THE UNIVERSITY OF HULL

The Business School

Level 4 Examination
May 2014

Academic and Professional Skills

Date and Time: 22 May 2014 at 13:30

Duration of Exam: 2 Hours

Answer as many questions as you can, in any order you like.

Note that Section A is worth 60 marks, Section B is worth 40 marks, and
Section C is worth an additional 20 bonus marks. However your overall mark
for this paper cannot exceed 100.
The first five questions in each of Sections A and B are multiple-choice
questions (they are marked with a *). Please record your answers to these
questions along with your other answers in the normal blue or pink booklet.

You should answer all compulsory questions. If you do not attempt to answer a compulsory
question you will receive a mark of 0 for that question.
If you have a choice of questions and you answer more than you are asked to, your answers
will be marked in the order that the questions appear on the examination question paper.
Any additional questions that you attempt will not be marked.
You should cross out any questions which you attempt but do not wish to be marked.
Do not open or turn over this exam paper, or start to write anything until told to by the
Invigilator. Starting to write before permitted to do so may be seen as an attempt to use
Unfair Means.

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Page 1 of 10

SECTION A (STATISTICS)

A1* A variable recording whether individuals are car-owners or not would be

described as
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

an interval or ratio variable.

an ordinal variable.
a nominal or categorical variable.
a dichotomous variable.
(3 marks)

A2* Wenobest Management Consulting has 100 employees. Their mean salary is
44,000 per year and the standard deviation of the salaries is 4,330. The
coefficient of variation of salaries at Wenobest is therefore
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

0.0984
10.162
10.162
39,670
(3 marks)

A3* The inter-quartile range

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

covers the central 50 per cent of a set of ranked data.

is the value which separates the bottom quarter of the data from the rest.
is the value which separates the top quarter of the data from the rest.
excludes the median.
(3 marks)

A4* The correlation coefficient between gym membership and personal incomes in
Utopia is +0.77. This means that
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

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a fall in incomes is associated with a fall in gym membership, and the

relationship is a fairly strong one.
a fall in incomes is associated with a rise in gym membership, and the
relationship is a fairly strong one.
a fall in incomes is associated with a fall in gym membership, and the
relationship is a fairly weak one.
a fall in incomes is associated with a rise in gym membership, and the
relationship is a fairly weak one.
(3 marks)

Page 2 of 10

A5* Assume that the number of visitors per day to St Stephens shopping centre in
Hull is normally distributed with a mean of 30,000 and a standard deviation of
3,500. The proportion of days on which visitor numbers are between 25,000
and 35,000 will be approximately
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

0.077
0.154
0.423
0.847
(3 marks)

[There is a table of the Normal distribution at the end of this examination paper.]

A6

Copy the following table into your answer book and fill in the last column. Give
the index to one decimal place.
Year
1990
1995
2000

UK Road Passenger Traffic

(billion passenger kilometres)
645
669
695

Index (2000 = 100)

(3 marks)

A7

The salaries earned by the 70 employees of Acme Advertising have a median

of 38,000 and a mean of 45,000. What will happen to these two statistics if
Acme gives its ten highest-paid employees (only) a pay rise of 20 per cent?
(3 marks)

A8

The following regression equation for the UK relates the sales of cinema tickets
(Q, measured in millions per year) to the average price of a cinema ticket (P,
measured in ). What does the information below tell you about this
relationship?

Q = 204.7 9.6P

R2 = 0.87
(3 marks)

A9

What is meant by the term secondary data?

(3 marks)

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Page 3 of 10

A10 What is cluster (or area) sampling?

(3 marks)

A11 The UK Retail Price Index (based on 1987 = 100) was 126.1 in 1990, 162.9 in
1998 and 198.1 in 2006. Was inflation higher in the period 19901998 or the
period 19982006?
(3 marks)

A12 The marks for ten candidates seated in Desks 161-170 at the May 2013 QM
exam are given below. Calculate three measures of central tendency for these
marks and comment briefly on your results.
88

72

21

48

22

79

66

60

69

22
(4 marks)

A13 The table below shows passenger numbers at the ten busiest airports in the
UK. What sort of chart or graph would be best to show this information? Justify
your choice and sketch what your chosen chart or graph would look like.
Airport
Heathrow
Gatwick
Stansted
Manchester
Luton
Edinburgh
Birmingham
Glasgow
Bristol
Liverpool

Passenger numbers in 2010 (000s)

65,745
31,342
18,562
17,663
8,734
8,734
8,564
6,522
5,723
5,008
[Source: The Independent, 20 July 2011, page 37]
(5 marks)

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Page 4 of 10

A14 Sticky Susan lives entirely on honey, ice-cream and jam. Calculate a
Laspeyres price index for her using the relevant parts of the following data.
Show your working.

Honey
Ice-cream
Jam

Daily quantity
in Year 0
5
8
3

Daily quantity
in Year 1
4
7
3

Price in
Year 0
55p
95p
125p

Price in
Year 1
75p
110p
130p
(5 marks)

A15 The mean price of a house in the UK was reported to be 168,356 in January
2014. Assume that prices are normally distributed with a standard deviation of
35,400. Imagine that you took a sample of 25 houses in Yorkshire in January
2014 and found a mean price of 159,930. Test whether house prices in
Yorkshire really were below those of the rest of the UK at that time.
[There is a table of the Normal distribution at the end of this examination paper.]
(5 marks)

A16 Imagine that you have been asked by an insurance company to organise a
survey of the attitudes of students at the University of Hull to insuring their
personal property. The survey is to be based on a sample of the students (not
the whole student population).
(a)

What factors would you take into account when determining the size of
your sample?
(4 marks)

(b)

A colleague suggests that the best way to carry out the survey would be to
send out a survey by email to a randomly-chosen sample of students.
What would be the main advantages and disadvantages of this approach?
(4 marks)

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Page 5 of 10

SECTION B (ALGEBRA)

For Questions B8B12 you must show your working to get full marks

B1* Which of the following

functions would give the
graph on the right?

