Deck 3: Summarizing Scores With Measures of Central Tendency

Question 1

With respect to other scores in a distribution, measures of central tendency

A)are around the other scores.
B)are the points around which most of the scores are located.
C)usually fall in the tails or extremes of the distribution.
D)are never actually equal to one of the scores in the distribution.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

With respect to a graph of a frequency distribution, a positive deviation score

A)will be located to the right of the mean.
B)will be located to the left of the mean.
C)cannot be found.
D)indicates the raw score's location relative to the median.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Adding numbers is an important procedure in statistics.Instead of saying "add up all of the scores," we use the symbol

A)N.
B)X.
C)Σ.
D)Y.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The mode is defined as

A)the most frequently occurring score.
B)the mathematical center of the distribution.
C)the smallest deviation from the mean.
D)the point at or below which 50% of the scores fall.

Question 5

Why shouldn't the mode be used with the following set of scores? 2, 5, 3, 3, 4, 2, 4, 5, 1, 1

A)The data are obviously not nominal.
B)There is no mode.
C)The scores are positively skewed.
D)The scores are negatively skewed.

Question 6

The mean is the preferred measure of central tendency when

A)the scale of measurement is interval.
B)the scale of measurement is ordinal, interval, or ratio, and the distribution is skewed.
C)the scale of measurement is ratio.
D)the distribution is symmetrical, and the scale of measurement is interval or ratio.

Question 7

When we graph results from an experiment, a line graph is appropriate when

A)the independent variable is interval or ratio.
B)the independent variable is nominal or ordinal.
C)the dependent variable is nominal or ordinal.
D)the dependent variable is interval or ratio.

Question 8

An experimenter investigated the ability to concentrate under different conditions of crowding.Concentration was measured as the amount of time it took the participant to complete a word puzzle.How should the experimenter summarize the scores on the dependent variable?

A)Find the mode for crowding because crowding scores are nominal.
B)Find the mean amount of crowding, if crowding scores are normally distributed.
C)Find the mean amount of time it took to solve the puzzle, if time scores are normally distributed.
D)Find the median amount of time it took to solve the puzzle because time scores are ordinal.

Question 9

To obtain the mean, we would

A)count all the scores and divide by the total number of scores.
B)add all the scores and divide by the sum of all the scores.
C)divide the total number of scores by the sum of all the scores.
D)add all the scores and divide by the total number of scores.

Question 10

The mean is used most often in behavioral research because researchers tend to

A)measure variables that have interval or ratio scores, and the scores form approximately normal distributions.
B)conduct research in which the mathematical center of a distribution is required.
C)conduct research in which only the most frequently occurring score is needed.
D)measure variables that have interval or ratio scores, and the scores usually do not form a normal distribution.

Question 11

When we graph the results of an experiment, the Y axis indicates the

A)measure of central tendency we have used for the dependent variable.
B)raw score values for each subject on the dependent variable.
C)raw score values for each subject on the independent variable.
D)levels of the independent variable.

Question 12

The median is defined as

A)the most frequently occurring score.
B)the mathematical center of the distribution.
C)the smallest deviation from the mean.
D)the point at or below which 50% of the scores fall.

Question 13

A deviation is more informative than a raw score because it

A)describes the shape of the distribution.
B)has a greater numeric value.
C)is a transformation of the raw score.
D)gives the score's location relative to the mean.

Question 14

The median is the appropriate measure of central tendency when

A)the scale of measurement is nominal.
B)the scores are ordinal, or when the distribution is skewed and the scores are interval or ratio.
C)the scale of measurement is ratio.
D)the distribution is symmetrical, and the scale of measurement is interval or ratio.

Question 15

The best predictor of an individual score in a sample of scores is the

A)sum of the deviations of the scores from the mean.
B)score minus the mean.
C)mean of the sample of scores.
D)total error in the sample of scores.

Question 16

When we refer to a score's deviation, we are referring to

A)how far it is from other scores.
B)how far it is from the mean.
C)how close it is to the other scores.
D)how much error occurred in measuring it.

Question 17

The mean is defined as

A)the most frequently occurring score.
B)the mathematical center of the distribution.
C)the smallest deviation from the center score.
D)the point at or below which 50% of the scores fall.

Question 18

In order to decide which measure of central tendency is appropriate, you must first determine

A)the appropriate graph to use and the independent variable.
B)the appropriate graph to use and the dependent variable.
C)how the data will be collected.
D)the scale of measurement being used and the shape of the distribution.

Question 19

When a very skewed distribution is involved,

A)use the mode because the most frequently occurring score will be the point around which most scores will be located.
B)use the median because it is more representative of most of the scores.
C)use the mean because it will best represent the extreme scores in the tail.
D)no measure of central tendency should be calculated.

Question 20

Error refers to expected errors in predicting unknown scores and is represented by

A)the deviation of the median from the mean.
B)a statistic obtained from a skewed sample.
C)the deviation of a score from the mean.
D)the differences between raw scores in a sample.

Question 21

Find the mean of the following data set.
8, 7, 2, 4, 4, 8, 2, 4, 6, 5, 7, 3, 9, 4, 5, 4, 7

Question 22

The mean tends to be lower than the median for distributions).

A)negatively skewed
B)positively skewed
C)normal
D)any

Question 23

Find the median of the following data set.
8, 7, 2, 4, 4, 8, 2, 4, 6, 5, 7, 3, 9, 4, 5, 4, 7

Question 24

Find the mode of the scores in the following frequency distribution.

Question 25

A bimodal distribution will have modes).

