17)*100%=10.69%
TheCoefficientofVarianceofthenumberofpatientsadmittedtoHospitalTinacalendaryear
isprettysmall.Wewouldusethispercentagewhencomparingthenumberofpatientsadmitted
toHospitalTinacalendaryeartoanotherHospitalsnumberofpatientsadmittedinacalendar
year.WhicheverCoefficientofVarianceislower,isthehospitalthatismoreconsistentwith
theirnumbersofpatientsthroughoutthatparticularyear.
SomedatacanbeplottedontheRectangularCoordinateSystem.Mostofthetime,whenplotted
ontheRectangularCoordinateSystem,thedatadoesnotformastraightline.Mostofthetime
whenthedatascattered,thedatasuggeststhatthereisalinebutthereisnowaytoconnectthe
points.ThisgraphiscalledaScatterDiagram.Ascatterdiagramisagraphinwhichpaireddata
(x,y)areplottedasindividualpointsonagridwithhorizontalaxisxandverticalaxisy.Eachx
valuehasacorrespondingyvalue.Theultimategoalwhenusingascatterdiagramistoseeif

14

ourdatahasalinearcorrelation25.Correlationandregressionistherelationshipbetweento
variables.Thislinearcorrelationwearetryingtodeterminecaneitherbepositivewithapositive
slopewherethelineappearstogoup,negativewithanegativeslopewherethelineappearstobe
goingdown,orcanhavenocorrelationatallwherethepointsshownoformationofaline.The
pointsonascatterplotarenotlabeledbecausethiswouldmakespottingatrendorcorrelation
difficult.
Inordertorepresentourdata,wemustfindtheBestFittingLineortheleastsquaresline.We
aretryingtofindthelinearequationforthelinethatbestrepresentsthepointsonthescatter
diagram,sothecriterionforthelineisthatthesumoftheverticaldistancesfromthedatapoints
(x,y)tothelineismadeassmallaspossible.26Thereisanequationfortheleastsquareslinethat
wemustcompute.TheequationofthelinewillbeinthisformatYhat=a+bx,whereaisthey
intercept,andbistheslopeoftheline.Theyinterceptisdefinedaswherethelineonthegraph
hitstheyaxis.Theslopeishowsteepyourlineisandisusedtofindpointsontheline.
TheequationfortheleastsquareslineisYhat=a+bx.Tofindeachpartoftheequation,one
mustusethefollowingformulas:
xbar=meanofallxvaluesinscatterdiagram
ybar=meanofallyvaluesinscatterdiagram

25 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th

Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 132-133)
26 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th
Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 151-152)

15

b=Ssxy/SSx
Ssxy=xy[(x)(y)/n]
SSx=x2[(x)2/n]
Wherenisthenumberofpointsonthescatterdiagram.
a=ybarb(xbar)
Tofindtheleastsquareslinewemustcomputex,y,x2,y2,xy,xbar,andybar.Then
wemustplugthesevaluesintotheformulasprovided.
Whenusingascatterdiagramandtryingtofindaleastsquaresline,usuallyyouare
tryingtofindhowtwovariablesrelatetooneanother.WithregardtoHospitalT,Icanfindthe
correlationbetweenthenumberofpatientswhocametoHospitalTbyambulanceinacalendar
year,andthenumberofpatientswhowereseenbyanEmergencyRoomPhysicianinacalendar
year.First,Iwillmakeatable,thenIwillfillinthetable,andlastlyIwillplugthedatavalues
intotheformulasabovetoobtainmyLeastSquaresLineequation.
XValue
603
526
599
617
651
671
731
740
682
646
621
685

Yvalue
2963
2964
3219
3134
3393
3384
3585
3513
3420
3499
3274
3769

XY
1786689
1559064
1928181
1933678
2208843
2270664
2620635
2599620
2332440
2260354
2033154
2581765

X2
363609
276676
358801
380689
423801
450241
534361
547600
465124
417316
385641
469225

Y2
8779369
8785296
10361961
9821956
11512449
11451456
12852225
12341169
11696400
12243001
10719076
14205361

16

Totals:7772 40117

26115087

5073084134769719

xbar=7772/12=647.67
ybar=40117/12=3343.08
Ssxy=xy[(x)(y)/n]=26115087[(7772)(40117)/12]=132643.33
SSx=x2[(x)2/n]=5073084[(7772)2/12]=39418.67
b=Ssxy/SSx=132643.33/39418.67=3.36
a=ybarb(xbar)=3343.083.36(647.67)=1166.91
BestFitLineEquation=yhat=1166.91+3.36x
Ifthiswereplottedonascatterplot,onemustincludetwopoints,(xbar,ybar)andthey
intercept,whichis(0,a).SoIwouldplot(647.67,3343.08)and(0,1166.91).Thegraphwould
looklikethefollowing:

