$$ \text{Relative Frequency} = \frac{\text{Frequency}}{\text{Sum of all frequencies}} $$

Question 1

Which of the following best describes a Pareto chart?

Accepted Answer

A bar graph whose bars are drawn in descending order of frequency.

Question 2

A frequency distribution is used to:

Accepted Answer

List each category of data and the number of occurrences for each category.

Question 3

Given the following frequency and relative frequency formula, which is correct?

Accepted Answer

$$ 	ext{Relative Frequency} = \frac{	ext{Frequency}}{	ext{Sum of all frequencies}} $$

Question 4

Which type of graph is most appropriate for displaying the distribution of a categorical variable such as 'favorite fruit'?

Accepted Answer

Bar graph

Question 5

A histogram is different from a bar graph because:

Accepted Answer

The bars in a histogram touch each other, representing continuous data.

Question 6

Suppose you want to compare the educational attainment of U.S. adults in 1990 and 2017. Which graph would best display this comparison?

Accepted Answer

Side-by-side bar graph

Question 7

Which of the following is a potential pitfall when interpreting a pie chart?

Accepted Answer

Sectors may be difficult to compare if there are too many categories.

Question 8

A time series plot is most useful for:

Accepted Answer

Displaying how a variable changes over time.

Question 9

Which of the following is a common way that graphs can be misleading?

Accepted Answer

By distorting the scale of the axes.

Question 10

When constructing classes for a frequency distribution of quantitative data, which guideline should you follow?

Accepted Answer

Choose the smallest observation as the lower class limit for the first class.

Question 11

A dot plot is best used for which type of data?

Accepted Answer

Small sets of quantitative data

Question 12

If a histogram is symmetric, what does this indicate about the data?

Accepted Answer

The left and right sides of the histogram are approximately mirror images.

Question 13

Which of the following best describes a relative frequency histogram?

Accepted Answer

A histogram where the vertical axis shows the proportion of observations in each class.

Question 14

A misleading graph is shown with a vertical axis that does not start at zero. What is the likely effect?

Accepted Answer

It exaggerates differences between data values.

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a histogram?

Accepted Answer

Bars are separated by gaps to indicate different categories.

Question 16

Suppose you are summarizing the number of daily arrivals at a hospital emergency room. Which graphical summary would be most appropriate?

Accepted Answer

Histogram

Question 17

Which of the following best describes the process of constructing a frequency distribution for continuous data?

Accepted Answer

Divide the data into classes of equal width and count the number of observations in each class.

Question 18

If a bar graph is used to compare the frequency of different types of injuries in a sports clinic, what is the most important feature to include?

Accepted Answer

Clearly labeled categories on the horizontal axis.

Question 19

Which of the following is a correct interpretation of a relative frequency of 0.25 for a category in a frequency table?

Accepted Answer

25% of the observations fall into that category.

Question 20

A side-by-side bar graph is most useful for:

Accepted Answer

Comparing the distribution of a categorical variable across two or more groups.

Chapter 2 – Summarizing Data in Tables and Graphs

Study Guide - Practice Questions