A)two
B)two or fewer
C)two or more
D)no

Question 26

Find the mean of the scores in the following frequency distribution.

Question 27

The sum of the deviations around the mean.

A)always equals zero.
B)always equals one.
C)typically but not always equals zero.
D)typically but not always equals one.

Question 28

For the following order of the measures of centrality, draw the shape that best describes the associated distribution.

Question 29

Find the mode of the following data set.
8, 7, 2, 4, 4, 8, 2, 4, 6, 5, 7, 3, 9, 4, 5, 4, 7

Question 30

When the mean is used to predict scores, a deviation $(X-\bar{X})$ indicates

A)the sample is representative of the population.
B)the difference between the $\bar{X}$ we predict and the score an individual actually gets.
C)the sum of all the deviations.
D)the individual's observed score.

Question 31

Which of the following distributions are unimodal?

A)4, 4, 4, 4, 5
B)1, 2, 3, 4, 5
C)1, 1, 3, 5, 5
D)1, 1.1, .1, 11, .11

Question 32

Find the mode of each of the following two data sets.
Set A: 35, 14, 30, 22, 19, 43, 35, 24, 27, 30, 32, 41, 20, 21, 30, 25, 20, 19, 18, 28
Set B: 35, 14, 30, 22, 19, 43, 35, 24, 27, 30, 32, 41, 209, 21, 30, 25, 20, 19, 18, 28
Does the extreme score 209) impact the mode? Explain.

Question 33

µ is the symbol for the

A)population median.
B)population mode.
C)population mean.
D)sample mean.

Question 34

What is the mean for the following set of scores: 19, 1, 1, 2, 2?

A)5
B)1
C)2
D)25

Question 35

Suppose you received a 95 on an exam where the mean score was 83.What is your score's deviation?

A)12
B)-12
C)89
D)0

Question 36

The population mean is estimated by

A)calculating the mean of as many scores as we can get from the population.
B)calculating the mean of a sample drawn from the population.
C)calculating the mean of a sample and then transforming it to reflect the size of the population.
D)calculating all measures of central tendency for a sample drawn from the population.

Question 37

Find the mean of the following distribution.
Score f 8 3
7 1
6 0
5 4
4 2
3 3
2 1
1 5

Question 38

What shape would you say best describes the following set of scores?
2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9

Question 39

In an effort to quit smoking, Pat began eating butterscotch hard candies.For the month of September, Pat's mean was 24 pieces of candy per day.What was the total number of butterscotch candies that Pat consumed in September?

Question 40

What is the ΣX for the scores of 5, 1, 5, 2, and 10?

A)23
B)500
C)5
D)4.6

Question 41

Does the following graph indicate the existence of a relationship? Explain your answer.
Mean Number of Errors on Driving Test

Question 42

During the past six baseball games he played, Jimmy got 3, 2, 0, 1, 1, and 3 hits.What is his ΣX?

Question 43

For the following set of scores, what is are) ?
7, 8, 10, 10, 11, 12, 13, 13, 15

Question 44

Five students took a personality test.Their deviation scores were -4, +3, +1, -2, +2.Assuming that these scores form a normal distribution, arrange the deviations so their order represents their ranking in terms of frequency, from highest to lowest?

Question 45

Five students took a personality test.Their deviation scores were -4, +3, +1, -2, +2.Assuming that these scores
form a normal distribution, which scores) would have the highest frequency?

Question 46

An experiment has been conducted using three different conditions on the independent variable.For each of the conditions, a sample group mean of 15 was obtained.Assuming each condition results in a normal distribution, how many normal distributions do we envision from this experiment, and what are their population means?

Question 47

The equipment failed to record the reaction time for one trial in an experiment.The reaction times in milliseconds) for the other trials were 505, 630, 490, 650, and 560.What is the best estimate for the missing value?

Question 48

Five students took a personality test.Their deviation scores were -4, +3, +1, -2, and +2.Assuming that these scores
form a normal distribution, which deviation represents the highest raw score?

Question 49

What is the mode in the following data set?
5 4 4 5 6 8 1 1 8 6

Question 50

Suppose you did a study with four different experimental conditions.Note what would likely have to present for evidence of a relationship to be present.

Question 51

Suppose a given researcher has established that for a particular measure of introversion, μ = 25.You've administered this same measure of introversion to a group of 125 subjects and have found a sample mean of 20.What do these two values tell us in the context of this example), and is it at all concerning that the two values are not identical?

Question 52

Find the deviation from the mean for each value in the following distribution.
Score f 8 3
7 1
6 0
5 4
4 2
3 3
2 1
1 5

Question 53

Does the following graph indicate the existence of a relationship? Explain your answer.

Question 54

If you're interested in knowing the income for a given locality in the United States, what is probably the preferred measure of central tendency and why?

Question 55

Based on the following results of an experiment, how many errors would a person who drank 4 oz.of alcohol make?
Mean Number of Errors on Driving Test

Question 56

In general, what does a measure of central tendency inform us about?

Question 57

Frank earned an exam score that equaled the class mean.Can we determine his deviation score without actual values? Explain.

Question 58

For the following data set, find the mode, median, and the mean.What shape do these measures of centrality suggest for the data?
Score f 88 2
87 4
86 7
85 9
84 15
83 1

Question 59

For the following data set, find the mode, median, and the mean.What shape do these measures of centrality suggest for the data?
Score f 37 2
36 4
35 8
34 3
33 1
32 8
31 3
30 1

Question 60

Suppose you are told that your exam score is exactly at the median.What does this tell you about where your score falls in the distribution?