Question

...

Answer 1

1. Use the website www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/histogram/index.html to complete this assignment.

Look at the dataset for "Gas Mileage for Year 2000 Cars."

Set the bin width to six and describe the distribution

Answer 2

I don't understand how to do this, at all. @jim_thompson5910

Answer 3

`bin width` means the width of each histogram bar

basically it's another way of saying `interval size`

Answer 4

set "interval size" to 6 and hit the "update interval" button

Answer 5

so, it changed it to 6.000, is that right?

Answer 6

yeah I have that too

Answer 7

you should see a lot of thin bars

Answer 8

Now what is it asking me to describe?

Answer 9

basically they want the overall shape of the distribution

Answer 10

is it symmetrical? skewed left? skewed right?

Answer 11

What is the distribution?

Answer 12

the distribution is the collection of numbers

visually it's shown as a histogram

Answer 13

and is it skewed left?

Answer 14

well it turns out that the median is 496 and the mean is 507.1734104046

I pasted the numbers (from that text box) into OpenOffice Calc. It's a free spreadsheet program. I used the AVERAGE and MEDIAN functions to find the mean and median.

Anyways, because the mean is larger than the median, we have a distribution that is skewed right. Notice we have outliers on the right side. These values pull the mean to the right skewing it.

Answer 15

What about this one?

2. Use the website www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/histogram/index.html to complete this assignment.

Many statisticians suggest about seven bins for a histogram. Try this method out on the datasets for "NBA Team Payrolls" and "Horsepower of Cars."

What bin width did you choose for each?

Answer 16

hmm I'm not sure. It seems like any whole number would work as long as it's not too small

Answer 17

15 or 20 seems to work

Answer 18

Use the website www.shodor.org/interactivate/activities/histogram/index.html to complete this assignment.

Many statisticians suggest about seven bins for a histogram. Try this method out on the datasets for "NBA Team Payrolls" and "Horsepower of Cars."

Enter in the dataset {1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9}.

Can you choose a bin width for which the data appears skewed right? If so, what is that bin width?

Help me with this one?

Answer 19

alter the "interval size" and try to make the distribution skewed right. Basically try to have the majority of the distribution on the left side with outliers on the right side

Answer 20

I'm so lost, I really don't understand how to do any of this. :(

Answer 21

what does the dataset numbers mean that it gives me?

Answer 22

For "NBA team payrolls" would it be 1? I don't know what I'm doing.

Answer 23

they want you to type in 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9

but do it in a column of numbers

Answer 24

to be honest, these problems are a bit strange and vague. There is no set rule for what a proper bin size is. This is one reason (of many) why statistics is misleading and can be used to alter the truth in a way

Answer 25

So type in the number in the interval box, but separately?

Answer 26

no, in the text box below where you see the big column of numbers

Answer 27

where it says "enter data, 1# per line"

Answer 28

So like this?
9
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

Answer 29

or, this, 12345679?

Answer 30

yes one big column like you had it the first way

Answer 31

then click update data?

Answer 32

correct

Answer 33

and then find which one is skewed right?

Answer 34

yes

Answer 35

by adjusting the interval size

Answer 36

okay so, I put them numbers in the big column and then play with the interval size until its a skewed right?

Answer 37

correct

Answer 38

is the 2.773 look right?

Answer 39

on horsepower of cars

Answer 40

4 looks like a good value to make it skewed right a bit

Answer 41

what about for the nba team playoffs ?

Answer 42

I say 3

Answer 43

3 works

Answer 44

Thank you so much!!!

Answer 45

sure thing