HSA 523  Health Data Analysis Dr. Robert Jantzen

Homework 1


1.    Suppose that a dental implant group practice is interested primarily in studying how satisfied former patients were with their dental implant procedures.  A survey of 100 former patients is being planned; 4000 had had the procedures.
A.    Describe both the population and sample of interest to the dental implant group.
B.    Describe the type of data that the group practice primarily wishes to collect.
C.    What factors might have had an impact on the amount of patient satisfaction?  Speculate.
D.    Develop a first draft of a questionnaire containing three qualitative questions and three quantitative questions that you feel would be appropriate for this survey.
E.    How would you select the former patients for inclusion in the survey?  Describe in detail the process.  How would you contact the sample?  Possible problems?

2.   A.  Demonstrate how you would draw a simple random sample of 5 persons out of a population of 4000.  Use the random number Table E.1 (in the back of the text), and assume that the starting digit for your sample would be at row 15, column 01.
      B.  Microsoft Excel can also generate random numbers.  Click here for a link to an MS-Excel spreadsheet that will generate a series of random numbers.  Simply enter the population size and the desired sample size.   Show how you could use the spreadsheet to draw a random sample of 5 persons out of a population of 4000.

Note:  If the MS-Excel spreadsheet won't generate the random numbers for you, check to see whether Excel has its Analysis Tool Pack Add-Ins enabled (i.e.,  click on <Tools> <Add-Ins> and see if the two Analysis Tool Pak add-ins are check marked.  If they aren't, check mark the boxes and click on OK).

3.  A Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis study, entitled "A Recession for the Educated?", examines what happened in the last economic downturn to the unemployment rate of persons in the US with differing educational levels.
     A.  According to the study, was the increase in unemployment from the last economic slowdown greater or smaller for college grads or those w/o high school diplomas?
      B.  Using the numbers in the text and the chart, fill in the 1994, October 2000 and October 2001 unemployment rates for the three educational groups in the table below.  According to your table, which groups suffered greater/smaller increases in the last downturn between 2000 and 2001?

Educational                               Unemployment Rate (%):
Level                           1994          October 2000        October 2001

College graduate

H.S. graduate

< H.S. graduate