Deck 1: Introduction

Question 1

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

Answer 1

All Calendula College students enrolled in the spring

Question 2

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

Answer 2

The proportion of females registered to vote in a county

Question 3

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

Answer 3

The number of units earned by Calendula College students during the spring term

Question 4

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 5

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 $600 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

Question 6

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 7

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

Question 8

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 9

Which of the following is a discrete quantitative (numerical) variable?

A) The Dow Jones Industrial average
B) The volume of water released from a dam
C) The distance you drove yesterday
D) The number of employees of an insurance company

Question 10

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

Question 11

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 12

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 13

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 14

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 15

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 $600 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 16

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 17

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 18

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 19

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 20

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 $600 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 21

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 possible responses to the question "What is your annual income rounded to the nearest thousands?" are values from a

A) discrete numerical random variable.
B) continuous numerical random variable.
C) categorical random variable.
D) parameter.

Question 22

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 possible responses to the question "How would you rate the quality of your purchase experience with 1 = excellent, 2 = good, 3 = decent, 4 = poor, 5 = terrible?" are values from a

A) discrete numerical random variable.
B) continuous numerical random variable.
C) categorical random variable.
D) parameter.

Question 23

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 answer on "whether you visited campus bars on the weekend before the final exam week" from students in the sample is an example of ________.

A) a categorical random variable
B) a discrete random variable
C) a continuous random variable
D) a parameter

Question 24

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

Question 25

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 possible responses to the question "How much time do you use the DVD player every week on the average?" are values from a

A) discrete numerical random variable.
B) continuous numerical random variable.
C) categorical random variable.
D) parameter.

Question 26

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 possible responses to the question "In which year were you born?" are values from a

A) discrete numerical random variable.
B) continuous numerical random variable.
C) categorical random variable.
D) parameter.

Question 27

Researchers are concerned that the weight of the average American school child is increasing implying, among other things, that children's clothing should be manufactured and marketed in larger sizes. If X is the weight of school children sampled in a nationwide study, then X is an example of

A) a categorical random variable.
B) a discrete random variable.
C) a continuous random variable.
D) a parameter.

Question 28

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 possible responses to the question "What brand of DVD player did you purchase?" are values from a

A) discrete numerical random variable.
B) continuous numerical random variable.
C) categorical random variable.
D) parameter.

Question 29

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 possible responses to the question "How many DVD players made by other manufacturers have you used?" are values from a

A) discrete random variable.
B) continuous random variable.
C) categorical random variable.
D) parameter.

Question 30

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 possible responses to the question "Are you happy, indifferent, or unhappy with the performance per dollar spent on the DVD player?" result in

A) a nominal scale variable.
B) an ordinal scale variable.
C) an interval scale variable.
D) a ratio scale variable.

Question 31

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 possible responses to the question "Are you happy, indifferent, or unhappy with the performance per dollar spent on the DVD player?" are values from a

A) discrete numerical random variable.
B) continuous numerical random variable.
C) categorical random variable.
D) parameter.

Question 32

To monitor campus security, the campus police office is taking a survey of the number of students in a parking lot each 30 minutes of a 24-hour period with the goal of determining when patrols of the lot would serve the most students. If X is the number of students in the lot each period of time, then X is an example of

A) a categorical random variable.
B) a discrete random variable.
C) a continuous random variable.
D) a statistic.

Question 33

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 possible responses to the question "Out of a 100 point score with 100 being the highest and 0 being the lowest, what is your satisfaction level on the videocassette recorder that you purchased?" are values from a

A) discrete numerical random variable.
B) continuous numerical random variable.
C) categorical random variable.
D) parameter.

Question 34

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 35

Which of the following is a continuous quantitative (numerical) variable?

A) The color of a student's eyes
B) The number of employees of an insurance company
C) The amount of milk produced by a cow in one 24-hour period
D) The number of gallons of milk sold at the local grocery store yesterday

Question 36

The classification of student class designation (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) is an example of

A) a categorical random variable.
B) a discrete random variable.
C) a continuous random variable.
D) a parameter.

Question 37

The classification of student major (accounting, economics, management, marketing, other) is an example of

A) a categorical random variable.
B) a discrete random variable.
C) a continuous random variable.
D) a parameter.

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 possible responses to the question "How many DVD players made by other manufacturers have you used?" result in

A) a nominal scale variable.
B) an ordinal scale variable.
C) an interval scale variable.
D) a ratio scale variable.

