Question

Please make sure to display your thought process? It is imperative to be able to follow how the answer was deduced. Please be as thorough as possible. Please address all parts of this question.

A recent social survey asked the following question sent to a random sample of 1,500 Americans: “After an average workday, how many hours do you have [at your disposal] to relax?” According to the study, the average relaxation time was 1.65 hours per day. Determine the following components in this study:

a) population

b) population parameter of interest

c) variable

d) observation

e) sample statistic and its numerical result

Comment on the expected reliability (accuracy) of the result.

Answer 1

(a) Population: All Americans

(b) Population parameter of interest: Number of hours to relax

(c)

(i) Independent Variable: Workday

(ii) Dependent Variable: : Number of hours to relax

(d) Observation: The average relaxation time

(e)

(i) Sample statistic: The average relaxation time of the random sample of 1,500 Americans

(ii) Its numerical value: 1.65 hours per day

The result of the investigation may not be accurate and it has low reliability because the sample size = n = 1,500 is very small compared to overall American population and also due to the presence of a number of confounding variables such as occupation, age, gender etc.