Deck 2: Means to an End: Computing and Understanding Averages

Question 1

Which of the following is like the fulcrum on a seesaw?

A) mode
B) median
C) mean
D) moving average

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What is the term associated with scores that are at the extreme ends of the distribution?

A) variability
B) outliers
C) skew
D) percentile

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Who was the inventor of the correlation?

A) Sigmund Freud
B) Charles Darwin
C) Francis Galton
D) Jacob Cohen

Answer 3

C

Question 4

In the formula for computing the mean, what does the letter "n" represent?

A) summation
B) sample size
C) mean value of the group
D) individual scores

Question 5

The median is the score of the middle case when the number of cases in the data set is which of the following?

A) an odd number
B) an even number
C) more than 20
D) less than 2

Question 6

To identify the point in a distribution at which 50% of scores fall above and 50% fall below a given score, which measure of central tendency would you report?

A) average
B) mean
C) mode
D) median

Question 7

Which of the following is the correct formula for calculating the mean?

Question 8

In a ranked list of 25 scores, the median is the score of

A) the 12th case
B) the 13th case
C) the average of the scores of the 12th and 13th cases
D) the average of all of the scores

Question 9

The mode measures central tendency in terms of which of these?

A) the most common score
B) the most central case
C) the most important score
D) the most average case

Question 10

In the formula for computing the mean, what does the letter "X" represent?

A) summation
B) sample size
C) mean value of the group
D) individual scores

Question 11

Which of the following is the correct function for calculating the score occurring most often in a distribution?

A) MEAN(A1:A15)
B) MEDIAN(A1+A2+A3)/3
C) MODE (A1:A12)
D) MEDIAN(A1:A10)

Question 12

Which of the following is the correct function for calculating the midpoint?

A) MEAN(A1:A15)
B) MEDIAN(A1+A2+A3)/3
C) MODE(A1:A12)
D) MEDIAN(A1:A10)

Question 13

Which of the following requires you to multiply a set of scores by the frequency of their occurrence, add the total of these products, and divide by the total number of scores?

A) arithmetic mean
B) harmonic mean
C) geometric mean
D) weighted mean

Question 14

If you wanted to identify the most frequently occurring score in a distribution, which measure of central tendency would you report?

A) average
B) mean
C) mode
D) median

Question 15

Which of the following measures of central tendency is the midpoint for a set of scores?

A) average
B) mean
C) mode
D) median

Question 16

When using the AVERAGE function in Excel, which of these are you calculating?

A) sum
B) mean
C) mode
D) median

Question 17

In the formula for computing the mean, what does the Greek letter "?" represent?

A) summation
B) sample size
C) mean value of the group
D) individual scores

Question 18

Which of the following is the easiest way to describe data?

A) average
B) correlation
C) descriptive
D) frequency

Question 19

What is the term for a distribution that is significantly distorted?

A) variability
B) outliers
C) skew
D) percentile

Question 20

What is the most common type of average reported?

A) sum
B) mean
C) mode
D) median

Question 21

Determine the median for the following data set: 11, 14, 18, 19, 20, 25

Question 22

What is the mean of the following set of scores? 10, 15, 12, 18, 19, 16, 12

Question 23

What are the measures of central tendency discussed in the textbook?

Question 24

When might you want to use the moving average tool?

Question 25

When the data are categorical in nature and values can fit into only one class, such as hair color or political affiliation, which of the measures of central tendency should be used?

Question 26

What is the formula for calculating the mean?

Question 27

Calculate the median for the following data set: 5, 15, 10, 15, 5, 10, 10, 20, 25, 15

Question 28

Determine the mode of the following set of scores: 10, 15, 12, 18, 19, 16, 12

Question 29

Calculate the median of the following set of scores: 10, 15, 12, 18, 19, 16, 12

Question 30

What is the easiest and most commonly made mistake when computing the mode?