Social Studies 201 – Fall 2006

Problem Set 1 – Due Monday, September 25, 2006

The attached article concerns development plans for southwest Regina, in the area south of the airport, west of the Lewvan, and north of the Trans-Canada. Imagine that you have responsibility for making a report concerning the advantages and disadvantages of proceeding with development. What sorts of data would be useful in illustrating the pros and cons of development and what data limitations might there be? Do not attempt to be comprehensive in answering this but, referring to data production issues discussed in Chapter 2 and in class, write a half page to a page describing some of the data that might be useful in educating people on the issue. For example, you could discuss the relevant population and variables, what sorts of data are available, who controls the data, what possible ways of obtaining new data might exist, and what errors might there be in the data. If you wish to obtain more information about development plans, consult the Southwest Sector Plan of the Regina Planning Commission at the web site: http://www.regina.ca/pdfs/meeting_agenda/2006_RPC06-42_RPC06-42.pdf. At http://www.regina.ca/content/info_services/urban_planning/sdp.shtml there is a map that may help you visualize the development plans.

Use the questionnaire of the Survey of Student Attitudes and Experiences Fall 1998 (SSAE98) for this question. For each of questions 8, 9, 17, 19, and 49 in the questionnaire, (i) clearly identify or name the variable in the question; (ii) state the highest level of measurement the variable has (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio), explaining your reasoning; and (iii) for each variable explain whether it is discrete or continuous.

The numbers in Table 1 represent the hours spent weekly at various activities, as reported by sixty-eight undergraduate students in the Survey of Student Attitudes and Experiences 1998. These data represent the total number hours these students reported for studying, extracurricular activities, care of dependents, volunteer work, religious activities, and working at jobs during a week. For the data in Table 1 construct an (i) unordered and (ii) ordered stem-and-leaf display. (iii) From the stem-and-leaf display construct a frequency distribution table for the total hours spent weekly at the activities. (iv) In a sentence or two, describe the frequency distribution.

Table 1. Hours spent at various activities, sixty-eight undergraduates, Survey of Student Attitudes and Experiences 1998