Deck 1: Introduction

Question 1

Which of the following is most likely to be measured categorically?

A) weight gain in first year college students
B) level of authoritarianism in a sample of public accountants
C) species of dogs appearing in the Sunday comics
D) deterioration in driving performance under the influence of alcohol

Answer 1

species of dogs appearing in the Sunday comics

Question 2

If you want to study the effect of hormonal changes as boys reach adolescence, your sample would most likely include

A) pre-adolescent and post-adolescent boys.
B) adolescent boys.
C) pre-adolescent and post-adolescent girls.
D) adult men.

Answer 2

pre-adolescent and post-adolescent boys.

Question 3

The effect of context on morphine tolerance would most likely be seen by differences in

A) the averages of paw-lick latencies in the same and different contexts.
B) the variability of paw-lick latencies within the same and different contexts.
C) number of mice tested under each context.
D) both a and b

Answer 3

the averages of paw-lick latencies in the same and different contexts.

Question 4

Inferential statistics are primarily concerned with

A) making inferences about a population from a sample.
B) describing what the data look like.
C) relationships rather than differences.
D) none of the above

Question 5

Another name for measurement data is _______ data.

A) frequency
B) categorical
C) quantitative
D) numerical

Question 6

One of the most important skills that students learn in statistics courses is

A) the ability to memorize complex mathematical formulae.
B) the ability to logically interpret data.
C) the ability to perform multiple regressions on a calculator.
D) nothing important is learned in statistics courses.

Question 7

Which of the following is the appropriate pairing?

A) Population: Statistic ; Sample: Parameter
B) Population: Parameter ; Sample : Statistic
C) Population: Statistic ; Statistic : Sample
D) Parameter: Statistic ; Sample : Population

Question 8

The branch of statistics dealing with making comparisons between two different conditions in which subjects were tested is called

A) descriptive statistics.
B) test statistics.
C) correlational statistics
D) inferential statistics.

Question 9

Why is it appropriate to assess the number of ears college sophomores have by counting one sophomore's ears, but it is not appropriate to assess how intelligent professors are by giving one professor an IQ test?

A) There is less variability in number of ears for sophomores than intelligence for professors.
B) There is more variability in number of ears for sophomores than intelligence for professors.
C) It is appropriate to only give one professor the IQ test.
D) College sophomores are harder to assess than professors.

Question 10

Which of the following best illustrates the conclusions that statisticians draw from experiments?

A) Y = 12 X ² + 3 X - 7
B) The average of the sample is 12.4.
C) Male teenage delinquents show higher levels of testosterone on average than do male non-delinquents.
D) The Gross National Product increased 2 points last year.

Question 11

If you want to study the effect of hormonal changes in adolescent boys, your population would be

A) all people in the world.
B) all males.
C) all adolescents.
D) all adolescent males.

Question 12

The important thing in estimating the proportion of blue M&Ms that the manufacturer produces is

A) the randomness of the sample.
B) the size of the sample
C) the variability from bag to bag.
D) all of the above

Question 13

Which of the following is false?

A) The average score on an example for a class is a descriptive statistic.
B) A sample refers to the observations drawn from a population.
C) Categorical data is also known as frequency data.
D) We usually collect data from an entire population.

Question 14

Which of the following is least likely to be a factor in selecting among statistical procedures?

A) the type of data we have collected
B) how many observations we have
C) whether we are looking at relationships or differences
D) how many groups or variables we have

Question 15

You would need the largest sample if you wanted to obtain a fairly accurate estimate of

A) the average allowance of high school sophomores in Burlington High School.
B) the average income of college students in the United States.
C) the average family income in California.
D) the average starting salary of graduating history majors.

Question 16

To understand an example, you need to understand the logic behind the experiment that serves as the example. Morphine tolerance in the example in Chapter 1 would be shown when

A) paw-lick latencies decrease over time with repeated injections of morphine.
B) paw-lick latencies increase over time with repeated injections of morphine.
C) paw-lick latency do not vary as a function of time.
D) short latencies indicate reduced pain sensitivity.

Question 17

Which of the following is what we mean by "statistics"?

