Deck 3: Descriptive Statistics

Question 1

Which of the following is/are an assumption(s) for calculating a standard deviation?
I)Requires interval or ratio data.
II)Requires ordinal, interval, or ratio data.
III)Requires a perfectly normal distribution of the data.
IV)Requires an approximately normal distribution of the data.
V)Requires highly skewed data.

A)I
B)II
C)III & V
D)I & IV
E)I & III

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Under the Frequency command in SPSS, if you wanted to find the 11th and 88th percentiles of a set of GRE scores, you would:

A)add 11 and 88 to the percentiles in the Statistics dialog box.
B)click the boxes for 11 and 88 on the percentiles in the Statistics dialog box.
C)add 11 and 88 to your data.
D)click the boxes for 11th and 88th percentile in the Frequencies dialog box.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which of the following is/are an assumption(s) for calculating a median?
I)Requires interval or ratio data.
II)Requires ordinal, interval, or ratio data.
III)Requires a perfectly normal distribution of the data.
IV)Requires an approximately normal distribution of the data.
V)Requires highly skewed data.

A)I
B)II
C)III
D)IV
E)V

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Calculating z-scores in SPSS requires:

A)one numerical variable.
B)more than one numerical variables.
C)one nominal variable.
D)two ordinal variables.
E)knowing the mean of the variable(s).

Question 5

Which of the following is/are true about reporting descriptive statistics? (select all that apply)

A)When you report a median, you should always report the range and the interquartile range.
B)When you report a median, you should always report a measure of spread like the range and/or the interquartile range.
C)When you report a mean, you should always report the interquartile range and the range.
D)When you report a mean, you should always report the variance.
E)When you report a mean, you should always report the standard deviation.

Question 6

Which of the following is/are an assumption(s) for calculating a mean?
I)Requires interval or ratio data.
II)Requires ordinal, interval, or ratio data.
III)Requires a perfectly normal distribution of the data.
IV)Requires an approximately normal distribution of the data.
V)Requires highly skewed data.

A)I
B)II
C)III & V
D)I & IV
E)I & III

Question 7

Z-scores are based on:

A)the mean distribution.
B)the median distribution.
C)any normal distribution.
D)the standard normal distribution.

Question 8

Which variable would it be appropriate to calculate a numerical measure of central tendency (e.g., mean, median)?

A)Age
B)Race
C)Gender
D)Political affiliation
E)Last name

Question 9

In the Frequencies dialog box, after selecting your variable you should:

A)uncheck the Display Frequencies box and then click OK.
B)uncheck the Display Frequencies box and then click Statistics.
C)check the Display Frequencies box and then click OK.
D)check the Display Frequencies box and then click Statistics.

Question 10

It would be appropriate to find the percentiles for which of the following variables?

A)Age
B)Race
C)Gender
D)Political affiliation
E)Last name

Question 11

Which of the following is/are INCORRECT about finding descriptive statistics for a subset(s) of your data?

A)The Means command is designed to report descriptive statistics for subsets of your data.
B)The Means command is executed by using the Analyze → Compare Means → Means click sequence.
C)The Means command is executed by using the Analyze → Descriptive Statistics → Means click sequence.
D)You can use more than one variable to categorize your data into subsets.

Question 12

In the output, valid percent and cumulative percentage are calculated using:

A)nominal data.
B)descriptive statistics.
C)records that include missing data.
D)records without any missing data.
E)all the data.

Question 13

The SPSS command sequence for creating a contingency table is:

A)Data → Descriptive Statistics → Crosstabs
B)Data → Frequencies → Crosstabs
C)Analyze → Frequencies → Crosstabs
D)Analyze → Descriptive Statistics → Crosstabs

Question 14

In the Frequencies dialog box, the Statistics button allows you to:
I)select which percentiles you want calculated, including quartiles.
II)select which percentiles you want calculated except quartiles.
III)select which measures of central tendency you want calculated.
IV)select which measures of dispersion (spread) you want calculated.

A)I only
B)II only
C)I & II only
D)I & III only
E)I, III, & IV

Question 15

Contingency tables (crosstabs) allow you to compare:

A)descriptive statistics.
B)only two variables.
C)two or more variables.
D)frequency tables.
E)percentile ranks.

Question 16

The click sequence to get to the Frequencies command is:

A)Analyze → Reports → Frequencies
B)Analyze → Descriptive Statistics → Frequencies
C)Analyze → Tables → Frequencies
D)Data → Reports → Frequencies
E)Data → Descriptive Statistics → Frequencies

Question 17

Percentiles are appropriate for which kinds of data (select all that apply):

A)Nominal
B)Ordinal
C)Interval
D)Ratio