Examiners’ commentaries 2010

Examiners’ commentaries 2010

Important note

This commentary reflects the examination and assessment arrangements for this unit in the
academic year 2009–10. The format and structure of the examination may change in future years,
and any such changes will be publicised on the virtual learning environment (VLE).

General remarks

Learning outcomes

By the end of this unit and having completed the Essential reading and activities you should:

• be familiar with the key ideas of statistics that are accessible to a candidate with a moderate
mathematical competence
• be able to apply a variety of methods for explaining, summarising and presenting data and
interpreting results clearly using appropriate diagrams, titles and labels when required
• understand the ideas of randomness and variability, and the way in which these link to
probability theory to allow the systematic and logical collection of statistical techniques of great
practical importance in many applied areas
• have a grounding in probability theory and some grasp of the most common statistical methods
• be able to use inference to test the significance of common measures such as means and
proportions and carry out chi-squared tests of contingency tables
• be able to carry out simple regression and correlation analysis and know when it is appropriate
to do so.

Planning your time in the examination

You have two hours to complete this paper, which is in two parts. The first part, Section A, is
compulsory which covers several subquestions and accounts for 50 per cent of the total marks.
Section B contains three questions, each worth 25 per cent, from which you are asked to choose two.
Remember that each of the Section B questions is likely to cover more than one topic. In 2009, for
example, the first part of Question 2 concerned correlation and regression and involved drawing a
diagram, the second part was a hypothesis test comparing population means using the sample data
given. Question 3 asked for a diagram and comments on data in the first part and a chi-squared test
in the second. Question 4 had a series of questions involving confidence intervals and the estimation
of sample size in the first part and a survey design question in the second. This means that it is
really important that you make sure you have a reasonable idea of what topics are covered before
you start work on the paper! We suggest you divide your time as follows during the examination:

• Spend the first 10 minutes annotating the paper. Note the topics covered in each question and
subquestion.
• Allow yourself 45 minutes for Section A. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck on any one question,
but don’t just give up after two minutes!

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• Once you have chosen your two Section B questions, give them about 25 minutes each.
• This leaves you with 15 minutes. Do not leave the examination hall at this point! Check over any
questions you may not have completely finished. Make sure you have labelled and given a title to
any tables or diagrams which were required and, if you did more than the two questions required
in Section B, decide which one to delete. Remember that only two of your answers will be given
credit in Section B and that you must choose which these are!

What are the Examiners looking for?

The Examiners are looking for very simple demonstrations from you. They want to be sure that you:

• have covered the syllabus as described and explained in the subject guide
• know the basic formulae given there and when and how to use them
• understand and answer the questions set.

You are not expected to write long essays where explanations or descriptions of sample design are
required, and note form answers are acceptable. However, clear and accurate language, both
mathematical and written, is expected and marked. The explanations below and in the specific
commentaries for the papers for each zone should make these requirements clear.

Key steps to improvement

The most important thing you can do is answer the question set! This may sound very simple, but
these are some of the things that candidates did not do, though asked, in the 2010 examinations!
Remember:

• If you are asked to label a diagram (which is almost always the case!), please do so. Writing
‘Histogram’ or ‘Stem-and-leaf diagram’ in itself is insufficient. What do the data describe? What
are the units? What are the x and y axes?
• If you are specifically asked to carry out a hypothesis test, or a confidence interval, do so. It is
not acceptable to do one rather than the other! If you are asked to find a 5% value, this is what
will be marked.
• Do not waste time calculating things which are not required by the Examiners. If you are asked
to find the line of best fit, you will get no marks if you calculate the correlation coefficient as
well. If you are asked to use the confidence interval you have just calculated to comment on the
results, carrying out an additional hypothesis test will not help your marks.

How should you use the specific comments on each question given in the
Commentaries?

We hope that you find these useful. For each question and subquestion, they give:

• further guidance for each question on the points made in the last section
• the answers, or keys to the answers, which the Examiners were looking for
• the relevant detailed reference to Newbold (seventh edition) and the subject guide
• where appropriate, suggested activities from the subject guide which should help you to prepare,
and similar questions from Newbold.

Any further references you might need are given in the part of the subject guide to which you are
referred for each answer.

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Question spotting
Many students are disappointed to find that their examination performance is poorer than they
expected. This can be due to a number of different reasons and the Examiners’ commentary
suggests ways of addressing common problems and improving your performance.
We want to draw your attention to one particular failing – ‘question spotting’, that is,
confining your examination preparation to a few question topics which have come up in past
papers for the unit. This can have very serious consequences.
We recognise that students may not cover all topics in the syllabus in the same depth, but you
need to be aware that Examiners are free to set questions on any aspect of the syllabus. This
means that you need to study enough of the syllabus to enable you to answer the required
number of examination questions.
The syllabus can be found in the ‘Unit information sheet’ in the section of the VLE dedicated
to this unit. You should read the syllabus very carefully and ensure that you cover sufficient
material in preparation for the examination.
Examiners will vary the topics and questions from year to year and may well set questions that
have not appeared in past papers – every topic on the syllabus is a legitimate examination
target. So although past papers can be helpful in revision, you cannot assume that topics or
specific questions that have come up in past examinations will occur again.
If you rely on a question spotting strategy, it is likely you will find yourself in
difficulties when you sit the examination paper. We strongly advise you not to
adopt this strategy.