Math 151 , Spring 2004 Exam 1 comments


Generally very good, gives good foundation to go forward.  Don't coast--it gets harder! 
Come see me if you're in the lowest reaches.

1)  Everyone got the skewness right--Hurray!

2) It was data like these--dropping bird populations--that led Rachel Carson to write Silent Spring, which led to the banning of DDT and the beginning of the environmental movement, both activist and scientific.

3)b.  For boxplot, make the ruler first, then mark the points and draw the box and whiskers.  A rubber ruler (axis) will not convey what the boxplot is supposed to--the relative lengths of the 4 parts.
   d.  Nobody has 1 ear pierced, about 7 have 3 piercings; 45 have 2, the most common.  Women prefer symmetry, at least thru 4 piercings.  (Men do have 1 ear pierced)

6) a.  A stemplot is supposed to be quick.  The quick way is to read the numbers as they come and put the leaves on in that order, as if you're tallying.  Trying to order on the first pass is slow and inaccurate; defeats the purpose.
c.  The French presidency is a more ceremonial honored post, providing stability; the day-to-day policy making is done by the prime minister, who can be voted out in a moment.  So it isn't surprising that the French presidents are somewhat older on average.

7)  This problem caused people the most trouble. We'll leave these for now but they'll be back; so figure them out.
   c) 8 is the 23rd percentile if there is 23% of the area/population below 8.

8)  I hoped that drawing and labeling a normal distribution would lead you to see that this gives negative hours of tv watching, an impossibility, unfortunately.  The actual distribution is strongly skewed right, with a lot of students at 0 and in low hours per week, an outlier at 100 hrs (this is a student?)


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