1.9 End-of-Chapter Practice Problems

1. The birthweight of new infants born in a health care facility is an important piece of data. Suppose that you took a random sample of 14 infants born in the previous month in your health care facility and recorded their weight at birth in grams. The hypothetical data appear in Fig. 1.17.

(a) To the right of the table, use Excel to find the sample size, mean, standard deviation, and standard error of the mean for these data. Label your answers, and round off the mean, standard deviation, and standard error of the mean to two decimal places; use number format for these three figures.

(b) Print the result on a separate page.

(c) Save the file as: BIRTH4

2. Laboratory supply expenses per month are an important factor in the profitability of a health care facility. Suppose you recorded total monthly supply expenses for each of the 12 months in the previous year to determine their variability. The hypothetical data are given in Fig. 1.18. Note that the data are recorded in thousands of dollars, so that a figure of 18.7 refers to a monthly supply expense for January of $18,700.

Fig. 1.17 Worksheet Data for Chap. 1: Practice

Problem #1

(a) Use Excel to create a table of these data, and at the right of the table use Excel to find the sample size, mean, standard deviation, and standard error of the mean for these data. Label your answers, and round off the mean, standard deviation, and standard error of the mean to two decimal places using currency format.

(b) Print the result on a separate page.

(c) Save the file as: SUPPLY3

3. Mental health respite care provides temporary care for individuals with serious mental illnesses who live at home. This type of service provides caregivers with an opportunity to take a break from caregiving without having to worry about the safety of their loved ones. Suppose that you wanted to know the age distribution of patients in such a facility during the past month. The hypothetical data are given in Fig. 1.19:

Fig. 1.18 Worksheet Data for Chap. 1: Practice

Problem #2

1.9 End-of-Chapter Practice Problems 19

(a) Use Excel to create a table for these data, and at the right of the table, use Excel to find the sample size, mean, standard deviation, and standard error of the mean for these data. Label your answers, and round off the mean, standard deviation, and standard error of the mean to three decimal places using number format.

(b) Print the result on a separate page.

(c) Save the file as: RESPITE3

References

Bowers D. Medical statistics from scratch: an introduction for health professionals. Hoboken: John

Wiley & Sons; 2008.

Polit DF. Statistics and data analysis for nursing research. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education

Inc.; 2010.

Fig. 1.19 Worksheet Data for Chap. 1: Practice

Problem #3

20 1 Sample Size, Mean, Standard Deviation, and Standard Error of the Mean