From a recent General Social Survey response to question, “What is the ideal num
ID: 3124717 • Letter: F
Question
From a recent General Social Survey response to question, “What is the ideal number of children for a family to have?” The probability distribution of X equal to the response is approximated by the following table according to the sex of the person responding:
X = Ideal number children
0
1
2
3
4
Females: P(X = x)
0.00
0.03
0.63
0.23
0.11
Males: P(X = x)
0.04
0.03
0.57
0.23
0.13
A. Calculate the means for males and females.
B. Which probability distribution would you expect (don’t calculate!) to have the larger standard deviation and why?
X = Ideal number children
0
1
2
3
4
Females: P(X = x)
0.00
0.03
0.63
0.23
0.11
Males: P(X = x)
0.04
0.03
0.57
0.23
0.13
Explanation / Answer
A.The mean for males is:
0*0.04+1*0.03+…+4*0.13
=2.38
The mean for females is:
0*0.00+…+4*0.13=2.42
The high variance indicates that the data points are very spread out around the mean and from each other. Thus, the females should have higher variance.