A) average of the heights of college basketball teams
B) a set of procedures for handling data
C) the batting averages of the local baseball team's starting players
D) All of the above are examples of statistics.

Question 18

Suppose that you dumped out a bag of M&Ms^TM and found 48 blues, 35 greens, 30 reds, and 15 browns. Which of the following seems like the most reasonable conclusion to draw?

A) The manufacturer produces the same proportion of each color.
B) The manufacturer produces more blue M&Ms than any other color.
C) It is impossible to tell what the manufacturer is doing.
D) The manufacturer produces exactly 48/128 = 37.5% blue M&Ms.

Question 19

To produce good estimates of population parameters we need to have a _______ sample.

A) normal
B) independent
C) random
D) systematic

Question 20

When given a cup of coffee before a race, a sample of runners were found to run the race faster than without coffee. If we then conclude that on average runners run faster after drinking coffee, this would be an example of

A) an illogical inference.
B) an inferential inference.
C) a statistical inference.
D) a descriptive inference.

Question 21

Which of the following is NOT a potential contextual cue in the study of mice injected with morphine?

A) the morphine dose injected
B) the room the injection occurs in
C) the color of the cage the injection occurs in
D) the size of the cage the injection occurs in

Question 22

Which of the following is a logical, as opposed to a statistical, conclusion?

A) If a sample of mice overdoses on morphine in novel contexts, the population of mice will also overdose.
B) If mice overdose on morphine in novel contexts, human beings may also overdose in novel contexts.
C) If a relationship is present, there is also a difference.
D) If one child is left-handed, then all children are left-handed.

Question 23

The amount of time it takes you to open a child-proof container is an example of

A) frequency data.
B) measurement data.
C) count data.
D) categorical data.

Question 24

Why is the study of mice injected with morphine useful to humans?

A) Mice cannot overdose on morphine.
B) Mice display tolerance to morphine, just as addicts develop tolerance to heroin (a derivative of morphine).
C) Mice do not show effects of context in their tolerance to morphine.
D) The study of mice cannot be related to human drug addicts.

Question 25

In order for a researcher to be able to estimate accurately the parameters of a population from his or her sample, the sample must be

A) very large.
B) racially diverse.
C) low in variability.
D) random.

Question 26

The mean number of arrests for those who rarely attended high school would be

A) a statistic.
B) a parameter.
C) a parametric test.
D) an inference.

Question 27

Descriptive and inferential are forms of statistics, while _______ are forms of data.

A) measurement and categorical
B) parameters and statistics
C) populations and samples
D) random and nonrandom

Question 28

Without a random sample, we cannot

A) calculate statistics.
B) collect quantitative data.
C) accurately estimate the parameters of a population.
D) consult a decision tree to decide on an appropriate statistical procedure.

Question 29

A researcher obtained attractiveness ratings on a scale from 1 to 100. She then classified people into "attractive" and "unattractive" groups on the basis of these scores. In this example, the researcher used _______ data to create _______ data.

A) descriptive; inferential
B) inferential; logical
C) categorical; measurement
D) measurement; categorical

Question 30

In the preceding question the dependent variable will most likely be treated as

A) a categorical variable.
B) a discrete variable.
C) a continuous variable.
D) a qualitative variable.

Question 31

Which of the following is not a descriptive statistic?

A) mean
B) standard deviation
C) t-statistic
D) median

Question 32

A psychologist was interested in relating the number of times a young adult had been arrested to that person's attendance in high school. The number of arrests is

A) the independent variable.
B) the dependent variables.
C) the covariate.
D) a parameter.

Question 33

Which of the following would come closest to recruiting a random sample of college students?

A) drawing 50 telephone numbers from a hat containing the phone numbers of all students
B) advertising for 50 volunteers with posters in the dining halls
C) asking 50 people in the library on Saturday morning to participate
D) calling the first 50 names from an alphabetical list of all students

Question 34

If you were interested in finding out how learning increases with increases in studying, what statistical question would you be asking?

A) Is there a relationship?
B) Is there a difference?
C) Is there a variable?
D) A decision tree is needed to answer this question.

Question 35

Which of the following do NOT go together?

