lisa450

My sister (who for the record is an adult) wants to meet her online boyfriend IRL. They've been talking for five years and know each other very well. They have a lot of common interests. I feel like I should give her some kind of sisterly advice; trouble is, I'm one of those forty-year-old-virgin types (er, okay, thirty-two-year-old asexual; point being, I don't date). So... what would you tell my sister, if you were me?

I am a student hoping to go into rehabilitation tech. I'm working on a case study--an adult who has a developmental disorder. I'm to write an essay about what level of support she might need. Right now I am finding a lot of info about what kind of support people need, divided into approximate IQ levels, and so I think it would be useful to have some idea of what this person's IQ might be.

Client is a 30-year-old woman who currently lives alone with limited support.

Relevant characteristics:

--She lives semi-independently, in an apartment of her own, and does her own basic ADLs (she can feed herself, dress herself, take showers, etc.), at which she is competent. Learning hygiene took her longer than most, until her early twenties.

--Can do her own food shopping, by walking to a store down the block. Does not drive.

--Can read and write and do basic arithmetic, though it took until high school to learn the multiplication table.

--Can count money and pay for items, including writing checks, but is unable to create a budget, and usually unaware of how much money is in her account. Very often leaves bills unpaid despite having the money; carers will find a large pile of unsorted mail either still in the mailbox or piled on a table, with multiple months' bills in the stack. Spends money on very little other than food and utilities.

--Can prepare simple food--sandwiches, microwave meals, etc.--but often resorts to ready-to-eat foods because cooking seems "too complicated".

--Has been able to take care of pets, including first a hamster and more recently a cat, though sometimes the litter box is left too dirty. She notes that the cat often has to remind her to feed it; the cat itself is in good condition and obviously well-cared for, so she most likely is able to make up for any missed meals within hours.

--Can read, and enjoys reading; keeps a simple diary. She learned how to crochet as a child and likes to make things out of yarn.

--Has in the past had supported employment, but is currently unemployed. Several employers have dismissed her with the explanation that she is "not able to do the work", with jobs including janitorial work and food service. Currently looking into career training programs which might make her more employable.

If I could get a reasonable estimate of this person's IQ, including your reasoning for why you chose that estimate, that would be helpful in writing my essay.

I am a student hoping to go into rehabilitation tech. I'm working on a case study--an adult who has a developmental disorder. I'm to write an essay about what level of support she might need. Right now I am finding a lot of info about what kind of support people need, divided into approximate IQ levels, and so I think it would be useful to have some idea of what this person's IQ might be.

Client is a 30-year-old woman who currently lives alone with limited support.

Relevant characteristics:

--She lives semi-independently, in an apartment of her own, and does her own basic ADLs (she can feed herself, dress herself, take showers, etc.), at which she is competent. Learning hygiene took her longer than most, until her early twenties.

--Can do her own food shopping, by walking to a store down the block. Does not drive.

--Can read and write and do basic arithmetic, though it took until high school to learn the multiplication table.

--Can count money and pay for items, including writing checks, but is unable to create a budget, and usually unaware of how much money is in her account. Very often leaves bills unpaid despite having the money; carers will find a large pile of unsorted mail either still in the mailbox or piled on a table, with multiple months' bills in the stack. Spends money on very little other than food and utilities.

--Can prepare simple food--sandwiches, microwave meals, etc.--but often resorts to ready-to-eat foods because cooking seems "too complicated".

--Has been able to take care of pets, including first a hamster and more recently a cat, though sometimes the litter box is left too dirty. She notes that the cat often has to remind her to feed it; the cat itself is in good condition and obviously well-cared for, so she most likely is able to make up for any missed meals within hours.

--Can read, and enjoys reading; keeps a simple diary. She learned how to crochet as a child and likes to make things out of yarn.

--Has in the past had supported employment, but is currently unemployed. Several employers have dismissed her with the explanation that she is "not able to do the work", with jobs including janitorial work and food service. Currently looking into career training programs which might make her more employable.

If I could get a reasonable estimate of this person's IQ, including your reasoning for why you chose that estimate, that would be helpful in writing my essay.

Can you show me how to do this? I don't really need the answer so much as the process. Thanks.

If your event has a probability of 1:282, what's the probability that it will happen 10 or more times in 564 attempts?

I am not entirely sure about how to calculate this... Are the large numbers a problem? For example, how would you find out, "If your event has a probability of 1:3, what are the chances that it will happen three or more times in ten tries?"

Okay, so let's say you find out that some measurements are not significantly different; i.e., they have a p-value of more than .05 (or whatever you've set as your limit).

At this point, can you say, "These measurements are equal."?

Or would it be more correct to say, "There is no statistically significant difference between these measurements."?

I think that the lack of statistical difference is probably not the same as statistical equality...

The claim that the measurements are equal is being made in a published journal article, and I only have one statistics class under my belt, which is why I am so unsure.

Question:

Find the derivative of ln (sqrt((x+1)/(x-1)).

My answer:

-(1/(x^2-1))

The back of the book has 1-x^2 for the denominator in that answer, but I've done it twice and still come up with the same thing. Am I missing something?

Okay, the function I'm talking about is one that represents the way a population changes with limiting factors involved: It goes up to maximum, at which point disease or overpopuation kicks in, and it bounces back down. At some point, for most such functions, the population settles near a balance point--somewhere along the curve.

The curve looks like a semicircle or an upside-down parabola, depending on the population and the specific factors. There are two balance points, one on either half.

If you took those two balance points, and inscribed a rectangle in the curve from them to the zero line, would that rectangle have the maximum possible area for a rectangle inscribed in the function? If so, does that have any realistic significance?

(Please keep your explanations to college calculus, if possible...)