Stat 1000 Distance: Assignment 1 Tips (Distance/Online Sections)

Published: Sat, 01/12/13


 
My tips for Assignment 1 are coming below, but first a couple of announcements.
 
Please note that my first two-day review seminar for Stat 1000 will be on Saturday, Feb. 2 and Sunday, Feb. 3, in room 100 St. Paul's College, from 9 am to 6 pm each day.  This seminar will cover the lessons in Volume 1 of my book.  More info will be sent later about this seminar when everything is finalized.  I am not taking registrations for the seminar as of yet.
 
Did you read my Tips on How to Do Well in this Course? 
Make sure you do:  Tips on How to Do Well in Stat 1000 
 
Did you read my Tips on what kind of calculator you should get?
Tips on what calculator to buy for Statistics
 
If you are taking the course by Classroom Lecture (Sections A01, A02, etc.), I will send tips for Assignment 1 once it is posted.
 
Tips for Assignment 1 (Distance/Online Sections D01, D02, D03, etc.)
 
Study Lesson 1 in my study book (if you have it) to learn the concepts involved in Assignment 1.  This lesson will also set you up for Assignment 2.
 
Don't have my book?  You can download a free sample containing Lesson 1 at my website here:
Grant's Tutoring Study Guides (Including Free Samples)
 
Never use JMP to answer a question unless they specifically tell you to.  Whenever they do tell you to use JMP, never go out of your way to click red triangles to add things to the graph (like put titles on histograms, or label axes).  Whatever JMP gives by default is all they require unless they specifically request that you add something to the output or remove something from it.  Of course, I will always give you specific steps to add/remove anything they do require.
 
When you are answering questions in Web Assign, always answer one box at a time.  Type your answer in the box (or select the correct response) and then click "Submit Answer" immediately.  DO NOT answer several questions before you submit any answers.  If you submit one answer at a time, you will make sure you are correct before you proceed and also prevent any glitches where things get submitted accidentally.
 
Note also that any question that requires you to upload a file is not being marked at that time.  You can go back and upload a new file as many times as you wish up to the due date.  Don't be confused by the message telling you to read such and such in the book.  That is them just warning you that no one has marked your submission and you may want to double-check you understood the question and ensure what you have uploaded is correct.
 
In the questions asking you what you are or are not allowed in exams, please note that a "slide rule" is just an ancient type of pathetic calculator.  If you are allowed a calculator, you are allowed a slide rule (but, then again, if you use a slide rule, you probably still use clay tablets to write on).
 
Anytime a question wants you to "fill in the blanks" with key vocabulary terms (such as Question 7), go to the appropriate section of your textbook (remember you have an online version of the textbook in Stats Portal if you selected the electronic option on your book list), and you will find the exact sentence they are giving you with the obvious word they want you to type in.
 
Question 6
This question is really asking you if the data is "quantitative" or "categorical".  If you are collecting two sets of quantitative data, then you would use a back-to-back stemplot or side-by-side boxplot to compare them (and no other graphs; don't also select things like "histogram" or "stemplot"; if you are comparing two sample sets, you must use a graph that allows you to compare them).  If you are collecting quantitative data as time goes by, you would use a time series or timeplot and nothing else.  By "how old are students' cars", assume you would say the cars are 0, 1, 2, 3, ... years old.
 
Question 8
To type in the split stemplot they request, use the vertical line on your computer keyboard to separate the stem from the leaves ("SHIFT \" will give you " | ").  Don't worry if your columns don't end up perfectly lined up, just do the best you can.  Be sure to label the first line in your stemplot "Stem | Leaf", then enter all the stems and leaves row-by-row underneath.  Don't forget to comment on the shape of the distribution (peaks, symmetric, left-skewed, right-skewed, outliers.)
 
Ignore any references to "Crunchit!".  You are using JMP 10 in this course.  The assignment is just an old assignment that they forgot to update.  Use JMP 10 anytime they tell you to use computer stuff.
 
For the JMP 10 part of the assignment, here are some tips:
 
If you have not done so already, you need to download JMP to your computer.  Here is the direct link where you can get it (you need to know your UMNET ID and password):
https://www.stats.umanitoba.ca/download/jmp 
 
Once you have installed JMP 10 and opened it, you are shown a menu with various buttons to click.  You will almost always click "New Data Table" to enter new data.  That is the icon on the far left of the top toolbar (it looks like a tiny little spreadsheet with a yellow star, point your mouse at it and you should see the label "New Data Table" pop up. 
 
In the rare event they have given you a JMP file with the data already entered in it, you will simply open that file which would probably already open JMP for you.  Just click the "Open" icon on the same toolbar as the "New Data Table" icon, or, if you already see the file in the "Recent Files" screen, simply double-click that.  If you happen to enter data in yourself and save the file (a good idea), you can select "Open" to open up the saved file.
 
Question 9:
To copy and paste data into JMP: First, of course, click the hyperlink to the data they have given you.  Now, select and copy the given data set.  Now, open JMP and click "New Data Table".  A pop-up window should appear showing a spreadsheet with one column labeled "Column 1".  In the toolbar of this pop-up window select "Edit" then "Paste with Column Names".  That pastes all the data in and names the column appropriately.
 
If you have done this correctly, you should now be looking at a column labeled "tuition" and a whole bunch of numbers representing various tuitions lined down the rows of that column.
 
