Overview: Statistical inference has a broad range of application that extends pretty much across all disciplines. The process of estimating a mean or percentage of an uncontrollably large data set and then knowing how close that estimated value is to the true one is a very practical tool. This activity presents an example of how statistical inference is applied to answer questions concerning a population of single family homes in Wake County, North Carolina. Rather than going from house to house in the county, you will make use of an online database that lists key characteristics of these homes.

Before you start working on this activity, click on the link below to save a copy of the Excel Data Report Form Excel file to your computer. You'll need this form to record the information from the property listing and to do your data analysis. You can also put the answers to the questions below on the same Excel form.

Click on the Link: Excel Data Report Form

There are approximately $310,000$ properties in the Wake County database. Construct a random sample of $30$ families from Wake County. To do this, use Excel$$ to generate a list of $60$ numbers from $19$ to $310,000.$

Refer to Excel instructions: Click Once: Excel Random Number Generation to help you generate random numbers.

$--$ This may take some time. You haven't had to collect much data this semester but a big part of Statistics is data collection. It is important to get the right kind of data and to record it accurately. In this activity you will need at least $30$ good samples. We are suggesting that you generate $60$ random numbers since some of the real estate won't be single family homes and so can't be used. You can stop once you have $30$ family homes.

Open the website Wake County Real Estate Data. The website allows the user to search property listings based on their Real Estate Id $($REID$)$ number as well as other indicators. You will enter each ID number from your list of randomly generated numbers.