Deck 2: The Basics Statistics of Measurement

Question 1

A negatively skewed distribution is one with:

A)few scores at the low end and many scores grouped at the high end.
B)few scores at the high end and many scores grouped at the low end.
C)few scores at the high end and many negative scores.

Answer 1

few scores at the low end and many scores grouped at the high end.

Question 2

What measure of central tendency must you be able to first calculate in order to calculate a standard deviation?

A)Mean
B)Median
C)Mode
D)Range

Answer 2

Mean

Question 3

In a distribution that is positively skewed,what is the relationship between the mean and median?

A)There is no predictable relationship.
B)The mean is greater than the median.
C)The mean is less than the median.
D)The mean and median are equal.

Answer 3

The mean is greater than the median.

Question 4

Addition and subtraction operations can be used with ________ scale(s)of measurement.

A)all
B)ordinal,interval,and ratio
C)interval and ratio
D)ratio

Question 5

With which scale(s)of measurement is it possible to correctly state that a score of 80 reflects twice as much as a score of 40?

A)All scales
B)No scales
C)Ratio,interval,and ordinal
D)Interval and ratio
E)Ratio

Question 6

A set of scores with a standard deviation (SD)of 4 would have a variance equal to:

A)2.
B)4.
C)8.
D)16.

Question 7

Which scale does not necessarily have equal distance between intervals?

A)Interval
B)Ordinal
C)Ratio

Question 8

A bimodal distribution is best described as:

A)a distribution with two scores that are the same.
B)a distribution with two scores of the same frequency.
C)a distribution with two scores that are equal in frequency and higher than other scores.
D)a distribution with two scores that are equal in frequency and lower than other scores.

Question 9

The correct order of the following scales of measurement,from most to least precise,is:

A)nominal,ordinal,interval,ratio
B)interval,ratio,ordinal,nominal
C)ordinal,nominal interval,ratio
D)ratio,interval,ordinal,nominal

Question 10

The standard deviation can be interpreted as measuring:

A)the average distance that scores vary from the mean of the distribution.
B)the greatest distance that scores vary from the mean of the distribution.
C)the average percentage of the distance that the scores vary from the mean of the distribution.
D)the percentage of the distance that half the scores vary from the mean of the distribution.

Question 11

What is the preferred measure of central tendency for a distribution with a significant positive skew?

A)Mean
B)Median
C)Mode
D)Mid-percentile rank

Question 12

When one has a small set of scores that contains an extreme score (relative to the others),which measure of central tendency would be significantly impacted?

A)Mean
B)Median
C)Mode

Question 13

If the distribution of scores on a classroom test has a strong positive skew,then for this group of students,test was most likely:

A)of average difficulty.
B)too easy.
C)too difficult.
D)not enough information to determine.

Question 14

A set of scores has a variance equal to 25.The standard deviation would be equal to:

A)5.
B)12.5.
C)50.
D)100.

Question 15

Approximately what percentage of scores falls below 1 standard deviation above the mean?

A)34%
B)82%
C)84%
D)98%

Question 16

A scale used in an experiment assigns a value of "1" to subjects that are female and a value of "2" to subjects that are male.What type of scale is used in this experiment?

A)Interval
B)Nominal
C)Ordinal
D)Ratio

Question 17

Weight in pounds is an example of which scale of measurement?

A)Ratio
B)Ordinal
C)Nominal
D)Interval

Question 18

The final standing of runners after a race would be an example of which scale of measurement?

A)Interval
B)Nominal
C)Ordinal
D)Ratio

Question 19

Which measure of central tendency can be used with all four scales of measurement?

A)Mean
B)Median
C)Mode

Question 20

Which scale of measurement has a true zero point?

A)Interval
B)Nominal
C)Ordinal
D)Ratio

Question 21

A special mathematical procedure for predicting scores on one variable (criterion or Y)given a score on another (predictor or X)is:

A)correlational analysis.
B)linear regression.
C)regression analysis.
D)prediction constant.

Question 22

A ________ is a graph that visually displays the relationship between two variables.

A)bar graph
B)list
C)table
D)scatterplot

Question 23

In a normal distribution,what percentage of scores will fall between one standard deviation below the mean and one standard deviation above the mean?

A)16%
B)34%
C)68%
D)84%
E)98%

Question 24

The appropriate correlation coefficient to use when one variable is dichotomous and one is measured on an interval or ratio scale is:

A)Alpha Coefficient.
B)Pearson Product-Moment Correlation.
C)Point-Biserial Correlation.
D)Spearman Rank-Difference Correlation.

Question 25

If the coefficient of determination is 0.30 what is the coefficient of non-determination?

A)0.09
B)0.30
C)0.60
D)0.70

Question 26

According to the guidelines presented in the text,a correlation of .25 would be considered:

A)weak.
B)moderate.
C)strong.

Question 27

Coefficients based on samples with ________ variances will generally produce _______ correlation coefficients than those based on samples with ________ variances.

A)Large; higher; small
B)Large; lower; small
C)Small; higher; large
D)Small; equal; large

Question 28

The correlation between two variables is 0.70.Using the concept of the coefficient of nondetermination,the proportion of variance that is NOT determined or predictable from the relationship between the two variables is:

A)14%.
B)30%.
C)51%.
D)70%.

Question 29

Why would a psychologist feel that the variance might be difficult to interpret?

A)It is a nonlinear transformation.
B)It is an area transformation.
C)It may be a negative number.
D)It uses squared raw score units.

Question 30

If you want to calculate the correlation between spelling skills and reading comprehension which are both reported as percentile ranks,the appropriate coefficient is:

A)Beta Coefficient.
B)Cronbach's Coefficient Alpha.
C)Pearson Product-Moment Correlation.
D)Spearman Rank-Difference Correlation.

Question 31

Assume a correlation between two tests is 0.40 (r = 0.40).What would the coefficient of determination equal?

A)0.16
B)0.20
C)0.40
D)0.60

Question 32

If the range of one or both variables is restricted,the resulting correlation coefficient will likely:

A)be decreased.
B)be icreased.
C)remain the same.
D)either increases or decrease depending on the calculations.

Question 33

If the correlation between math and writing achievement scores in the general population is 0.40,the correlation between these scores among students at MIT,Yale,and Stanford (selective and prestigious universities)would likely be:

A)approximately 0.40.
B)less than 0.40.
C)greater than 0.40.
D)there is insufficient information to determine.

Question 34

If a large decrease on one variable is associated with a correspondingly large increase on another variable,the correlation is likely:

A)Strong and negative
B)Weak and negative
C)Strong and positive
D)Weak and positive

Question 35

The correlation between two variables is 0.70.Using the concept of the coefficient of determination,the proportion of variance that is determined or predictable from the relationship between the two measures is:

A)14%.
B)30%.
C)49%.
D)70%.

Question 36

What is the range of the data below?
8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22

A)8
B)12
C)14
D)22