1. In its March 3-5, 1995 issue, USA Weekend magazine asked readers to return a survey with a variety of questions about sex and violence on television. Of the 65,142 readers who responded, 97% were "very or somewhat concerned about violence on TV" (USA Weekend, 2-4 June 1995, p. 5). Based on this survey, can you conclude that about 97% of U.S citizens are concerned about violence on TV? Why or why not?

2. A newsletter distributed by a politician to his constituents gave the results of a "nationwide survey on Americans' attitudes about a variety of educational issues." One of the questions asked was, "Should your legislature adopt a policy to assist children in failing schools to opt out of that school and attend an alternative school--public, private, or parochial--of the parents' choosing?" From the wording of this question, can you speculate on what answer was desired? Explain. Try to re-word the question so that it is no longer biased.

3. The "Post a Statistic" discussion question will appear in each module. I want each of you to find a current statistic that interests you from a newspaper, magazine, website, etc. and post it here. You should cite where you got it from so others can go to it and also explain why you found that statistic interesting. After posting of the statistics, I would like to see some discussion on them or supplemental information. 4. For this discussion question, you will need to go out and purchase a 1.74 oz. bag of PEANUT M&M's (yellow bag). Don't eat them (at least not yet.) Instead, determine the percent of each color that came in the bag. For instance, if there were 12 brown ones out of 68 total, then the percent would be 12/68 x 100% = 17.65%. Record your percents for each color in the discussion area. Are your results similar or dramatically different from everyone in the class? Why?

5. your own examples of bad sample survey questions. biased question designed to get one answer rather than another. Then discuss each other's questions and determine whether you would be influenced by the phrasing on the other students' questions.

6. When experimenters want to compare two treatments, such as an old and a new drug, they use randomization to assign the participants to the two conditions. If you had 50 people participate in such a study, how would you go about randomizing them? Why do you think that would be necessary, rather than having the experimenter decide which people should get which treatment? Debate this.

7. The "Post a Statistic" discussion question will appear in each module. I want each of you to find a current statistic that interests you from a newspaper, magazine, website, etc. and post it here. You should cite where you got it from so others can go to it and also explain why you found that statistic interesting. After posting of the statistics, I would like to see some discussion on them or supplemental information.

8. For those of you that haven't read the book "Hunger Games" or seen the movie, I suggest picking a different thread to respond to. For those of you familiar with the book or movie, you will remember the phrase "May the odds be ever in your favor." This has no more true moment than at the reaping. Discuss how the tributes are selected and relate it to what you have learned about sampling in this course.

9. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a survey of teenagers, asked the subjects if they were sexually active. Those who said "Yes" were then asked, "How old were you when you had sexual intercourse for the first time?" Should consent of parents be required to ask minors about sex, drugs, and other such issues, or is consent of the minors themselves enough? Give reasons for your opinion.

10. The "Post a Statistic" discussion question will appear in each module. I want each of you to find a current statistic that interests you from a newspaper, magazine, website, etc. and post it here. You should cite where you got it from so others can go to it and also explain why you found that statistic interesting. After posting of the statistics, I would like to see some discussion on them or supplemental information.

11. Talk about the concerns of the placebo effect and why it is important to account for it in experimentation. Provide examples of the placebo effect in action.

12. Refusals, Nonadherers, and Dropouts are problems in experimentation. Talk about what each is and give examples of what problems can occur because of them.