Discussion Question

1. Relate the process of abstraction to the way you take notes in a lecture. Why do you not try to transcribe every word uttered by the lecturer? Why don't you write down just the title of the lecture and stop there? How do you decide, roughly speaking, on the correct amount of detail?

2. Portray the following hypothetical data on a two-variable diagram:

Academicyear Total Enrollment /Year Economics Courses Enrollment/Year

2000-2001 3,000 300

2001-2002 3,100 325

2002-2003 3,200 350

2003-2004 3,300 375

2004-2005 3,400 400

Measure the slope of the resulting line, and explain what this number means.

3. A student job offer depends on the number of courses in which his grade is B+ or better. He concludes from observation that the following figures are typical: Number of grades of

B+ or better 0 1 2 3 4

Number of job offers1 3 4 5 6

Put these numbers into a graph like Figure 1(a). Measure and interpret the slopes between adjacent dots.