Series 3 Examination 2012

BUSINESS STATISTICS
Level 2
Monday 11 June
Subject Code: 2009
Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes

Answer any 4 questions.

All questions carry equal marks.

There is a list of formulae at the end of the paper.

Graph paper is provided in the answer book.

Write your answers in blue or black ink/ballpoint. You can only use pencil for graphs, charts,
diagrams, etc.

Begin your answer to each question on a new page.

All answers must be correctly numbered but need not be in numerical order.

Workings must be shown.

You may use a calculator provided the calculator gives no printout, has no word display facilities,
is silent and cordless. The provision of batteries and their condition is your responsibility.

Marks may be lost through lack of neatness and poor presentation.

2009/3/12

Page 1 of 9

ASE2009 3 12 1

QUESTION 1
A bus company employs 250 staff. Each employee has an individual payroll number in the range 001 to
250.
The company wants to introduce healthier meals in its canteen. As a first step, it plans to distribute a
questionnaire to a sample of employees to obtain their views on the meals currently provided in the
canteen.
(a)

Using the table of random numbers below and starting from the top left corner,
number 164, draw a random sample of 10 employees from the payroll list.

164
640
439

106
944
915

058
669
133

108
677
141

101
323
389

489
641
334

164
054
712

428
580
778

177
275
705

503
443
188
(4 marks)

The 250 employees are divided into four employment categories as follows:

(b)

drivers 172
mechanics 30
clerical staff 28
managers 20

(i)

Describe how a sample of 40 staff, stratified by employment category, could be chosen.

Include in your answer the number that would be selected from each category.
(6 marks)

(ii)

Suggest another stratification factor that could be used in this case.

(2 marks)

The table below shows, for a random sample of seven days, the number of buses, x, run on that day
together with the total volume of fuel, y (000) litres used by these buses.
x
y
(c)

150
7.8

104
5.4

85
4.4

67
3.5

161
8.4

94
4.9

119
6.6

Calculate the equation of the regression line for this data in the form y = a+bx.
(10 marks)

(d)

Estimate the volume of fuel used on a day when 98 buses were in service and comment on the
likely accuracy of this forecast.
(3 marks)
(Total 25 marks)

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QUESTION 2
The following table shows the numbers of females, by age, working for a government department in
England in June 2001 and June 2007.
Age (years)
June 2001

15-20
295

21-30
918

31-45
957

46 and over
280

June 2007

356

1359

1455

280

(a)

Represent the data in the form of a component bar chart, showing two bars, one for each of the
years 2001 and 2007.
(8 marks)

(b)

Give two comments on the patterns shown in the charts.

(4 marks)

The following table summarises the length of service of a random sample of 140 female workers in the
government department in June 2007.

(c)

Length of service, x (months)

Number of female workers

0<x3
3<x6
6 < x 10
10 < x 14
14 < x 19
19 < x 49

30
39
36
15
11
9

Draw a histogram to represent the data.

(8 marks)

(d)

Estimate the percentage of female workers in the sample working for 13 months or less.
(5 marks)
(Total 25 marks)

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QUESTION 3
Sarah, who is the receptionist at a doctors practice, was asked to keep a record of the number of
patients who failed to keep an appointment.
Her records for the first 15 weeks of 2011 were:
20
(a)

26

32

37

16

27

34

20

18

48

25

37

29

25

Calculate the median and quartile deviation of the 15 values.

(8 marks)

(b)

Give a reason why, for these data:(i)

(ii)

the mode is not an appropriate measure of average

the range is not an appropriate measure of dispersion.
(4 marks)

(c)

Calculate the mean and standard deviation of the 15 values.

(7 marks)

Sarah was also asked to record the number of patients who failed to keep an appointment in weeks 16
and 17 of 2011.
Unfortunately she failed to do so, but did remember that week 16 was less than 5 and week 17 greater
than 50.
(d)

What effect would the inclusion of these results have on:

(i)
(ii)
(iii)

the mode
the quartile deviation
the standard deviation?

Give a detailed explanation in each case for your answer.

(6 marks)
(Total 25 marks)

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QUESTION 4
The table shows data taken from a random sample of 8 paperback books, where x equals the number of
pages and y equals the retail selling price () of each book.
x
y
(a)

235
6.50
(i)

275
4.00

362
5.50

438
8.00

561
4.50

609
5.00

704
8.00

766
5.50

Plot the data on a scatter diagram.

(4 marks)

(ii)

Calculate the value of the product moment correlation coefficient between x

and y.
(10 marks)

(iii)

Interpret your value in the context of this question.

(2 marks)

(iv)

Suggest two other variables, in addition to the number of pages, which may affect the retail
price of a paperback book.
(4 marks)

The same 8 books were later included in a book sale. The value of the product moment correlation
coefficient between the number of pages and the sale price was 0.26.
(b)

Use this value to calculate the coefficient of determination and explain fully what this shows.
(5 marks)
(Total 25 marks)

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QUESTION 5
Seasonal variation and random variation are two terms used in the analysis of time series data.
(a)

Explain what each term means.

(4 marks)

The table shows the quarterly expenditure, on garden plants and flowers by UK households from quarter
1 of 2005 to quarter 4 of 2008.
Year

Quarter

Expenditure (million)

2005

1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4

61
131
68
63
83
122
63
64
78
125
62
70

2006

2007

(b)

Suggest a possible reason for the high level of expenditure in quarter 2 of each year.
(2 marks)

(c)

Using the data in the above table:

(i)

find by means of a centred moving average, the trend values

(6 marks)

(ii)

using the additive model, find the average quarterly variations

(6 marks)

(iii)

forecast the likely expenditure for quarter 1 of 2008.

Compare this forecast with the actual level of expenditure for that quarter of 91 million and
hence suggest a possible reason for the forecast error.
(7 marks)
(Total 25 marks)

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Page 6 of 9

QUESTION 6
A housing estate built in 2006 consists of 320 properties of which 120 are detached, 150 are semidetached and 50 are apartments.
The numbers of bedrooms in each of these properties are shown below:Number of bedrooms
Type of Property
Detached
Semi-detached
Apartment
(a)

One

Two

Three or more

0
24
30

56
88
20

64
38
0

Name two of the events listed in the table that are mutually exclusive.
(2 marks)

(b)

Calculate the probability that a property selected at random from those on the estate is:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)

detached with two bedrooms

not an apartment
either semi-detached or has one bedroom or both.
(8 marks)

(c)

If three properties are selected at random from the estate, what is the probability that one of each
type is chosen?
(5 marks)

The average selling price of the 2 bedroom properties on the estate in 2006 together with the equivalent
average selling price in 2010 are shown in the table.
Type of Property
Detached
Semi-detached
Apartment

Average selling price of

2 bedroom property, (000)
2006

2010

286
155
130

250
137
118

You may assume that the numbers of properties in each of the three categories remains at 56 detached,
88 semi-detached and 20 apartments.
(d)

Calculate a weighted aggregate price index, with 2006 as base year, to show the change in the
average price of these 164 properties over the period.
(6 marks)

The retail price index for 2010 with 2006 as base year was 109.8.
(e)

Compare this with the index calculated at (d) and suggest a possible reason for the difference
shown.
(4 marks)
(Total 25 marks)

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BLANK PAGE

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LEVEL 2

2009/3/12

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