Question 1

Which of the following best describes a parameter in statistics?

Accepted Answer

A numerical summary based on a population.

Question 2

A researcher wants to estimate the average height of all university students. She measures the height of 200 randomly selected students and calculates the mean. What is the mean height in this context?

Accepted Answer

A statistic, because it is calculated from a sample.

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

The height of a building.

Question 4

A study collects data on whether students prefer online or in-person classes. What type of variable is being measured?

Accepted Answer

Qualitative, because the data describes a category.

Question 5

Which of the following best distinguishes an observational study from a designed experiment?

Accepted Answer

An observational study observes subjects without intervention, while a designed experiment imposes treatments.

Question 6

In a study investigating the effect of cell phone use on brain cancer, which is the explanatory variable?

Accepted Answer

The level of cell phone usage.

Question 7

Which sampling method involves dividing the population into groups and randomly selecting all members from some of these groups?

Accepted Answer

Cluster sampling

Question 8

A survey is conducted by asking people at a shopping mall about their exercise habits. What type of sampling method is this?

Accepted Answer

Convenience sampling

Question 9

Which of the following is an example of nonresponse bias?

Accepted Answer

Some people chosen for a survey do not respond, and their opinions differ from those who do respond.

Question 10

A researcher wants to ensure that students from each year (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) are represented in a sample. She randomly selects 20 students from each year. What sampling method is she using?

Accepted Answer

Stratified sampling

Question 11

Which of the following statements about simple random sampling is TRUE?

Accepted Answer

Every group of n individuals has an equal chance of being selected.

Question 12

A study records the number of text messages sent by each student in a day. What type of variable is this?

Accepted Answer

Discrete quantitative

Question 13

Which of the following is an example of a response variable in a medical experiment?

Accepted Answer

Whether or not the patient recovers from illness.

Question 14

A researcher flips a coin 100 times and records the number of heads. What type of variable is the number of heads?

Accepted Answer

Discrete

Question 15

Which of the following best describes inferential statistics?

Accepted Answer

Using data from a sample to draw conclusions about a population.

Question 16

A systematic sample is obtained by:

Accepted Answer

Selecting every k-th individual from a list after a random start.

Question 17

Which of the following is a source of sampling bias?

Accepted Answer

Selecting a sample that does not represent the population.

Question 18

A survey asks, 'Do you agree that the new library hours are more convenient?' Which type of bias might this question introduce?

Accepted Answer

Response bias

Question 19

Which of the following is an example of undercoverage bias?

Accepted Answer

Surveying only people who have landline phones when many use only cell phones.

Question 20

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

Accepted Answer

Designed experiment

Fundamentals of Statistics: Data Collection and Introduction to Statistical Practice

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