Public transportation and the automobile are two methods an employee can use to get towork each day. Samples of times recorded for each method are shown. Times are in minutes.

$$\begin{matrix} \text{Public Transportation:} & \text{28} & \text{29} & \text{32} & \text{37} & \text{33} & \text{25} & \text{29} & \text{32} & \text{41} & \text{34}\\ \text{Automobile:} & \text{29} & \text{31} & \text{33} & \text{32} & \text{34} & \text{30} & \text{31} & \text{32} & \text{35} & \text{33}\\ \end{matrix}$$

Compute the sample mean time to get to work for each method.

Public transportation and the automobile are two methods an employee can use to get towork each day. Samples of times recorded for each method are shown. Times are in minutes.

$$\begin{matrix} \text{Public Transportation:} & \text{28} & \text{29} & \text{32} & \text{37} & \text{33} & \text{25} & \text{29} & \text{32} & \text{41} & \text{34}\\ \text{Automobile:} & \text{29} & \text{31} & \text{33} & \text{32} & \text{34} & \text{30} & \text{31} & \text{32} & \text{35} & \text{33}\\ \end{matrix}$$

Develop a box plot for each method. Does a comparison of the box plots support your conclusion?

Most Admired Companies. Fortune magazine's list of the world's most admired companies for 2014 is provided in the data contained in the file AdmiredCompanies (Fortune magazine website). The data in the column labeled "Return" shows the one-year total return $(\%)$ for the top-ranked 50 companies. For the same time period the $\mathrm{S} \& \mathrm{P}$ average return was $18.4 \%$.

a. Compute the median return for the top-ranked 50 companies,

Consider a sample with data values of 10, 20, 12, 17, and 16. Compute the z-score for each of the five observations.

Annual revenue for Corning Supplies grew by 5.5% in 2007; 1.1% in 2008; -3.5% in 2009; -1.1% in 2010; and 1.8% in 2011. What is the mean growth annual rate over this period?

Show the box plot for the data values 27, 25, 20, 15, 30, 34, 28, and 25.

Scores turned in by an amateur golfer at the Bonita Fairways Golf Course in Bonita Springs, Florida, during 2005 and 2006 are as follows:

$$\begin{matrix} \text{2005 Season:} & \text{74} & \text{78} & \text{79} & \text{77} & \text{75} & \text{73} & \text{75} & \text{77}\\ \text{2006 Season:} & \text{71} & \text{70} & \text{75} & \text{77} & \text{85} & \text{80} & \text{71} & \text{79}\\ \end{matrix}$$

Use the mean and standard deviation to evaluate the golfer’s performance over the two-year period.

The Los Angeles Times regularly reports the air quality index for various areas of Southern California. A sample of air quality index values for Pomona provided the following data: 28, 42, 58, 48, 45, 55, 60, 49, and 50.

Compute the range and interquartile range.

Most Admired Companies. Fortune magazine's list of the world's most admired companies for 2014 is provided in the data contained in the file AdmiredCompanies (Fortune magazine website). The data in the column labeled "Return" shows the one-year total return (%) for the top-ranked 50 companies. For the same time period the $\mathrm{S} \& \mathrm{P}$ average return was $18.4 \%$.

b. What percentage of the top-ranked 50 companies had a one-year return greater than the $S \& P$ average return?

Morningstar tracks the total return for a large number of mutual funds. The following table shows the total return and the number of funds for four categories of mutual funds (Morningstar Funds500, 2008).

$$\begin{matrix} \text{Type of Fund} & \text{Number of Funds} & \text{Total Return (\\\%)}\\ \text{Domestic Equity} & \text{9191} & \text{4.65}\\ \text{International Equity} & \text{2621} & \text{18.15}\\ \text{Specialty Stock} & \text{1419} & \text{11.36}\\ \text{Hybrid} & \text{2900} & \text{6.75}\\ \end{matrix}$$

a. Using the number of funds as weights, compute the weighted average total return for the mutual funds covered by Morningstar.

b. Is there any difficulty associated with using the “number of funds” as the weights in computing the weighted average total return for Morningstar in part (a)? Discuss. What else might be used for weights?

c. Suppose you had invested $10,000 in mutual funds at the beginning of 2007 and diversified the investment by placing$2000 in Domestic Equity funds, $4000 in International Equity funds,$3000 in Specialty Stock funds, and $1000 in Hybrid funds. What is the expected return on the portfolio?

Adapting your message to the audience involves

a. thinking of the right words and tone to use in your message.

b. selecting the best research to incorporate within the message.

c. rewriting your message several times to ensure it is clear.

d. conducting a thorough audience analysis.

Consider a sample with data values of 10, 20, 12, 17, and 16. Compute the variance and standard deviation.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Walmart Stores Inc. is planning to lay off 2300 employees at its Sam's Club warehouse unit. Approximately half of the layoffs will be hourly employees (The Wall Street Journal, January 25-26, 2014). Suppose the following data represent the percentage of hourly employees laid off for 15 Sam's Club stores.

$$\begin{array}{lllllllllllllll}55 & 56 & 44 & 43 & 44 & 56 & 60 & 62 & 57 & 45 & 36 & 38 & 50 & 69 & 65\end{array}$$

d. Compute the variance and standard deviation.

The Los Angeles Times regularly reports the air quality index for various areas of Southern California. A sample of air quality index values for Pomona provided the following data: 28, 42, 58, 48, 45, 55, 60, 49, and 50.

A sample of air quality index readings for Anaheim provided a sample mean of 48.5, a sample variance of 136, and a sample standard deviation of 11.66. What comparisons can you make between the air quality in Pomona and that in Anaheim on the basis of these descriptive statistics?