Question 1

Which of the following best describes a population in the context of statistics?

Accepted Answer

A set containing every individual or item of interest in a study.

Question 2

A researcher collects the heights (in centimeters) of all students in a university. The mean height calculated from this data is:

Accepted Answer

A parameter, because it is calculated from the entire population.

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of qualitative data?

Accepted Answer

The favorite color of each student in a class.

Question 4

A survey of 50 randomly selected gym members finds that their average workout duration is 45 minutes. This average is:

Accepted Answer

A statistic, because it is calculated from a sample.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT quantitative data?

Accepted Answer

The brands of smartphones owned by students.

Question 6

Which of the following is a discrete quantitative data set?

Accepted Answer

The number of goals scored by a soccer team in a match.

Question 7

A regional store manager wants to test whether increasing store hours increases profits, so they randomly select half of their locations to stay open an extra hour later in the evenings and compare profits between stores at the end of the month. What type of study is this?

Accepted Answer

Experiment, because a treatment (extra hour) is applied to some stores.

Question 8

A store surveys its target demographic and learns that 86% of people would purchase the product they've been heavily advertising. Is this an experiment or an observational study, and can they conclude their advertising caused the high percentage of interest?

Accepted Answer

Observational study; no, they cannot conclude causation.

Question 9

Which of the following best describes a representative sample?

Accepted Answer

A sample that is made up of equal proportions of characteristics as the original population.

Question 10

A university with 60% undergraduates and 40% graduate students surveys only 20 random undergraduates and 40 random graduate students. Is this a representative sample and is it a simple random sample?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it is representative but not a simple random sample.

Question 11

A superintendent of a school system is interested in how teachers feel about professional development. They randomly select 60 teachers, and as it happens, about two teachers from each grade are chosen, and there is about the same number of teachers for each major discipline. Is this a simple random sample? Is it a representative sample?

Accepted Answer

Yes, it is both a simple random sample and a representative sample.

Question 12

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

Accepted Answer

A parameter is a numerical summary of a population; a statistic is a summary of a sample.

Question 13

A college professor wants to generate a simple random sample of 5 out of 20 students. Which of the following is an appropriate method?

Accepted Answer

Assign each student a number from 1 to 20 and use a random number generator to select 5 unique numbers.

Question 14

Which of the following is an example of continuous quantitative data?

Accepted Answer

The time (in seconds) it takes to run a marathon.

Question 15

A software company wants to determine if using their new app leads to weight loss. Should they run an observational study or an experiment?

Accepted Answer

Experiment, because they want to apply a treatment (using the app) and measure its effects.

Question 16

Which of the following best describes a simple random sample?

Accepted Answer

Each possible group of subjects has an equal chance of being selected.

Question 17

A report shows the amount (in dollars) spent by each customer in a grocery store. Is this data set a population or a sample?

Accepted Answer

Population, if it includes every customer.

Question 18

Which of the following scenarios is most likely to produce a non-representative sample?

Accepted Answer

Surveying only students who attend an after-school club.

Question 19

A study measures the eye color of 100 randomly selected people. What type of data is being collected?

Accepted Answer

Qualitative

Foundations of Statistics: Populations, Samples, Data Types, and Sampling Methods

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