Question 1

The most usual kind of frequency distribution is the _________.
A) normal curve
B) skewed curve
C) bimodal curve
D) binomial distribution

Accepted Answer

The most usual kind of frequency distribution is the normal curve, also known as the Gaussian distribution or the bell curve, which is symmetrical and characterized by a peak in the center and a tapering off on either side. While skewed and bimodal distributions are also possible, they are less common and typically represent specific situations or phenomena. The binomial distribution, on the other hand, describes the probability of a specific number of successes or failures in a fixed number of independent trials, and is not typically used to represent frequency distributions of data.

Question 2

Psychologists want to be able to do two things with the data they collect. The first is to summarize the information from a study or experiment. To do this, they use _________.
A) descriptive statistics
B) inferential statistics
C) univariate statistics
D) multivariate statistics

Accepted Answer

Descriptive statistics are used to summarize and describe the basic features of the data collected in a study. This includes measures such as mean, median, and standard deviation. Inferential statistics, on the other hand, are used to draw conclusions and make inferences about a population based on the data collected from a sample. Univariate statistics involve the analysis of a single variable, while multivariate statistics involve the analysis of multiple variables at once. While both univariate and multivariate statistics can be used for descriptive or inferential purposes, neither are specifically used for summarizing data like descriptive statistics are.

Question 3

Psychologists want to make judgments and decisions about the data and variables. This is the role of __________.
A) descriptive statistics
B) inferential statistics
C) univariate statistics
D) multivariate statistics

Accepted Answer

Inferential statistics allows psychologists to make judgments and decisions about the data and variables, by using probability theory to draw inferences about a population based on a sample. Descriptive statistics, on the other hand, are used to summarize and describe the data, while univariate and multivariate statistics are types of analysis that focus on one or multiple variables, respectively.

Question 4

Jamilla is interested in how many pizza slices the average teenage boy would eat for lunch. Thus, she asks 25 young men from her high school home room class to eat pizza and computes the average. This average would be called a ___________.
A) measure of variability
B) measure of dispersion
C) mean
D) inferential statistic

Accepted Answer

The average computed by Jamilla is called the mean, which represents the central tendency of the data. Option A is incorrect because a measure of variability describes how spread out the data is, not the central tendency. Option B is incorrect because a measure of dispersion also describes how spread out the data is. Option D is incorrect because inferential statistics involve making generalizations about a population based on a sample, which is not what Jamilla is doing in this scenario.

Question 5

What is another name for a bell-shaped curve?
A) bimodal distribution
B) counterpointal distribution
C) Durkheimian distribution
D) normal distribution

Accepted Answer

A bell-shaped curve is another name for a normal distribution, which is a statistical term used to describe a symmetrical set of data that follows a specific pattern. This pattern resembles a bell-shaped curve, with most of the data falling in the middle and tapering off towards the tails on either side.

Question 6

Saundra collected a data set. She wanted to understand how spread out the scores were. What were the highest and lowest scores? Were the scores tightly concentrated? Saundra went to her psychology professor who told her that she should study up on ________________.
A) measures of central tendency
B) measures of parameters
C) measures of probability
D) measures of variability

Accepted Answer

Saundra's goal of understanding the spread of her data set suggests that she should study measures of variability. These measures, such as the range, standard deviation, and variance, provide information about the distribution of scores and how much they differ from each other. Measures of central tendency (A) describe the typical or average score in a data set, while measures of parameters (B) are numerical values that describe a population. Measures of probability (C) relate to the likelihood of an event occurring.

Question 7

The most frequently occurring score in a distribution is called the ______________.
A) mean
B) median
C) standard deviation
D) mode

Accepted Answer

The most frequently occurring score in a distribution is called the mode. Therefore, option D is the correct answer. The mean is the average value of a set of numbers, the median is the middle value when the numbers are arranged in order, and the standard deviation is a measure of the spread of the data. However, none of these options represent the most frequently occurring score.

