WK1 Topics

Classifying samples

Definition & Rules:

 (Simple) Random Sample: of size n is a sample chosen by a method in which each

collection of n pop. items are equally likely to make up the sample (similar to the lottery)

 Methods to Draw Out:

o First, each member of the population is assigned a different number.
o Then, a predetermined number of these assigned numbers is drawn at random
using a computer program or a random number table.
o The members assigned to the numbers drawn are selected for the sample.
 Systematic Sample: items are ordered and every kth item is chosen to be included in the
sample(sometimes used for assembly line to assess quality standards)
o The members of the population are listed in some order.
 Then, every kth member (such as every member) is selected for the
sample until a predetermined sample size is reached. (The number k is
usually chosen to be greater than and small enough so that the
predetermined sample size can be reached before the end of the list.)

 Stratified Sample: population is divided into groups (called strata), then a simple
random sample is drawn from each stratum(useful when the STRATA DIFFERS from
one another BUT individuals in the strata tend to be ALIKE)
 o The population is divided into groups, with each group made up of members that
share some particular characteristic(s), such as an occupation.
 Then, a fixed number of members (but not all members) from each
group are randomly selected for the sample.

 Cluster Sample: items are drawn from the population in groups OR clusters(useful when
the population is TOO LARGE/SPREAD OUT for simple random sampling to be
feasible)
o The population is divided into groups that tend to exist naturally, such as cities in
a state. Then, all members of some randomly chosen groups (but not all
groups) are selected for the sample.
  Voluntary Response Sample: NOT reliable because people who volunteer an opinion
tend to have STRONGER opinions than the general population & people with
NEGATIVE opinions are more likely to volunteer their response(used by the media to
engage audience)
 Samples of Convenience: members of the pop. that are easily accessible (no
consideration of randomly at any point during the selection process)

STRATEGY - ALEKS Qs:

1. Use the “keywords” of each biased sample to determine the correct answer

Random(computer program/random number table) | Systematic( every kth) | Stratified( 1st

divided into grps, individuals in grps share particular characteristics(occupation) then fixed
#s(NOT all members) from each grp randomly selected) | Cluster(ALL members of SOME
RANDOMLY grps; NOT ALL grps) are selected | Voluntary(subjects volunteered
themselves to participate) | Convenience(subjects easily accessible)

Identifying and Reducing Statistical Bias

Definition & Rules:

 Sampling Bias: chooses a sample from the population in such a way that certain members
are more likely to be included than others
o Using a sample of convenience (a sample chosen because the members in the sample
are easily accessible) typically gives rise to sampling bias.
o To help prevent sampling bias, when possible, a random sample of
the population should be taken.
 Voluntary Response Bias: members of the sample of the population voluntarily choose to
participate(e.g. people are asked to call into a radio show to express their opinion, are asked
to answer a poll on social media, are asked to participate in an advertisement and other
similar situations)
o the bias comes from the tendency for volunteers to not be representative of the whole
population.
o This tendency can occur because volunteers have strong opinions on the focus of the
study
 Self-Interest Bias: people who have an interest in the outcome of an experiment have an
incentive to use biased methods
 Response Bias: When the way the study is conducted causes the members of the sample to
give inaccurate or untruthful responses
o Questions can also be confusingly worded causing misinterpretations.
o Another source of response bias comes from the fact that people are unlikely to give
truthful answers if those answers are socially unacceptable or reflect negatively on
them in some other way.
o Some ways to reduce response bias include allowing respondents to answer
anonymously and wording questions with clear and neutral language.
 Social Acceptability Bias: People are reluctant to admit to behavior that may reflect
negatively on them which affects many surveys

 Nonresponse Bias: studies that are ethically conducted, people chosen for the sample by the
researcher can choose not to participate or choose not to answer the questions.
o So if a study has many people who do not respond, we say that the study
has nonresponse bias.
o Depending on the focus and design of the study, some ways to reduce nonresponse
bias include offering an incentive to respond or sending reminders to those who
have not yet responded.
 NOTE: choosing a large (or small) sample does not prevent or help with preventing bias
in a study.

STRATEGY - ALEKS Qs:

1. Part A - List out the bias for each choice & Determine which type of bias is based on the
below quick def. & Read carefully for keywords in the description to gauge which
bias(especially the last sentence above Part A)
2. Part B - After determine which type of bias, write the prevention keyword associated with
each answer choice, then use below solution to tackle that bias

Sampling(watch for convenience & Prevention: randomly select sample) | Voluntary(subjects

choose to participate, watch for “people are asked to call into a radio show to express their
opinion, are asked to answer a poll on social media, are asked to participate in an advertisement”
& Prevention: random sample? ) | Self-Interest(people who have an interest in the outcome of
the experiments have incentive to use biased methods & Prevention: give credits for
achievement & don’t criticize critically for faults) | Response(Leading Q’s)(the way
conducted cause subjects to give inaccurate/untruthful responses, watch for “phrasing of
question” or “people are unlikely to give truthful answers if answers are unacceptable” &
Prevention: allowing respondents to answer anonymous & wording questions with clear
and neutral language ) | Social Acceptability(avoid answering q’s that may reflect
negatively abt themselves” & Prevention: wording questions with clear and neutral
language?? ) | Nonresponse (ethically conducted where MANY people CHOOSE NOT to
respond & Prevention: offers incentive(”small reward”) to respond & send reminders to those
who have NOT YET responded ) & IGNORE last choice because bias occurs in big or small
sample size

