1 Wheelan Descriptive Statisics

Read Chapter 2 of Naked Statistics linked here and answer the following questions.

  • Which of the examples did you find most interesting or illuminating?
  • What statistical concept is more clear for you after the reading?
  • How would you describe the difference between the median and the mean?

2.1 Histogram Scavenger Hunt

Choose a topic you are interested in and find a histogram or distribution related to it.

  • Insert the image into your response
  • Cite the data source
  • What quantity is on the x-axis (the data being measured)?
  • What quantity is on the y-axis?
  • What is the data being counted?
  • What is noteworthy about the histogram or its population?

2.2 Draw a Histogram

Draw a histogram using data that you find online. Find a data source with individual observations (you can start with the list below).

Before you begin, state

  • What is the x-axis description and units
  • What is the y-axis description and units
  • What does each dot represent?

When you have completed a histogram

  • Tell the size of your bins
  • Discuss how you chose the size of your bins
  • Be sure the x and y axes are clearly labeled
  • You can create bars or “X”s to show the height of the bars in the histograms.
  • Be sure it is clear what each element in the data represents (state, CSU campus, other)

Possible Data Sources

3.1 Rectangular Area Warmup

For the distribution below

  • What is the area under the curve?
  • What is the area of the curve between 4 and 5?

Uniform Plot

3.2 Triangular Area Warmup

What is the area under the curve

  • For this entire triangle?
  • For the area between 0 and 0.8

Hint: Remember that the area of a triange is the base times the height (a rectangle) divided by two.

Distribution Plot

4 Estimate Probability from Uniform Distribution

For the distribution below, what is the probability that a random value from the distribution will

  1. fall between 4 and 5?
  2. fall between 1 and 3?
  3. be greater than 5?

Uniform Plot

5 Estimate Probability from Triangular Distribution

What is the probability that a random data point from this distribution is

  1. Between 0.8 and 1.0 (Greater than 0.8)?
  2. Between 0 and 0.8 (Less than 0.8)?
  3. What is the median value for this distribution?

Distribution Plot

6 Download CES 3.0 Data

You can follow this link to the CalEnviroScreen 3.0 page with a few clicks. Here is a direct link to the spreadsheet download.

  • Use the links at the bottom to download the Excel spreadsheet
  • Drag and drop this spreadsheet to your school google account
  • Open the spreadsheet in google sheets
  • Submit a screenshot of the spreadsheet in google sheets

7 Create CES Histogram

Open the CalEnviroScreen data you downloaded for exercise 6.

  • Choose a variable of interest and briefly state why you chose it.
  • Create a histogram of the variable’s data in Google Sheets.
  • Choose a census tract and report its percentile for that data.
  • Include a screenshot of your generated histogram in your response.

8 CalEnviroScreen Questions

Watch the videos and explore the CalEnviroScreen map at the links below. Look at the data for your own community and another community of interest to you.

  • Laura Diaz EC-EJ

  • OEHHA CES 3.0 Tour

  • What questions about enviromental issues can you ask that you might be able to answer using distributions and the CalEnviroScreen data?

9 Weapons of Math Destruction Reading

Please read the chapter from “Weapons of Math Destruction” and answer the following questions. The chapter talks about some mathematical models that have damaging effects on our society.

Here is a link to the reading.

  • Is there an important quantitative model in society or government that you are concerned about?
  • Which of the three parts are you concerned about (opacity, scale, damage)?
  • How would you go about learning more about it?

10 Create a Histogram

You will create a histogram in a spreadsheet using the data source of your choice.

  • Cite the data source in the spreadsheet
  • Create a histogram using the spreadsheet
  • Label your axes appropriately
  • Write and explain a probability question (for example, “How likely is it that if I draw a state at random, the population will be above 10 million?”)
  • Show the area of your histogram that answers your question.

11 Sample Likelihood from Uniform Distribution

For the distribution below, what is the probability that a random value drawn from the distribution will be greater than 4?

  1. about 80%
  2. about 50%
  3. about 20%
  4. not enough information

Uniform Plot

Exercise N Match Data to Distribution

Given the following distribution, which of the sets of random data match?

Uniform Plot

Uniform Plot

Exercise N Match Data to Distribution

Which of the two distributions below is this data most likely to have come from?

Uniform Plot

Uniform Plot