Instruction
Data is a great way to begin assessing a given situation. It provides us with information regarding what exists, and it gives us a way of answering questions. However, data in its raw for is really just a pile of numbers, words, and/or phrases. In order for data to be useful, we must analyze it depending on the situation.
Finding Your Percentile
One way in which this can be done is by calculating z-scores and identifying percentiles. Consider the following example: Data on social media use was collected from a sample of college students. The average daily amount of social media use by this group was found to be 4 hours, with a standard deviation of 1 hour. Consider your daily social media use, and then develop a main response in which you address the following:
Identify approximately how many hours you used social media today.
Use the sample mean (4 hours) and standard deviation (1 hour) provided to calculate a z-score for your own daily social media use.
Use the normal distribution table in your textbook to determine the percentile for your z-score.
Explain what this means, and what it implies about your social media use in comparison to the sample.