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 population, while a statistic describes a sample.

Question 2

A researcher collects the heights of all students in a university. What is the level of measurement for this data?

Accepted Answer

Ratio

Question 3

Which of the following is an example of a stratified sample?

Accepted Answer

Randomly selecting 10 students from each grade level in a high school.

Question 4

A study collects data on the favorite colors of 1000 people. What type of data is this?

Accepted Answer

Categorical (qualitative)

Question 5

Which of the following is an example of a cross-sectional study?

Accepted Answer

Measuring the cholesterol levels of a group of people at one point in time.

Question 6

A pharmaceutical company sponsors a study on its own drug. Which type of bias is most likely to occur?

Accepted Answer

Self-interest bias

Question 7

Which of the following best describes a simple random sample?

Accepted Answer

A sample where every possible group of n subjects has an equal chance of being selected.

Question 8

A survey asks, 'Don’t you agree that recycling is important?' What type of bias does this question introduce?

Accepted Answer

Leading question bias

Question 9

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

Accepted Answer

The number of cars owned by families in a city.

Question 10

A researcher wants to study the effect of a new teaching method. She randomly assigns students to two groups: one uses the new method, the other uses the traditional method. What is this type of study called?

Accepted Answer

Experiment

Question 11

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

Accepted Answer

Years in which the New York Yankees won the World Series.

Question 12

A pollster interviews every voter in three randomly selected precincts. What type of sampling is this?

Accepted Answer

Cluster sampling

Question 13

Which of the following is most likely to result in nonresponse bias?

Accepted Answer

A mail survey where only 10% of recipients reply.

Question 14

A study follows a group of smokers and non-smokers for 20 years to compare rates of lung cancer. What type of study is this?

Accepted Answer

Prospective (cohort) study

Question 15

Which of the following is an example of anecdotal evidence?

Accepted Answer

A person claims a vitamin cured their cold after taking it once.

Question 16

A researcher wants to estimate the average commute time for all workers in a city. She surveys 200 randomly selected workers. What is the population and what is the sample?

Accepted Answer

Population: all workers in the city; Sample: 200 surveyed workers

Question 17

Which of the following best describes confirmation bias?

Accepted Answer

The tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs.

Question 18

A researcher records the number of goals scored by each soccer team in a season. What is the level of measurement for this data?

Accepted Answer

Ratio

Question 19

Which of the following is a key feature of good sampling in statistics?

Accepted Answer

Randomness and sufficiently large sample size

Question 20

A researcher selects every 10th person who enters a hospital for a survey. What type of sampling is this?

Accepted Answer

Systematic sampling

Introductory Statistics Ch. 1: Gathering and Classifying Data

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