Question 1

Descriptive statistical tools include graphs, charts, and numerical measures.

Accepted Answer

Descriptive statistical tools are used to summarize and describe the main features of a collection of data in a quantitative manner, and they include various types of graphs, charts, and numerical measures such as mean, median, mode, and standard deviation.

Question 2

In this course, the term business statistics refers to the set of tools and techniques that are used to convert information into meaningful data.

Accepted Answer

Business statistics refers to the application of statistical tools and techniques to analyze data and make informed business decisions, not converting information into data.

Question 3

Statistics is a discipline that involves tools and techniques used to describe data and draw conclusions.

Accepted Answer

Statistics involves the collection, analysis, interpretation, presentation, and organization of data, using mathematical theories and formulas to describe, summarize, and infer conclusions from data sets.

Question 4

A light bulb manufacturer wants to advertise the average life of its light bulbs so it tests a subset of light bulbs. This is an example of inferential statistics.

Accepted Answer

Inferential statistics involves making predictions or inferences about a population based on a sample of data taken from that population, which is what the manufacturer is doing by testing a subset of light bulbs to make claims about the average life of all its light bulbs.

Question 5

Statistical inference would be used as the primary statistical tool by a quality control manager who wishes to estimate the average weight of her company's products.

Accepted Answer

Statistical inference allows the quality control manager to make predictions or inferences about a population based on a sample of data, which is ideal for estimating the average weight of the company's products.

Question 6

A sales manager has five salespeople. The following are the number of units sold by the five salespeople during the past week: {5, 13, 6, 2, 4}. Based on the data, the mean number of units sold was 6 units.

Accepted Answer

To find the mean, add all the numbers together and divide by the number of numbers. (5 + 13 + 6 + 2 + 4) / 5 = 30 / 5 = 6.

Question 7

An accountant has recently prepared a report for a client that contains a variety of graphs and charts. In doing so, she has used descriptive statistical methods.

Accepted Answer

Descriptive statistical methods are used to summarize and organize data in an informative way, which includes the use of graphs and charts to visually represent data.

Question 8

Some of the most common methods of collecting data include experiments, telephone surveys, mail questionnaires, direct observations, and personal interviews.

Accepted Answer

These methods are widely used in various fields such as marketing, sociology, psychology, and market research to gather information from participants or observe behaviors and phenomena.

Question 9

An accountant who recently examined 200 accounts from a company's total of 4,000 accounts in an effort to estimate the percentage of all accounts that have incorrect journal entries is using descriptive statistical analysis to reach the conclusion.

Accepted Answer

The accountant is using inferential statistical analysis, as they are examining a sample (200 accounts) to make inferences about the entire population (4,000 accounts) of the company's accounts.

Question 10

A histogram is an example of a numerical measure.

Accepted Answer

A histogram is a graphical representation of data that uses bars to show the frequency of numerical data intervals, not a numerical measure itself.

Question 11

Another term for the arithmetic average is the mean.

Accepted Answer

The arithmetic average is commonly referred to as the mean, which is calculated by adding up all the numbers in a set and then dividing by the count of those numbers.

Question 12

Typically, it is possible to include a larger number of questions in a phone survey than in a mail survey since it takes less time to complete the survey over the phone.

Accepted Answer

Phone surveys often need to be shorter to keep the respondent engaged and on the line, whereas mail surveys allow the respondent to complete the questionnaire at their own pace, potentially accommodating more questions.

Question 13

An experiment is a process that generates data as its outcome.

Accepted Answer

An experiment is designed to observe phenomena under controlled conditions to generate data, which can be analyzed to gain insights or test hypotheses.

Question 14

Descriptive statistics allow a decision maker to reach a conclusion about a population based on a subset from the population.

Accepted Answer

Descriptive statistics summarize and describe the features of a dataset, but they do not allow for making inferences or conclusions about the population from which the sample was drawn; that is the role of inferential statistics.

Question 15

A manufacturing manager has developed a table that shows the average production volume each day for the past three weeks. The average production level is an example of a numerical measure.

Accepted Answer

The average production level is a numerical measure because it quantifies the average output, representing data in a numerical form.

Question 16

Companies frequently use charts and graphs in their regular communications with stockholders and investors; this shows the use of descriptive statistics.

Accepted Answer

Charts and graphs are tools for summarizing and presenting data in a visual format, which is a key aspect of descriptive statistics. They help in describing the basic features of the data in a study.

Question 17

Hypothesis testing and estimation are two statistical tools that are used to draw inferences about a large data set based on a subset of the data.

Accepted Answer

Hypothesis testing and estimation are indeed two fundamental statistical methods used to make inferences about a population based on a sample, which is a subset of the population data. Hypothesis testing is used to assess the evidence against a null hypothesis, while estimation involves calculating estimates of population parameters (like mean or proportion) based on sample data.

Question 18

The editor of a local newspaper is interested in determining the percentage of subscribers who read the paper's editorials. The statistical technique that he would use is called estimation.

Accepted Answer

Estimation is a statistical technique used to infer the value of an unknown parameter (in this case, the percentage of subscribers who read the paper's editorials) based on sample data.

Question 19

Experimental design is a plan for performing an experiment where the effects of one or more factors on the variable of interest are measured.

Accepted Answer

Experimental design involves planning how to conduct an experiment to ensure that it can test hypotheses effectively, by controlling and measuring the influence of different factors on the variable of interest.

Question 20

An Internet-based or emailed survey is not an alternative method of data collection.

Accepted Answer

Internet-based or emailed surveys are indeed alternative methods of data collection, offering a digital means to gather information from respondents efficiently.

Quiz 1: The Where, Why, and How of Data Collection