Question

The National Center for Health Statistics publishes information about birth rates (per $1000$population) in the document National Vital Statistics Report. The following table provides a frequency distribution for birth rates during one year for the $50$states and the District of Columbia

a. Obtain a frequency histogram of these birth-rate data.

b. Based on your histogram, do you think that birth rates for the $50$states and the District of Columbia are approximately normally distributed? Explain your answer.

Short answer

(a)

(b) The birth rates for the $50$states and the District of Columbia are not normally distributed

Step-by-step solution

Part (a) Step 1: Given information

Given in the question that, The National Center for Health Statistics publishes information about birth rates (per $1000$population) in the document National Viral Statistics Report. The following table provides a frequency distribution for birth rates during one year for the $50$states and the District of Columbia.

We need to obtain a frequency histogram of these birth-rate data.

Part (a) Step 2: Explanation

For the$50$states and the District of Columbia, the frequency distributions for birth rates over a year are as follows:

The following is how to get a histogram with the MINITAB:

Step 1: Select Graph > Histogram from the drop-down menu.

Step 2: Select Simple, then click OK.

Step 3: In the Graph variables section, type Rate in the corresponding column.

Step 4: Select the Frequency tab from the data choices menu.

Step 5: Select the frequency column.

Step 6: Click the OK button. The MINITAB output can be represented as follows:

Part (b) Step 1: Given information

Given in the question that, The National Center for Health Statistics publishes information about birth rates (per $1000$population) in the document National Viral Statistics Report. The following table provides a frequency distribution for birth rates during one year for the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Based on the histogram we need to explain that whether the birth rates for the 50 states and the District of Columbia are approximately normally distributed.

Part (b) Step 2: Explanation

For the$50$states and the District of Columbia, the frequency distributions for birth rates over a year are as follows:

The histogram can be obtained using the MINITAB as follows:

The birth rates are skewed to the right, as shown in the table above. Furthermore, there is an anomaly.