A
ssignment: Descriptive Statistics
Visit one of the following newspapers’ websites:
USA Today
,
New York Times
,
Wall Street Journal
, or
Washington Post
. Select an article that uses statistical data related to a current event, your major, your current field, or your future career goal. The chosen article must have a publication date during this quarter.
The article should use one of the following categories of descriptive statistics:
Measures of Frequency – Counting Rules, Percent, Frequency, Frequency Distributions
Measures of Central Tendency – Mean, Median, Mode
Measures of Dispersion or Variation – Range, Variance, Standard Deviation
Measures of Position – Percentile, Quartiles
Write a two to three (2-3) page paper in which you:
Write a summary of the article.
Explain how the article uses descriptive statistics.
Explain how the article applies to the real world, your major, your current job, or your future career goal.
Analyze the reasons why the article chose to use the various types of data shared in the article.
Format your paper according to the
Strayer Writing Standards
. Please take a moment to review the SWS documentation
Running Head: Assignment 1: Descriptive Statistics
Assignment 1: Descriptive Statistics
Author’s Name
Strayer University
MAT300
Date
1
Assignment 1: Descriptive Statistics
2
Assignment 1: Descriptive Statistics
Introduction
Begin your first paragraph here. Be sure to indent each new paragraph. Your
introduction should include the name of your article. Please remember that the article you
choose, must be published during this quarter. You should include the title and topic of the
article in the introduction and a brief overview of the topic. The link for this article must be
included in the Source List at the bottom of this document.
Your paper must be typed, double spaced throughout (including the references page),
using Arial, Calibri Courier, Times New Roman font (size 10-, 11-, or 12), with one-inch
margins on all sides (Strayer Writing Standards, 2018). For citations and references, please
follow Strayer Writing Standards (SWS) format. There is a link within the assignment that is
labeled Strayer Writing Standards. Please refer to that document before you begin writing your
paper. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
You must include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name,
the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. This is already set up for you in the template,
so just enter your name where it says Author’s Name and enter the appropriate date. The cover
page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. The paper
should be 2-3 pages without the cover page and reference page, so that means 4-5 pages total
with the cover page and reference page.
Summary
Assignment 1: Descriptive Statistics
3
You can share the summary of the article you chose in this section. This should include
1-2 paragraphs. The reader should have a clear understanding of the article after reading your
summary.
Descriptive Statistics
In this section, please explain how the article uses descriptive statistics. You should also
share examples of the stats in the article. For example, “This article includes measures of
frequency, because it shares the percent of high school graduates for public schools for the City
of Chicago. The article shares that 77% of its students receive a diploma.†You should include
several examples like this one. The article should use one of the following categories of
descriptive statistics:
•
•
•
•
Measures of Frequency – Counting Rules, Percent, Frequency, Frequency Distributions
Measures of Central Tendency – Mean, Median, Mode
Measures of Dispersion or Variation – Range, Variance, Standard Deviation
Measures of Position – Percentile, Quartiles
Real World Applications
In this article, please explain how the article applies to the real world, your major, your
current job, or your future career goal. This should include 1-2 paragraphs.
Analysis
In this section, analyze the reasons why the author or authors of the article chose to use
the various types of data shared in the article. This should include 1-2 paragraphs.
Conclusion
You should have at least one source, which is the article that you are presenting. *You do
not have to use additional sources for your paper. If you decided to use them, you must follow-
Assignment 1: Descriptive Statistics
up SWS guidelines.
4
In addition to the article you chose, you can use your textbook or any
article or book that supports your ideas. Why should you use outside sources? The first reason is
that our papers will be more persuasive if we’re using reliable, authoritative information, and we
want to remind our reader that we didn’t just make stuff up. Using authoritative sources creates
an authoritative paper.
The second reason is that we want to avoid plagiarism penalties. Plagiarism can get us
kicked out of school, and we’re here to get a degree, so we want to remain enrolled. Plagiarism
can be avoided by simply letting your reader know where you found your information. For
instance, if I tell you Bill Atkinson sold HyperCard to Apple for $100,000 dollars, I may be
making it up. If I instead tell you Levy (2011, p. 15) reminds us that HyperCard was sold to
Apple for $100,000 dollars by Bill Atkinson, you’ll be able to use my sources list and look it up
to help determine whether you want to believe me.
If it’s on your source list page, it needs to be referred to in your paper. If you’ve referred
to it in your paper, it needs to be on your list of sources.
So there you have it. Use the SWS throughout the paper. List your references. Refer to
those references in your paper. And use this paper as a template if you like.
Assignment 1: Descriptive Statistics
5
Source List
Steven Levi. 2011. In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives. Book on
Amazon.com
Strayer Writing Standards. Fall 2018. Strayer University.
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