CHAPTER 1
PICTURING DISTRIBUTIONS WITH GRAPHS
1. Some variables that were recorded while studying diets of sharks are given below. Which
of the variables is categorical?
a. The amount of food eaten in a day by the shark being observed
b. The age of the shark being observed
* c. The type of shark being observed
d. The length of the shark being observed
2. A survey is conducted on students taking a statistics class. Several variables are
measured in the survey. Which of these variables listed below is not quantitative?
a. The number of credit hours taken during the quarter
* b. The gender
c. The parents’ annual income
d. The high school GPA
3. Stream quality is based on the levels of many variables, including the following. Which of
these variables is quantitative?
a. The amount of phosphorus
b. The number of distinct species present
c. The amount of dissolved oxygen
* d. All of the above
4. Which of the following leads to a response that is a nominal variable?
a. Rate your satisfaction of this course on a scale from 1 to 7, where higher scores
correspond to higher satisfaction levels.
, b. What letter grade do you expect to receive in this course?
* c. What is your current major of study?
d. All of the above
5. A survey records many variables of interest to the researchers conducting the survey.
The following are some of the variables from a survey conducted by the USDA. Which of
these variables is categorical?
* a. The type of grain grown
b. The number of acres owned
c. The total farm income, before taxes, in 1993
d. The number of children under the age of 12 on the farm
6. The EPA sends out a survey to learn about people’s water usage habits. Some of the
variables are responses to the following questions. Which of these questions leads to
categorical responses?
a. How many times a day do you take a shower?
* b. Do you leave the water running when brushing your teeth?
c. How many times a week do you water your lawn?
d. None of the above
7. Which of the following is a discrete variable?
* a. Number of toxins present in a fish
b. Length of a fish
c. Weight of a fish
d. None of the above
8. Some variables were recorded while surveying plants in a wildlife area. Which of the
variables below is categorical?
, a. The count of petals per flower
b. The count of flowers per plant
c. The plant height in centimeters
* d. The plant species
9. Some variables were recorded while surveying plants in a wildlife area. Which of the
variables below is discrete?
* a. The count of petals per flower
b. Whether the plant grows under the shade of another plant
c. The plant height in centimeters
d. The plant species
10. Here are records of eye color for a random sample of 103 individuals:
Eye color Number of individuals
Blue 21
Green 7
Hazel 23
Brown 47
Other 5
This data set is best represented graphically in
a. a histogram.
b. a dotplot or a stemplot.
c. a scatterplot.
d. a boxplot.
, * e. a pie chart.
Use the following to answer Questions 11–12.
Here is a breakdown of the materials that made up American municipal solid waste in 2000.
PICTURING DISTRIBUTIONS WITH GRAPHS
1. Some variables that were recorded while studying diets of sharks are given below. Which
of the variables is categorical?
a. The amount of food eaten in a day by the shark being observed
b. The age of the shark being observed
* c. The type of shark being observed
d. The length of the shark being observed
2. A survey is conducted on students taking a statistics class. Several variables are
measured in the survey. Which of these variables listed below is not quantitative?
a. The number of credit hours taken during the quarter
* b. The gender
c. The parents’ annual income
d. The high school GPA
3. Stream quality is based on the levels of many variables, including the following. Which of
these variables is quantitative?
a. The amount of phosphorus
b. The number of distinct species present
c. The amount of dissolved oxygen
* d. All of the above
4. Which of the following leads to a response that is a nominal variable?
a. Rate your satisfaction of this course on a scale from 1 to 7, where higher scores
correspond to higher satisfaction levels.
, b. What letter grade do you expect to receive in this course?
* c. What is your current major of study?
d. All of the above
5. A survey records many variables of interest to the researchers conducting the survey.
The following are some of the variables from a survey conducted by the USDA. Which of
these variables is categorical?
* a. The type of grain grown
b. The number of acres owned
c. The total farm income, before taxes, in 1993
d. The number of children under the age of 12 on the farm
6. The EPA sends out a survey to learn about people’s water usage habits. Some of the
variables are responses to the following questions. Which of these questions leads to
categorical responses?
a. How many times a day do you take a shower?
* b. Do you leave the water running when brushing your teeth?
c. How many times a week do you water your lawn?
d. None of the above
7. Which of the following is a discrete variable?
* a. Number of toxins present in a fish
b. Length of a fish
c. Weight of a fish
d. None of the above
8. Some variables were recorded while surveying plants in a wildlife area. Which of the
variables below is categorical?
, a. The count of petals per flower
b. The count of flowers per plant
c. The plant height in centimeters
* d. The plant species
9. Some variables were recorded while surveying plants in a wildlife area. Which of the
variables below is discrete?
* a. The count of petals per flower
b. Whether the plant grows under the shade of another plant
c. The plant height in centimeters
d. The plant species
10. Here are records of eye color for a random sample of 103 individuals:
Eye color Number of individuals
Blue 21
Green 7
Hazel 23
Brown 47
Other 5
This data set is best represented graphically in
a. a histogram.
b. a dotplot or a stemplot.
c. a scatterplot.
d. a boxplot.
, * e. a pie chart.
Use the following to answer Questions 11–12.
Here is a breakdown of the materials that made up American municipal solid waste in 2000.
