Problem 1) Various ways to obtain data are:
• “Survey” Including
a) personal (interview in person, phone)
b) self-administered (mail, phone, internet)
• Observation
• Experiment
What are some advantages, disadvantages and problems of each?
Problem 2) What are some of the differences between primary and secondary data? What are some disadvantages of using newspaper articles or magazine articles as secondary sources? Why should you use both primary and secondary data in research?
How valid/reliable are the statistics presented on the evening news? Why should we be concerned with errors resulting from questionnaire design? How do research design and statistical information affect validity?
Problem 3) What is a real-world example of a sample? A population? Compare and contrast probability sampling with non-probability sampling, giving an example of each.
Problem 4) Describe the data scales that are best suited for presentation in a pie chart. How effective are the pie charts that often accompany a newspaper article in explaining the statistics being used in the article? Where could a Pareto chart be used within your company?
Problem 5) What are some ethical issues involved in collecting data via the various methods
• Survey
• Observation
• Experimentation
Problem 6) What are some guidelines in creating questionnaires? Give some examples. Give an example of a “loaded” question; a “slanted’ question.