Click the column heading "tuition" to select the column (the column name cell should be highlighted).  Right-click and select "Column Info" in the menu that appears.  Make sure the Data Type is Numeric and the Modeling Type is Continuous, using the drop-down menus to fix that if necessary.  Click OK.
 
To make a histogram: In the toolbar at the top, select Analyze then select Distribution.  In the "Select Columns" part of the pop-up window, click the column you want the histogram for ("tuition" in this case) to highlight it, and click the Y, Columns button.  You should see the "tuition" column appear in the section to the right of the "Y, Columns" button.  Click OK. 
 
It now opens yet another pop-up window called "Distributions" where your histogram should appear.  Your histogram appears sideways.  If they want to see it the typical way, click the red triangle next to your variable above the histogram and select Histogram Options from the drop-down menu.  Deselect "Vertical" and it will turn it the proper way.  They did not request this, so you aren't obligated to do that.  However, that would be a good idea if you wanted to properly read if the distribution is left-skewed, right-skewed or symmetric. 
 
You will need to copy and paste this output into a document to get ready to add your comments about the "main features" of the histogram.  Here is how to do that:
 
Click the thin blue line near the top of the window that has the histogram, etc. to reveal the toolbar.  Select the icon that looks like a fat white cross or plus sign "+".  This is your "Selection" tool.  Your mouse cursor should now have changed from an arrow to that white cross.  Click the title bar that says "Distribution..." at the top of the output and that should select the entire output (histogram, etc.).  You can also experiment with the Selection Tool and try selecting just the histogram, if you wish, since that is all they request (that is not mandatory though).  Once you have selected the output, right-click and select Copy.
 
Now, open whatever program you use for word processing (such as Word).  In a new document, right-click and select Paste to paste your output into the document. 
 
In your Word document, below the outputs you have pasted in, type in your comments about the shape, centre and spread as revealed by the histogram (do not compute things like means or medians, base your comments strictly on what you see in the histogram).
 
You are now ready to save and upload the file that answers this question.  In your Word document (or whatever program you are using), select "File" then "Save As" and select "PDF File".  Type in whatever name you want the file to have in the "File name" section. Select which folder you want to save the file in (I suggest you select "Desktop" so that the file will just appear write on your desktop home screen.  Click "Save" or "Publish".  You should now have your file ready to upload into the assignment.  
 
Question 10
For the pole-vault question: You will have to enter the data manually into JMP.  Click the "New Data Table" icon to get a fresh spreadsheet to enter new data.
 
Click the link to the wikipedia data and be sure to scroll down to the Womens' outdoor pole-vault data.
 
To enter data into JMP manually: Click "New Data Table" and you are automatically taken to an empty spreadsheet with one column.  If you ever need two or more columns, simply double-click the space to the right of "Column 1" to create "Column 2".  You can repeat this to create "Column 3", etc.  You can then type in the data, using "enter" or "tab" or your arrow buttons on your keyboard to move from one cell to the next.
 
In this particular pole-vault question, double-click "Column 1" and name it Year.  Click OK.  Double-click the space to the right of Column 1 to create Column 2.  Name that column Height.  Type in the data you have been given.  Only type in the years and heights (type the heights in metres only, do not include the m for metres, and do not include the height in feet and inches at all; for example, for 1991, type in 4.05 as the height), the rest of the columns given in wikipedia are irrelevant.  Be sure to highlight each column and right-click and select "Column Info" like you did in question 9 and confirm that the "Data Type" is "Numeric" and the "Modeling Type" is "Continuous" for both columns.
 
To make a Time Series or Time Plot: Select Analyze in the toolbar, then select Modeling in the drop-down list and finally select time series.  Select your time variable "year" and click "X, Time ID" and select your variable you are tracking "height" and click "Y, Time Series".  Click OK.  Just ignore that other pop-up menu asking about time lags or autocorrelations or whatever, click OK and move on.  None of that has anything to do with the time series.
 
To change the vertical scale, double-click the region on the vertical axis between the label (height) and the actual scale on the axis to get a pop-up window called "Y Axis Specification".  Type 3.5 in the Minimum box, 5.2 in the Maximum box, and 0.1 in the Increment box.  Don't worry about labels and titles, JMP provides sufficient labels and titles by default. Click OK.
 
You will need to copy and paste this output into a document to get ready to answer the other questions they ask.  Here is how to do that:
 
Click the thin blue line near the top of the window that has the histogram, etc. to reveal the toolbar.  Select the icon that looks like a fat white cross or plus sign "+".  This is your "Selection" tool.  Your mouse cursor should now have changed from an arrow to that white cross.  Click the title bar that says "Time Series..." at the top of the output and that should select the entire output (graph, etc.).  You can also experiment with the Selection Tool and try selecting just the time series, if you wish, since that is all they request (that is not mandatory though).  Once you have selected the output, right-click and select Copy.
 
Now, open whatever program you use for word processing (such as Word).  In a new document, right-click and select Paste to paste your output into the document. 
 
In your Word document, below the outputs you have pasted in, type in your answers to the questions about the overall pattern and when you noticed a change in the pattern (obviously there is a change, or why would they ask?).
 
You are now ready to save and upload the file that answers this question.  In your Word document (or whatever program you are using), select "File" then "Save As" and select "PDF File".  Type in whatever name you want the file to have in the "File name" section. Select which folder you want to save the file in (I suggest you select "Desktop" so that the file will just appear write on your desktop home screen.  Click "Save" or "Publish".  You should now have your file ready to upload into the assignment.