Assignment title: Information
QBM117 Business Statistics
Assignment 2
Due date: Sunday, 01 January, 2017
Value: 12%
Rationale
Assignment 2 is designed to assess the following learning outcomes: that students will
be able to calculate and interpret probabilities, and use standard discrete and
continuous probability distributions;
be able to use a statistical package to analyse data appropriately, and then
interpret the output;
be able to evaluate whether the assumptions underlying statistical techniques
are valid in a given scenario.
be able to apply basic principles of survey design, such as determination of
appropriate sample sizes and sampling techniques.
Presentation
The assignment must be neatly handwritten with any Excel output inserted where
required at the appropriate place in the assignment not in an Appendix at the back of
the assignment. Mathematical formulae and notation is too difficult to type up.
Marks will be deducted for assignments which do not follow these guidelines.
The assignment is to be uploaded to EASTS as a single Word or PDF file. PDF files
maintain the integrity of the document when images are included so you may prefer to
upload a PDF file rather than a Word file. Assignments submitted in non-printable
formats such as a ZIP file or as a collection of images will not be marked. If your
scanner produces separate graphics files please paste them into a Word document
before submitting to EASTS. Pages must be numbered, and your name and student
number must be included on every page.
Please view your uploaded assignment in EASTS to ensure all pages, graphs,
images have uploaded correctly. If they have not, then please review the format of
your assignment and resubmit. A PDF file retains the integrity of the document so you
might consider submitting as a PDF file.
Marking Criteria:
The marking criteria for each question are given in a table immediately below each
question. Please read these tables carefully so you know what the marker is expecting.The grade that you receive for this assignment as a whole is determined by the
cumulative marks gained according to the tables below (FL 0-49%; PS 50-64%; CR
65-74%; DI 75-84%; HD 85-100%).Question 1 (20 marks)
a. If P A B P A P B ( ) 0.08, ( ) 0.2 and ( ) 0.4, then
i. calculate P A B ( | )
ii. state whether the events A and B are independent or not
iii. justify the decision you made in ii.
(4 marks)
Marking Criteria
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks
a.i. Formula/working incorrect or
not provided; incorrect
answer
Correct formula and working
or correct answer (no
working)
Correct formula and
working and correct
answer
a.ii. Incorrect answer Correct answer
a.iii. Incorrect or irrelevant
justification
Relevant justification
b. A coffee shop manager randomly selects 40 of the patrons of his coffee shop.
He surveys them about their coffee and tea drinking habits. Twenty of them
drink coffee, fifteen of them drink tea and five drink both.
i. How many of them drink neither tea nor coffee?
If C is defined as the event that a patron drinks coffee and T as the event that a
patron drinks tea,
ii. calculate P C ( ) .
iii. calculate P T C ( | ) and write a sentence that describes this probability
in terms of the question.
iv. calculate P T ( ) and write a sentence that describes this probability in
terms of the question.
(8 marks)
Marking Criteria
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks
b.i. Incorrect answer Correct answer
b.ii. Incorrect answer Correct answer
b.iii. None of three
aspects listed under
3 marks correctly
provided.
One out of three
aspects listed under 3
marks correctly
provided
Two out of three
aspects listed under 3
marks correctly
provided
Correct answer; relevant
working; clearly expressed
description of probability
b.iv. None of three
aspects listed under
3 marks correctly
provided.
One out of three
aspects listed under 3
marks correctly
provided
Two out of three
aspects listed under 3
marks correctly
provided
Correct answer; relevant
working; clearly expressed
description of probabilityc. One of the questions in a recent household survey asks respondents to count
the total number of mobile phones owned by members of the household. The
table which follows shows the probability distribution for the number of
mobile phones per household.
X 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 or more
p(x) 0.00 0.02 0.18 0.30 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 0.00
i. Discuss how we can confirm that this is a valid probability distribution.
ii. Calculate the mean number of mobile phones owned per household.
iii. Calculate the standard deviation number of mobile phones owned per
household.
iv. What is the probability that for a randomly selected household, the
number of phones in this household is at least 3?
(8 marks)
Marking Criteria
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks
c.i. No relevant
justification
One relevant
statement
Two relevant
statements
c.ii. Neither of two
aspects listed under
two marks correctly
provided
One out of two
aspects listed under
two marks correctly
provided
Answer correct with
relevant working
including formula
c.iii. None of three
aspects listed under
3 marks correctly
provided.
One out of three
aspects listed under 3
marks correctly
provided
Two out of three
aspects listed under 3
marks correctly
provided
Correct Formula; relevant
working; Correct answer
c.iv. Incorrect Answer. Correct AnswerQuestion 2 (12 marks) 11+1 for sentences which answer the questions in parts c.
and d.
