Statistics
Question #1
You are working on a project looking at the growth rates of different types of government spending. As part of this project, you have been asked to complete the following table. Using the data, and your answers above, is the following statement true or false: “Over time, neither growth in national defense spending nor Medicare spending were highly correlated with population
growth.” Briefly explain.
Question #2
Louden County has 63 gas stations. The county government has hired you study gas prices in the county, starting next month. You have been provided data on the average price of gas at all gas stations in the county from last month [“Gas Price Data.xls”]. The county government has asked you to save time by collecting data on a sample of gas stations, rather than on all gas stations in the county. The county
government has also asked that the margin of error be ±$0.05 at the 95% level of confidence. Given this request, how many gas stations should be included in your sample? Briefly explain. (5 points)
Question #3
You are working on a project studying endowments and are looking at the average amount of endowments per full-time equivalent student. You have a sample of 20 endowments from each of three states: California, New York, and Massachusetts. You are using this data to make inferences about endowments in each state. Your colleague, who is working with the same date, makes the following statement: “Using a 95% confidence interval, it is confirmed that the average endowment per student is higher in New York than in Massachusetts or California.” Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Briefly explain. (10 points)