A) categorical data, frequency data
B) measurement data, quantitative data
C) quantitative data, frequency data
D) frequency data, count data

Question 36

When is it most important to know the exact calculational formulae used to calculate a statistic?

A) when it is frequently used
B) when it is very complex
C) when it deals with more than two groups
D) when the formula is important in defining the concept

Question 37

Because it is impossible to make an unlimited number of observations, researchers often collect data from _______ instead of from _______.

A) samples; populations
B) parameters; populations
C) statistics; samples
D) parameters; statistics

Question 38

In deciding on which statistical procedure to employ for a set of data, which of the following questions is least important?

A) Are the data measurement or categorical?
B) Are we looking for differences or relationships?
C) How many participants contributed to the data set?
D) How many groups and variables are involved?

Question 39

An example of a statistical inference is

A) generalizing data from a sample of girls to a population of girls.
B) generalizing data from a sample of girls to a population of people.
C) categorical data.
D) the relationship between height and weight.

Question 40

Statistics are

A) only useful in analyzing experimental research in psychology.
B) useful in teaching a logical approach to data (information).
C) impossible to calculate without a background in calculus.
D) all the data in a population.

Question 41

Comparing the grade point average of students who took a study skills course to the grade point average of students who did not is an example of inferential statistics rather than descriptive statistics.

Question 42

The students who took the study skills course are a sample rather than a population.

Question 43

The number of males and females in this class is an example of categorical data rather than measurement data.

Question 44

Indicate whether the following are examples of testing relationships or differences.
a. Increased smoking during pregnancy is associated with lower birth weight of infants.
b. Males tend to engage in more physical aggression than females.
c. Students in the study skills course had higher grades than students who were not in the study skills course.

Question 45

Indicate whether the following examples are of descriptive statistics or inferential statistics.
a. 40% of the students in this class are male.
b. Determine if students in the Advanced Calculus Class have higher scores on the Math portion of the SAT than the average student on campus.
c. The average grade on the first statistics exam.

Question 46

A non-profit organization is interested in identifying the need for subsidized childcare in a low-income neighborhood. They conduct phone interviews with 100 families who live there and find out that 25% of them need childcare.
a. What is the population of interest?
b. What is the sample?
c. Is their sampling technique a good way to represent the population of interest? Explain.
d. Is 25% a statistic or a parameter?

Question 47

A drug company is interested in testing the effectiveness of a new treatment for clinical depression by comparing the depressive symptoms of patients using the new drug to the depressive symptoms of patients using a drug that is already on the market. Is the drug company interested in relationships or differences?

Question 48

The grade point average of a random sample of students surveyed in a dining hall is a statistic.

Question 49

When deciding which statistical procedure to use, the number of groups or variables is an important factor.

Question 50

Testing if increases in hours of sleep are associated with increases in grade point average is an example of testing a relationship rather than a difference.

Question 51

Name three samples that could be drawn from the population of all Olympic athletes from the 2006 Winter Games.

Question 52

The type of data, categorical or measurement is not an important consideration when selecting a statistical procedure.

Question 53

Name three types of measurement data.

Question 54

Name three types of categorical data.

Question 55

Grade point average is an example of categorical data rather than measurement data.

Question 56

In which of the following experiments could we NOT use random assignment?

A) a comparison of groups receiving three different levels of a drug
B) a comparison of driving errors with and without consuming alcohol
C) the comparison of people from several religious groups in terms of acceptance of others' beliefs
D) None of the above could use random assignment.

Question 57

Describe a process to obtain a random sample of Olympic athletes from the 2006 Winter Games.

Question 58

The drug company claims that only 6% of all patients experience severe side effects when using the new medication. An independent researcher reported that 10% of patients in his study of 300 patients using the new medication experienced severe side effects.
a. Does the drug company consider 6% to be a parameter or a statistic?
b. Is 10% a parameter or a statistic?
c. What inference might be drawn from these data?

Question 59

Comparing the grade point average of students who took a study skills course to the grade point average of students who did not is an example of testing a relationship.

Question 60

The grade point average of all freshmen at a particular university is a parameter.

Question 61

Briefly describe the importance of random samples in statistics.