Data Analysis

    6 - 9 Grades Social Science
    10 - 12 Grades Social Science
This module is part of a series produced at The Universtiy of Nevada at Reno for the National Numeracy Network under a grant from the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Foundation through the National Council on Education and the Disciplines. These brief modules are envisioned as a resource for teachers to use in a classroom setting and also for quantitative literacy workshops for teachers. Each module typically contains one or two examples related to "real world" quantitative literacy issues and includes exercises for students. There is also a section "for the instructor" that contains discussions of some of the topics, solutions to the exercises, and resources for further explorations.

 

Polls

Robert Quinn
Universtity of Nevada, Reno

Polling has become an increasingly common practice. Polls range from attempting to determine a group's favorite movie, soft drink, or music group to considering how they view a particular politician or how they will vote in an election. With the proliferation of the Internet, the ability to quickly conduct a poll and distribute its results have increased dramatically. How much credence should we put in the results of these polls? Are all polls equally accurate? What factors should be considered when determining the accuracy of a poll?s by workers’ age, educational attainment, and sex.

The math is percents and sampling.