C785 Applied Healthcare Statistics Final Exam Practice 2026 |WGU
1. A researcher categorizes patients into groups based on their primary health
insurance provider (e.g., Medicare, Private, Uninsured). What scale of
measurement is being used?
A. Nominal
B. Ordinal
C. Interval
D. Ratio
Answer: A
Rationale: Nominal scales are used for labeling variables without any quantitative value or
order; insurance providers are categories with no inherent rank.
2. In a study investigating the effect of a new blood pressure medication, the
dosage of the drug is considered which type of variable?
A. Dependent variable
B. Independent variable
C. Confounding variable
D. Outcome variable
Answer: B
Rationale: The independent variable is the one manipulated or controlled by the
researcher to observe its effect on the outcome.
,3. Which measure of central tendency is most affected by extreme outliers in a
dataset?
A. Mean
B. Median
C. Mode
D. Range
Answer: A
Rationale: The mean is calculated by summing all values; therefore, a single very high or
low value significantly shifts the result.
4. What is the range of a dataset containing the values: 12, 15, 20, 25, 40?
A. 28
B. 15
C. 40
D. 22.4
Answer: A
Rationale: The range is calculated by subtracting the minimum value (12) from the
maximum value (40), resulting in 28.
5. If a dataset is ‘positively skewed,’ where does the tail of the distribution
extend?
A. To the left
B. To the right
C. Both directions equally
D. Toward the center
Answer: B
Rationale: In a positively skewed (right-skewed) distribution, the long tail extends toward
the higher values on the right side.
, 6. A study finds a correlation coefficient of r = -0.92 between smoking frequency
and lung capacity. How would you describe this relationship?
A. Weak positive correlation
B. Weak negative correlation
C. Strong positive correlation
D. Strong negative correlation
Answer: D
Rationale: An r value close to -1 indicates a strong inverse (negative) relationship between
the variables.
7. In a normal distribution, approximately what percentage of data points fall
within two standard deviations of the mean?
A. 68%
B. 99.7%
C. 95%
D. 50%
Answer: C
Rationale: According to the Empirical Rule, approximately 95% of data falls within two
standard deviations (mean +/- 2SD) in a normal distribution.
8. What does a p-value of 0.03 indicate if the significance level (alpha) is set at
0.05?
A. Fail to reject the null hypothesis
B. The results are not statistically significant
C. Reject the null hypothesis
D. The study is invalid
Answer: C
Rationale: When the p-value is less than the significance level (p < 0.05), the researcher
rejects the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative.
1. A researcher categorizes patients into groups based on their primary health
insurance provider (e.g., Medicare, Private, Uninsured). What scale of
measurement is being used?
A. Nominal
B. Ordinal
C. Interval
D. Ratio
Answer: A
Rationale: Nominal scales are used for labeling variables without any quantitative value or
order; insurance providers are categories with no inherent rank.
2. In a study investigating the effect of a new blood pressure medication, the
dosage of the drug is considered which type of variable?
A. Dependent variable
B. Independent variable
C. Confounding variable
D. Outcome variable
Answer: B
Rationale: The independent variable is the one manipulated or controlled by the
researcher to observe its effect on the outcome.
,3. Which measure of central tendency is most affected by extreme outliers in a
dataset?
A. Mean
B. Median
C. Mode
D. Range
Answer: A
Rationale: The mean is calculated by summing all values; therefore, a single very high or
low value significantly shifts the result.
4. What is the range of a dataset containing the values: 12, 15, 20, 25, 40?
A. 28
B. 15
C. 40
D. 22.4
Answer: A
Rationale: The range is calculated by subtracting the minimum value (12) from the
maximum value (40), resulting in 28.
5. If a dataset is ‘positively skewed,’ where does the tail of the distribution
extend?
A. To the left
B. To the right
C. Both directions equally
D. Toward the center
Answer: B
Rationale: In a positively skewed (right-skewed) distribution, the long tail extends toward
the higher values on the right side.
, 6. A study finds a correlation coefficient of r = -0.92 between smoking frequency
and lung capacity. How would you describe this relationship?
A. Weak positive correlation
B. Weak negative correlation
C. Strong positive correlation
D. Strong negative correlation
Answer: D
Rationale: An r value close to -1 indicates a strong inverse (negative) relationship between
the variables.
7. In a normal distribution, approximately what percentage of data points fall
within two standard deviations of the mean?
A. 68%
B. 99.7%
C. 95%
D. 50%
Answer: C
Rationale: According to the Empirical Rule, approximately 95% of data falls within two
standard deviations (mean +/- 2SD) in a normal distribution.
8. What does a p-value of 0.03 indicate if the significance level (alpha) is set at
0.05?
A. Fail to reject the null hypothesis
B. The results are not statistically significant
C. Reject the null hypothesis
D. The study is invalid
Answer: C
Rationale: When the p-value is less than the significance level (p < 0.05), the researcher
rejects the null hypothesis in favor of the alternative.
