STAT 410 96-2 Assignment 1

You should begin by reading and trying to do the questions at the end of Chapter 1 in the text. Pretty reasonable answers are provided at the end of the text. I will not be marking these but I think they all raise important issues. For the questions which follow I would not expect to have to mark more than 5 pages of work.

1. Write a paragraph discussing methods for estimating the number of spelling errors in the course text book. Do the same for estimating the number of occurences of the letter `w'. Finally compare and contrast the two problems.
2. A survey organization carries out two surveys a week apart. In the first they estimate NDP support at 40\% and in the second at 38\%. They say that the surveys are each ``accurate to within 2 percentage points 19 times out of 20''. How strong is the evidence that NDP support has slipped. Indicate the assumptions you make to answer the question.
3. Write a paragraph suggesting methods for estimating the number of dandelions growing in my lawn.
4. Write a paragraph suggesting methods for estimating the number of courses having a statistical component taught each year at SFU.

DUE: Friday, 17 May
Solutions