HSCI 190 EXAM 100% DETAILED VERIFIED CORRECT ANSWERS
2026
What does PPDAC stand for? -ANSWER-Problem, Plan, Data, Analysis, Conclusions
Problem in PPDAC: -ANSWER-What is the problem or question?
Plan in PPDAC -ANSWER-what info do you need to answer the question?
Data in PPDAC -ANSWER-collecting high quality information
Analysis in PPDAC -ANSWER-Sorting, graphing, and running statistical tests
Conclusions in PPDAC -ANSWER-Interpretation, communication, and generating new ideas
Why was the Wakefield et al. study poorly done? -ANSWER-Because it concluded the MMR
vaccine was correlated to autism with questionable methodology
Who was Harold Shipman and what did he do? -ANSWER-A doctor in the 70s, killed people
on house visits by giving them diamorphine
what are the two subcategories of categorical data -ANSWER-nominal, ordinal
What is another name for categorical data -ANSWER-discrete data
What is another name for scale data -ANSWER-continuous data
What are the two subcategories of scale data? -ANSWER-interval, ratio
,Information that is grouped into unordered categories and the assigned number is
meaningless -ANSWER-nominal data
information is grouped into ordered categories and the number assigned means something -
ANSWER-ordinal data
can calculations be performed on categorical data? -ANSWER-no
This type of data is qualitative -ANSWER-categorical
this type of data is quantitative -ANSWER-scale
a numerical measure on a scale where each point is equal distance from one another and
there is no true 0 -ANSWER-interval data
a numerical measurement where the numbers are not restricted to certain values and there
is a true 0 -ANSWER-ratio data
this type of frequency distribution shows raw data -ANSWER-absolute frequency
this type of frequency distribution shows a proportion or percentage of values that fall
within a given interval -ANSWER-relative frequency
formula for relative frequency is -ANSWER-absolute frequency / sum of all frequencies (x
100 for percentage)
the 'index' in mathematical notations, denoted by 'i', tells you -ANSWER-the lower limit of
the summation (starting value)
,Only measure of central tendency that can be used with nominal data -ANSWER-mode
measures of central tendency for ordinal data -ANSWER-mean, median, or mode (but mean
is sometimes less useful)
measures of central tendency for scale data -ANSWER-mean, median, or mode
describes the difference between the minimum and maximum value in a data set -ANSWER-
range
dividing the data set into quartiles so you can identify the ranges that fall within 50% of the
mean or median of a data set -ANSWER-IQR
formula to calculate IQR -ANSWER-Q3 - Q1
this can be calculated by identifying the distance between each data point and the mean,
squaring this value, and then averaging the distances -ANSWER-variance (s^2)
what are the problems with variance, despite it giving an accurate representation of the
spread around the mean? -ANSWER-1. units: units are not the same as data set values
2. size: the value for variance is much higher than most of the differences between the data
point and the mean value
difference between standard deviation (SD) and variance (s^2) -ANSWER-SD is the square
root of the variance
why is SD used more than variance -ANSWER-same units, easier to interpret
to give SD context, it must be reported with the -ANSWER-mean
, when there a multiple ways of describing something and one chooses or chooses not to say
something that impacts how the data is interpreted -ANSWER-data framing
three things to consider when trying to make sense of any data -ANSWER-what is being
measured, how is it being measured, relative or absolute numbers
what should you always include in calculations and descriptions -ANSWER-units
relative frequency can exaggerate findings, especially if -ANSWER-the starting point is low
relative frequency can minimize findings, especially if -ANSWER-dealing with large numbers
Median of the lower half of a data set is represented by the abbreviation -ANSWER-Q1
Median of the upper half of a data set is represented by the abbreviation -ANSWER-Q3
Median of a data set can also be abbreviated as -ANSWER-Q2
the x-axis represents which variable -ANSWER-independent
the y-axis represents which variable -ANSWER-dependent
The two sets of colours you shouldn't use together in graphs because colourblind people
might not be able to distinguish them -ANSWER-red/green, blue/yellow
the titles of the y-axis and x-axis must always include -ANSWER-units
bar graphs summarize this kind of data -ANSWER-categorical
2026
What does PPDAC stand for? -ANSWER-Problem, Plan, Data, Analysis, Conclusions
Problem in PPDAC: -ANSWER-What is the problem or question?
