AP Stats – Mr.

Veshio
Unit 1 – Chapter 2
I - Data – Understanding the W’s

Amazon Data – Why is it better organized?

- gives the data context
- easily interpret the data
- answers the W’s

The W’s: Who

- rows of a data table correspond to individual cases
- go by different names: respondents, subjects,
participants, experimental units
- if you don’t know the Who, the data will have no context

What / Why
- characteristics recorded about each individual are the
variables
- in data table, shown as columns, identify What has been
measured

**ActivStats** – 2-2 “The Three W’s”

- How can not knowing the Three W’s affect data?

DISCUSS – Area Codes, p. 9 - 10

II – Variables

Categorical – when a variable names categories

- it answers questions about HOW cases fall into those
categories
- each observation belongs to one of a set of categories
ex.)

Quantitative – a measured variable with UNITS

- it answers questions about the QUANTITY of what is
measured
ex.)

Does When, Where and How matter with data?

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Unit 1 – Chapter 2
AP Stats – Mr. Veshio
Unit 1 – Chapter 2

What Can Go Wrong?

 Think before you label

 Don’t label a variable as categorical or quantitative
without thinking about THE QUESTION you want it to
answer
 Don’t assume anything about your variable
 When a variable’s values are numbers, they aren’t
always quantitative – look at the context
 ALWAYS be skeptical
 Examine the W’s and the context closely before
coming to a conclusion

Just Checking – p. 13 – answer in pairs

1.) List as many of the W’s as you can for this data set

Who – Tour de France races

What – year, winner, country of origin, total time, average speed,
stages, total distance ridden, starting riders, finishing riders
How – official statistics at race
Where – France (for the most part)
When – 1903 to 2005
Why – to see progress in speeds of cycling racing?

2.) Classify each variable as categorical or quantitative; if

quantitative, identify the units

Year – Q or C – Years
Winner – C
Country of Origin – C
Total Time – Q – Hrs, min, sec
Average Speed – Q – km/hr
Stages – Q – Counts (stages)
Total Distance – Q – Km
Starting Riders – Q – Counts (riders)
Finishing Riders – Q – Counts (riders)

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Unit 1 – Chapter 2
AP Stats – Mr. Veshio
Unit 1 – Chapter 2
HW: re – read Ch. 2, do p. 16 #’s 4, 5, 7, 11, 14, 16

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Unit 1 – Chapter 2