1. Hoover is an excellent source of business information. It includes daily summaries as well as information about various industries and specific companies. Go to the site at www.hoovers.com . Click on Companies and Industries. Then, click on Industries in the next menu, then go to Sector and select an Industry Sector, such as chemicals or retail. Then, select an industry within the sector. For example, Chemicals—Diversified is an industry within the Chemicals sector. This should give you a list of companies.

Use a table of random numbers, such as Appendix E, to randomly select 5 to 10 companies in the list. Click on Capsule, and then the Financials tab to get information about the selected companies. One suggestion is to find the earnings per share. Compute the mean of each sample, and then develop a confidence interval for the mean earnings per share. Because the sample is a large part of the population, you will want to include the correction factor. Interpret the result.

2. The online edition of the Information Please Almanac is a valuable source of business information. Go to the Website at www.infoplease.com . Click on Business. Then in the Almanac Section, click on Taxes, then click on State Taxes on Individuals. The result is a listing of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Use a table of random numbers to randomly select 5 to 10 states. Compute the mean state tax rate on individuals. Develop a confidence interval for the mean amount. Because the sample is a large part of the population, you will want to include the correction factor. Interpret your result. You might, as an additional exercise, download all the information and use Excel or MINITAB to compute the population mean. Compare that value with the results of your confidence interval.