Stat 2000, Section 001, Homework Assignment 7 (Due 3/6/2000 in class)

• 0) Reading: Sections 3.1, 3.2; Articles and info on statistical data on the Web and on EPA's Cumulative Exposure Project
  
  
• 1) Please work on the following textbook questions in Moore/McCabe:
  
  
  • Exercise 3.3, 3.8, 3.9, 3.12, 3.13, 3.14, 3.15, 3.20 (1 Point each)
    
    
• 2) In this question, you have to locate statistical data on the Web. To obtain full points for each question, you have to indicate which steps you took to obtain the desired information, e.g., which search engine you used, which keywords you used in a search engine, which starting page you used, which intermediate pages you visited, and which links you followed. Also indicate the final URL(s) (i.e., the locations starting with http:// that show up in your Web browser) you think that are most suitable to answer a particular question. If you cannot locate a Web site that fully answers a question, indicate all steps you tried in locating such a site (and you should try at least two different approaches) to obtain full points. (10 Points)
  
  A search engine such as http://www.excite.com/, http://www.lycos.com/, or http://www.yahoo.com/ might be helpful to answer these questions. On top of these pages you usually have a box where you can type in the keywords you are looking for. You can type in a single keyword, multiple keywords separated by a blanc, e.g., kw1 kw2 kw3 (in this case, the search engine will look for kw1 or kw2 or kw3), and multiple keywords with a leading +, e.g., +kw1 +kw2 +kw3 (in this case, the search engine will look for kw1 and kw2 and kw3). If you try "text" where text appears in double quotes and may be a longer sentence, you should find pages that contain these words in exactly the same order (but eventually with a few other words inbetween).
  
  In addition to a search engine, or if you know that your data is likely to be distributed by a federal agency, use
  http://www.fedstats.gov
  as your starting point.
  
  
  • a) Locate a Web site that lists earthquakes in Utah since 1990.
    
    
  • b) Locate a Web site that deals with HAPs in Utah.
    
    
  • c) Locate a Web site that provides us with informatation on heart diseases (another term for heart diseases is cardiovascular diseases) in Africa.
    
    
  • d) Locate a Web site that provides us with information on unemployment rates in Utah.
    
    
  • e) Indicate your major (or your area of specialization) and list at least 2 Web sites (i.e., their URLs) that distribute statistical data related to your major. These Web sites can contain data that typically is collected in your major, the number of graduates with this major that obtained a BS, MS, or PhD degree in 1999, summaries of salaries of people with this major in different US states or worldwide, or any other type of data related to your major. In this part (e) of the question, you do not have to indicate how you found the 2 Web sites. However, you have to explain in 2 or 3 sentences which kind of statistical data is available on each of the sites you listed.
    
    
• 3) We discussed in some detail EPA's Cumulative Exposure Project (CEP) which is accssible at
  http://www.epa.gov/CumulativeExposure
  
  The following question all relate to the CEP. You should answer these questions through an essay (about one half to one page of text). (5 Points)
  
  
  • a) Why did the US Conference of Mayors object that the HAP data becomes publically accessible through the CEP Web site? State the reasons that are indicated in the handouts provided in class (or use any additional source you can find on the Web or in other newspaper articles - there have been articles in several newspapers all over the US during the first 6 months in 1999).
    
    
  • b) Think of possible other reasons not stated in the handouts provided in class why the Mayors may not wish that the HAP data becomes easily accessible for everyone. Do you think the Mayors agree if the ``new'' HAP data from 1996 will be distributed through the Web in the way that was intended for the 1990 HAP data? Explain your answer.
    
    
  • c) Since EPA initially planned to provide easy and fast access to the HAP data, there should be a potential use for this data outside EPA. Describe for which purpose and for whom this data might be useful as ``available data''. Think of federal agenies, individuals, etc.
    
    
• 4) Below is an excerpt from page 157 from Spirer, Spirer, and Jaffe's book "Misused Statistics" published by Marcel Dekker in 1998. What did the Literary Digest do wrong when sampling based on lists of automobile registrants, telephone directories, and similar sources? You should answer this with respect to the historical circumstances, not using todays standards. (2 Points)