Research a news article or website that provides data sets and statistical report information such as the
United States Census Bureau (Links to an external site.)
, the
U.S. Energy Information Administration (Links to an external site.)
, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s
National Center for Health Statistics (Links to an external site.)
, or the
National Center for Education Statistics (Links to an external site.)
. Your selected news article or website should provide enough information to allow you to fully answer each of the questions below.
For your post, identify your selected news article or website using correct APA formatting followed by your fully developed answers to each of the following:
- Describe the role of statistics in the news article or report.
- What was the population of the study?
- What was the sample?
- Do you believe the statistical results are believable and meaningful?
- Use the guidelines mentioned in Chapter 5C to explain why the results are believable and meaningful (or why not).
- What sorts of statistics (e.g., graphical, non-graphical, hypotheses, correlation, averages, etc.) were used in the report?
- How was the data distributed?
- How are distribution and variation important in any statistical study?
- Was any margin of error mentioned in the report?
- If no margin of error was mentioned, then assume that it is 2%. Interpret the margin of error in terms of 95% confidence interval.
The actual group discussion will function the same as any other discussion. You will only be able to participate and discuss with those peers assigned to your same group.
Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. It should show all the required math work and explain all the steps. Also include a simple reference for any used resource. For example: Washington Post dated August 13, 2018 or retrieved from