WGU C784 Applied Healthcare Statistics Exam Actual
2026/2027 with Detailed Rationales | Complete
Exam-Style Questions | Pass Guaranteed – A+ Graded
SECTION 1: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS & DATA ANALYSIS (Q1–Q14)
Q1: A hospital reports the following lengths of stay (in days) for 8 patients: 3, 5, 7, 4,
3, 8, 5, 3. What is the mode of this data set?
A. 4.5 days
B. 5 days
C. 3 days
D. 7 days
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because the mode is the value that appears most frequently; 3
appears three times, which is more than any other value.
Q2: A researcher calculates the mean age of patients in a sample as 52 years and
the median age as 58 years. What does this relationship suggest about the
distribution?
A. The distribution is symmetric.
B. The distribution is bimodal.
C. The distribution is negatively skewed (left-skewed).
D. The distribution is positively skewed (right-skewed).
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because when the mean is less than the median, the distribution
has a longer tail extending to the left, indicating negative skewness.
Q3: A data set of patient blood glucose levels has a mean of 110 mg/dL and a
standard deviation of 12 mg/dL. What is the coefficient of variation?
A. 10.9%
B. 12.0%
C. 10.9%
D. 122.0%
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because the coefficient of variation (CV) = (standard deviation /
mean) × 100 = () × 100 = 10.9%.
,Q4: In a frequency distribution of hospital admission times, which measure of central
tendency is most appropriate for ordinal data such as pain ratings (mild, moderate,
severe)?
A. Mean
B. Mode
C. Median
D. Range
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because the median is the most appropriate measure of central
tendency for ordinal data, as it identifies the middle-ranked value without assuming
equal intervals between categories.
Q5: A boxplot of patient wait times shows a median line at 15 minutes, Q1 at 10
minutes, Q3 at 22 minutes, and whiskers extending to 5 and 35 minutes with an
outlier at 48 minutes. What is the interquartile range (IQR)?
A. 5 minutes
B. 12 minutes
C. 12 minutes
D. 43 minutes
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because IQR = Q3 − Q1 = 22 − 10 = 12 minutes, representing the
spread of the middle 50% of data.
Q6: A hospital quality team collects data on medication errors per 1,000 doses. The
data are: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 45. Which measure of central tendency best represents the
typical error rate?
A. Mean of 11.4
B. Median of 7
C. Mode of 2
D. Range of 43
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because the value 45 is an extreme outlier that inflates the mean;
the median of 7 better represents the central tendency of the typical error rate.
Q7: Which graphical display is most appropriate for comparing the distribution of a
continuous variable across multiple categorical groups?
A. Pie chart
B. Histogram
C. Side-by-side boxplots
D. Scatterplot
, Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because side-by-side boxplots effectively display the median,
spread, and outliers of a continuous variable across different categories, facilitating
visual comparison.
Q8: A data set has a variance of 64. What is the standard deviation?
A. 4
B. 8
C. 32
D. 128
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because standard deviation is the square root of variance; √64 =
8.
Q9: In a histogram of patient satisfaction scores, the bars are tallest in the middle
and taper symmetrically on both sides. What term describes this shape?
A. Positively skewed
B. Negatively skewed
C. Approximately normal (bell-shaped)
D. Bimodal
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because a symmetric, unimodal distribution with the highest
frequencies in the center and tapering tails is characteristic of a normal
(bell-shaped) distribution.
Q10: A nurse manager calculates the mean, median, and mode of patient fall rates
across 12 units. All three values equal 2.5 falls per 1,000 patient-days. What can be
concluded?
A. The data are bimodal.
B. The data are uniformly distributed.
C. The data are perfectly symmetric.
D. The standard deviation is zero.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because when the mean, median, and mode are equal, the
distribution is perfectly symmetric, which is a hallmark of the normal distribution.
Q11: Which measure of variability is most affected by extreme outliers?
