Deck 11: Interpreting Data

Question 1

Because extremes in a distribution (a very large or very small number)can impact the mean, it is usually important to examine measures of dispersion about the mean.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Dr.Jones wanted to display the findings of the sentences given in his local courthouse on one summer day.If the sentences, displayed in months, were 10, 18, 24, 36, 18, 70, 30, then which of the following measures of central tendency is accurate?

A)the mean is 24
B)the median is 24
C)the mode is 24
D)the median is 26

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Summary averages or measures of central tendency include the mode, mean, and range.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Measures of central tendency include all except _____.

A)standard deviation
B)median
C)mean
D)mode

Question 5

Bivariate analyses typically have an explanatory purpose.

Question 6

Which of the following is an accurate statement?

A)if the mean is much higher than the mode, it indicates that there are no extreme cases
B)if the standard deviation is high, it indicates that there is no variability
C)if the mean is the same as median, it indicates that the mode will be higher.
D)Whenever the mean is much higher than the mode, it indicates that the mean is distorted

Question 7

With respect to standard deviation, which of the following statements is correct?

A)it is the distance separating the highest and lowest value
B)it is the square of the variance
C)it can be a positive or negative number
D)comparing standard deviations for different groups of cases indicates relative amounts of dispersion within each group

Question 8

Which of the following is accurate concerning empirical research?

A)empirical research is a mathematical rather than a logical operation
B)mathematics is a very difficult but efficient language
C)criminal justice is the applied branch of mathematics
D)empirical research is a logical rather than a mathematical operation

Question 9

When we generalize from samples to larger populations, we use inferential statistics to test the significance of an observed relationship.

Question 10

With respect to standard deviation, which of the following statements is not correct?

A)the total deviation is zero
B)the average deviation is zero
C)the value can range from negative 1 to positive 1
D)the sum of the deviations from the mean will always be zero

Question 11

Which of the following would represent a distribution of those arrested on a holiday weekend?

A)the exact number of persons arrested for violation of specific statute numbers
B)a partial list of persons arrested with the corresponding statute number they allegedly violated
C)the number of persons arrested for violent crimes, the number of persons arrested for property crimes but not the number of persons arrested for public order crimes
D)a list of people arrested for DUI only

Question 12

When reporting marginals for univariate analysis, the presentation must be in raw numbers and cannot be reported in percentages.

Question 13

Of the three measures of central tendency, which one takes into account extreme values?

A)mode
B)median
C)mean
D)mode and median

Question 14

The range is a measure of central tendency.

Question 15

Univariate analysis and subgroup comparisons focus on describing variables while bivariate analysis focuses upon people.

Question 16

Tests of statistical significance should not be calculated on relationships observed in data collected from whole populations.

Question 17

Empirical research is first a mathematical rather than a logical operation.

Question 18

In univariate analysis, missing data can be reported in several different ways.

Question 19

Which of the following do not represent measures of dispersion?

A)ranges
B)means
C)standard deviations
D)variance

Question 20

To calculate the mean for grouped data, which of the following steps must be completed?

A)multiply the number of subjects within each category by the value of that category
B)divide the results of the multiplication
C)multiply by the number of subjects
D)multiply each large number with the smaller numbers

Question 21

When using inferential statistics all of the following assumptions are accurate except _____.

A)the sample must be drawn from the population about which inferences are being made
B)the inferential statistics assume simple random sampling
C)as long as the sample is drawn from a population that resembles the one about which inferences are to be made, the resulting statistic has value
D)inferential statistics are addressed to sampling error only, they do not consider non-sampling errors

Question 22

Which of the following is not a guideline for the presentation of tabular data?

A)there is no need to display information about missing data, include only that information which pertains to the independent and dependent variables
B)when using percentages in a table, the base on which the percentages are computed should be indicated
C)a heading or title for the table should be given that succinctly describes what is contained in the table
D)the attributes of each variable should be clearly indicated

Question 23

Which of the following represents a discrete variable?

A)gender
B)annual salary
C)age
D)hours worked

Question 24

The sum of squared deviations from the mean divided by the number of cases is the _____.

A)variance
B)range
C)the sum of the squared variance
D)standard deviation

Question 25

Which of the following is true concerning the use of multivariate tables?

A)they are constructed in different manner than a bivariate tables
B)they include only one independent variable
C)the dependent variable is explained in terms of more than one independent variable
D)subgroups are generally described as subsamples in the table

Question 26

Which of the following is inaccurate concerning the construction of explanatory bivariate tables?

