Question

A random telephone survey of adults (aged and older) was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation on behalf of CompleteTax, an online tax preparation and e-filing service. The survey results showed that of those surveyed planned to file their taxes electronically.
Required:
a. Develop a descriptive statistic that can be used to estimate the percentage of all taxpayers who file electronically. (to nearest whole number)
b. The survey reported that the most frequently used method for preparing the tax return was to hire an accountant or professional tax preparer. If of the people surveyed had their tax return prepared this way, how many people used an accountant or professional tax preparer?
c. Other methods that the person filing the return often used include manual preparation, use of an online tax service, and use of a software tax program. Would the data for the method for preparing the tax return be considered categorical or quantitative?

Answer 1

Complete Question

A random telephone survey of 1021 adults (aged 18 and older) was conducted by Opinion  Research Corporation on behalf of CompleteTax, an online tax preparation and e-filing  service. The survey results showed that 684 of those surveyed planned to file their taxes  electronically (CompleteTax Tax Prep Survey 2010).

a. Develop a descriptive statistic that can be used to estimate the percentage of all  taxpayers who file electronically.  (to nearest whole number)

b. The survey reported that the most frequently used method for preparing the tax return  is to hire an accountant or professional tax preparer. If 60% of the people surveyed had  their tax return prepared this way, how many people used an accountant or professional

tax preparer?

c. Other methods that the person filing the return often used include manual preparation,  use of an online tax service, and use of a software tax program. Would the data for the  method for preparing the tax return be considered categorical or quantitative?

Answer:

a. A descriptive statistic that can be used to estimate the percentage of all taxpayers who file electronically is the measure of frequency, using percentage.

Therefore, we can say that the percentage of all taxpayers who file electronically is 67% (684/1,021 * 100).

b. If 60% of the people surveyed prepared their tax returns by hiring an accountant or professional tax preparer, the number of persons who used professionals is:

= 613 (1,021 * 60%)

c. The data for the method for preparing the tax return would be considered categorical.

Step-by-step explanation:

a) Data and Calculations:

Sample number of adults surveyed = 1,021

Number of those surveyed who planned to file electronically = 684

This means that those who planned to file manually = 337 (1,021 - 684)

b) Descriptive statistics summarize the basic features of the data set.

Categorical data groups data with similar characteristics together instead of using numerical values like quantitative data.