MDM4U

 

THE POWER OF DATA ASSIGNMENT

 

1. Global News conducted a poll in the Spring asking people which political party they would support in the next provincial election. The results were as follows:

NDP 12%, Liberal 52%, PC 34%, 2% undecided.

  1. Illustrate the data using a bar graph and a circle graph. K /10
  2. Which graph do you think best illustrates the data? Give reasons for your answer. C /3
  3. Analyze the results. Hypothesize: Why could the distribution be like this? A poll conducted last week placed the Liberals at 48% and the PC at 49% support. What could be an explanation? C /2

 

2. Read the following statements and decide if each is misleading or not. Explain your answer. C/4
  1. A toothpaste company boasts four out of five dentists recommend their product.
  2. A local high school claims that 75% of its graduates go on to obtain a university degree.
  3. Fifty-three percent of Canadians want closer ties to the United States.
  4. Canadian students ranked 21st in the latest international math test. The previous ranking was 20th. This means our students are doing poorly in math.

 

 

3. According to a recent article in the paper, "North Americans use more water than the rest of the world combined!" This headline was supported by the following chart:

COUNTRY

USA

Canada

Switzerland

UK

Nigeria

West Germany

Belgium

India

AVERAGE CONSUMPTION PER DAY (L)*

690

385

294

195

142

130

97

65

*Data does not include water used by agriculture and industry.

C/5

  1. Do you think the data support the conclusion? Explain.
  2. How confident are you about this conclusion? What other information might you want in order to feel more comfortable wit the conclusion?
  3. What might you want to research further based on these data?
Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

1