Answer to Question #157923 in Statistics and Probability for unknown

Question

A study is being conducted on the effect of gas price on the number of miles driven in a given month. Residents in two cities, one on the East Coast and one on the West Coast, are randomly selected and asked to complete a questionnaire on the type of car they drive, the number of miles they live from work, the number of children under 18 in their household, their monthly income, and the number of miles they have driven over the past 30 days.

(a) List the response variable(s) and the type of measurement scale (nominal/ordinal/interval/ratio) associated with each response variable.

(b) Also, state whether this study is an experimental or observational study? Explain in brief the reason for your answer.

Answer 1

(a) The study is conducted to test for the effect of gas price on the number of miles driven in a given month. The response variable is number of miles driven in a given month. The type of measurement scale for the number of miles driven in a given month in ratio because the difference of the number of miles driven is meaningful; There is a natural zero starting point and ratios of a number of miles driven are meaningful.

(b) This is an observational study because observations and measurements of residents are conducted in form of a questionnaire that doesn't change the response variable (number of miles driven) being measured.