Question 8

Students in Dr. Friedlander's class got the following scores on their first test: 75, 77, 87, 63, 93, 77, 72, 80, 57, 68, 76. What is the median?
A) 77
B) 75
C) 36
D) 76

Accepted Answer

The answer of Students in Dr. Friedlander's class got the...

Question 9

Students in Dr. Friedlander's class got the following scores on their first test: 75, 77, 87, 63, 93, 77, 72, 80, 57, 68, 76. What is the range?
A) 77
B) 36
C) 30
D) 75

Accepted Answer

To find the range, you subtract the smallest value (57) from the largest value (93). 
93 - 57 = 36. Therefore, the range is 36. Option B is the correct answer.

Question 10

Descriptive statistics are used to ______________.
A) summarize data from a sample
B) decide if two sample groups are different from each other
C) decide if two variables are related to each other
D) determine if an experimental design has high reliability

Accepted Answer

Descriptive statistics are used to summarize or describe data from a sample, such as measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) and measures of variability (range, variance, standard deviation). Option B refers to inferential statistics, option C refers to correlation analysis, and option D refers to assessing the internal consistency of a research design.

Question 11

When researchers want an explanation for the differences in data, they would use ______________.
A) descriptive statistics
B) inferential statistics
C) the correlation coefficient
D) the method of limited decisions

Accepted Answer

Researchers would use inferential statistics to make conclusions and explanations about the differences in data. Descriptive statistics only describe the data, while the correlation coefficient measures the strength of the relationship between two variables, but does not explain differences. The method of limited decisions is not a recognized statistical method.

Question 12

Dr. Starr gives 10-question quizzes in her psychology class. When she returns quizzes, she puts on the board how many people scored a 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. This is called a ______________.
A) normal curve
B) frequency distribution
C) frequency polygon
D) histogram

Accepted Answer

A frequency distribution is a table that displays how often each score or category of scores appears in a set of data. In this case, Dr. Starr is displaying the frequency of each score on the quiz. The other options, normal curve, frequency polygon, and histogram, are all types of graphical representations of frequency distributions.

Question 13

The range of the correlation coefficient is from ___________.
A) -1.0 to +1.0
B) -3 standard deviation units to +3 standard deviation units
C) 0 to +1
D) 34.13 percent to 68.26 percent

Accepted Answer

The range of the correlation coefficient is always from -1.0 to +1.0, indicating the strength and direction of the linear relationship between two variables. A value of -1.0 implies a perfect negative correlation, while a value of +1.0 implies a perfect positive correlation.

Question 14

The mean, median, and mode are ______________.
A) measures of central tendency
B) measures of variability
C) characteristics of a normal distribution, but not a skewed distribution
D) characteristics of a skewed distribution, but not a normal distribution

Accepted Answer

The mean, median, and mode are all measures of central tendency, which means they represent the typical or most common value in a data set. They are not measures of variability, which would describe how spread out the data is. While they are often used in the context of normal distributions, they can also be used with skewed distributions.

Question 15

A measure of variability that indicates the variability in a data set is called the ______________.
A) range
B) standard deviation
C) mode
D) z-score

Accepted Answer

The standard deviation is a measure of how spread out a data set is from its mean. It takes into account all the data in the set and is a more reliable measure of variability than just the range or mode. The z-score is a measure of how many standard deviations a particular value is from the mean, and is not a measure of variability for the whole data set.

Question 16

The first step in organizing raw data is to ______________.
A) get a measure of the central tendency
B) establish the range
C) construct a frequency distribution
D) identify standard deviation

Accepted Answer

Constructing a frequency distribution is the first step in organizing raw data. This involves grouping the data into intervals or categories and counting the number of observations that fall within each interval or category. Once a frequency distribution is constructed, measures of central tendency, range, and standard deviation can be calculated.

