Analysis of Polls
07-30-2003, 03:04 AM
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Analysis of Polls
Here's a rough draft of my Final Essay. Apparently almost nobody likes Maroon, and people tend to repaint their cars yellow! Other than that everyone seems to like their model year, their engine, and fuel economy (better known as "watch the guage go down when I floor it!"). It's heavy reading, but some of you will find it interesting.
Steve Wood
English 302
Essay #5 - Writing Assignment #17
Due August 1, 2003
Conducting a Survey: A Collaborative Project
Projected Properties:
The survey pertains to the Chevrolet Corvette Stingrays which were built from 1968 through 1982.
What is currently the most common model year?
What is currently the most common engine installed?
What is currently the most common color of paint?
What is the current gas mileage?
Target Population:
All of the existing Chevrolet Corvette Stingrays.
Sample:
Stingray owners on the CorvetteForum.com website. Each survey was independent of each other.
Model Year:
464 total votes were cast. The 1969 model had the most votes with 47, followed by 41 for the 1979 model. The average/mean number of votes was 30.9 with a standard deviation of 7.5 from the mean which is 24.1% of the average. The lowest number of votes was 20 for the 1982 model followed by a tie of 23 votes for the 1970 and 1972 models. The correlation coefficient between production numbers for all models and the numbers of models in existence is .619 where an exact match is 1 and no matches at all 0.
Engine:
386 total votes were cast. The 350CID Original engine is the most common with 112 votes. A modified 350CID engine is second with 100 votes. The average/mean number of votes was 16 with a standard deviation of 29.7 which is 184.5% of the average. The lowest number of votes was 1 for several entries which included a 351 Ford engine, a “Chevy” engine, and odd engine displacements such as 388CID, 415CID, 489CID, and 505CID.
Fuel Mileage:
82 total votes were cast. 10 MPG was the most common answer with 15 votes. The next most common was 12MPG with 10 votes. The average/mean number of votes was 5.9 with a standard deviation of 4.1 which is 70.0% of the average. The lowest number of votes was 1 for an answer of a question mark (?). There were several answers with 2 votes each of 15MPG, an answer of infinite (no engine), and an answer of GPM which stands for Gallons Per Minute…apparently feeling proud that their engine can consume gas so fast. There was also 9 votes for an answer of “don’t care”.
Color:
156 total votes were cast. White was the most common color with 26 votes. The next most common was black with 24 votes followed closely by red with 23. The average/mean number of votes was 12 with a standard deviation of 9.5 which is 78.8% of the average. The lowest number of votes was 1 for gold. There was 2 votes for “multiple color” and 6 votes for primer or the same as no color.
Conclusion:
Model Year:
A total of 546,881 Chevrolet Corvette Stingrays were sold to the public between 1968 and 1982. 464 votes were cast for the first question to find out what the most common model year was, which is .08% of the total corvettes sold. This sample is very small compared to the population; however, it is a large enough sample for this question due to the correlation of the data with the original production numbers for each model year. The correlation coefficient was .62 which indicates that the number of model years is about the same as the production years. In other words, there is not more of a particular model year than others. None of them had severe problems which caused them to be junked beyond all hope. There was no particular model year which survived over other models. The standard deviation of only 24% with the lowest number of a model year getting 20 votes indicates that there was no fluke voting. The voting appears to be valid and agrees with the factory production numbers.
Engine:
This question received 386 votes which for this topic appears to be a fair sample according to the correlation of the previous question with known data. The votes showed that the 350CID engine was the most common. This should be the case because every model year from 1969 through 1982 had a 350CID as an option. The only model year to not have a 350CID was 1968 which offered a 327CID instead. Also, optional engine displacements of 427CID was available in 1968 and 1969, plus a 454CID was offered for 1970 through 1974, plus the 1980 California model had to have a 305CID engine. But, for the other years 1975 through 1979, and 1981 & 1982 the 350CID was the only engine displacement available. It is interesting to see that the most common engine is the original engine which came with the car. The original engine is stamped with the vehicle VIN number and Stingrays with such an engine still installed is called a “matching numbers vette” and is worth more money than a modified engine. The voting appears to be valid and agrees with the factory production numbers.
