Rounding
In this course, we will often ask you to round your answers to numerical input questions. In these cases, we will specify to how many decimal places you should round. We recognize that conventions for proper rounding may vary by region, but we request that you round according to the following rules in order to maintain consistency with other students and with the correct answers as we have input them:
1) Refer to the digit that proceeds the digit to which you are asked to round. For example, if you are to round to two decimal places, also known as the hundredth place, please refer to the third decimal place, known as the thousandth place, in the answer you have calculated.
2) If the digit referred to above is 1-4, round down to the hundredth place. If it is 5-9, round up.
Examples:
.034 rounded to two decimal places is .03
23.0045665 rounded to three decimal places is 23.005
9.999 rounded to 2 decimal placed is 10.00
This will be important as you navigate the course, so don't be afraid to ask any questions on the discussion board or in office hours before you get started if you have any confusion in regard to rounding conventions.
Average
In certain real world contexts, the word "average" is used as a synonym for "mean." Please note that this is not the case in this course. For questions in which "average" is used, the term refers to the most appropriate measure of center given the data; this may be the mean or the median. For distributions that are roughly normal, the average should be reported as the mean, but for highly skewed distributions, the average should be reported as the median. We understand that this terminology may not be clear to all students at the beginning of the course, but it should become clear as you move through the lessons.
Percentages versus Proportions
Please pay careful attention to whether questions request your answer be reported as a percentage or a proportion. While they are similar concepts, the decimal should be placed according to whether you are reporting a percentage or a proportion. While both may be used to describe the same thing, a percentage can be found by multiplying the value of a proportion (e.g. .375) by 100 (e.g. 37.5%), while the proportion can be derived from the percentage by dividing by 100.
Revisit This Page
Please note that while we have done our very best to ensure that terminology and expectations in this course are clear to all learners, it is impossible to ensure that there will be no misunderstandings in the language and phrasing of questions. We will add clarifications here as the course progresses should any such issues arise on the discussion board. In other words, please check this page again from time to time for additions. We hope you have fun with the course and learn concepts and skills that are beneficial to you!