Question 1

Which of the following best describes the difference between a parameter and a statistic?

Accepted Answer

A parameter is a numerical measurement describing a characteristic of a population, while a statistic describes a sample.

Question 2

A researcher collects the heights (in cm) of 200 randomly selected college students to estimate the average height of all college students in the country. Which of the following is the population mean symbol, and which is the sample mean symbol?

Accepted Answer

Population mean: $$\mu$$, Sample mean: $$\bar{x}$$

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of inferential statistics?

Accepted Answer

Estimating the average income of all residents in a city based on a sample.

Question 4

A study records the eye color, height, and number of siblings for each participant. Which variable is quantitative and discrete?

Accepted Answer

Number of siblings

Question 5

Which level of measurement is appropriate for the following data: 'Excellent', 'Good', 'Fair', 'Poor'?

Accepted Answer

Ordinal

Question 6

A researcher wants to study the effect of a new teaching method. She randomly assigns 50 students to use the new method and 50 students to use the traditional method, then compares their test scores. What type of study is this?

Accepted Answer

Experimental study

Question 7

Which sampling method is illustrated by dividing a city into neighborhoods, randomly selecting 5 neighborhoods, and surveying all households in those neighborhoods?

Accepted Answer

Cluster sampling

Question 8

A survey asks people to call in and vote for their favorite TV show. What type of sampling is this?

Accepted Answer

Voluntary response sampling

Question 9

Which of the following is an example of a confounding variable?

Accepted Answer

A study finds that ice cream sales and drowning incidents both increase in the summer, but temperature is not considered.

Question 10

Which of the following best describes systematic sampling?

Accepted Answer

Selecting every $$kth $$member from a list after a random start

Question 11

A researcher collects data on the number of hours students study per week and their final exam scores. Which level of measurement applies to the exam scores?

Accepted Answer

Ratio

Question 12

Which of the following is a nonsampling error?

Accepted Answer

A researcher enters data incorrectly into a spreadsheet

Question 13

In a cross-sectional study, data are:

Accepted Answer

Collected at one point in time

Question 14

Which of the following is an example of ratio level data?

Accepted Answer

Number of books owned

Question 15

A company wants to ensure equal representation of men and women in a survey. They divide the population by gender and randomly sample from each group. What sampling method is this?

Accepted Answer

Stratified sampling

Question 16

Which of the following is a characteristic of a well-designed experiment?

Accepted Answer

Replication, blinding, and randomization

Question 17

A researcher wants to study the effect of a new fertilizer on plant growth. She randomly assigns 30 plants to receive the fertilizer and 30 plants to receive no fertilizer. She measures the height of each plant after 8 weeks. Which experimental design is this?

Accepted Answer

Completely randomized design

Question 18

Which of the following best describes big data?

Accepted Answer

Data sets so large and complex that traditional software tools cannot analyze them

Question 19

A researcher uses a random number generator to select 100 students from a university for a survey. What type of sampling is this?

Accepted Answer

Simple random sampling

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of a continuous variable?

Accepted Answer

Height of a building

Chapter 1: Introduction to Statistics – Key Concepts and Methods

Study Guide - Practice Questions

Study Guide - Flashcards