17

The Relationship Between the Number of Patients Who Were Admitted by Ambulance and the Number of Patients Who Were Seen by an Emergency Room Physician at Hospital T in a Calendar Year

3343.08

1166.91

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Number of Patients Admitted to Hospital T by Ambulance in a Calendar Year

Source: Hospital T

Asstatedbefore,acorrelationcanbepositiveornegative.Anotherwaytoclassify
correlationisbyitsstrength.Thesamplecorrelationcoefficientisanumericalmeasurementthat
accessesthestrengthofalinearrelationshipbetweentwovariablesxandy.27Thenotationfor
thesamplecorrelationcoefficientisr.Thesamplecorrelationcoefficientcanbeinbetween1
and1.Thecloserristo1,thestrongerthenegativecorrelation.Thecloserristo1,thestronger
thepositivecorrelation.Ifris0,thereisnolinearcorrelation.Theformulatofindris
r=[nxy(x)(y)]/[(nx2(x)2)(ny2(y)2)]

27 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th

Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 136-138)

18

UsingthedatafromHospitalTintheCorrelationGraphabove,thisishowtocomputer:
r=1591720/1928563.94=0.83
Thisnumberiscloseto1,whichmeanstherelationshipbetweentheNumberofPatients
WhoWereAdmittedbyAmbulance,andtheNumberofPatientsWhoWereSeenbyan
EmergencyRoomPhysicianatHospitalTinaCalendarYear haveastrongpositivecorrelation.
Thecoefficientofdeterminationisanotherwaytotellthestrengthoftheleastsquared
line.Thecoefficientofdetermination,orr2,isthesquareofthesamplecorrelationcoefficientr.
Thecoefficientofdeterminationisameasureoftheproportionofvariationinythatisexplained
bytheregressionline,usingxastheexplanatoryvariable.Forexample,therthatIcalculated
aboveis0.83.Ther2valuewouldbe0.69.Thismeansthat69%ofthe(variation)behaviorofthe
numberofpatientsseenbyanemergencyroomphysicianathospitalTinacalendaryearcanbe
explainedbythenumberofpatientsadmittedtoHospitalTbyambulanceinacalendaryearif
weusetheequationoftheleastsquaresline.Theother31%ofpatientsisduetorandomchance
oralurkingvariable.28Alurkingvariableisavariablethatisneitheranexplanatorynora
responsevariablebutmayberesponsibleforchangesinbothxandy.29
LikeIstated,alurkingvariablecancauseerrorindataandcauseanerrorinthe
relationshipbetweendata.Thereareotheraffectsthatcanaffectthevalidityofdata.
Interpolationispredictingyhatvaluesforxvaluesthatarebetweenobservedxvaluesinthe
28 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th
Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 159)
29 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th
Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp.143 )

19

datasetandextrapolationispredictingyhatvaluesforxvaluesthatarebeyondobservedx
valuesinthedataset30.Interpolationiswhenyouchoosedatathatfallswithinthedomainor
range.Thisiswhatissupposedtohappen.Extrapolationiswhenyouchoosedatathatisoutside
thedomainorrange.Thiscanskewdataorcauseerrorsinorganizingdata.
Allinall,thewholepointofmanipulatingdatainallofthesewaysistoseeifthereisa
relationshipbetweentwovariables,tointerpretthedataeasily,andtopredictwiththedatawe
have.IcanmakeapredictionthatthroughoutthenextyearsatHospitalT,therewillstill
probablybeastrongpositivecorrelationbetweentheNumberofPatientsWhoWereAdmitted
byAmbulance,andtheNumberofPatientsWhoWereSeenbyanEmergencyRoomPhysician
atHospitalTandaroundthesamenumberofpatientswillbeseenbyanemergencyroom
physiciantoHospitalTeachmonthoftheyear.
Bydoingthiscasestudy,Ihaveexperiencedwhatitwouldbeliketocomputestatisticsin
mycareer.IhavebeenabletosuccessfullyapplywhatIhavelearnedinGeneralStatisticstoa
realworldsituation.

30 Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th

Edition). Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. 155)

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References
Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.

Allformulasandnotationsfrom:
Brase, C. H. & Brase, C. P. (2013). Understanding Basic Statistics (6th Edition).
Boston, MA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning. (pp. inside front cover)

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