Chapter 1 Understand Example You Need Understand The

Chapter 1—Introduction

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1.1 To understand an example, you need to understand the logic behind the

experiment that serves as the example. Morphine tolerance in the example in

Chapter 1 would be shown when

1.2 The effect of context on morphine tolerance would most likely be seen by

differences in

1.3 + If you want to study the effect of hormonal changes in adolescent boys, your

population would be

a) all people in the world.

1.4 If you want to study the effect of hormonal changes as boys reach adolescence,

your sample would most likely include

1.5 You would need the largest sample if you wanted to obtain a fairly accurate

estimate of

1.6 + Which of the following is most likely to be measured categorically?

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1.7 Another name for measurement data is _______ data.

1.8 To produce good estimates of population parameters we need to have a _______

sample.

1.9 + Which of the following is the appropriate pairing?

a) Population: Statistic ; Sample: Parameter

1.10 Suppose that you dumped out a bag of M&MsTM and found 48 blues, 35 greens,

30 reds, and 15 browns. Which of the following seems like the most reasonable

conclusion to draw?

1.11 The important thing in estimating the proportion of blue M&Ms that the

manufacturer produces is

a) the randomness of the sample.

1.12 + Which of the following is least likely to be a factor in selecting among statistical

procedures?

a) the type of data we have collected

1.13 The branch of statistics dealing with making comparisons between two different

conditions in which subjects were tested is called

1.14 Inferential statistics are primarily concerned with

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1.15 + Which of the following best illustrates the conclusions that statisticians draw from

experiments?

1.16 One of the most important skills that students learn in statistics courses is

a) the ability to memorize complex mathematical formulae.

1.17 + When given a cup of coffee before a race, a sample of runners were found to run

the race faster than without coffee. If we then conclude that on average runners

run faster after drinking coffee, this would be an example of

1.18 Why is it appropriate to assess the number of ears college sophomores have by

counting one sophomore’s ears, but it is not appropriate to assess how intelligent

professors are by giving one professor an IQ test?

1.19 + Which of the following is false?

a) The average score on an example for a class is a descriptive statistic.

1.20 + Which of the following is what we mean by “statistics”?

a) average of the heights of college basketball teams

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200

1.21 + In order for a researcher to be able to estimate accurately the parameters of a

population from his or her sample, the sample must be

1.22 Descriptive and inferential are forms of statistics, while _______ are forms of

data.

1.23 Why is the study of mice injected with morphine useful to humans?

a) Mice cannot overdose on morphine.

1.24 + Which of the following would come closest to recruiting a random sample of

college students?

1.25 Which of the following is a logical, as opposed to a statistical, conclusion?

1.26 In deciding on which statistical procedure to employ for a set of data, which of the

following questions is least important?

1.27 + Which of the following is NOT a potential contextual cue in the study of mice

injected with morphine?

Chapter 1

1.28 + A researcher obtained attractiveness ratings on a scale from 1 to 100. She then

classified people into “attractive” and “unattractive” groups on the basis of these

scores. In this example, the researcher used _______ data to create _______ data.

a) descriptive; inferential

1.29 If you were interested in finding out how learning increases with increases in

studying, what statistical question would you be asking?

1.30 When is it most important to know the exact calculational formulae used to

calculate a statistic?

1.31 An example of a statistical inference is

1.32 + Without a random sample, we cannot

1.33 + The amount of time it takes you to open a child-proof container is an example of

1.34 Because it is impossible to make an unlimited number of observations,

researchers often collect data from _______ instead of from _______.

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202

1.35 Statistics are

1.36 Which of the following is not a descriptive statistic?

1.37 A psychologist was interested in relating the number of times a young adult had

been arrested to that person’s attendance in high school. The number of arrests is

1.38 In the preceding question the dependent variable will most likely be treated as

1.39 The mean number of arrests for those who rarely attended high school would be

1.40 Which of the following do NOT go together?

1.41 In which of the following experiments could we NOT use random assignment?

TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS

categorical data rather than measurement data.

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measurement data.

or variables is an important factor.

consideration when selecting a statistical procedure.

parameter.

dining hall is a statistic.

course to the grade point average of students who did not is an example of

inferential statistics rather than descriptive statistics.

course to the grade point average of students who did not is an example of testing

a relationship.

population.

grade point average is an example of testing a relationship rather than a

difference.

OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS

1.52 A drug company is interested in testing the effectiveness of a new treatment for

clinical depression by comparing the depressive symptoms of patients using the

new drug to the depressive symptoms of patients using a drug that is already on

the market. Is the drug company interested in relationships or differences?

1.53 The drug company claims that only 6% of all patients experience severe side

effects when using the new medication. An independent researcher reported that

10% of patients in his study of 300 patients using the new medication experienced

severe side effects.

a) Does the drug company consider 6% to be a parameter or a statistic?

b) Is 10% a parameter or a statistic?

c) What inference might be drawn from these data?

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1.54 A non-profit organization is interested in identifying the need for subsidized

childcare in a low-income neighborhood. They conduct phone interviews with

100 families who live there and find out that 25% of them need childcare.

a) What is the population of interest?

b) What is the sample?

c) Is their sampling technique a good way to represent the population of interest?

Explain.

d) Is 25% a statistic or a parameter?

1.55 Indicate whether the following are examples of testing relationships or

differences.

a) Increased smoking during pregnancy is associated with lower birth weight of

infants.

b) Males tend to engage in more physical aggression than females.

c) Students in the study skills course had higher grades than students who were

not in the study skills course.

1.56 Indicate whether the following examples are of descriptive statistics or inferential

statistics.

a) 40% of the students in this class are male.

b) Determine if students in the Advanced Calculus Class have higher scores on

the Math portion of the SAT than the average student on campus.

c) The average grade on the first statistics exam.

1.57 Name three types of measurement data.

1.58 Name three types of categorical data.

1.59 Name three samples that could be drawn from the population of all Olympic

athletes from the 2006 Winter Games.

1.60 Describe a process to obtain a random sample of Olympic athletes from the 2006

Winter Games.

1.61 Briefly describe the importance of random samples in statistics.

Chapter 1

Answers to Open-ended Questions

Chapter 1.