MDM 4UI: Unit 7 Day 8: Interpreting and Analysing Data

Transcription

1 MDM 4UI: Unit 7 Day 8: Interpreting and Analysing Data Primary Source Data: Data that have been collected directly by the researcher and have not been manipulated or summarized. Microdata: An individual set of data about a single respondent. Secondary Source Data: Data used by someone other than those that actually collected them. Aggregate Data: Data that are combined or summarized in such a way that the individual microdata can no longer be determined. Example 1: Interpreting Data from Statistics Canada The table shows the average domestic airfares for 10 Canadian cities. (a) Does this table show microdata or aggregate data? How do you know? (b) Is this table a primary or secondary source of data? Justify your answer. (c) Identify the independent and dependent variables.

2 (d) What kind of story do the data in this table tell? A bar graph can help visualize this. (e) When looking at the archived report from Stats Canada, what types of things are mentioned in this report? The following link takes you to this archive. (f) What type of sampling was used? Where did we find that information? Example 2: Analysing a Database A music library has the attributes shown in the table. Use the table and the graphs to answer the following questions:

3 (a) What type of data are these? (b) How many songs are in this library? (c) What is a more appropriate arrangement of the Genre graph? (d) What kind of story or stories do the data in the graphs show? (e) How does bit rate relate to the scatter plot of Size vs. Time?

4 Example 3: Interpreting a Trend on a Time Graph One of the gases directly linked to the greenhouse effect and climate change is carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). Keeping track of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is an indirect method of measuring the potential for climate change. At the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, scientists have been collecting atmospheric data since the 1950s. Due to its remote location and minimal influence from vegetation or human activity, this site has become important in the collection of many types of atmospheric data. (a) This data set shows the average monthly carbon dioxide levels (in parts per million) in January of each year for two decades. What type of data are these? Explain. (b) Without graphing, suggest what appears to be happening over time. (c) The following is a line graph showing the data in the table. What story do the data tell? (d) The following is a more complete set of data. It has the seasonal data from the same location. Compare the story this graph tells you to that of your graph from part (c).

5 Practice Questions 1. A student drops a ball from various heights and measures the height of the bounce. The table shows the results. (a) Is this a study or an experiment? Explain. (b) What is being controlled and what is being changed in this activity? (c) What is the relationship between the drop height and the bounce height? (d) Create a line graph of the data. Describe the relationship in the graph. (e) If you dropped the ball from a height of 130 cm, could you use this information to predict its bounce height? If so, explain how. 2. In each of the following cases, determine whether the data are primary or secondary. (a) Your town sends a survey to each household and collects the data. (b) After collecting the survey from part (a), your town publishes the average number of people per house on each street. (c) The newspaper reports the salary of every city council member. (d) A magazine lists the total number of home sales each month for the last year. Person ID # Age Job Hours Worked Shipper Custodian Mail Clerk 40 (e) Percent of Students Who Take the Bus to School Grade Male Female The data below represent all the earthquakes over magnitude 4 on the Richter scale that occurred in North or South America in Month Day Name Depth Magnitude 1 30 Peru: ICA Mexico: Guerror, Oaxaca Chile: Parral, Santiago Chile: Valparaiso Chile: Arica; Peru: Tacna Brazil: Montes Claros El Salvador: Off the coast Costa Rica: Nicoya Canada: Queen Charlotte Islands Guatemala: San Marcos, San Cristobal Cochu (f) (a) (b) (c) A total of 48 earthquakes over magnitude 4 occurred all over the world. What percent were in North or South America? Where in Canada did the only earthquake above magnitude 4 occur? Was this a big earthquake in comparison to the others? Represent the magnitudes in a dot plot (go back to Lesson 1 to see how to create a dot plot!)

6 4. Some of the largest databases are weatherrelated. One of the wettest places in Canada is Henderson Lake, BC. Weather stations there measure an average of 9082 mm of rain every year. Consider some of the wettest communities listed in the table. (a) Are these primary or secondary data? Give reasons. (b) People in Stratford probably think they get a lot of rain. Compare Stratford, Hartley Bay, and Henderson Lake to get a sense of how much rain these places are getting. (c) Create an appropriate graph of the data. How does the graph indicate that BC is likely the wettest province? Canada s Wettest Communities Location Rain (mm) Hartley, BC 4549 Holberg, BC 3912 Port Renfrew, BC 3671 Tofino, BC 3306 Prince Rupert, BC 3111 Gold River, BC 2846 Wreck Cove, NS 1945 Pools Cove-Fortune Bay, Nfld 1829 Louisbourg, NS 1599 Sydney, NS 1505 Alliston, PEI 1182 Charlottetown, PEI 1173 Sept-Iles, Que 1156 Stratford, ON 1064 Cameron Falls, Alta 1103