Quantitative Proficiency Test (WorldQuant
University) | Actual Questions and Answers |
2026 Update | Complete Solutions | 100%
Verified
• The process of deduction -✓✓1. Theory
2. Hypothesis
3. Data collection
4. Findings
5. Hypothesis confirmed or rejected
6. Revision of theory
• Epistemoogy -✓✓The worldview of the researcher determines the method
• Positivism -✓✓Theories of how the world needs to be tested and refined so we can
understand and predict what will happen
- Research is always imperfect and fallible
- Falsification: you can never prove that your hypothesis is true, you can only fail to
reject an hypothesis
• Karl Popper -✓✓The swans example
• Sampling -✓✓The process of selecting units from a population of interest so that by
studying the sample we may fairly generalize our results back to the population from
which they were chosen
- A good sample should be representative of the entire population of interest
- each person should have an equal chance of being chosen
• Randomization -✓✓- Simple random sampling: similar to a lottery
- assign numbers and auto-generate random selection
- Downside: you need to have a list of all ppl in the population of interest in advance
• Proportional Stratified Sampling -✓✓Divide the population into separate categories,
then select a simple random sample from each category
- Sampled category proportions are the same as in the population
• A good sample -✓✓1. Should be representative of all the population
2. Each person should have an equal chance of being chosen
This reduces the biases. In reality, sample depends on the nature of the population,
time and money.
, • Biased Samples -✓✓1. Voluntary response sample: (Self selected to take part in the
research)
2. Convenience sample: (People that are easy to reach)
• What's the ideal sampling? -✓✓Random sampling or proportional random sampling is
ideal but can be hard to achieve thus researchers can rely on convenience sampling.
• Measurement -✓✓Applying numbers to objects according to a set of rules
• What is a variable? -✓✓Any characteristics that we can measure and that can take on
different values
- Variable -> it varies in value among participants in our sample
• 3 different scale of measurement -✓✓1. Nominal
2. Ordinal
3. Interval/Ratio
• Nominal level of measurement -✓✓Numbers are used as labels but have no other
meanings. There are 2 sub-types:
1. Numbering for the identification of individuals
2. Number of types or classes: each number of a class is assigned the same number
• Ordinal level of measurement -✓✓The assigned numbers have a meaningful order
- Rank ordering of values
- Ex: ranking of people (1st or last position)
- Most of the scales used by psychologists are ordinal (mood, satisfaction etc)
• Interval level of measurement -✓✓Numbers have an order like the ordinal scale AND
they also have equal intervals between the categories.
• Ratio level of measurement -✓✓Numbers have an order like the ordinal scale AND
they also have equal intervals between the categories. But the scale also has a "true
zero point" (e.g 0kg = no weight)
- They are meaningful
• 3 things to evaluate the quality of quantitative research -✓✓1. Objectivity
2. Reliability
3. Validity
• Objectivity -✓✓- Findings should not depend on who did the research.
- The researcher's task is to uncover the reality without contaminating it in any way
- The aim is for the researcher to be compeltely objective
• Reliability -✓✓- In research reliability means "repeatability" or "consistency"
- A measure is reliable if it gives you the same result over and over again
University) | Actual Questions and Answers |
2026 Update | Complete Solutions | 100%
Verified
• The process of deduction -✓✓1. Theory
2. Hypothesis
3. Data collection
4. Findings
5. Hypothesis confirmed or rejected
6. Revision of theory
• Epistemoogy -✓✓The worldview of the researcher determines the method
• Positivism -✓✓Theories of how the world needs to be tested and refined so we can
understand and predict what will happen
- Research is always imperfect and fallible
- Falsification: you can never prove that your hypothesis is true, you can only fail to
reject an hypothesis
• Karl Popper -✓✓The swans example
• Sampling -✓✓The process of selecting units from a population of interest so that by
studying the sample we may fairly generalize our results back to the population from
which they were chosen
- A good sample should be representative of the entire population of interest
- each person should have an equal chance of being chosen
• Randomization -✓✓- Simple random sampling: similar to a lottery
- assign numbers and auto-generate random selection
- Downside: you need to have a list of all ppl in the population of interest in advance
• Proportional Stratified Sampling -✓✓Divide the population into separate categories,
then select a simple random sample from each category
- Sampled category proportions are the same as in the population
• A good sample -✓✓1. Should be representative of all the population
2. Each person should have an equal chance of being chosen
This reduces the biases. In reality, sample depends on the nature of the population,
time and money.
, • Biased Samples -✓✓1. Voluntary response sample: (Self selected to take part in the
research)
2. Convenience sample: (People that are easy to reach)
• What's the ideal sampling? -✓✓Random sampling or proportional random sampling is
ideal but can be hard to achieve thus researchers can rely on convenience sampling.
• Measurement -✓✓Applying numbers to objects according to a set of rules
• What is a variable? -✓✓Any characteristics that we can measure and that can take on
different values
- Variable -> it varies in value among participants in our sample
• 3 different scale of measurement -✓✓1. Nominal
2. Ordinal
3. Interval/Ratio
• Nominal level of measurement -✓✓Numbers are used as labels but have no other
meanings. There are 2 sub-types:
1. Numbering for the identification of individuals
2. Number of types or classes: each number of a class is assigned the same number
• Ordinal level of measurement -✓✓The assigned numbers have a meaningful order
- Rank ordering of values
- Ex: ranking of people (1st or last position)
- Most of the scales used by psychologists are ordinal (mood, satisfaction etc)
• Interval level of measurement -✓✓Numbers have an order like the ordinal scale AND
they also have equal intervals between the categories.
• Ratio level of measurement -✓✓Numbers have an order like the ordinal scale AND
they also have equal intervals between the categories. But the scale also has a "true
zero point" (e.g 0kg = no weight)
- They are meaningful
• 3 things to evaluate the quality of quantitative research -✓✓1. Objectivity
2. Reliability
3. Validity
• Objectivity -✓✓- Findings should not depend on who did the research.
- The researcher's task is to uncover the reality without contaminating it in any way
- The aim is for the researcher to be compeltely objective
• Reliability -✓✓- In research reliability means "repeatability" or "consistency"
- A measure is reliable if it gives you the same result over and over again