Question 39

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 possible responses to the question "How many people are there in your household?" are values from a

A) discrete numerical random variable.
B) continuous numerical random variable.
C) categorical random variable.
D) parameter.

Question 40

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 41

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

Question 42

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 possible responses to the question "What is your age at last birthday?" result in

A) a nominal scale variable.
B) an ordinal scale variable.
C) an interval scale variable.
D) a ratio scale variable.

Question 43

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 possible responses to the question "How would you rate the quality of your purchase experience with 1 = excellent, 2 = good, 3 = decent, 4 = poor, 5 = terrible?" result in

A) a nominal scale variable.
B) an ordinal scale variable.
C) an interval scale variable.
D) a ratio scale variable.

Question 44

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 45

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 possible responses to the question "What brand of DVD player did you purchase?" result in

A) a nominal scale variable.
B) an ordinal scale variable.
C) an interval scale variable.
D) a ratio scale variable.

Question 46

The answer to the question "What is your favorite color?" is an example of an ordinal scaled variable.

Question 47

The possible responses to the question "How many times in the past three months have you visited a city park?" are values from a discrete variable.

Question 48

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 possible responses to the question "Out of a 100 point score with 100 being the highest and 0 being the lowest, what is your satisfaction level with the DVD player that you purchased?" result in

A) a nominal scale variable.
B) an ordinal scale variable.
C) an interval scale variable.
D) a ratio scale variable.

Question 49

A continuous variable may take on any value within its relevant range even though the measurement device may not be precise enough to record it.

Question 50

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

Question 51

Faculty rank (professor to lecturer) is an example of discrete numerical data.

Question 52

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 53

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

Question 54

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 possible responses to the question "What is your annual income rounded to the nearest thousands?" result in

A) a nominal scale variable.
B) an ordinal scale variable.
C) an interval scale variable.
D) a ratio scale variable.

Question 55

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

Question 56

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 possible responses to the question "How much time do you use the DVD player every week on the average?" result in

A) a nominal scale variable.
B) an ordinal scale variable.
C) an interval scale variable.
D) a ratio scale variable.

Question 57

The amount of coffee consumed by an individual in a day is an example of a discrete numerical variable.

Question 58

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 possible responses to the question "How many people are there in your household?" result in

A) a nominal scale variable.
B) an ordinal scale variable.
C) an interval scale variable.
D) a ratio scale variable.

Question 59

Student grades (A to F) are an example of continuous numerical data.

Question 60

The possible responses to the question "How long have you been living at your current residence?" are values from a continuous variable.

Question 61

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 2010. The true proportion of malpractice claims filed from the population of 2.7 million patients is a ________.

Question 62

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 63

The answer to the question "How many hours on average do you spend watching TV every week?" is an example of a ratio scaled variable.

Question 64

The answer to the question "What is your sleeping bag temperature rating?" is an example of a ratio scaled variable.

Question 65

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

Question 66

The oranges grown in corporate farms in an agricultural state were damaged by some unknown fungi a few years ago. Suppose the manager of a large farm wanted to study the impact of the fungi on the orange crops on a daily basis over a 6-week period. On each day a random sample of orange trees was 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 67

The oranges grown in corporate farms in an agricultural state were damaged by some unknown fungi a few years ago. Suppose the manager of a large farm wanted to study the impact of the fungi on the orange crops on a daily basis over a 6-week period. On each day a random sample of orange trees was 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 68

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 2010. The proportion of malpractice claims filed from the sample of 31 thousand patients is a ________.

Question 69

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, which is an example of inferential statistics.

Question 70

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 71

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 72

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 73

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 74

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 75

The oranges grown in corporate farms in an agricultural state were damaged by some unknown fungi a few years ago. Suppose the manager of a large farm wanted to study the impact of the fungi on the orange crops on a daily basis over a 6-week period. On each day a random sample of orange trees was 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 76

The answer to the question "How do you rate the quality of your business statistics course?" is an example of an ordinal scaled variable.

Question 77

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 78

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 79

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 80

The oranges grown in corporate farms in an agricultural state were damaged by some unknown fungi a few years ago. Suppose the manager of a large farm wanted to study the impact of the fungi on the orange crops on a daily basis over a 6-week period. On each day a random sample of orange trees was 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 ________.