Deck 3: Vive La Différence: Understanding Variability

Question 1

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

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

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What will the sum of the deviations from the mean always equal?

A) n - 1
B) 0
C) 1
D) n + 1

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following is the correct function for calculating an unbiased estimate of the variance in the population?

A) AVERAGE(A1:A15)
B) STDEV(A1+A2+A3)/3
C) VAR(A1:A12)
D) STDEV(A1:A10)

Answer 3

D

Question 4

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

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

Question 5

When subtracting the largest number in a distribution from the smallest, what type of variability is being calculated?

A) outliers
B) standard deviation
C) variance
D) range

Question 6

What is the most general measure of variability?

A) standard deviation
B) range
C) mean
D) variance

Question 7

Which of the following sets of scores has the most variability?

A) 7,10,11,15,19
B) 7,7,8,8,10,11
C) 7,7,7,7,7,7,7
D) 6,6,7,7,7,7,7

Question 8

The three measures of variability commonly used to reflect the spread or dispersion in a group of scores are the standard deviation, the variance, and the what?

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

Question 9

The average and which of the following can be used to describe the characteristics of a distribution and show how distributions differ from one another?

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

Question 10

If you intend to use a sample as an estimate of a population parameter, which standard deviation is the best to calculate?

A) biased
B) unbiased
C) squared deviation
D) mean deviation

Question 11

What is the formula for the exclusive range?

A) r - n +1
B) h - l + 1
C) (h - l)r
D) h - l

Question 12

What is the formula for the inclusive range?

A) r - n +1
B) h - l + 1
C) (h - l)r
D) h - l

Question 13

What is the most frequently used measure of variability?

A) mean deviation
B) range
C) variance
D) standard deviation

Question 14

In the formula for computing the range, what does the letter "h" represent?

A) summation
B) sample size
C) lowest score
D) highest score

Question 15

Variability is a measure of how much each score in a group of scores differs from the what?

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

Question 16

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

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

Question 17

If a distribution is "significantly distorted" what is this called?

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

Question 18

What is obtained by squaring the standard deviation?

A) mean deviation
B) range
C) variance
D) squared deviation

Question 19

Which of the following is one way to represent variance?

A) s
B) s²
C) ?s
D) s/n

Question 20

When calculating the standard deviation, what must be done in order to obtain an unbiased estimate of the population?

A) subtract 1 from X
B) subtract 1 from N
C) subtract 1 from n
D) add 1 to n

Question 21

How would you go about computing the variance for a set of scores?

Question 22

What is the formula for the standard deviation?

Question 23

What is the s² of the following set of scores? 10, 15, 12, 18, 19, 16, 12

Question 24

Explain why the standard deviation is referred to as an unbiased estimate. Why are unbiased estimates important to researchers?

Question 25

What is the formula for computing both the exclusive and inclusive ranges?

Question 26

Write out the two Excel formulas for computing the standard deviation and the variance.

Question 27

What are the measures of variability discussed in the textbook?

Question 28

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

Question 29

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

Question 30

What is the s² of the following set of scores? 20, 24, 26, 22, 18, 16, 18