Plan in PPDAC -ANSWER-what info do you need to answer the question?
Data in PPDAC -ANSWER-collecting high quality information
Analysis in PPDAC -ANSWER-Sorting, graphing, and running statistical tests
Conclusions in PPDAC -ANSWER-Interpretation, communication, and generating new ideas
Why was the Wakefield et al. study poorly done? -ANSWER-Because it concluded the MMR
vaccine was correlated to autism with questionable methodology
Who was Harold Shipman and what did he do? -ANSWER-A doctor in the 70s, killed people
on house visits by giving them diamorphine
what are the two subcategories of categorical data -ANSWER-nominal, ordinal
What is another name for categorical data -ANSWER-discrete data
What is another name for scale data -ANSWER-continuous data
What are the two subcategories of scale data? -ANSWER-interval, ratio
,Information that is grouped into unordered categories and the assigned number is
meaningless -ANSWER-nominal data
information is grouped into ordered categories and the number assigned means something -
ANSWER-ordinal data
can calculations be performed on categorical data? -ANSWER-no
This type of data is qualitative -ANSWER-categorical
this type of data is quantitative -ANSWER-scale
a numerical measure on a scale where each point is equal distance from one another and
there is no true 0 -ANSWER-interval data
a numerical measurement where the numbers are not restricted to certain values and there
is a true 0 -ANSWER-ratio data
this type of frequency distribution shows raw data -ANSWER-absolute frequency
this type of frequency distribution shows a proportion or percentage of values that fall
within a given interval -ANSWER-relative frequency
formula for relative frequency is -ANSWER-absolute frequency / sum of all frequencies (x
100 for percentage)
the 'index' in mathematical notations, denoted by 'i', tells you -ANSWER-the lower limit of
the summation (starting value)
,Only measure of central tendency that can be used with nominal data -ANSWER-mode
measures of central tendency for ordinal data -ANSWER-mean, median, or mode (but mean
is sometimes less useful)
measures of central tendency for scale data -ANSWER-mean, median, or mode
describes the difference between the minimum and maximum value in a data set -ANSWER-
range
dividing the data set into quartiles so you can identify the ranges that fall within 50% of the
mean or median of a data set -ANSWER-IQR
formula to calculate IQR -ANSWER-Q3 - Q1
this can be calculated by identifying the distance between each data point and the mean,
squaring this value, and then averaging the distances -ANSWER-variance (s^2)
what are the problems with variance, despite it giving an accurate representation of the
spread around the mean? -ANSWER-1. units: units are not the same as data set values
2. size: the value for variance is much higher than most of the differences between the data
point and the mean value
difference between standard deviation (SD) and variance (s^2) -ANSWER-SD is the square
root of the variance
why is SD used more than variance -ANSWER-same units, easier to interpret
to give SD context, it must be reported with the -ANSWER-mean
, when there a multiple ways of describing something and one chooses or chooses not to say
something that impacts how the data is interpreted -ANSWER-data framing
three things to consider when trying to make sense of any data -ANSWER-what is being
measured, how is it being measured, relative or absolute numbers
what should you always include in calculations and descriptions -ANSWER-units
relative frequency can exaggerate findings, especially if -ANSWER-the starting point is low
relative frequency can minimize findings, especially if -ANSWER-dealing with large numbers
Median of the lower half of a data set is represented by the abbreviation -ANSWER-Q1
Median of the upper half of a data set is represented by the abbreviation -ANSWER-Q3
Median of a data set can also be abbreviated as -ANSWER-Q2
the x-axis represents which variable -ANSWER-independent
the y-axis represents which variable -ANSWER-dependent
The two sets of colours you shouldn't use together in graphs because colourblind people
might not be able to distinguish them -ANSWER-red/green, blue/yellow
the titles of the y-axis and x-axis must always include -ANSWER-units
bar graphs summarize this kind of data -ANSWER-categorical