A manufacturing company uses two bottling machines to produce 2 litre bottles of
apple juice. Machine A can bottle 200 bottles of juice per hour. Machine B can bottle
300 bottles per hour. Their quality control process has found that if a bottle of juice
has been bottled by Machine A, then the probability that it has been under-filled is
4.5%. If a bottle of juice has been bottled by Machine B, however, then the probability
that it has been under-filled is 6%.
a. Using letters of the alphabet, define the two simple events described in this
problem and also their complements. (4 events altogether). Probability
notation is not required to do this.
(2 marks)
b. Draw a probability tree to represent the information given in the question
using the same letters that you used to define the simple events in part a.
Note: Marks will be deducted if the probabilities do not appear along the
branches of the probability tree.
(3 marks)
c. Determine the probability that a randomly chosen bottle contained the right
amount of juice.
(3 marks)
d. Given that a randomly selected bottle was not under-filled, what is the
probability that the bottling was done by Machine B?
(3 marks)Marking Criteria
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks
a. Fewer than 2
definitions
2 or 3 definitions
using letters of the
alphabet
4 definitions
using letters of
the alphabet
b. No
probability
tree
Probability tree
with several flaws
Correctly
labelled
probability tree
with some
probabilities
missing from
branches of the
tree or incorrect
Correctly labelled probability
tree with correct probabilities
included along all branches of
the tree
c. 0 of the 3
aspects
listed under
3 marks
1 of the 3 aspects
listed under 3
marks
2 of the 3 aspects
listed under 3
marks
Correct translation of question
into a mathematical probability
statement and formula; correct
numerical calculations and
answer
d. 0 of the 3
aspects
listed under
3 marks
1 of the 3 aspects
listed under 3
marks
2 of the 3 aspects
listed under 3
marks
Correct translation of question
into a mathematical probability
statement and formula; correct
numerical calculations and
answer
Sentences Sentence
answering
the question
included for
one or fewer
parts
Sentence answering
the question
included for parts
c. and d.Question 3 (9 marks) 8+1 for sentences which answer the questions in parts b.
and c.
A manufacturer vacuum cleaner parts knows that for every 1000 units produced, 4
units are faulty. The manufacturer wants to estimate, using probabilities, the
likelihood of faulty units in a selection of 500 randomly selected units.
a. Write down the names (using single letters or Greek symbols) of the two
parameters of this binomial distribution and their values.
(2 marks)
b. Use the appropriate probability formula to calculate the probability that there
are no faulty components among these units.
(3 marks)
c. Use Excel to calculate the probability that there are more than 10 faulty units
among these units. Express your answer as a decimal correctly rounded to 6
decimal places.
(3 marks)
Marking Criteria
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks
a. Parameters named
incorrectly and
values incorrect
Both parameters
named correctly
or both values
correct or one
parameter and
one value
correct
Parameters
named
correctly;
parameter
values correct
B 0 of the 3 aspects
listed under 3 marks
provided correctly
1 of the 3
aspects listed
under 3 marks
correct
2 of 3 aspects
listed under 3
marks correct
Correct translation into
probability statement along
with correct substitution into
formula and correct answer
c. 0 of the 3 aspects
listed under 3 marks
provided correctly.
1 of the 3
aspects listed
under 3 marks
correctly
provided.
2 of 3 aspects
listed under 3
marks
correctly
provided.
Correct translation of 'more
than' into a mathematical
inequality along with correct
Excel formula and correct
answer correct to 6 decimal
places
Sentences Sentence answering
the question
included for one or
fewer parts
Sentence
answering the
question
included for
parts b. and c.Question 4 (9 marks) 8+1 for sentences answering the questions
A shire council has found that historically 20 % of ratepayers choose to pay their rates
by instalments. A sample of 25 new ratepayers to the shire were asked if they had paid
their current rates by instalment.
a. Write down the name of the distribution being described in this problem and
write down the name/s of its parameter/s (using single letters or Greek
symbols) and its/their values.
(2 marks)
b. Using the tables appropriate for this distribution, calculate the probability that
fewer than a quarter of those new ratepayers sampled had paid their rates by
instalment.
(3 marks)
c. Using Excel, calculate the probability that more than 5 but fewer than 12 had
paid their rates by instalment.
