For Exercise 2.91, see page 106; for 2.92 and 2.93, see pages 106–107; for 2.94 to 2.96, see page 108; for 2.97 to 2.99, see page 109; and for 2.100 and 2.101, see pages 111–112.

Question 2.111

2.111 Hiring practices

A company has been accused of age discrimination in hiring for operator positions. Lawyers for both sides look at data on applicants for the past three years. They compare hiring rates for applicants younger than 40 years and those 40 years or older.

hiring

Age Hired Not hired
Younger than 40 82 1160
40 or older 2 168
  1. Find the two conditional distributions of hired/not hired—one for applicants who are less than 40 years old and one for applicants who are not less than 40 years old.
  2. Based on your calculations, make a graph to show the differences in distribution for the two age categories.
  3. Describe the company's hiring record in words. Does the company appear to discriminate on the basis of age?
  4. What lurking variables might be involved here?

2.111

(a) For younger than 40: 6.6% were hired, 93.4% were not. For 40 or older: 1.18% were hired, 98.82% were not. (c) The percentage of hired is greater for the younger than 40 group; the company looks like it is discriminating. (d) Education could be different among groups, making them more or less qualified.