Chapter 2, Problem 2.1.1RE

How People Get Their News The Brunswick Research Organization surveyed 50 randomly selected individuals and asked them the primary way they received the daily news. Their choices were via newspaper (N), television (T), radio (R), or Internet (I). Construct a categorical frequency distribution for the data and interpret the results.

To determine

To construct: A categorical frequency distribution for the data and interpret the results.

Answer to Problem 2.1.1RE

The categorical frequency distribution for the data is given below:

Classes	Frequency	Percentage
N	10	20%
T	16	32%
R	12	24%
I	12	24%
Total	50	100%

Television is the proper choice of the people to receive their daily news.

Explanation of Solution

Given info:

The Brunswick Research Organization surveyed 50 randomly selected individuals and asked them the primary way they received the daily news. Their choices were via newspaper (N), television (T), radio (R), or internet (I).

N	N	T	T	T	I	R	R	I	T
I	N	R	R	I	N	N	I	T	N
I	R	T	T	T	T	N	R	R	I
R	R	I	N	T	R	T	I	I	T
T	I	N	T	T	I	R	N	R	T

Calculation:

There are four types of primary way to receive the daily news N, T, R, and I. These types will be used as the classes for the distribution.

The procedure for constructing a frequency distribution for categorical data is given below.

• Make a table as shown.
• Tally the data and place the results in column B.
• Count the tallies and place the results in column C.
• Find the percentage of values for each class in column D.

The categorical frequency distribution is obtained as given below:

A Classes	B Tally	C Frequency	D Percentage
N	$\cancel{\left|\right|\left|\right|}\cancel{\left|\right|\left|\right|}$	10	$\frac{10}{50}=20\%$
T	$\cancel{\left|\right|\left|\right|}\cancel{\left|\right|\left|\right|}\cancel{\left|\right|\left|\right|}|$	16	$\frac{16}{50}=32\%$
R	$\cancel{\left|\right|\left|\right|}\cancel{\left|\right|\left|\right|}\left|\right|$	12	$\frac{12}{50}=24\%$
I	$\cancel{\left|\right|\left|\right|}\cancel{\left|\right|\left|\right|}\left|\right|$	12	$\frac{12}{50}=24\%$
Total		50	100%

From the above frequency distribution table, it is clear that 32% of the people got their daily news via television which is the higher percentage as compared to other primary ways to receive their daily news.