A)the cases are divided into groups according to attributes of the independent variable
B)each of the subgroups is then described in terms of attributes of the dependent variable
C)the table is read by comparing the independent variable subgroups with one another in terms of a given attribute of the dependent variable
D)the cases are divided into groups according to attributes of the levels of measurement.

Question 27

Which of the following represent a continuous variable?

A)gender
B)race
C)age
D)religious affiliation

Question 28

Chi Square is based on the ___________________.

A)null hypothesis
B)mean
C)range
D)descriptive statistics

Question 29

Professor White asked his students to put the number of hours each studied for the final exam on a piece of paper and turn that paper in with the exam. The pieces of paper indicate that students studied 10, 3, 4, 25, 1, 4, 4, 12, 6, 8, and 10 hours.What is the modal number of hours studied?

A)10
B)25
C)4
D)there is no mode for this distribution

Question 30

Measures of dispersion are not appropriate for which types of variables?

A)Interval
B)ratio
C)ordinal
D)discrete

Question 31

Professor White asked his students to put the number of hours each studied for the final exam on a piece of paper and turn that paper in with the exam. The pieces of paper indicate that students studied 10, 3, 4, 25, 1, 4, 4, 12, 6, 8, and 10 hours.What is the mean number of hours studied?

A)10
B)7.9
C)7
D)6

Question 32

The use of rates in the reporting of criminal justice data allow the researcher to _____.

A)standardize by sample size
B)make more meaningful comparisons
C)explain methodology
D)select random sample

Question 33

Which of the following is a test of statistical significance?

A)regression
B)chi square
C)gamma
D)lambda

Question 34

Which statement is true regarding rates?

A)Rates are fundamental inferential statistics in criminal justice research.
B)Rates are used to standardize some measure for comparative purposes.
C)In criminal justice crime rates per 100,0000 population is a common convention in reporting.
D)These are the only governmental statistics that are calculated to discuss crime

Question 35

Which of the following would be an inappropriate manner to report findings on the variable gender?

A)median
B)mode
C)raw numbers
D)percentages

Question 36

Bivariate and multivariate analyses are aimed primarily at _____.

A)description
B)exploration
C)explanation
D)application

Question 37

In calculating the rate of rapes within New York City, which of the following would appear to be the best data for the denominator?

A)females living in New York City
B)all people living in New York City
C)all males living in New York City since nearly all rapes are committed by males
D)females over the age of 21 living in New York City

Question 38

In a distribution of sentence lengths in months like the following: 6, 12, 10, 18, 24, 360;which statistic would a researcher not want to report?

A)standard deviation
B)mean
C)range
D)raw numbers

Question 39

When reading a table for bivariate analysis that displays percentages of some attributes, what is the rule of thumb for reading the table?

A)if it adds up to 100% the statistics are accurate
B)if the table is percentaged down, read across and if the table is percentaged across, read down
C)if the table is percentaged down, read down and if the table is percentaged across, read across
D)the table may explain levels of measurement

Question 40

When calculating the mean, the researcher should use data measured at which level?

A)nominal
B)ordinal
C)interval
D)both interval and ordinal

Question 41

Explain in your own words the logic of statistical significance and give an example to illustrate your answer.

Question 42

What is meant by measures of central tendency? What are they and in what type of variables are they appropriate?

Question 43

What is meant by measures of dispersion? What are they and in what type of variables are they appropriate? Why should measures of dispersion be presented along with measures of central tendency?

Question 44

If there is a great amount of variation in a distribution, it is known as being __________________.

Question 45

What is the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics? Give an example of each.What assumptions apply to each?

Question 46

The standard deviation is the square root of the _______________.

Question 47

What is a non-sampling error? How is that different from a sampling error? Use an example from criminal justice to illustrate these differences.

Question 48

As a measure of dispersion, _____________________ is described as the average amount of variation about the mean.

Question 49

The middle attribute, or the ____________, is the measure that divides the distribution so that half the scores are higher and half are lower.

Question 50

The most frequent attribute, the __________ can be reported from either grouped or ungrouped data.

Question 51

Frequency distributions of grouped data, known as ________________, will allow for a manageable format but with some loss of detail.

Question 52

_________________ help researchers form conclusions from their observations about a population from the study of a sample drawn from it.

Question 53

Statistics that summarize data in manageable forms are known as _________________ statistics.

Question 54

When reporting findings, the choice of the ________________, or the total number of cases, depends entirely on the purposes of the analysis.

Question 55

A(n)________ indicates what percentage of cases fall at or below some value.