Classification of variables and levels of measurement

Definition & Rules:

Categorical Var.: measures "kind" or "type"

 o Ordinal: no natural ranking/ordering
o Nomial Data: its values do have a natural ranking or order
Quantitative Var.: measures "quantity" or "amount"
o Interval: differences between values are meaningful, but there is **no
meaningful 0 value(**DOESNT indicate there is an ABSENCE of something)
o Ratio: properties of the interval level + meaningful in 0 value

STRATEGY - ALEKS Qs:

1. Determine Quantitative/Categorical
 if categorical: determine if you can rank/not the items
 if quantitative: determine if the DIFF. of 2 #s is GREATLY diff. from a DIFF. of 0(e.g. a
salary of 50k is GREATLY diff. from a diff. of $0 salary)

Explanation for 2nd example:

Choosing Units of Measurement and An Appropriate Method to Gather Data

Definition & Rules:

 Experimental Units: people, animals, plants, things being studied (subjects)

 Treatments: procedures applied to each experimental unit
 Outcome/Response: what is MEASURED on each experimental unit
 Randomized Experiment: study in which the investigator assigns treatments to
experimental units at RANDOM
o Why Randomized: is the best method, because there might be small diff. among
treatment groups LIKELY due to CHANCE & if there are LARGE diff. in
OUTCOMES among the treatment groups, we can CONCLUDE that the differences
are due to the TREATMENTS

 Double-Blind Experiment: randomized experiments in which investigators &

subjects DONT know which treatment has been assigned to which SUBJECT(this
experiment is good because it prevents the investigators/subjects knowing which
treatments are being given, outcome may be less reliable if not double-blind)
 Observational Study: the assignment to treatment groups is NOT made by the
investigator
 Confounding: when you CANT tell whether the difference in the outcome is due to the
treatment/ some other difference between the treatment and control groups( in the
below example, gender was a confounder because gender is related to smoking(more
men likely to smoke) and heart attacks(men are more likely to have heart attacks); so
impossible to determine whether the diff. in heart attack rates was to difference in
smoking( the treatment) or in gender( the confounder)
STRATEGY - ALEKS Qs:
Discrete and Continuous Variables

Definition & Rules:

Reading a Point in the Coordinate Plane
Plotting a Point in the Coordinate Plane

STRATEGY - ALEKS Qs: ONLY 1 point

Order of Operations with Whole Numbers

STRATEGY - ALEKS Qs: REMEMBER to input the correct #s into the calculator & put () as needed

Decimal Place Value: Tenths & Hundredths

Writing a Ratio as a Percentage

Using A Calculator to Convert a Fraction to a Rounded Decimal

Introduction to Converting a Decimal to a Percentage

Converting a Fraction to a Percentage in a Real-World Situation

Choosing An Appropriate Method to Collect a Survey & Making An Estimation

STRATEGY - ALEKS Qs:

 random sample: each member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen
o a random sample best represents the entire population
o therefore, can be used to make predictions about the population
 o if a sample is NOT random, we probably should NOT use it for predictions about the
population

Classification of Variables
Differentiating Between Parameters and Statistics

Definition & Rules:

 population: collection of ALL objects under the study(e.g. students in a classroom)

o parameter: a measurement obtained from every object of a population
 sample: consider a small collection of objects from the population(e.g. survey a small group
of voters for their opinion)
o statistic: a measurement obtained from a sample, usually given as a number(e.g.
average age of the voters in a sample)
o always knowable than parameter(e.g. average age of the voters in a sample)

STRATEGY - ALEKS Qs:

Understanding the Differences Between Designed Experiments and
Observational Studies

Definition & Rules:

PART A:

 In an observational study, the researcher simply observes what is currently happening, or

