EOC Exercises - Applying Knowledge, On the Job


1			Your laboratory supervisor has assigned you the task of calculating the mean, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation for a new procedure being considered as a replacement for an older, more complicated procedure. You have not done these calculations in a long time, and you are not sure that you remember how to do them. What should you do?




2			Anne, a coworker in the POL, says that she sees no point in doing the extra work of calculating coefficients of variation. "Why not just compare standard deviations?" she asks. Explain to Anne why comparing coefficients of variation is more valid than is comparing standard deviations.




3			A novice coworker in your POL is having trouble understanding standard deviation. He cannot understand how the working formula for standard deviation can give the same result as the "regular" formula. How would you explain it to him?




4			Your lab supervisor has given you the following two samples of test results and asked you to find the coefficient of variation for each. Without working through the calculations, show how you would set up the problem. SAMPLE 1: 98, 99, 88, 85, 93, 96 SAMPLE 2: 79, 84, 86, 90, 91, 80