QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATIONS AND QUIZZES
For multiple-choice quiz questions, we recommend that instructions to the students include the direction to "select the best answer for each question." The reason is that for some questions, alternatives are presented that are partly right, whereas the alternative keyed as correct offers a substantially better answer.
CHAPTER 1: Introduction
Quiz Questions:
1. Descriptive: inferential as (a) approximate:exact
+(b) summarizing:accounting for chance
(c) quantitative:qualitative
(d) substantive:statistical
2. The purpose of descriptive statistics is to
+(a) organize and summarize observations so that they are easier to understand (b) infer something about conditions in a population from study of a sample (c) to predict standing in one factor from knowledge of standing in another (d) to determine whether there is a real difference between two (or more) groups
3. The branch of statistics concerned with chance factors associated with drawing a sample is known as
(a) random statistics
(b) population statistics
(c) descriptive statistics
+(d) inferential statistics
4. The idea of a random sample is particularly important for (a) descriptive statistics
+(b) statistical inference
(c) measuring degree of association
(d) all of the above
In the four questions immediately following, suppose we are interested in the average reading achievement test score of the currently enrolled students in Edison Elementary School.
5. The set of test scores for these children constitutes (a) an element (b) a sample (c) a parameter
+(d) a population
6. The set of test scores for Miss Grady's class constitutes (a) an element
+(b) a sample (c) a statistic (d) a variable
7. The average score of Miss Grady's class is a (a) sample
+(b) statistic (c) parameter (d) constant
8. The average score of all students in Edison School is a (a) sample (b) statistic
+(c) parameter (d) variable
9. Parameter is to population as ____________ is to sample (a) element (b) constant (c) variable
+(d) statistic
10. In an experiment, the variable that is manipulated by the investigator is called the (a) research variable
+(b) independent variable (c) dependent variable (d) statistical variable
11. In an experiment, the dependent variable is (a) a variable that might affect the outcome (b) the variable manipulated by the investigator (c) an example of a secondary variable
+(d) the variable that is measured
12. A research question is one that is about
(a) theory
(b) a numerical aspect of the observations
+(c) the subject matter under investigation
(d) an abstract matter
13. A statistical question
+(a) is developed from a research question
(b) precedes development of a research question
(c) is independent of the research question
(d) is developed from the research conclusion
14. In the ordinary course of investigation, statistical matters
(a) precede research matters
(b) follow research matters
+(c) intervene between the research question and the research conclusion (d) form the beginning and end of the study
15. Which of the following recorded values is best viewed as a discrete variable?
(a) a temperature of 123 degrees
(b) an IQ of 121
(c) a piston diameter of 3.1273 inches
+(d) a count of 36 telephones in a department store
16. Scores for which of the following variables would necessarily be approximate numbers?
(a) family size
(b) annual income
+(c) arm length
(d) units completed at the end of the first semester
17. Once a set of measurements is recorded, they form a +(a) discrete series
(b) continuous series
(c) set of exact numbers
(d) population
18. If the weight of three objects is reported to be 97.0 pounds, their average weight (97.0/3) should be reported as
(a) 32 pounds
+(b) 32.3 pounds
(c) 32.33 pounds
(d) 32.3333 pounds
19. A researcher is interested in studying hand-eye coordination of second-grade boys at Honey Island Elementary School. She selects four boys for study and finds that they all receive the same score. In this study, hand-eye coordination is
+(a) a quantitative variable
(b) a qualitative variable
(c) a quantitative constant
(d) a qualitative constant
20. A marketing analyst surveys the brand of cola drink preferred by adult women. Brand of cola drink is
(a) a quantitative variable
+(b) a qualitative variable
(c) a constant
(d) an ordinal variable
21. Four kinds of cola drinks form
(a) a ratio scale
(b) an ordinal scale
(c) an interval scale
+(d) a nominal scale
22. If five students are ranked from best to worst in terms of potential for graduate study, the ranks form
(a) a ratio scale
(b) an interval scale
+(c) an ordinal scale
(d) a nominal scale
23. The statement that a score of 120 represents a 20% improvement over a score of 100 is appropriate for
(a) an equal interval scale
+(b) a ratio scale
(c) an interval scale
(d) a continuous variable
24. If the scores 100, 120, and 140 are scores on an interval scale, which statement is true?
(a) The score of 120 represents a 20% increase over the score of 100.
+(b) The score of 140 represents as much increase over 120 as 120 does over 100.
(c) Both (a) and (b) are true.
(d) Neither (a) nor (b) is true.
25. The highest level of measurement that we can be sure a score on this multiple-choice examination meets has the characteristics of
(a) a ratio scale
(b) an interval scale
+(c) an ordinal scale
(d) a nominal scale