Module 2 Checkpoint: Variables, Measurement, Samples, and Bias
Scenario
A survey asks "how satisfied are you?" with answers from 1 to 5, and reports an average of 4.2 across 310 responses sent to everyone who bought in the last year.
Questions
- What type of variable is the 1-to-5 answer, and what does that allow you to do with it?
- Is an average of 4.2 a defensible summary here? Say why or why not.
- What is the unit of analysis, and could one person appear twice?
- Who is missing from the 310 responses, and would you expect them to answer differently?
- Name one change to the question wording that would change the answers.
Pass Standard
You pass when you can say what the 1-to-5 scale does and does not support, and name one group whose absence would move the result.