Exam 1: Instruction and Data Collection

Problems may arise when statistically unsophisticated users who do not understand the assumptions behind the statistical procedures or their limitations are misled by results obtained from computer software.

The Commissioner of Health in New York State wanted to study malpractice litigation in New York. A sample of 31 thousand medical records was drawn from a population of 2.7 million patients who were discharged during the year 2009. The proportion of malpractice claims filed from the sample of 31 thousand patients is a ________.

A study is under way in Yosemite National Forest to determine the adult height of American pine trees. Specifically, the study is attempting to determine what factors aid a tree in reaching heights greater than 60 feet tall. It is estimated that the forest contains 25,000 adult American pines. The study involves collecting heights from 250 randomly selected adult American pine trees and analyzing the results. Identify the population from which the study was sampled.

A study is under way in Yosemite National Forest to determine the adult height of American pine trees. Specifically, the study is attempting to determine what factors aid a tree in reaching heights greater than 60 feet tall. It is estimated that the forest contains 25,000 adult American pines. The study involves collecting heights from 250 randomly selected adult American pine trees and analyzing the results. Identify the variable of interest in the study.

Mediterranean fruit flies were discovered in California a few years ago and badly damaged the oranges grown in that state. Suppose the manager of a large farm wanted to study the impact of the fruit flies on the orange crops on a daily basis over a 6-week period. On each day a random sample of orange trees were selected from within a random sample of acres. The daily average number of damaged oranges per tree and the proportion of trees having damaged oranges were calculated. The two main measures calculated each day (i.e., average number of damaged oranges per tree and proportion of trees having damaged oranges) are called ________.

The Human Resources Director of a large corporation wishes to develop an employee benefits package and decides to select 500 employees from a list of all (N = 40,000) workers in order to study their preferences for the various components of a potential package. All the employees in the corporation constitute the ________.

Which of the following is not an element of descriptive statistical problems?

Mediterranean fruit flies were discovered in California a few years ago and badly damaged the oranges grown in that state. Suppose the manager of a large farm wanted to study the impact of the fruit flies on the orange crops on a daily basis over a 6-week period. On each day a random sample of orange trees were selected from within a random sample of acres. The daily average number of damaged oranges per tree and the proportion of trees having damaged oranges were calculated. In this study, drawing conclusions on any one day about the true population characteristics based on information obtained from the sample is called ________.

Which of the following is most likely a population as opposed to a sample?

Compiling the number of registered voters who turned out to vote for the primary in Iowa is an example of descriptive statistics.

The average number of units earned per semester by college students is suspected to be rising. A researcher at Calendula College wishes to estimate the number of units earned by students during the spring semester at Calendula. To do so, he randomly selects 100 student transcripts and records the number of units each student earned in the spring term. Identify the variable of interest to the researcher.

A sample is the portion of the universe that is selected for analysis.

A study is under way in Yosemite National Forest to determine the adult height of American pine trees. Specifically, the study is attempting to determine what factors aid a tree in reaching heights greater than 60 feet tall. It is estimated that the forest contains 25,000 adult American pines. The study involves collecting heights from 250 randomly selected adult American pine trees and analyzing the results. Identify the sample in the study.

Mediterranean fruit flies were discovered in California a few years ago and badly damaged the oranges grown in that state. Suppose the manager of a large farm wanted to study the impact of the fruit flies on the orange crops on a daily basis over a 6-week period. On each day a random sample of orange trees were selected from within a random sample of acres. The daily average number of damaged oranges per tree and the proportion of trees having damaged oranges were calculated. In this study, the presentation and characterization of the two main measures calculated each day (i.e., average number of damaged oranges per tree and proportion of trees having damaged oranges) is called ________.

A summary measure that is computed to describe a characteristic of an entire population is called

Most analysts focus on the cost of tuition as the way to measure the cost of a college education. But incidentals, such as textbook costs, are rarely considered. A researcher at Drummand University wishes to estimate the textbook costs of first-year students at Drummand. To do so, she monitored the textbook cost of 250 first-year students and found that their average textbook cost was $300 per semester. Identify the population of interest to the researcher.

The universe or "totality of items or things" under consideration is called

A professor computed the sample average exam score of 20 students and used it to estimate the average exam score of the 1,500 students taking the exam was an example of inferential statistics.

Those methods involving the collection, presentation, and characterization of a set of data in order to properly describe the various features of that set of data are called

A statistic is usually unobservable while a parameter is usually observable.