12 Pull It All Together

BIG idea Data Collection and Analysis

When you collect data, you should use a sampling technique free of bias. You can use standard measures to describe data sets and make estimates, decisions, or predictions.

BIG idea Data Representation

You can use matrices, frequency tables, histograms, box-and-whisker plots, tree diagrams, and other representations to describe different types of data sets.

Task 1

You are writing an article on gaming systems for your school newspaper. You take a survey of 250 people ages 13 to 18 and ask whether they have a home gaming system, a portable gaming system, or no gaming system. The results of your survey are shown in the matrix below.

Home gaming Portable gaming No gaming Age 13 14 15 16 17 18 [ 12 22 26 32 24 26 5 5 4 9 7 6 18 12 8 6 12 16 ] table with 1 row and 2 columns , row1 column 1 , table with 3 rows and 1 column , row1 column 1 , cap homegaming , row2 column 1 , cap portablegaming , row3 column 1 , cap nogaming , end table , column 2 table with 3 rows and 1 column , row1 column 1 , cap age , row2 column 1 , table with 1 row and 6 columns , row1 column 1 , 13 , column 2 14 , column 3 15 , column 4 16 , column 5 17 , column 6 18 , end table , row3 column 1 , . matrix with 3 rows and 6 columns , row1 column 1 , 12 , column 2 22 , column 3 26 , column 4 32 , column 5 24 , column 6 26 , row2 column 1 , 5 , column 2 5 , column 3 4 , column 4 9 , column 5 7 , column 6 6 , row3 column 1 , 18 , column 2 12 , column 3 8 , column 4 6 , column 5 12 , column 6 16 , end matrix , end table , end table

1. Make a histogram that represents the number of students who have gaming systems, either home or portable. Is the histogram uniform, symmetric, or skewed?
2. What is another way you could have drawn the histogram in part (a)? Explain.
3. Display some or all of the data using a different representation. Explain your choice.
4. If a person needed to know as much specific data as possible, what kind of data display would you show the person? Why?
5. What is the experimental probability that the next person you survey does not have a gaming system?

BIG idea Probability

You can find theoretical and experimental probabilities to make decisions or predictions about future events.

Task 2

The Web site below shows the results of an online survey that asks, “Would you rather go on a beach vacation, a city vacation, or stay at home?”

1. Is the survey question biased? Why or why not?
2. Based on the survey, what are the odds that a person will want to stay at home for vacation?
3. Based on the survey, what is the probability that a person will travel for vacation?

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