STAT 4705 Homework 1 (Spring 2020)

Due on: Tuesday, February.11th.

For each homework assignment, turn in at the beginning of class on the
indicated due date. Late assignments will NOT be accepted unless
previously approved. Write each problem up very neatly and show all of
your work.
Staple all your work (-1 points for missing staple!)

Problem 1 (10 pts)

Write an example (different from the ones in class) for each of the following:
a. Ordinal Variable.

b. Nominal Variable.

c. Discrete Variable.

d. Continuous Variable.

Problem 2 (10 pts)

Identify the research question, population, sample frame, strata, variable, and sample
statistic, and a source of bias in the following situation.

The university would like to determine whether undergraduates are happy with the taste
of food at VT dining halls. VT has a list of students who have used their ID to buy a meal
at each hall. They will randomly select 100 patrons from each individual dining hall, and
send an email asking for their feedback on food taste. After receiving 38% of the surveys
back, the university finds an average ranking of 9.3/10 for overall food quality.

a. What a possible research question? _____________________________________

b. What is the population? _________________________________________________

c. What is the sample frame? _______________________________________________

d. What are the strata? ______________________________________________________

e. What variable is measured? _____________________________________________

Problem 3 (10 pts)
A study of the effects of smoking on sleep patterns is conducted. The measure observed
is the time, in minutes, that it takes to fall asleep. These data are obtained:

Smokers:
69.3 56.0 22.1 47.6 53.2 48.1 52.7 34.4 60.2 43.8 23.2 13.8
Nonsmokers:
28.6 25.1 26.4 34.9 29.8 28.4 38.5 30.2 30.6 31.8 41.6 21.1 36.0 37.9 13.9

(a)(5 pts) Find the sample mean and median for each group. Calculate answers to two
decimal places.

(b)(5 pts) Find the sample standard deviation for each group. Calculate answers to
three decimal places.

Problem 4 (12 pts)

Consider the sample space:

S={copper, sodium, nitrogen, potassium, uranium, oxygen, zinc}

Consider the events:

• A = {copper, sodium, zinc}

• B = {sodium, nitrogen, potassium}

• C = {oxygen}
List the elements of the sets corresponding to the following events:

(1)(2 pts) Ac

(2)(2 pts) A∪C

(3)(2 pts) (A∩Bc) ∪Cc

(4)(2 pts) Bc ∩Cc

(5)(2 pts) A∩B∩C

(6)(2 pts) (Ac ∪Bc) ∪ (Ac ∩C)

Problem 5 (10 pts)

(1)(5 pts) How many distinct permutations can be made from the letters of the word
INFINITY?

(2)(5 pts) How many of these permutations starts with the letter Y?

Problem 6 (12 pts)

Calculate each of these expressions:

Problem 7 (15 pts)

Four molecules of type A, four of type B, four of type C and four of type D are to be linked
together to form a chain molecule:

An example of the chain molecule is ABCDABCDABCDABCD,

another example is DCBADCBADCBADCBA.

(1)(5 pts) How many such chain molecules are there?

(2)(5 pts) How many orderings in which all four molecules of each type end up next to
one another? Example AAAABBBBCCCCDDDD?

(3)(5 pts) What is the probability that all four molecules of each type end up next to one
another?
Problem 8 (21 pts)
Consider a regular deck of cards with 52 cards in total.

(1) (4 pts) How many ways can we have a poker hand of 5 cards?

(2) (4 pts) Four of a kind is a poker hand that contains all four cards of one rank and any
other (unmatched) card. For example, 9♣ 9♠ 9♦ 9♥ J♠ is a four of a kind. How many
ways can we have four of a kind?

(3) (4 pts) In a poker hand of 5 cards, what’s the probability of getting a “four of a kind”?

(4) (4 pts) A full house is a hand that contains three matching cards of one rank and two
matching cards of another rank. For example, 3♣ 3♠ 3♦ 6♥ 6♠ is a “full house”. In a
poker hand of 5 cards, what’s the probability of getting a “full house”?

(5) (5 pts) In a poker hand, are getting a four of a kind and getting a “full house” mutually
exclusive events? Justify your answer.