Your work on the new student committee was a huge success! The director of new student recruitment has requested that you continue your work on the committee. Specifically, the director would like you to distribute a small survey to the students who attended the weekend event, gauging their level of interest in studying at UMGC.
The director is interested in obtaining demographic information from the prospective students, the academic program into which they would enroll, and their overall level of interest in attending UMGC. The survey questions and results are below:
Survey questions given to prospective students
- What is your age?
- Would you live in on-campus housing or off-campus housing?
- Into which academic program would you enroll?
- How likely are you to attend UMGC in the next year? (Rate: 1–4, 1 is not likely and 4 is very likely)
| Student | Age | Housing | Academic Program | Likely to attend UMGC |
| 1 | 18 | Off campus | Political science | 4 |
| 2 | 19 | Off campus | History | 1 |
| 3 | 17 | On campus | Cybersecurity | 2 |
| 4 | 30 | Off campus | Nursing | 4 |
| 5 | 18 | On campus | History | 3 |
| 6 | 21 | On campus | Psychology | 4 |
| 7 | 45 | Off campus | Business | 2 |
| 8 | 20 | On campus | Business | 3 |
| 9 | 18 | On campus | Accounting | 4 |
| 10 | 36 | Off campus | Nursing | 4 |
| 11 | 25 | Off campus | History | 2 |
| 12 | 29 | Off campus | Sociology | 2 |
| 13 | 31 | Off campus | Spanish | 2 |
| 14 | 19 | On campus | Psychology | 2 |
Your first task is to define the data resulting from each survey question as qualitative or quantitative. If the variable is qualitative, indicate if it is nominal or ordinal. If it is quantitative, indicate whether it is discrete or continuous and whether it is interval or ratio (see graphic below).
Next, create a table (a frequency distribution, stem and leaf plot, or a grouped frequency distribution) to organize the data from one of the variables. Include the table in your post. Does including the relative frequency or cumulative frequency make the table more meaningful? Why do you feel this table best organizes the data?
Then, consider how you might visually display the results as a graph (bar graph, Pareto chart, dot plot, line graph, histogram, pie chart, or box plot). Include the graph in your post. Why did you choose this graph? Explain why you believe this graph is the best choice to display the data.
Finally, find the mean, median, and mode for one of the variables. Which of these measures of central tendency do you think is the best choice for “average” and why? Find the range and standard deviation (measures of dispersion) for the variable. What would a narrower or wider deviation signify in the context of this data?
Your initial post to the discussion (covering the four tasks above) is due by 11:59 p.m. EST on Saturday.
Consider the graphs/charts and measures of central tendency and dispersion that your peers have chosen. Do they align with your choices? Discuss at least one benefit of your peers’ choices. Can you share a recommendation to improve their choices? At least one substantive peer reply post is due by 11:59 p.m. EST on Tuesday.