Exercise

1. In your own words define the terms data, information and statistics. Give examples of each.
2. Put the following terms in correct logical order: Knowledge, Data, Information. Answer 2
3. Identify three current political, economic or social issues for which information is necessary. Then, describe the information that is needed for each issue.
4. In all of the examples of statistical information illustrated in this chapter, which one contains the fewest observations and which one contains the most? Answer 4
5. In the 1911 Census Occupations example, three occupations have no female members (0 observations). Does this mean that no information is available for females in that occupation? Answer 5
6. In the Canadian Football League (CFL) example, which team recorded the lowest number of yards for yards on passes received during the 2002 season? Answer 6
7. In the National Hockey League (NHL) example, how many units of information (hockey players) are illustrated? Answer 7
8. Who do you think might need the information in the 1911 Census Occupations example? Answer 8
9. Who do you think might need the information in the Population Pyramids example, and for what purpose? Answer 9
10. Does the information in the CFL example accurately show, with regard to total all purpose yards, which team performed better than others for the 2002 season? Explain. Answer 10
11. Which example required use of a scientific instrument to collect the data? Answer 11
12. Which example shows all of the individual observations collected? Answer 12

Class activity

1. The examples from this chapter also illustrate the variety of ways in which statistics can be presented. Look in newspapers or journals for other ways statistics are shown. Be careful to distinguish the difference between data, information and statistics, as in Exercise 1.
   
2. Counting Canadians