Statistics Help Summarize Data Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Statistics Help Summarize Data - Essay Example This information will assist them in making decisions relating to the best time to advertise or provide information to the public – weekdays or weekends and holidays. STATISTICS Rampell (2012) points out that on average men spent more time watching television than women. However, the main focus was on categories such as: education level; age of children; weekly income; employment (part-time, full-time or unemployed); race; and age group of the respondents. The graph shows that with the exception of the 15 to 19 years age group, the average number of hours spent watching television increases with age. This group spent more hours watching television on weekends and holidays than the 20 to 24 years and the 25 to 35 years age groups. The information in the graph also indicates the following: i. On average Black/African-Americans spent more hours watching television in 2011 than the White and Hispanic/Latino groups; ii. People who are employed full-time spent more hours in 2011 on weekends and holidays watching television than those who were employed on a part-time basis; iii. In terms of income, individuals earning between $521 and $810 weekly watched television for a little over 3 hours per day on weekends and holidays in 2011. This accounts for the most hours spent viewing television on weekends and holidays. ... cle provides a clear picture of the number of hours spent per day watching television by different groups of individuals within the various categories. The graph summarizes a lot of information which if written in words would take comparatively more pages. When information is presented in this way it is easier to grasp by those who understand how to read graphs. However, there are those who do not know how to analyze this type of information and so a tabular form might have been more appropriate. POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENTS The article could have been improved by describing the categories and providing information on whether categories are correlated. Some persons in the age groups 65 to 74 and 75 and older would most likely not be employed or be employed on a part-time basis since they would have achieved retirement age. Rampell (2012) could have established whether a relationship exist between various categories. Most of these individuals might not have gone past high school based on the ir individual circumstances and the time period in which they were born. Older people are the ones who are least likely to have children in their households that are under the age of 18, unless they are living in households with grandchildren. Additionally, Rampell could have carried out tests to determine if the differences that exist, especially between the income groups are statistically significant. Rampell (2012) could also include additional statistics on the following: i. Male and female viewers within the different categories; ii. Occupational groups; and iii. Types of programs people watch most. Even though the average number of hours men spend watching television is higher than that for women, it is not clear whether this is so for all the categories shown in the graph presented.

Reading report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Reading report - Essay Example It is important to understand that human beings are responsible for building and assembling of computers. For this reason, it is important to distinguish between a strong artificial intelligence and a weak intelligence. One of such critics is John Searle who describes strong artificial intelligence with regard to the computer is that it is able to formulate and test hypothesis in a more rigorous and precise fashion with very minimal errors. However, Searle points out that the basis of the strength and precision of computer is not the brain but the programs, which have been installed in the computer. This means that computers have cognitive states, which are much stronger and accurate compared to that of a human being. A Turing test is the ability of the computer or a machine to give and express intelligent behavior, which is almost equivalent and is indistinguishable from human beings. Allan Turing who aimed at determining if computers can think developed this concept in 1950 (John R . Searle 54). In his test, he was not refereeing to the ability of the machines offering the right answers to the question but how the answers are closely linked to human response. The test therefore did not consider audio receptions but relied on text only channels. The test relies on artificial intelligence since it involves machines in testing if the computer is able to give accurate and precise answers. As expected Allan Turing test did not go without criticism. From a philosophical point of view Descartes agrees with the Turing test on the basis of automation but he was quick to denounce the test on the basis that it human beings can think and give answers and that machines can give the right answers and cannot think. It therefore means that even though machines can interpret information and give the right answers that do not qualify them to be superior to human on the basis of thinking. In addition to this, Searle disagrees with the Turing test on the subject that even though computers can respond to different languages and give the correct answers, they only provided the right answers but without understanding and this is what distinguishes artificial intelligence with human intelligence. A human being can only respond to a language if he/she has an understanding of the language. However, machines can do this better with the help of coded programs does not mean that the computer understands the language. To support his concept, Searle performed a Chinese room test where an English native speaker man is placed in room and shown Chinese symbols. The man fails to understand the Chinese symbol and language through writings since he is not a Chinese speaker. In the second test, the same man is given the same symbols but this time with interpreted English codes, which gives the meaning of the words and the man, begins to relate the English words with the Chinese symbols. Searle calls this the question and answer technique. If a Chinese native speaker is taken through the same test, similar results will be produced and it will be difficult to distinguish between answers from the English and Chinese speakers. We therefore conclude that the English native speaker has been able to answer Chinese questions even though he does not understand them. This does not make the human being intelligent since he has been able to answer questions that he does not understand. It is the coding of the English and C