Question 17

A lopsided distribution in which scores cluster at the high or low end of the distribution is referred to as ______________.
A) normal
B) bimodal
C) skewed
D) standard

Accepted Answer

A skewed distribution is one in which the majority of scores cluster at one end of the distribution, creating a tail that extends in the opposite direction. If the tail extends to the left, the distribution is negatively skewed, and if it extends to the right, the distribution is positively skewed. This is in contrast to a normal distribution, which is symmetrical and bell-shaped, and a bimodal distribution, which has two distinct peaks. Standard refers to a specific type of deviation from the mean.

Question 18

Students in Dr. Friedlander's class got the following scores on their first test: 75, 77, 87, 63, 93, 77, 72, 80, 57, 68, 76. What is the mode?
A) 77
B) 75
C) 36
D) 76

Accepted Answer

The mode is the score that appears most frequently. In this case, the score of 77 appears twice, which is more than any other score. Therefore, the mode is 77.

Question 19

Students in Dr. Friedlander's class got the following scores on their first test: 75, 77, 87, 63, 93, 77, 72, 80, 57, 68, 76. What is the mean?
A) 77
B) 75
C) 36
D) 76

Accepted Answer

To find the mean, we add up all the scores and divide by the number of scores.

75 + 77 + 87 + 63 + 93 + 77 + 72 + 80 + 57 + 68 + 76 = 825

We have 11 scores, so:

825 ÷ 11 = 75

Therefore, the mean score is 75.

Question 20

The correlation coefficient is a ________________.
A) measure of variability
B) measure of central tendency
C) parameter
D) measure of a relationship between two or more variables

Accepted Answer

The correlation coefficient measures the degree and direction of the linear relationship between two or more variables. It is a statistical parameter that ranges from -1 to +1, where a value of -1 indicates a perfect negative correlation, 0 indicates no correlation, and +1 indicates a perfect positive correlation. It is not a measure of variability or central tendency, although it may be used in conjunction with such measures.

Quiz 14: Statistics Part B : How to Think About Research Studies

The most usual kind of frequency distribution is the _________.

Psychologists want to be able to do two things with the data they collect. The first is to summarize the information from a study or experiment. To do this, they use _________.

Psychologists want to make judgments and decisions about the data and variables. This is the role of __________.

Jamilla is interested in how many pizza slices the average teenage boy would eat for lunch. Thus, she asks 25 young men from her high school home room class to eat pizza and computes the average. This average would be called a ___________.

What is another name for a bell-shaped curve?

Saundra collected a data set. She wanted to understand how spread out the scores were. What were the highest and lowest scores? Were the scores tightly concentrated? Saundra went to her psychology professor who told her that she should study up on ________________.

The most frequently occurring score in a distribution is called the ______________.

Students in Dr. Friedlander's class got the following scores on their first test: 75, 77, 87, 63, 93, 77, 72, 80, 57, 68, 76. What is the median?

Students in Dr. Friedlander's class got the following scores on their first test: 75, 77, 87, 63, 93, 77, 72, 80, 57, 68, 76. What is the range?

Descriptive statistics are used to ______________.

When researchers want an explanation for the differences in data, they would use ______________.

Dr. Starr gives 10-question quizzes in her psychology class. When she returns quizzes, she puts on the board how many people scored a 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. This is called a ______________.

The range of the correlation coefficient is from ___________.

The mean, median, and mode are ______________.

A measure of variability that indicates the variability in a data set is called the ______________.

The first step in organizing raw data is to ______________.

A lopsided distribution in which scores cluster at the high or low end of the distribution is referred to as ______________.

Students in Dr. Friedlander's class got the following scores on their first test: 75, 77, 87, 63, 93, 77, 72, 80, 57, 68, 76. What is the mode?

Students in Dr. Friedlander's class got the following scores on their first test: 75, 77, 87, 63, 93, 77, 72, 80, 57, 68, 76. What is the mean?

The correlation coefficient is a ________________.