Chapter 11 - Analyzing and Interpreting
Data
When studying an island population of scrub jays, a researcher suspects that the individuals she is
observing are uniquely different in their overall size from the mainland population. What is the
appropriate method to determine if the researcher's suspicions are accurate? - correct answer ✔✔using
inferential statistics to compare the populations
Which of these cannot be provided by descriptive statistics? - correct answer ✔✔evaluate a hypothesis
about the population
When analyzing a sample from a population, the characteristics of the sample are referred to as the
_____. - correct answer ✔✔statistics
A researcher has exhaustively measured every individual from a population and arrived at 0.5 grams as
the mean size for an individual. In calculating this mean, the researcher has provided us with what
characterization of the population? - correct answer ✔✔parameter
Which of these is not considered a descriptive statistic? - correct answer ✔✔t test
Which of these levels of measurement requires a meaningful zero point? - correct answer ✔✔ratio
A marketing firm has been hired by a cola company to review how their cola drink compares to their two
major competitors. The marketing firm conducts a series of comparison trials at the grocery stores and
public areas around the region where volunteers are asked to rank the cola drinks on three criteria from
most to least favorable. What type of data is being collected by this research? - correct answer
✔✔ordinal
Which of these instruments measure on an interval scale? - correct answer ✔✔thermometer
Which of these levels of measurement address categorical data? - correct answer ✔✔nominal
, Which of these is an indicator that data is at least on an interval scale? - correct answer ✔✔equal
spacing between values
A soccer coach is conducting trials for an open position but too many people have arrived to try out. As a
strategy, the coach has divided the tryouts into a set of basic skill tests. By only keeping the top half of
performers from every skill trial, she is able to weed out poor candidates. What form of central tendency
must she use to decide who can stay and who should leave? - correct answer ✔✔median
As required by the school district, each school nurse must conduct an annual review of the students'
health. Height and weight peak at a different value for boys and girls. Upon calculating the descriptive
statistics for each grade level, the nurse realizes that a mean is the wrong measure of central tendency
for a grade level. Why would this be the case? - correct answer ✔✔The sample shows a bimodal
distribution.
The mean is the most widely used statistic for describing central tendency. However, the mean can be
heavily influenced by _______. - correct answer ✔✔outliers
A coffee buyer makes regular visits to the coffee-growing regions of the world to collect samples for
testing. Because of the nature of bean collection, a sample often has many beans on the larger end of
the size range with fewer beans at a lower size. Which is the appropriate descriptive statistic to use if the
coffee buyer wished to describe the most common bean size for the sample? - correct answer ✔✔mode
Which measure of central tendency can be used to summarize all levels of measurement (nominal,
ordinal, interval, and ratio)? - correct answer ✔✔mode
Which of these measures of dispersion is calculated by taking the square root of the variance? - correct
answer ✔✔standard deviation
Which of these characteristics of data is required in order to calculate the standard deviation for a
sample of values? - correct answer ✔✔Data are recorded in the interval scale.
Which of the following measures of dispersion indicates how far a single score in the sample deviates
from the mean of the sample? - correct answer ✔✔variance
Data
When studying an island population of scrub jays, a researcher suspects that the individuals she is
observing are uniquely different in their overall size from the mainland population. What is the
appropriate method to determine if the researcher's suspicions are accurate? - correct answer ✔✔using
inferential statistics to compare the populations
Which of these cannot be provided by descriptive statistics? - correct answer ✔✔evaluate a hypothesis
about the population
When analyzing a sample from a population, the characteristics of the sample are referred to as the
_____. - correct answer ✔✔statistics
A researcher has exhaustively measured every individual from a population and arrived at 0.5 grams as
the mean size for an individual. In calculating this mean, the researcher has provided us with what
characterization of the population? - correct answer ✔✔parameter
Which of these is not considered a descriptive statistic? - correct answer ✔✔t test
Which of these levels of measurement requires a meaningful zero point? - correct answer ✔✔ratio
A marketing firm has been hired by a cola company to review how their cola drink compares to their two
major competitors. The marketing firm conducts a series of comparison trials at the grocery stores and
public areas around the region where volunteers are asked to rank the cola drinks on three criteria from
most to least favorable. What type of data is being collected by this research? - correct answer
✔✔ordinal
Which of these instruments measure on an interval scale? - correct answer ✔✔thermometer
Which of these levels of measurement address categorical data? - correct answer ✔✔nominal
, Which of these is an indicator that data is at least on an interval scale? - correct answer ✔✔equal
spacing between values
A soccer coach is conducting trials for an open position but too many people have arrived to try out. As a
strategy, the coach has divided the tryouts into a set of basic skill tests. By only keeping the top half of
performers from every skill trial, she is able to weed out poor candidates. What form of central tendency
must she use to decide who can stay and who should leave? - correct answer ✔✔median
As required by the school district, each school nurse must conduct an annual review of the students'
health. Height and weight peak at a different value for boys and girls. Upon calculating the descriptive
statistics for each grade level, the nurse realizes that a mean is the wrong measure of central tendency
for a grade level. Why would this be the case? - correct answer ✔✔The sample shows a bimodal
distribution.
The mean is the most widely used statistic for describing central tendency. However, the mean can be
heavily influenced by _______. - correct answer ✔✔outliers
A coffee buyer makes regular visits to the coffee-growing regions of the world to collect samples for
testing. Because of the nature of bean collection, a sample often has many beans on the larger end of
the size range with fewer beans at a lower size. Which is the appropriate descriptive statistic to use if the
coffee buyer wished to describe the most common bean size for the sample? - correct answer ✔✔mode
Which measure of central tendency can be used to summarize all levels of measurement (nominal,
ordinal, interval, and ratio)? - correct answer ✔✔mode
Which of these measures of dispersion is calculated by taking the square root of the variance? - correct
answer ✔✔standard deviation
Which of these characteristics of data is required in order to calculate the standard deviation for a
sample of values? - correct answer ✔✔Data are recorded in the interval scale.
Which of the following measures of dispersion indicates how far a single score in the sample deviates
from the mean of the sample? - correct answer ✔✔variance
