Deck 6: Tabular and Graphical Description of Data

Question 1

Which one of the following graphs would be used as a preliminary step in correlational analysis?

A) bar graph
B) scattergram
C) line graph
D) frequency distribution graph

Answer 1

B

Question 2

A frequency distribution shows a(n)____ on the y-axis and a(n)____ on the x-axis.

A) dependent variable, independent variable
B) frequency, independent variable
C) frequency, dependent variable
D) independent variable, frequency

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Each data point on a scattergram represents

A) an individual's score on the dependent variable
B) an individual's score on two variables
C) the relationship between a dependent an independent variable
D) None of these are true.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

A(n)____ shows the same information as a frequency table in a graphical format.

A) scattergram
B) frequency distribution
C) ungrouped frequency distribution
D) rank-order distribution

Question 5

Which two terms typically go together?

A) x-axis and dependent
B) x-axis and independent
C) y-axis and independent
D) both a and c go together

Question 6

Which one of the following distributions is probably negatively skewed?

A) family income in dollars per year
B) scores on a very difficult test
C) scores on a moderately difficult test
D) scores on a very easy test

Question 7

A bell-shaped curve that happens to describe many frequency distributions that occur in nature is called a:

A) scattergram
B) bar graph
C) skewed distribution
D) normal curve

Question 8

Which one of the following terms least belongs with the others?

A) dependent variable
B) Y-axis
C) vertical
D) X-axis

Question 9

A curve that never changes direction is called a(n)____ curve.

A) monotonic
B) nonmonotonic
C) U-shaped
D) inverted

Question 10

Which one of the following would be best for conveying the shape of the frequency distribution of 250 test scores?

A) histogram
B) rank-order distribution
C) cumulative frequency distribution
D) ungrouped frequency distribution

Question 11

A scientist placed some bacteria in a sterile dish of agar.He counted the number of live bacteria at regular intervals afterward.He observed that at first the bacteria grew slowly at first,and then they increased very rapidly in number.Finally,the count leveled off and then declined rapidly as the food supply was used up.A graph of this relationship would be

A) U-shaped
B) linear
C) monotonic
D) nonmonotonic

Question 12

A graphic that uses a dot to represent the frequency of each score and connects those points with a straight line is called a

A) histogram
B) scattergram
C) frequency polygon
D) skewed distribution

Question 13

A frequency distribution that has a longer tail on one end or the other is called a:

A) scattergram
B) bar graph
C) skewed distribution
D) normal curve

Question 14

Which one of the following terms least belongs with the others?

A) X-axis
B) Y-axis
C) independent variable values
D) horizontal

Question 15

Which of the following is a display of numerical data in rows and columns of a matrix?

A) graph
B) figure
C) histogram
D) table

Question 16

Which of the following is a representation of data by spatial relationships in a diagram?

A) graph
B) figure
C) histogram
D) table

Question 17

Percentiles can be determined directly from a ____

A) scattergram
B) bar graph
C) frequency distribution
D) cumulative frequency distribution

Question 18

Which is not true of a cumulative frequency distribution?

A) It may be nonmonotonic.
B) It begins at zero frequency.
C) It indicates skewness of the distribution.
D) The data points lie at the upper real limit of each interval.

Question 19

In a frequency table,the rows indicate

A) possible scores
B) information about the possible scores
C) frequency of the possible scores
D) a tally of the possible scores

Question 20

The bars of a frequency distribution should

A) be touching each other (unless there is a category with zero frequency)
B) be centered on the score value
C) extend horizontally from the lower real limit of the score value to the upper real limit
D) all of these are true

Question 21

Line graphs should not be used to describe ____ data.

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

Question 22

Outliers are

A) impossible values
B) extreme but not impossible values
C) data that don't fit your theory
D) any of these

Question 23

The slope of a cumulative record shows

A) number of responses
B) rate of responding
C) changes in response rate
D) All of these are true

Question 24

The coding guide lists

A) the columns in which variables can be found
B) the names of all variables
C) acceptable values of all variables
D) All of these are true.

Question 25

Error bars can be misleading when

A) data are normally distributed
B) data are skewed
C) different groups have different amounts of variability
D) Both a and c are true.

Question 26

When making a graph to show the relationship between quantitative variables,such as dependent variable as a function of an independent variable,you should use a

A) Line graph
B) Scattergram
C) Median split
D) Frequency Table

Question 27

In a certain box-and-whisker plot,the left hand (or lower)whisker is longer than the right hand (or upper)whisker.Therefore,the distribution is probably

A) bimodal
B) normal
C) positively skewed
D) negatively skewed

Question 28

When data is divided into two equal sized-groups on the basis of one of the variables,it has been subject to a

A) Correlation
B) Median split
C) Chi-square
D) t-test

Question 29

A bar graph is used for ____ data

A) categorical
B) quantitative
C) continuous
D) None of these. Bar graphs are never used in psychology.

Question 30

If the independent variable in an experiment is gender,it would be appropriate to use a ____ to represent the data

A) scattergram
B) bar graph
C) cumulative record
D) line graph

Question 31

The x-axis represents ____ in a time-series graph

A) dependent variable
B) independent variable
C) the passage of time
D) frequency

Question 32

You should connect the data points with straight lines,instead of a smooth curve,unless

A) the data points describe a curvilinear relationship
B) you could write the mathematical equation for the curve
C) the line would be nonmonotonic
D) None of these. You should always connect the data points with straight lines.

Question 33

Data reduction is

A) recording data onto individual data sheets
B) transcribing data from individual data sheets to a summary form
C) performing statistical analysis
D) All of these are true.

Question 34

Vertical lines that indicate plus or minus 1 standard deviation of the data on a graph are

A) Error bars
B) Skewed distributions
C) Median splits
D) part of Box and Whisker plots

Question 35

A bar graph should be used when the

A) independent variable is a discrete variable
B) independent variable is a continuous variable
C) dependent variable is a discrete variable
D) depend variable is a continuous variable

Question 36

Box and Whisker plots are particularly useful in describing data that are

A) normally distributed
B) described by mean and standard deviation
C) symmetrical
D) None of these are true.

Question 37

A frequency distribution differs from other graphs in that the y-axis represents ____,rather than the value of a(n)____

A) frequency, dependent variable
B) frequency, independent variable
C) dependent variable, frequency
D) independent variable, frequency

Question 38

Before inferential statistics are performed,you should

A) Calculate descriptive statistics
B) Represent the data in a table
C) Represent the data in a graph
D) All of the above

Question 39

Scattergrams represent data commonly analyzed by which statistic?

A) t-test
B) Chi square
C) correlation coefficient
D) analysis of variance

Question 40

Invalid data are

A) data that don't fit your theory
B) values that are impossible
C) outliers
D) missing data

Question 41

A raw data set must be carefully considered before it is entered into an analysis.Why? What sort of data might be excluded from analysis?

Question 42

List some of the relevant information that might be found in a coding guide for an experiment that investigated the effects of attractiveness on jurors' guilty verdicts.

Question 43

NY State's new Governor is worried about the IQ of the people on his staff.He has his Lt.Governor administer a 10-item IQ test to his closest staff members.The scores were 9,9,8,8,5,5,3,1,1,1.Make a frequency table from the data that Lt.Governor collected from the staff members.

Question 44

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of having error bars on a graph.

Question 45

Discuss the normal distribution in relation to measures of central tendency (mean,median,and mode).How does it differ from a skewed distribution?