3. A survey asks respondents to respond to the statement “My work is interesting.” Interpret the frequency distribution shown here (taken
from an SPSS output):
a. My work is interesting:
Category Abs. Rel. Freq. Adj. Freq. Cum. Freq.
Label Code Freq. (Pct.) (Pct.) (Pct.)
Very true 1 650 23.9 62.4 62.4
Somewhat true 2 303 11.2 29.1 91.5
Not very true 3 61 2.2 5.9 97.3
Not at all true 4 28 1.0 2.7 100.0
•
1,673 61.6 Missing
Total 2,715 100.0 100.0
Valid cases 1,042 Missing cases 1,673
4. Use the data in the following table to
a. Prepare a frequency distribution of the respondents’ ages
b. Cross-tabulate the respondents’ genders with cola preference
c. Identify any outliers
Cola Weekly Unit
Individual Gender Age Preference Purchases
James M 19 Coke 2
Parker M 17 Pepsi 5
Bill M 20 Pepsi 7
Laurie F 20 Coke 2
Jim M 18 Coke 4
Jil F 16 Coke 4
Tom M 17 Pepsi 12
Julia F 22 Pepsi 6
Amie F 20 Pepsi 2
Dawn F 19 Pepsi 3
5. Data on the average size of a soda (in ounces) at all 30 major league baseball parks are as follows: 14, 18, 20, 16, 16, 12, 14, 16, 14, 16, 16,
16, 14, 32, 16, 20, 12, 16, 20, 12, 16, 16, 24, 16, 16, 14, 14, 12, 14, 20. Compute descriptive statistics for this variable including a box
and whisker plot. Comment on the results.
6. The following computer output shows a cross-tabulation of frequencies and provides frequency number N) and row R) percentages.
a. Interpret this output including a conclusion about whether or not the row and column variables are related.
Chapter 20: Basic Data Analysis: Descriptive Statistics 505
b. Critique the way the analysis is presented.
c. Draw a pie chart indicating percentages for having read a book in the past three month for those with and those without high
school diplomas.
7. List and describe at least three basic data transformations.
8. What conditions suggest that a ratio variable should be transformed (recoded) into a dichotomous (two group) variable?
9. A data processing analyst for a research supplier finds that preliminary computer runs of survey results show that consumers love a
client’s new product. The employee buys a large block of the client’s stock. Is this ethical?
A few years ago Vidal Sassoon, Inc., took legal
action against Bristol-Myers over a series of TV
commercials and print ads for a shampoo that
had been named Body on Tap because of its beer
content.
12The prototype commercial featured
a well-known high fashion model saying, “In
shampoo tests with over 900 women like me, Body on Tap got
higher ratings than Prell for body. Higher than Flex for conditioning.
Higher than Sassoon for strong, healthy-looking hair.”
The evidence showed that several groups of approximately
200 women each tested just one shampoo. They rated it on a
six-step qualitative scale, from “outstanding” to “poor,” for 27
separate attributes, such as body and conditioning. It became
clear that 900 women did not, after trying both shampoos, make
product-to-product comparisons between Body on Tap and
Sassoon or between Body on Tap and any of the other brands
mentioned. In fact, no woman in the tests tried more than one
shampoo.
The claim that the women preferred Body on Tap to Sassoon
for “strong, healthy-looking hair” was based on combining the data
for the “outstanding” and “excellent” ratings and discarding the
lower four ratings on the scale. The figures then were 36 percent
for Body on Tap and 24 percent (of a separate group of women) for
Sassoon. When the “very good” and “good” ratings were combined
with the “outstanding” and “excellent” ratings, however, there was
only a difference of 1 percent between the two products in the category
of “strong, healthy-looking hair.”
The research was conducted for Bristol-Myers by Marketing
Information Systems, Inc. (MISI), using a technique known as
blind monadic testing. The president of MISI testified that this
method typically is employed when what is wanted is an absolute
response to a product “without reference to another specific
product.” Although he testified that blind monadic testing was
used in connection with comparative advertising, that was not
the purpose for which Bristol-Myers retained MISI. Rather,
Bristol-Myers wished to determine consumer reaction to the
introduction of Body on Tap. Sassoon’s in-house research expert
stated flatly that blind monadic testing cannot support comparative
advertising claims.
Question
Comment on the professionalism of the procedures used to make
the advertising claim. Why do you believe the researchers performed
the data transformations described?
Case 20.1
Body on Tap
© GETTY IMAGES/
PHOTODISC GREEN
Have You Read
a Book in Past Have High School Diploma?
3 Months?
Yes No Total
Yes 489 174 663
73.8 26.2
No 473 378 851
55.6 44.4
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
TOTAL 962 552 1,514