Section D Section D Checkpoint

Problem 1

A company selects 20 people at random to say whether they use social media to get news. The people can select from the following options: never, rarely, sometimes, or often. Here are the results.

often
sometimes
never
sometimes
never
rarely
sometimes
never
sometimes
never
never
never
never
rarely
rarely
never
sometimes
sometimes
often
often

Based on this sample, what proportion of the population gets their news from social media sometimes or often?
A headline for a newspaper uses this study to say, “Half of Americans Get Their News from Social Media.” Is the headline misleading or does it fit with what the sample shows? Explain your reasoning.

Show Solution

Solution

$\frac{9}{20}$
Sample response: I think it fits with what the sample shows. $\frac{9}{20}$ is very close to $\frac{1}{2}$ , and it is reasonable to use that benchmark fraction for this case.

Show Sample Response

Sample Response

$\frac{9}{20}$
Sample response: I think it fits with what the sample shows. $\frac{9}{20}$ is very close to $\frac{1}{2}$ , and it is reasonable to use that benchmark fraction for this case.

Problem 2

A traveler is visiting Buffalo, New York, and wants to check the difference in price between getting a hotel room and renting a house for a short-term stay. The mean price of each option for one night is listed.

hotel: $144
house: $212

What is a value for the MAD that would indicate that there is a meaningful difference between the price of the two options? Explain your reasoning.