A. Interquartile range
B. Standard deviation
2026/2027 with Detailed Rationales | Complete
Exam-Style Questions | Pass Guaranteed – A+ Graded
SECTION 1: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS & DATA ANALYSIS (Q1–Q14)
Q1: A hospital reports the following lengths of stay (in days) for 8 patients: 3, 5, 7, 4,
3, 8, 5, 3. What is the mode of this data set?
A. 4.5 days
B. 5 days
C. 3 days
D. 7 days
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because the mode is the value that appears most frequently; 3
appears three times, which is more than any other value.
Q2: A researcher calculates the mean age of patients in a sample as 52 years and
the median age as 58 years. What does this relationship suggest about the
distribution?
A. The distribution is symmetric.
B. The distribution is bimodal.
C. The distribution is negatively skewed (left-skewed).
D. The distribution is positively skewed (right-skewed).
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because when the mean is less than the median, the distribution
has a longer tail extending to the left, indicating negative skewness.
Q3: A data set of patient blood glucose levels has a mean of 110 mg/dL and a
standard deviation of 12 mg/dL. What is the coefficient of variation?
A. 10.9%
B. 12.0%
C. 10.9%
D. 122.0%
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because the coefficient of variation (CV) = (standard deviation /
mean) × 100 = () × 100 = 10.9%.
,Q4: In a frequency distribution of hospital admission times, which measure of central
tendency is most appropriate for ordinal data such as pain ratings (mild, moderate,
severe)?
A. Mean
B. Mode
C. Median
D. Range
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because the median is the most appropriate measure of central
tendency for ordinal data, as it identifies the middle-ranked value without assuming
equal intervals between categories.
Q5: A boxplot of patient wait times shows a median line at 15 minutes, Q1 at 10
minutes, Q3 at 22 minutes, and whiskers extending to 5 and 35 minutes with an
outlier at 48 minutes. What is the interquartile range (IQR)?
A. 5 minutes
B. 12 minutes
C. 12 minutes
D. 43 minutes
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because IQR = Q3 − Q1 = 22 − 10 = 12 minutes, representing the
spread of the middle 50% of data.
Q6: A hospital quality team collects data on medication errors per 1,000 doses. The
data are: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 45. Which measure of central tendency best represents the
typical error rate?
A. Mean of 11.4
B. Median of 7
C. Mode of 2
D. Range of 43
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because the value 45 is an extreme outlier that inflates the mean;
the median of 7 better represents the central tendency of the typical error rate.
Q7: Which graphical display is most appropriate for comparing the distribution of a
continuous variable across multiple categorical groups?
A. Pie chart
B. Histogram
C. Side-by-side boxplots
D. Scatterplot
, Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because side-by-side boxplots effectively display the median,
spread, and outliers of a continuous variable across different categories, facilitating
visual comparison.
Q8: A data set has a variance of 64. What is the standard deviation?
A. 4
B. 8
C. 32
D. 128
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because standard deviation is the square root of variance; √64 =
8.
Q9: In a histogram of patient satisfaction scores, the bars are tallest in the middle
and taper symmetrically on both sides. What term describes this shape?
A. Positively skewed
B. Negatively skewed
C. Approximately normal (bell-shaped)
D. Bimodal
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because a symmetric, unimodal distribution with the highest
frequencies in the center and tapering tails is characteristic of a normal
(bell-shaped) distribution.
Q10: A nurse manager calculates the mean, median, and mode of patient fall rates
across 12 units. All three values equal 2.5 falls per 1,000 patient-days. What can be
concluded?
A. The data are bimodal.
B. The data are uniformly distributed.
C. The data are perfectly symmetric.
D. The standard deviation is zero.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Correct because when the mean, median, and mode are equal, the
distribution is perfectly symmetric, which is a hallmark of the normal distribution.
Q11: Which measure of variability is most affected by extreme outliers?
A. Interquartile range
B. Standard deviation
