Data Type
Statistics is a very measurable and quantifiable subject that requires a lot of computation, formulas as well as observations and records. When in a normal situation, we tend to ignore or not notice the things we are a part of and take all of it as granted. However in our daily lives, even the smallest of things can have the largest of impacts. The type of data collected during the last few days is the time it takes me to reach the college. This time is to be recorded in ‘minutes’ and the data is rounded off to the nearest minute. The mode of travel is by car and this data is recorded on a stopwatch which is started when the ignition is turned on of the car. Before starting this study, I thought that it takes me approximately 15 minutes to reach my college. The difference in timings is expected to occur only because of the traffic situation on the road.
Assumptions
The assumptions for this study are:
- There are six college days in each week
- Sundays are excluded from the list
- Holidays in between the weeks are not accounted for
- The mode of vehicle does not change and neither does the vehicle itself
- There are no modifications, tune-ups or perforce upgrades done on the car
- There are no major acts of traffic disruption like in the case of natural calamities
- The time to leave from home is exactly the same each day
The Observations
The data recorded each day of the week starting from Monday (except Sundays) are:
Conclusion
The data collected through the two weeks for the 12 days shows the differences in timings of each day. Although the times are very close by each other, they are quite higher than the one expected. As mentioned before I had thought that it takes me around 15 minutes each day to reach my destination, yet this data recorded by me shows that the time to reach the college is way more than this reaching even to 26 minutes on one day. The reason for the differences in timings is mostly due to the traffic situation of each day is different. Also the assumptions taken above not always are exact thus there is always a bit of error involved in the observations. One important thing to be noticed in the study is that the time for Saturday is quite different from the time of other days. The only reason for such a different result for a Saturday and other days is because of the lesser number of cars thus lesser traffic. This may be because that most schools are closed on Saturdays thus easing the traffic situation and make the people reach their destinations quicker.