MTES3123 STATISTICS

TUTORIAL 1

1. Define each of the following statistical terms:

a. Descriptive Statistics
b. Statistical Inference
c. Population
d. Sample

2. Suggest an appropriate method of samplings that could be employed to obtained

information on:
a) A passengers’ view on the adequacy of a local bus service;
b) The attitudes to authority of the workforce of a large company;
c) The percentage of defects in finished items from a production line;
d) The views of school children on school meals.

3. Fill in the blank

(i) In a(n) sample, the population is divided into layers; then a simple
random sample of members from each layer is selected.
(ii) In a(n) sample, we randomly select a starting point between 1 and k,
then sample every kth element from the population.
(iii) Sampling methods can be categorized as or ________sampling.

4. Fill in the blank

(i) The sample involves dividing the population into groups, then
randomly selecting some of the groups and taking either a sample or a
census of their members.
(ii) When all the items in a population have a nonzero chance of being selected
in the sample, this is called:
(iii). A pharmaceutical company interested in measuring how often physicians
prescribe a certain drug has selected a simple random sample from each of
two groups: M.D. (medical doctors) and D.O (osteopathic doctors). What is
this type of sampling called?
(iv) When every possible sample of size n has the same chance of being
selected, this is called ___________________________.

4. For each of the following, determine whether the group is a sample or a population.
(i) The 30 stocks reported as a part of the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index
(KLCI).
(ii) All the drivers who received a speeding compound in North-South Highway,
last month.

6. (i) A wallboard manufacturer is concerned with meeting industry quality

standards for its product. Inspecting each sheet produced would necessitate
many inspectors and add about 50% more to the cost of the wallboard.
Sampling per shift would only increase the cost by 3 to 4 percent and yet be
capable of detecting any sub-quality wallboard. Which type of probability

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 sampling would you recommend the company to use?
(ii) A politician wants to estimate the mean age of registered voters in her district.
Unfortunately, she does not have a complete list of households. Describe a
sampling plan that would be suitable for her purposes.
(iii) The dean of a college of arts and sciences with six departments wants to
estimate the student-hours lost per month due to illness of professors.
Describe a sampling plan that would be suitable for estimating the college-
wide loss and for comparing departments.

Discussion Questions

1. (i) Briefly describe the difference between the population and sample.
(ii) Briefly describe the difference between the statistic and parameter.
(iii) Explain the difference between probability sampling and non-probability
sampling.

2. Sampling methods are widely used for the collection of statistical data in industry
and business. Explain the following and illustrating your answers with practical
example.
i. Simple Random Sampling;
ii. Stratification;
iii. Cluster Sampling
iv. Systematic Sampling.

3. A survey company asked a sample of 1960 consumers to try a newly developed

chicken burger by “Ramla burger”. Of the 1960 sampled, 1176 said they would
purchase the burger if it marketed.
i. What could the survey company report to “Ramla Burger” regarding acceptance of
the chicken burger in the population?
ii. Is this an example of descriptive statistics or inferential statistics? Explain

4. You are engaged by a survey research company to conduct a household survey on

petrol expenses in Kuala Lumpur. A representative sample of 3,000 households is to
be selected for the survey.
(i) Identify the population and the sample of the above survey.
(ii) You are asked to consider the alternative data collection methods for the survey.
Name and briefly describe two (2) appropriate probability sampling methods for the
survey.

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