#1 Should we Purchase Extended Warranties for Household Products?
With almost every major item we purchase (especially electronics!) we have the opportunity to purchase an extended warranty that will cover the item 2-3 years beyond its extended warranty. If the item breaks during this time, it is either replaced or repaired, or you are reimbursed for the item.
These warranties normally cost between 10-20% of the purchase price for the product, depending on the item. Do you think it’s worth purchasing extended warranties on all household products? Or do you think that we should only protect certain kinds of items? Use probability theory to justify your answer.
#2Meaningful Sampling Methods
Suppose we want to find how popular a bill is in a medium-sized city of 500,000. Of course, it’s not really possible to sample all of these people… it would be very expensive and time consuming.
Define a sampling method that you would use to guess the popularity of this bill. How many people would you sample this population? Would you travel door to door, or would you send out a form via mail? How would you design your sampling method, so that it is not biased?
Once you have designed your sample, define the parameter of this study and the sampling error.
#3Choosing the Right Measure of Central Tendency
As we have learned, there are several definitions of central tendency: mode, mean, median, and mid-range. Define each of these terms in your own words. Once you have defined these terms, find an example for each term where that method would be appropriate to find an “average” value.
#4Revisiting our Beginnings
As we approach the end of this course, let’s circle back to the very beginning. Think about our journey together. We’ve learned so much from each other in a short amount of time!
Take some time to review your discussion posts for the first few weeks of the course. How has your understanding of finance and statistics grown since the first weeks of the course? How do you think you will apply the material you have learned in this course? Has the material you’ve learned in this course resonated with your own personal/professional life? How will knowledge of this information help you become a better data consumer?
Let’s take some time to share our takeaways from the course and consider how we might continue to be engaged in Statistics in the future.
