Question

Job-sharing is an innovative employment alternative that originated in Sweden and is becoming popular in the United States (for example, in 2001, 26% of companies in the U.S. offered it as a flexible work option). Firms that offer job-sharing plans allow two or more persons to work part-time, sharing one full-time job. For example, two job-sharers might alternate work weeks, with one working while the other is off. Job-sharers never work at the same time, and may not even know each other. Job-sharing is particularly attractive to working mothers and to people who frequently lose their jobs due to fluctuations in the economy. In a recent survey of 1,035 major U.S. firms, approximately 23% offer job-sharing to their employees.
For each of the questions, select the correct answer from choices i. through xi. listed below.

a. What is the population of interest?
b. What is the variable measured?
c. What is the sample selected?
d. What is the parameter?
e. What is the statistic?


i. All major U.S. firms
ii. All major firms in the world
iii. All U.S. firms
iv. Job-sharing availability
v. Proportion of employees who are working mothers
vi. The 1,035 firms surveyed
vii. The percentage of all U.S. major firms which o↵er job-sharing to their employees
viii. The percentage of the 1035 major firms surveyed which o↵er job-sharing to their employees
ix. 25%
x. The percentage of all U.S. major firms which employ working mothers
xi. All workers in the U.S. who have participated in he job-sharing program

Answer 1

Answer:

a. The population of interest is:

xi. All workers in the U.S. who have participated in the job-sharing program

b. The variable that is being measured is:

viii. The percentage of the 1035 major firms surveyed which offer job-sharing to their employees

c. The sample selected is:

vi. The 1,035 firms surveyed

d. The parameter is:

v. Proportion of employees who are working mothers

e. The statistic is:

ix. 25% (stated as 23%)

Step-by-step explanation:

The parameter of a population is a fixed value calculated from every individual in the population.  It is different from a statistic, which is computed from a sample of the population.  The statistic is meant to approximate a population parameter.