Suggested Exercises from the book_set 1

2.2 U.S. married‐couple households

According to a recent Current Population Survey of U.S. married‐couple households, 13% are traditional (with children
and with only the husband in the labor force), 31% are dual‐income with children, 25% are dual‐income with no
children, and 31% are other (such as older married couples whose children no longer reside in the household).
Is the variable “household type” categorical or quantitative? Explain.

2.3 Identify the variable type

Identify each of the following variables as categorical or quantitative.

a. Number of pets in family
b. County of residence
c. Choice of auto to buy (domestic or import)
d. Distance (in kilometers) of commute to work

2.4 Categorical or quantitative?

Identify each of the following variables as either categorical or quantitative.

a. Choice of diet (vegetarian, nonvegetarian)
b. Time spent in previous month attending a place of religious worship
c. Ownership of a personal computer (yes, no)
d. Number of people you have known who have been elected to a political office

2.6 Discrete or continuous?

Identify each of the following variables as continuous or discrete.

a. The length of time to run a marathon
b. The number of people in line at a box office to purchase theatre tickets
c. The weight of a dog
d. The number of people you have dated in the past Month

2.7 Discrete or continuous 2

Repeat the previous exercise for the following:

a. The total playing time of a CD

b. The number of courses for which a student has received credit
c. The amount of money in your pocket ( Hint: You could regard a number such as $12.75 as 1275 in terms of “the
number of cents.”)
d. The distance between where you live and your statistics classroom, when you measure it precisely with values such
as 0.5 miles, 2.4 miles, 5.38 miles.

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2.8 Number of children
In the 2008 General Social Survey, 2020 respondents answered the question, “How many children have you ever
had?” The results were

No.children Count
0 521
1 323
2 524
3 344
4 160
5 77
6 30
7 19
8+ 22
TOTAL 2020

a. Is the variable, number of children, categorical or quantitative?

b. Is the variable, number of children, discrete or continuous?
c. Add proportions and percentages to this frequency table.
d. Which response is the mode?