Fuel Mileage:
This question received only 82 votes which could be too small a sample to accurately depict the population, so the answers should only be considered to be “ball park” figures. The most common answer was 10MPG with 15 votes followed closely with 10 votes for 12MPG. According to “The Complete Book of Corvette” by the auto editors of Consumer Guide the fuel economy of the 1968 model year was 11 to 15 MPG, 1970 was 8 to 12, 1974 was 12 to 15, and 1977 was 13 to 16. Thus, the voting again seems to correlate nicely with factory production numbers.
Color:
This question received 156 votes which is between a count that is probably too small (82) and a count which has been shown to be fair (386). Unfortunately the Corvette Assembly Plant burned down and records for many of the model years were lost. Color data for the model years were successfully retrieved except for 1969, 1970, 1973, and 1974. After analyzing this data it appears and the standard deviation of the original colors of 79.5% matches nearly exactly to the sample data with 78.8% standard deviation. This is a good indication that the sample size was valid and the votes were valid. The original data does show that White is the most common color; however, White is followed closely by Silver/Gray, and then Maroon and Blue, before the close numbers between Black and Red. The sample data then does not correlate well with the original factory paint. Even with four of the model year data missing, I still believe there is a good chance that many of the Silver/Gray, Maroon, and Blue were repainted to Yellow since the original percentage of Yellow Stingrays was only 6.7% and the percentage is currently 13.7%.
Also, the percentages of Silver/Gray, Maroon, and Blue all dropped from 14.9% to 10.3%, 13.9% to 1.28%, and 13.6% to 10.9% respectively. However, at the same time Black and Red Stingrays increased in presence from 11.6% to 15.38%, and 11.7% to 14.74% respectively, so some of the repainted Stingrays were painted Black or Red, but mostly repainted Yellow.
Overall:
It appears that Corvette Stingray owners are very satisfied with their vehicle quality and engine displacement, as well as an appreciation for the fuel economy or what is known as “Smiles Per Gallon (SPG). However, it appears that Stingray owners are not satisfied with the color of their vehicles, especially Maroon, with a distinct desire for Yellow among those who repainted to another color. I believe additional polls in the CorvetteForum.com web site would again produce valid data.
Please note that I did not include the 1983 vote in this survey, but did add it to the "late" 1982 model year. :)
:rofl:
Steve Wood
English 302
Essay #5 - Writing Assignment #17
Due August 1, 2003
Conducting a Survey: A Collaborative Project
Projected Properties:
The survey pertains to the Chevrolet Corvette Stingrays which were built from 1968 through 1982.
What is currently the most common model year?
What is currently the most common engine installed?
What is currently the most common color of paint?
What is the current gas mileage?
Target Population:
All of the existing Chevrolet Corvette Stingrays.
Sample:
Stingray owners on the CorvetteForum.com website. Each survey was independent of each other.
Model Year:
464 total votes were cast. The 1969 model had the most votes with 47, followed by 41 for the 1979 model. The average/mean number of votes was 30.9 with a standard deviation of 7.5 from the mean which is 24.1% of the average. The lowest number of votes was 20 for the 1982 model followed by a tie of 23 votes for the 1970 and 1972 models. The correlation coefficient between production numbers for all models and the numbers of models in existence is .619 where an exact match is 1 and no matches at all 0.
Engine:
386 total votes were cast. The 350CID Original engine is the most common with 112 votes. A modified 350CID engine is second with 100 votes. The average/mean number of votes was 16 with a standard deviation of 29.7 which is 184.5% of the average. The lowest number of votes was 1 for several entries which included a 351 Ford engine, a “Chevy” engine, and odd engine displacements such as 388CID, 415CID, 489CID, and 505CID.
Fuel Mileage:
82 total votes were cast. 10 MPG was the most common answer with 15 votes. The next most common was 12MPG with 10 votes. The average/mean number of votes was 5.9 with a standard deviation of 4.1 which is 70.0% of the average. The lowest number of votes was 1 for an answer of a question mark (?). There were several answers with 2 votes each of 15MPG, an answer of infinite (no engine), and an answer of GPM which stands for Gallons Per Minute…apparently feeling proud that their engine can consume gas so fast. There was also 9 votes for an answer of “don’t care”.