what has happened in the past, and uses the observations to try to make conclusions.
o The researcher does not actively impose treatments on the experimental units. Thus,
the researcher is not controlling who is or isn't exposed to the treatment.
o In a prospective study, the participants are identified in advance, and data are
collected over time as events unfold.
 An analyst is interested in determining whether dog owners or cat owners are
more likely to buy toys for their pet. She selects a sample of dog owners and a
sample of cat owners. She asks each person to record their pet purchases for
the year and to mail her the results. She compares the two samples regarding
the percentage of people who bought at least one toy for their pet during the
year.
o In a retrospective study, the data are collected after the outcome has occurred, using
records obtained from the past.
 An analyst is interested in determining whether dog owners or cat owners are
more likely to buy toys for their pet. She partners with a local pet store and
looks at the check-out records of a sample of customers who bought dog food
and a sample of customers who bought cat food. She records whether or not
the customer also bought a toy for their pet. She compares the two samples
regarding the percentage of people who bought a toy.
 goal of an observational study could be to describe a group or situation, compare groups, or
examine relationships between the response and explanatory variables.
o Such relationships are called associations.
 o If two variables have an association, then knowing the value of one variable helps
predict the value of the other variable.
 For example, as outdoor temperature increases, so do ice cream sales.
Knowing this association, we can predict higher ice cream sales when it is
warmer outside.
 In a designed experiment, the researcher manipulates conditions to try to determine the effect
of the conditions on the response variable.
o The researcher randomly assigns the experimental units to the treatments. (There may
also be a control group that does not receive any treatment.)
o Here are two common types of designed experiments.
 In a double-blind experiment, neither the person interacting with the
participants nor the participants know which participants have been assigned
to which treatment.
 A medical researcher is comparing the effectiveness of two vaccines,
A and B, for a certain disease. He chooses a sample of participants
and separates them into three groups: 1, 2, and 3. He then assigns
Vaccine A to Group 2, and Vaccine B to Group 3. Group 1 is the
control group and will receive only a mild saline solution (with no
vaccine). A doctor gives a shot to each participant without knowing
whether the participant is receiving Vaccine A, Vaccine B, or the
saline solution. The participants are also unaware of which vaccine
they are receiving, or if they are receiving the saline solution. The
percentage of participants who contract the disease within five years is
recorded and compared between the groups.
 In a completely randomized experiment, the participants are randomly
assigned to groups, and then the groups are randomly assigned to receive
treatments.
 A medical researcher is comparing the effectiveness of two vaccines,
A and B, for a certain disease. He chooses a sample of participants and
separates them at random into three groups: 1, 2, and 3. He
then randomly assigns Vaccine A to Group 2, and Vaccine B to
Group 3. Group 1 is the control group and will receive only a mild
saline solution (with no vaccine). The researcher administers the
appropriate vaccine or saline solution to each participant. The
percentage of participants who contract the disease within five years is
recorded and compared between the groups.
 A designed experiment could be both double-blind and completely
randomized.
 The goal of a designed experiment is to examine a possible cause-and-effect relationship
between the explanatory and response variables.
o To do so, the researcher must control for other variables (in addition to the
explanatory and response variables).
 Controlling for other variables means that the researcher keeps other variables
that might affect the response variable the same for all groups.
 Then, ideally, the only difference between the groups is the treatment.
  One way to help achieve this equality between groups is to randomly
assign experimental units to each group.

PART B:

 The data are collected on the experimental units, which are the people, objects, or other
entities being measured.
 The researcher compares two or more treatments for those experimental units.
o For example, different treatments might come in the form of different exercise
programs.
o The aspect being measured for each experimental unit is given by a response
variable (also called a dependent variable).
 For instance, a response variable may be a person's resting heart rate after
undertaking an exercise program.
o An explanatory variable (also called an independent variable) is the variable that is
manipulated by the researcher.
 Commonly, an explanatory variable defines the groups between which the
researcher wants to examine changes in the response variable.
 For example, an explanatory variable may be the type of exercise program
undertaken.

PART C:

 The type of conclusion that can be made is different between an observational study and
a designed experiment.
o An observational study does not allow the researcher to conclude that there is
a cause-and-effect relationship between the explanatory and response
variables.
o The researcher may, however, conclude that there is an association between the
explanatory and response variables.
o An association means that as the explanatory variable changes, the response
variable changes systematically, as in the ice cream example above.
o Only through a designed experiment may a researcher possibly conclude that
there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the explanatory and response
variables.
 (A cause-and-effect relationship means that changes in one variable are
causing the changes in the other variable.)
 If the researcher has carefully designed the experiment and controlled
for the effects of all unwanted influences on the result, then she may
have reason to conclude that there is a cause-and-effect relationship.
 Observational studies fail to imply a cause-and-effect relationship because
of the possible effect on the outcome from some other variable that is not
being studied (called a confounding variable).
 For example, suppose an observational study finds that coffee
drinkers have a higher percentage of lung cancer than non-coffee
 drinkers do. We could not (and should not) conclude that drinking
coffee causes lung cancer.
 There could be another variable that differs between the two
groups, beside coffee consumption, that influences the likelihood
of getting lung cancer, such as smoking or age. It could be that
coffee drinkers are also more likely to smoke, or that they tend to
be older than non-coffee drinkers. The difference in the percentage
of people with lung cancer could be attributed to smoking and/or
older age.
 Observing a strong association does not mean observing a
cause-and-effect relationship. However, through a designed
experiment, a researcher has the possibility to understand
cause-and-effect, because other variables that are not part of
the study can be controlled through a method such as random
assignment (for example, randomly assigning experimental
units to groups, and randomly assigning groups to treatments).

STRATEGY - ALEKS Qs: