BUS105: The COVID-19 Pandemic had Redefined the Meaning of Normal life Medically: Statistics Assignment, SUSS, Singapore

Assignment Brief:

The COVID-19 pandemic had redefined the meaning of normal life. Medically, hospitals were crowded with patients suffering from the disease. Suddenly, life became fragile. Economically, many companies were in difficulty and many people lost their jobs. Socially, people could not meet each other face-to-face. The normal handshake became a dangerous move. Amid these troubling times, the elderly was the most affected.

First, the disease was more deadly to this age group.

Second, some of these elderlies were still working for a living prior to the pandemic and suddenly they lost their jobs.

Third, many elderlies may not be familiar with social media technology and were distant with their love ones both physically and socially. Mary was a student of the renowned Singapore University of Social Sciences. During this period, she happened to be an intern of the Society of Elderly Living. The Director of the society, Mr Jonny Tan, was concerned that the anxiety level of the elderlies may have increased substantially. As such, he had approached Mary to assist in the analysis. Mary chanced upon a social science report on the anxiety level of old folks in Malaysia.

In the report, twenty-seven (27) old folks were given an anxiety test and their scores were published in 2010. The scores ranged from 0 to 200, a higher score means more anxious. Mary decided to use the same test on a random sample of 27 elderlies. She intends to compare these two results and provide a preliminary analysis to Mr Tan.

Question 1

(a) Using relevant Excel reports describes the values for the mean, median, standard deviation and interquartile range of anxiety scores before and after the pandemic. Explain how you decide on the appropriate use of measures of dispersion – standard deviation or interquartile range.

(b) Using appropriate charts and numerical measures, develop a summary report to address Mr Tan’s concern. You are expected to provide an interpretation of the charts and numerical measures. You are not required to do any further inferential analysis.