Deck 1: Instruction and Data Collection

Question 1

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.

A) All Drummand University students.
B) All college students.
C) All first-year Drummand University students.
D) The 250 students that were monitored.

Answer 1

All first-year Drummand University students.

Question 2

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) The 250 randomly selected adult American pine trees.
B) The 25,000 adult American pine trees in the forest.
C) All the adult American pine trees taller than 60 feet.
D) All American pine trees, of any age, in the forest.

Answer 2

The 25,000 adult American pine trees in the forest.

Question 3

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

A) An inference made about the population based on the sample.
B) The population or sample of interest.
C) Tables, graphs, or numerical summary tools.
D) Identification of patterns in the data.

Answer 3

An inference made about the population based on the sample.

Question 4

Researchers suspect that the average number of units earned per semester by college students is 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. He found that the average number of semester units completed was 12.96 units per student. Identify the population of interest to the researcher.

A) All Calendula College students.
B) All college students.
C) All Calendula College students enrolled in the spring.
D) All college students enrolled in the spring.

Question 5

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

A) a sample.
B) a population.
C) a parameter.
D) a statistic.

Question 6

The process of using sample statistics to draw conclusions about true population parameters is called

A) statistical inference.
B) the scientific method.
C) sampling.
D) descriptive statistics.

Question 7

The chancellor of a major university was concerned about alcohol abuse on her campus and wanted to find out the proportion of students at her university who visited campus bars on the weekend before the final exam week. Her assistant took a random sample of 250 students and computed the portion of students in the sample who visited campus bars on the weekend before the final exam. The portion of all students at her university who visited campus bars on the weekend before the final exam week is an example of

A) a statistic.
B) a population.
C) a sample.
D) a parameter.

Question 8

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) statistical inference.
B) the scientific method.
C) sampling.
D) descriptive statistics.

Question 9

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 variable of interest to the researcher.

A) The textbook cost of first-year Drummand University students.
B) The year in school of Drummand University students.
C) The age of Drummand University students.
D) The cost of incidental expenses of Drummand University students.

Question 10

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

A) respondents to a newspaper survey.
B) the first 5 students completing an assignment.
C) every third person to arrive at the bank.
D) registered voters in a county.

Question 11

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 sample in the study.

A) All Drummand University students.
B) All college students.
C) All first-year Drummand University students.
D) The 250 students that were monitored.

Question 12

The estimation of the population average family expenditure on food based on the sample average expenditure of 1,000 families is an example of

A) inferential statistics.
B) descriptive statistics.
C) a parameter.
D) a statistic.

Question 13

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

A) a parameter.
B) a census.
C) a statistic.
D) the scientific method.

Question 14

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.

A) The 250 randomly selected adult American pine trees.
B) The 25,000 adult American pine trees in the forest.
C) All the adult American pine trees taller than 60 feet.
D) All American pine trees, of any age, in the forest.

Question 15

The portion of the universe that has been selected for analysis is called

A) a sample.
B) a frame.
C) a parameter.
D) a statistic.

Question 16

A summary measure that is computed to describe a characteristic from only a sample of the population is called

A) a parameter.
B) a census.
C) a statistic.
D) the scientific method.

Question 17

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) The number of students enrolled at Calendula College during the spring term.
B) The average indebtedness of Calendula College students enrolled in the spring.
C) The age of Calendula College students enrolled in the spring.
D) The number of units earned by Calendula College students during the spring term.

Question 18

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.

A) The age of an American pine tree in Yosemite National Forest.
B) The height of an American pine tree in Yosemite National Forest.
C) The number of American pine trees in Yosemite National Forest.
D) The species of trees in Yosemite National Forest.

Question 19

Which of the following is most likely a parameter as opposed to a statistic?

A) The average score of the first five students completing an assignment.
B) The proportion of females registered to vote in a county.
C) The average height of people randomly selected from a database.
D) The proportion of trucks stopped yesterday that were cited for bad brakes.

Question 20

The collection and summarization of the socioeconomic and physical characteristics of the employees of a particular firm is an example of

A) inferential statistics.
B) descriptive statistics.
C) a parameter.
D) a statistic.

Question 21

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. The 500 employees who will participate in this study constitute the ________.

Question 22

The chancellor of a major university was concerned about alcohol abuse on her campus and wanted to find out the proportion of students at her university who visited campus bars on the weekend before the final exam week. Her assistant took a random sample of 250 students. The portion of students in the sample who visited campus bars on the weekend before the final exam week is an example of ________.

A) a population.
B) a sample.
C) a parameter.
D) a statistic.

Question 23

A population is the totality of items or things under consideration.

Question 24

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 ________.

Question 25

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.

Question 26

Using the number of registered voters who turned out to vote for the primary in Iowa to predict the number of registered voters who will turn out to vote in Vermont's primary is an example of descriptive statistics.

Question 27

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) may be used on a daily basis to estimate the respective true population ________.

Question 28

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. Information obtained from the sample will be used to draw conclusions about the true population ________.

Question 29

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. In this study, methods that result in decisions concerning population characteristics based only on the sample results are called ________.

Question 30

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.

Question 31

A statistic is usually used to provide an estimate for a usually unobserved parameter.

Question 32

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

Question 33

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 ________.

Question 34

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 ________.

Question 35

Managers need an understanding of statistics to be able to present and describe information accurately, draw conclusions about large populations based on small samples, improve processes, and make reliable forecasts.

Question 36

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. The Director will use the data from the sample to compute ________.

Question 37

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

Question 38

TABLE 1-1
The manager of the customer service division of a major consumer electronics company is interested in determining whether the customers who have purchased a DVD player made by the company over the past 12 months are satisfied with their products.
Referring to Table 1-1, the population of interest is

A) all the customers who have bought a DVD player made by the company over the past 12 months.
B) all the customers who have bought a DVD player made by the company and brought it in for repair over the past 12 months.
C) all the customers who have used a DVD player over the past 12 months.
D) all the customers who have ever bought a DVD player made by the company.

Question 39

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

Question 40

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. In this study, methods involving the collection, presentation, and characterization of the data are called ________.

Question 41

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 ________.

Question 42

The Quality Assurance Department of a large urban hospital is attempting to monitor and evaluate patient satisfaction with hospital services. Prior to discharge, a random sample of patients is asked to fill out a questionnaire to rate such services as medical care, nursing, therapy, laboratory, food, and cleaning. The Quality Assurance Department prepares weekly reports that are presented at the Board of Directors meetings and extraordinary/atypical ratings are easy to flag. Values computed from the sample results each week are called ________.

Question 43

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. Using the information obtained from the sample to predict population characteristics with respect to malpractice litigation is an example of ________.

Question 44

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 true proportion of malpractice claims filed from the population of 2.7 million patients is a ________.

Question 45

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 ________.

Question 46

The Quality Assurance Department of a large urban hospital is attempting to monitor and evaluate patient satisfaction with hospital services. Prior to discharge, a random sample of patients is asked to fill out a questionnaire to rate such services as medical care, nursing, therapy, laboratory, food, and cleaning. The Quality Assurance Department prepares weekly reports that are presented at the Board of Directors meetings and extraordinary/atypical ratings are easy to flag. True population characteristics estimated from the sample results each week are called ________.

Question 47

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 collection, presentation, and characterization of the data from patient medical records are examples of ________.