Color:
156 total votes were cast. White was the most common color with 26 votes. The next most common was black with 24 votes followed closely by red with 23. The average/mean number of votes was 12 with a standard deviation of 9.5 which is 78.8% of the average. The lowest number of votes was 1 for gold. There was 2 votes for “multiple color” and 6 votes for primer or the same as no color.
Conclusion:
Model Year:
A total of 546,881 Chevrolet Corvette Stingrays were sold to the public between 1968 and 1982. 464 votes were cast for the first question to find out what the most common model year was, which is .08% of the total corvettes sold. This sample is very small compared to the population; however, it is a large enough sample for this question due to the correlation of the data with the original production numbers for each model year. The correlation coefficient was .62 which indicates that the number of model years is about the same as the production years. In other words, there is not more of a particular model year than others. None of them had severe problems which caused them to be junked beyond all hope. There was no particular model year which survived over other models. The standard deviation of only 24% with the lowest number of a model year getting 20 votes indicates that there was no fluke voting. The voting appears to be valid and agrees with the factory production numbers.
Engine:
This question received 386 votes which for this topic appears to be a fair sample according to the correlation of the previous question with known data. The votes showed that the 350CID engine was the most common. This should be the case because every model year from 1969 through 1982 had a 350CID as an option. The only model year to not have a 350CID was 1968 which offered a 327CID instead. Also, optional engine displacements of 427CID was available in 1968 and 1969, plus a 454CID was offered for 1970 through 1974, plus the 1980 California model had to have a 305CID engine. But, for the other years 1975 through 1979, and 1981 & 1982 the 350CID was the only engine displacement available. It is interesting to see that the most common engine is the original engine which came with the car. The original engine is stamped with the vehicle VIN number and Stingrays with such an engine still installed is called a “matching numbers vette” and is worth more money than a modified engine. The voting appears to be valid and agrees with the factory production numbers.
Fuel Mileage:
This question received only 82 votes which could be too small a sample to accurately depict the population, so the answers should only be considered to be “ball park” figures. The most common answer was 10MPG with 15 votes followed closely with 10 votes for 12MPG. According to “The Complete Book of Corvette” by the auto editors of Consumer Guide the fuel economy of the 1968 model year was 11 to 15 MPG, 1970 was 8 to 12, 1974 was 12 to 15, and 1977 was 13 to 16. Thus, the voting again seems to correlate nicely with factory production numbers.
Color:
This question received 156 votes which is between a count that is probably too small (82) and a count which has been shown to be fair (386). Unfortunately the Corvette Assembly Plant burned down and records for many of the model years were lost. Color data for the model years were successfully retrieved except for 1969, 1970, 1973, and 1974. After analyzing this data it appears and the standard deviation of the original colors of 79.5% matches nearly exactly to the sample data with 78.8% standard deviation. This is a good indication that the sample size was valid and the votes were valid. The original data does show that White is the most common color; however, White is followed closely by Silver/Gray, and then Maroon and Blue, before the close numbers between Black and Red. The sample data then does not correlate well with the original factory paint. Even with four of the model year data missing, I still believe there is a good chance that many of the Silver/Gray, Maroon, and Blue were repainted to Yellow since the original percentage of Yellow Stingrays was only 6.7% and the percentage is currently 13.7%.
Also, the percentages of Silver/Gray, Maroon, and Blue all dropped from 14.9% to 10.3%, 13.9% to 1.28%, and 13.6% to 10.9% respectively. However, at the same time Black and Red Stingrays increased in presence from 11.6% to 15.38%, and 11.7% to 14.74% respectively, so some of the repainted Stingrays were painted Black or Red, but mostly repainted Yellow.
Overall:
It appears that Corvette Stingray owners are very satisfied with their vehicle quality and engine displacement, as well as an appreciation for the fuel economy or what is known as “Smiles Per Gallon (SPG). However, it appears that Stingray owners are not satisfied with the color of their vehicles, especially Maroon, with a distinct desire for Yellow among those who repainted to another color. I believe additional polls in the CorvetteForum.com web site would again produce valid data.
Please note that I did not include the 1983 vote in this survey, but did add it to the "late" 1982 model year. :)
:rofl:
07-30-2003, 01:57 PM
#4
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Re: Analysis of Polls (Dwayne 76)
Just out of curiosity, which College are you attending?
