Have you ever heard the saying that 4 out of 5 people prefer a certain type of toothpaste? What about during a presidential election when they say that 50% of the population will vote for a certain candidate? Why do you choose to try a new type of acne product when they claim that it improves acne by 90%? How are those numbers and percentages calculated? Did they survey 5 people and ask only 5 people what kind of toothpaste they prefer? In this unit, we will be discussing samples, surveys, experiments, and observations.

Think about where you have seen some statistics in your everyday life and what you think makes up a good survey.

Let's get you thinking about where you have seen statistics. Answer the following questions in your initial post. Read through your classmates' definitions. Pick 2 and reply with what you agree with, in their definitions and elaborate on their definitions where you think it is necessary.

Think of a recent commercial, radio ad, billboard, or magazine article that makes a statistical claim.
What was the statistical claim?
Did you believe the claim? Why or why not?
A school is doing a survey about which day of the week its students would prefer to have pizza for lunch. Would it be reasonable to give the survey to 150 of the 2000 students at the school instead of to the entire student body? Why or why not?
Write your personal definition of the word experiment.