Question 1

A study in the state of Georgia was conducted to determine the percentage of all community college students who have taken at least one online class. 1500 community college students were
Contacted and asked if they had taken at least one online class during their time at their community
College. These responses were then used to estimate the percentage of all community college
Students who have taken at least one online class. What type of variable is being collected?
A) quantitative data
B) qualitative data

Accepted Answer

The variable being collected is qualitative data because it categorizes students based on whether they have taken at least one online class, which is a non-numeric attribute.

Question 2

A personnel director studied the eating habits of a company's employees. The director noted whether employees brought their own lunch to work, ate at the company cafeteria, or went out to eat lunch. This type of data collection would best be considered as a(n) __________.
A) designed experiment
B) observational study

Accepted Answer

This is an observational study because the personnel director is simply observing and recording the employees' lunch habits without manipulating any variables or assigning treatments.

Question 3

Because of the possible legal consequences, many people in a sample of the U.S. population chose not to participate in a survey regarding illegal drug use. What type of problem has occurred?
A) selection bias
B) nonresponse bias
C) measurement error

Accepted Answer

Nonresponse bias occurs when individuals selected for the survey do not participate, leading to a sample that may not be representative of the population. In this case, the fear of legal consequences led to non-participation.

Question 4

As part of an economics class project, students were asked to randomly select 500 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stocks from the Wall Street Journal. As part of the project, students were asked to summarize the current prices (also referred to as the closing price of the stock for a particular trading date) of the collected stocks using graphical and numerical techniques. Identify the population of interest for this study.
A) the entire set of stocks that are traded on the NYSE
B) a single stock traded on the NYSE
C) the current price (or closing price) of a NYSE stock
D) the 500 NYSE stocks that current prices were collected from

Accepted Answer

The population of interest is the entire set of stocks that are traded on the NYSE, as the study aims to make inferences about all NYSE stocks based on the sample of 500 stocks.

Question 5

The way in which an interviewer asks a question about political party affiliation causes respondents to answer that they have no affiliation when they actually do. What type of problem has occurred?
A) selection bias
B) nonresponse bias
C) measurement error

Accepted Answer

The problem described is a measurement error, as the way the question is asked influences the respondents' answers, leading to inaccurate data.

Question 6

A student completing a research project for a criminal justice class obtained a radar gun for determining automobile speeds and recorded the speeds of automobiles passing a fixed location over a period of several hours. The student was unaware that the device needed to be recharged after two hours of use and that the speeds recorded after two hours were not reliable. What type of problem has occurred?
A) selection bias
B) nonresponse bias
C) measurement error

Accepted Answer

The problem is a measurement error because the radar gun was not functioning correctly after two hours, leading to inaccurate speed recordings.

Question 7

A watchdog group is investigating how people are treated during the foreclosure process. Surveys were mailed to a random sample of 300 people who had recently been threatened with foreclosure.
75 of the surveys were returned by the postal service because the intended recipients had moved
And left no forwarding address. What type of problem has occurred?
A) measurement error
B) nonresponse bias
C) selection bias

Accepted Answer

Nonresponse bias occurs when a significant portion of the sampled individuals do not respond, potentially leading to unrepresentative results. In this case, the surveys returned due to recipients moving without a forwarding address contribute to nonresponse bias.

Question 8

A county planning commission is attempted to survey 1500 households from the counties 400,000 households. A random sample was selected and surveys were mailed to the randomly selected households, but only 1075 were returned. The inability to collect data from the 425 households that didn't return the survey would be considered which type of sampling problem?
A) measurement error
B) selection bias
C) nonresponse bias

Accepted Answer

Nonresponse bias occurs when a significant number of selected participants do not respond to a survey, potentially leading to unrepresentative results.

Question 9

As part of an economics class project, students were asked to randomly select 500 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) stocks from the Wall Street Journal. As part of the project, students were asked to
Summarize the current prices (also referred to as the closing price of the stock for a particular
Trading date) of the collected stocks using graphical and numerical techniques. Identify the data
Collection method used in this study.
A) data from a designed experiment
B) data collected observationally
C) data from a published source

Accepted Answer

The data collection method used in this study is from a published source, as the students are using stock prices from the Wall Street Journal, which is a published source.

Question 10

A study in the state of Georgia was conducted to determine the percentage of all community college students who have taken at least one online class. 1500 community college students were
Contacted and asked if they had taken at least one online class during their time at their community
College. These responses were then used to estimate the percentage of all community college
Students who have taken at least one online class. Identify the population of interest in this study.
A) the 1500 community college students contacted
B) the number of online classes a student has taken
C) the response (Yes/No) to the question, "Have you taken at least one online class?"
D) all community college students in the state of Georgia

Accepted Answer

The population of interest is all community college students in the state of Georgia, as the study aims to estimate the percentage of these students who have taken at least one online class.

Question 11

A study in the state of Georgia was conducted to determine the percentage of all community college students who have taken at least one online class. 1500 community college students were
Contacted and asked if they had taken at least one online class during their time at their community
College. These responses were then used to estimate the percentage of all community college
Students who have taken at least one online class. Identify the variable of interest in this study.
A) the number of online classes a student has taken
B) the 1500 community college students contacted
C) all community college students in the state of Georgia
D) the response (Yes/No) to the question, "Have you taken at least one online class?"

