Survey of Mathematical Methods Homework Help

Survey of Mathematical Methods
Misuse of statistics occurs when an argument that is statistical affirms a deception. Statistical misuse could either be unintended or deliberate for the gain of the the person behind it (Jaffe and Spirer, 1987) Misleading statistics results into a statistical myth which can be quite destructive and costly. Generally, statistical misuses takes the form of false causality, misreporting which results to misunderstanding, overgeneralization, discarded unfavorable data, loaded questions, data dredging and manipulation for example the answers to a particular survey could be manipulated by wording the asked questions in a manner as to persuade a prevalence towards a specific response from the respondent (Christensen and Reichert, 1976) .Misuses are very easy to fall into. Professionals from all disciplines inclusive of mathematicians and great statisticians get fooled by very easy methods even when they are cautious to monitor the whole thing. Some deceive themselves with statistics because they lack sufficient know how in probabilistic situations and failure to standardize their tests.
Question 1 (answer)
“These results are not typical” when used in advertisements is a disclaimer that offers legal protection to the advertisers from potential court case. The federal trade commission in October 2009 came up with new principles which prohibited the advertisers from using the disclaimer ‘these results are not typical’ but the commission gave a provision for the advertisers to use this phrase only if they stated the typical results the buyers should look forward to( Brienza, 2008). This disclaimer is too general. These results are not typical, when used implies that almost nobody will obtain the results reflected in the advert. For dietary supplement regulatory compliance labels should be attached to the products containers, boxes should be labeled, packages should be inserted and the fliers should be distributed to the selling points and promotional webs site content( Brienza, 2008). All disclaimers and the disclosers should be clear and conspicuous in terms of being understood, in a manner that they can be read easily and prominent.Ideally, the wording of a disclaimer or a discloser should be of the same size as the claim being that the advertiser is disclaiming or clarifying. The law disallows use of tiny letters in presentation of a disclaimer, commonly known as microprint or mouse print (Brienza, 2008). The commission also recommended that televisions should not hide key information in a fast moving creep, the superscripts or the subscripts using small print sizes or colors that fades into the background .Those that fade away from the television screen so fast even before consumers have reads or get or the middle of very long statements that rolls vertically on television for very short periods of time (Brienza, 2008). Practically saying, disclaimers must be indicated on the same section of the label .It could be in plural if there are beyond two claims. Technically a disclaimer should be in bold letters enclosed in a box. For weight loss supplements, all claims should be followed by a disclosure type language clarifying that the supplement that the supplement works in the context of “A sensible diet and moderate exercise.”(Brienza, 2008). Sufficient qualification could be a famous claim adjacent to the quotation, presented in the same size print, saying “These results are not typical: Average weight loss achieved in a clinical study was five pounds in two weeks.” Such weight loss claims definitely deserves and receives special attention from the consumers (Brienza, 2008).

Question 2 (Answer)
71% could be representing a sample of people censured .Seventy one out of a hundred people polled will make 71% but truly this does not imply that it is a representation of a large group of individuals. Although 71% is a large percentage it is misleading because it is dependent on the small part that was polled. If it was put in the majority group the percentage could be totally different since very many people live in countries which experience the summer season only for three months. It is not specific on whether it is a poll of the year or it represents a few days. A poll is a sample representing the whole population and is subject to error since the sample could be biased .Not all people give responses to surveys, in addition it depends on the people who were surveyed and their geographical areas.
Survey questions leads to erroneous conclusions because of use of loaded questions which are maneuvered by wording them in a manner as to persuade predominance towards a specific answer from the respondent. Loaded questions results into biased data. Loaded questions also involves leading the question by giving information that will support the preferred response (Christensen and Reichert, 1976) Another reason which leads to erroneous conclusion in survey questions is the overgeneralization which occurs when statistics relating to a certain population is affirmed to seize among members of a group for which the unusual population is not a representative sample. It happens when information is conveyed using nontechnical foundation mostly in the media industries. Another reason that leads to erroneous conclusion is relying on questions on large numbers of dependent answers (variables) for example study investigating impacts of a clinical healing could use the chances of surviving as the dependent variable (Abramson and Abramson, 1999). This raises the chances that at least one variable will indicate a relationship with independent variable. In addition in some surveys it happens that the people being studied have some form of control over whether to take part for example individuals with sturdy views or considerable know how could be more keen to respond to survey questions than those who do not. This results to divergence of answers with unwarranted point of view being given a misappropriated weight (Mellenbergh and Hand, 2008) Biased samples results in problems since any statistical results obtained from that sample is erroneous and leads to overrepresentation or under representation .Statistically speaking all samples are biased because it is technically not possible to have perfect sample. In statistics discipline, bias refers to intended intent to mislead and it simply represents a statistical property. Some individuals use biased samples in producing ambiguous results quite often. Partial sample is a reflection of complexity in getting truly representative survey.
Conclusion
In conclusion, advertisers should be keen to observe the new guidelines in compliance with the regulatory laws relating to disclaimers and disclosers. They need to be as clear and conspicuous as possible to avoid misleading the consumers, causing damages and avoid rectification of dishonesty that may take decades and cost lives (Jaffe and Spirer, 1987). Surveys on the other hand oblige the use of sample weights in order to produce accurate approximations across all cultural and racial groups. Meeting certain provisions, drawing the sample randomly from the whole population among others will give accurate estimates of the population factors.

References
Brienza, S. (2008). “Your results may vary: Disclaimers and disclosers.” Natural foods merchandiser, 27 (7), pp.20-22.
Christensen, R. and Reichert, T. (1976).”Unit Measure Violations in Pattern Recognition, Ambiguity and Irrelevancy,” Pattern Recognition, 4, pp.239–245.
Jaffe, A.J. and Spirer, H.F. (1987). Misused Statistics. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc.
Abramson, J.J. and Abramson, Z.H. (1999). Survey Methods in Community Medicine: Epidemiological Research, Programme Evaluation, Clinical Trials. London: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier Health Sciences.
Mellenbergh, G. J.and Hand, D. J. (2008). Advising on research methods: A consultant’s companion. Huizen, The Netherlands: Johannes van Kessel Publishing.