Real-Life Math
Agricultural educators must be able to interpret research studies
and scientific reports. Therefore, they must know how to analyze and, in some
cases, replicate statistical information.
Statistics are used by researchers
to describe situations, draw conclusions or make inferences about random events.
The researchers must then organize the data in a meaningful way.
"As
an agricultural educator, my function is to teach, be engaged in research
and serve the public interest both inside and outside of the university,"
says John Vanderstoep.
Here is an example of raw data that you might
receive from a researcher. You want to take this raw data and present it in
such a way that it would be useful for those who would benefit from the study.
Suppose
you are an agricultural educator and you want to present a study to farmers
that shows cows that have type A blood would be more likely to produce sour
milk than other cows.
First, a researcher will collect the information
by taking blood samples from numerous cows on a farm. The researcher would
then give this raw data to the agricultural educator (that's you). You
will then translate the data into a more understandable form for the farmer.
This
is the raw data collected by the researcher.
Twenty-five cows were
given blood tests to determine their blood types: A, B, O and
AB. The types will be used to determine the percentage of cows that would
be more likely to produce sour milk.
This chart shows the blood types
of all 25 cows. Using this information, how can you determine what percentage
of the cows are likely to produce sour milk?
- A
- B
- B
- AB
- O
- O
- O
- B
- AB
- B
- B
- B
- O
- A
- O
- A
- O
- O
- O
- AB
- AB
- A
- O
- B
- A