(3 marks)
Marking Criteria
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks
a. Incorrect
distribution
and at least
one
parameter(s)
missing
Distribution
incorrect or at
least one
parameter(s)
missing
Correct distribution
and parameter(s)
b. 0 of the 3
aspects listed
under 3 marks
1 of the 3 aspects
listed under 3
marks
2 of 3 aspects listed
under 3 marks
Correct translation of
'fewer than' into a
mathematical
inequality; correct
value of X in the
inequality and correct
answer.
c. 0 of the 3
aspects listed
under 3 marks
1 of the 3 aspects
listed under 3
marks
2 of 3 aspects listed
under 3 marks
Correct translation of
'more than…but fewer
than…' into a
mathematical
inequality along with
correct Excel formula
and correct answer
Sentences Sentence
answering the
question
included one
or fewer parts
Sentence
answering the
question included
for parts b. and c.Question 5 (9 marks) 8+1 for sentences answering the questions
The manager of a group of suburban service stations has noticed a high level of driveoffs at the busiest of these service stations. Using CCTV footage, the manager
estimates that the number of drive-offs on a Saturday night is 4 on average. (A driveoff involves a driver driving off without paying for petrol).
a. Write down the name of the probability distribution being described and write
down its parameter/s (using letters or Greek symbols) and its/their value/s.
(2 marks)
b. What is the probability that there is no more than 1 drive-off on a given
Saturday?
(2 marks)
c. Use Excel to evaluate the probability that there are more than a total of 20
drive-offs on all Saturdays in the month of December 2016. Take care here.
(4 marks)
Marking Criteria
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks
a. Incorrect
distribution
and at least
one
parameter(s)
missing
Distribution
incorrect or
at least one
parameter(s)
missing
Correct distribution
and parameter(s)
b. 0 of the 2
aspects listed
under 2
marks
1 of the 2
aspects
listed under
2 marks
Correct translation
of 'no more than'
into a mathematical
inequality along
with correct
answer using
Statistical Tables
c. 0 of the 4
aspects listed
under 4
marks
1 of the 4
aspects
listed under
4 marks
2 of 4 aspects listed
under 4 marks
3 of 4
aspects
listed
under 4
marks
Correct translation of
'more than' into a
mathematical
inequality; relevant
working with correct
use of Excel formula;
correct parameter
substitution into
formula; correct
answer.
Sentences Sentence
answering
the question
included for
one or fewer
parts
Sentence
answering
the question
included for
parts b. and
c.Question 6 (16 marks) 15+1 for sentences answering the questions b., c. and d.
A company pays the staff the award rate. Some of its employees work over-time. For
employees employed under a particular award, the employees receive on average
$1025 per week with a standard deviation of $250 per week.
a. Write down the names of the parameters of this normal distribution(using
Greek symbols) and their values.
(2 marks)
b. A randomly chosen employee working under this award is selected. Calculate
the probability that that he earned less than $1400 the previous week.
(4 marks)
c. Twenty staff employed under this same award are randomly selected. What is
the probability that the average weekly pay the previous week for this sample
of twenty staff exceeded $1150?
(5 marks)
d. A randomly chosen employee working under this award is selected. There is
an 80% chance that this employee earns more than $a. What weekly income is
represented by the letter 'a'?
(4 marks)Marking Criteria
0 marks 1 mark 2 marks 3 marks 4 marks 5 marks
a. Neither
parameter
value is
correct
Only one
parameter
value
correct
Both
parameter
values
correct
b.
0 of the 4
aspects
listed under
4 marks
correct
1 of the 4
aspects
listed under
4 marks
correct
2 of the 4
aspects
listed under
4 marks
correct
3 of the 4
aspects
listed
under 4
marks
correct
Correct
translation of
'less than' into a
mathematical
inequality along
with relevant
fully labelled
diagram; correct
transformation
of probability
and numerical
calculations.
c.
0 marks if
incorrect
distribution
chosen.
1 of the 5
aspects
listed under
5 marks
2 of 5
aspects
listed under
5 marks
3 of 5
aspects
listed
under 5
marks
4 of the 5
aspects listed
under 5 marks
correct.
Correct
translation of
'exceeded' into
a mathematical
inequality along
with relevant
fully labelled
diagram; correct
transformation
of probability;
correct
calculations and
answer.
d.
0 of the 4
aspects
listed under
4 marks
1 of the 4
aspects
listed under
4 marks
2 of the 4
aspects
listed under
4 marks
3 of the 4
aspects
listed
under 4
marks
Correct answer
with relevant
working
supported using
statistical tables
and fully
labelled
diagram.
Sentences Sentence
answering
the question
included for
one or fewer
parts
Sentence
answering
the question
included for
parts b., c.
and d.