Accepted Answer

The variable of interest is the response (Yes/No) to whether a student has taken at least one online class, as it is what the study aims to measure and estimate for the entire population.

Question 12

Which data about paintings would not be qualitative?
A) the artist
B) the value
C) the style
D) the theme

Accepted Answer

The value of a painting is a quantitative measure, while the artist, style, and theme are all qualitative measures.

Question 13

Parking at a large university has become a very big problem. University administrators are interested in determining the average parking time (e.g. the time it takes a student to find a parking spot) of its students. An administrator inconspicuously followed 250 students and carefully recorded their parking times. Identify the data collection method used by the administration in this study.
A) data from a designed experiment
B) data collected observationally
C) data from a published source

Accepted Answer

The data collection method used is observational because the administrator followed and recorded the parking times without manipulating any variables or conditions.

Question 14

A student worked on her statistics project in the library and found a reference book that contained the median family incomes for all 50 states. On her project, she would report her data as being
Collected __________.
A) from a published source
B) observationally
C) from a survey
D) from a designed experiment

Accepted Answer

The student obtained the data from a reference book, which is a published source.

Question 15

A middle school was interested in surveying their students to find out opinions about the schools media center. To facilitate data collection, the homeroom period was extended 30 minutes to allow everyone in the school ample time to respond to a short questionnaire. Unfortunately, it was learned after the surveys had been completed that all honors students in the middle school were on an all-day field trip and away from school for the entire day. The exclusion of their input into the survey would be considered which type of sampling problem?
A) nonresponse bias
B) measurement error
C) selection bias

Accepted Answer

The exclusion of honors students due to their absence on a field trip results in selection bias, as a specific group of students was not represented in the survey.

Question 16

Parking at a large university has become a very big problem. University administrators are interested in determining the average parking time (e.g. the time it takes a student to find a parking spot) of its students. An administrator inconspicuously followed 250 students and carefully recorded their parking times. The university is interested in using the information from the sample of 250 students collected to learn information about the entire student parking population. Would this be an application of descriptive or inferential statistics?
A) Descriptive statistics
B) Inferential statistics

Accepted Answer

The university is using the sample data to make generalizations or inferences about the entire student parking population, which is the essence of inferential statistics.

Question 17

Which of the following is not an element of descriptive statistical problems?
A) patterns in a data set are identified
B) predictions are made about a larger set of data
C) data are displayed visually in graphs
D) information revealed in a data set is summarized

Accepted Answer

Descriptive statistics involves summarizing and displaying data, not making predictions about a larger set of data, which is an aspect of inferential statistics.

Question 18

As part of an economics class project, students were asked to randomly select 500 New Your Stock Exchange (NYSE) stocks from the Wall Street Journal. As part of the project, students were asked to summarize the current prices (also referred to as the closing price of the stock for a particular trading date) of the collected stocks using graphical and numerical techniques. Identify the variable of interest for this study.
A) the 500 NYSE stocks that current prices were collected from
B) the entire set of stocks that are traded on the NYSE
C) a single stock traded on the NYSE
D) the current price (or closing price) of a NYSE stock

Accepted Answer

The variable of interest is the current price (or closing price) of a NYSE stock, as this is the specific data being collected and analyzed in the study.

Question 19

A university was interested in student reaction to a proposal to spend more on athletic scholarships and less on academic scholarships. 35 student athletes were surveyed. What type of problem has
Occurred?
A) measurement error
B) selection bias
C) nonresponse bias

Accepted Answer

The problem is selection bias because the survey only included student athletes, who are likely to have a vested interest in athletic scholarships, thus not representing the entire student population's views.

Question 20

Which of the following is not typically an element of inferential statistical problems?
A) census
B) measure of reliability
C) variable of interest
D) sample

Accepted Answer

A census involves collecting data from an entire population, whereas inferential statistics typically involve making predictions or inferences about a population based on a sample.

Quiz 1: Statistics, Data, and Statistical Thinking

A personnel director studied the eating habits of a company's employees. The director noted whether employees brought their own lunch to work, ate at the company cafeteria, or went out to eat lunch. This type of data collection would best be considered as a(n) __________.

Because of the possible legal consequences, many people in a sample of the U.S. population chose not to participate in a survey regarding illegal drug use. What type of problem has occurred?

The way in which an interviewer asks a question about political party affiliation causes respondents to answer that they have no affiliation when they actually do. What type of problem has occurred?

Which data about paintings would not be qualitative?

A student worked on her statistics project in the library and found a reference book that contained the median family incomes for all 50 states. On her project, she would report her data as being Collected __________.

Which of the following is not an element of descriptive statistical problems?

A university was interested in student reaction to a proposal to spend more on athletic scholarships and less on academic scholarships. 35 student athletes were surveyed. What type of problem has Occurred?

Which of the following is not typically an element of inferential statistical problems?