(c)

y = 5 + x
y ( x 1)( x 5)
y ( x 1)( x 5)

(d)

y (2 x) 2

(a)
(b)

6
y
4
2
0
-2 0
-4
-6
-8
-10

x
(3 marks)

B2* If the (inverse) demand curve for a product is given by P 15 0.125Q then the
total revenue function for that product is given by
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

TR 15 0.125Q
TR 120Q 8Q 2
TR 15Q 2 0.125Q
TR 15Q 0.125Q 2
(3 marks)

B3* If y = 4x + 3 , what kind of relationship is there between x and y?

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

As y increases x decreases.
As x increases y doubles.
As x decreases y decreases.
When x is more than 3, y increases.
(3 marks)

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Page 6 of 10

B4* Solve 2 x 2 5 x 11 0 using the formula for solving quadratic equations, or

otherwise.
(a)

5 113
4

so there are two real roots

(b)

5 113
4

so there are two real roots

(c)

5 113
4

so there are two real roots

(d)

5 63
4

so there are no real roots

(3 marks)

B5* If the demand and supply curves for sugar are given by QD = 60 5P and
QS = 12 + 4P respectively, then the equilibrium price and quantity are given by
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)

P* = 48 and Q* = 180
P* = 20 and Q* = 8
P* = 8 and Q* = 20
P* = 8 and Q* = 7
(3 marks)

B6

Given that Q = K 0.7L0.3 , write an expression for log Q which does not contain
any superscript indices.
(3 marks)

B7

Write out an expression for the value of 8,000 after 5 years when it is invested
at a compound rate of interest of 2 per cent. (You need not evaluate the result.)
(3 marks)

B8

Rearrange C 400 9Q 2 to make Q the subject.

(3 marks)

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Page 7 of 10

B9

VAT on most goods in the UK increased from 17.5% to 20% in January 2011.
What difference did this make to the final retail price of a television that cost
745 net of tax? Give your answer to the nearest penny.
(3 marks)

B10 In the Business School, degree classification on three-year degrees depends

mainly on a 40:60 weighting of the second and third year average marks. If this
weighted average is at least 69.45 then a student automatically gets a First
Class degree. Would a student whose average marks were 65.3 in the second
year and 72.2 in the third year be awarded a First under this rule?
(4 marks)

B11 Where does the graph of y 15 3 x cut the x axis and where does it cut the y
axis? Sketch the graph.
(4 marks)

B12 According to Ofgem, a typical UK household with a medium level of energy

consumption uses 9.0 kWh of electricity per day. British Gass Economy 7
electricity tariff has three elements: a standing charge of 24.950 pence per day,
a unit charge of 16.520 pence per kWh used during the day, and a unit charge
of 5.910 pence per kWh used at night.
How much would the typical UK household above pay per day if one-third of
their electricity consumption takes place during the day and two-thirds at night?
Give your answer to the nearest penny.
(5 marks)

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Page 8 of 10

SECTION C (CALCULUS)

For the questions below you must show your working to get full marks

C1

Differentiate each of the following, simplifying your answers where possible:

(a)

y 5 x 4 3 x 3 7 x 12
(3 marks)

(b)

y ( 4 x 9) 5
(3 marks)

(c)

2w 5
w3
(3 marks)

C2

Partially differentiate each of the following functions with respect to L.

(a)

Q 20 K 0.6 L0.4

(b)

Q 6 K 3L 2 KL

(2 marks)
2

(2 marks)

C3

The total cost for a small firm producing Q hand-made bookcases is

C 800 0.5Q 0.06Q 2 0.3Q 3 .

(a)

Write out an expression for the firms average cost when it is producing Q
bookcases.
(1 mark)

(b)

Show that this reaches a minimum when Q is approximately 11.89.

(3 marks)

(c)

Write out an equation for the firms marginal cost when it is producing Q
bookcases. What shape is the curve representing this function?
(3 marks)

(end)

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Page 9 of 10

Table of the Standard Normal Distribution

Entries in the table give the area under the standard Normal curve between the mean and z standard
deviations above the mean. For example, for z = 1.25 the area under the curve between the mean
and z is 0.3944 (underlined in the table).
z
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
3

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

0.07

0.08

0.09

0.0000
0.0398
0.0793
0.1179
0.1554
0.1915
0.2257
0.2580
0.2881
0.3159
0.3413
0.3643
0.3849
0.4032
0.4192
0.4332
0.4452
0.4554
0.4641
0.4713
0.4772
0.4821
0.4861
0.4893
0.4918
0.4938
0.4953
0.4965
0.4974
0.4981
0.4987

0.0040
0.0438
0.0832
0.1217
0.1591
0.1950
0.2291
0.2611
0.2910
0.3186
0.3438
0.3665
0.3869
0.4049
0.4207
0.4345
0.4463
0.4564
0.4649
0.4719
0.4778
0.4826
0.4864
0.4896
0.4920
0.4940
0.4955
0.4966
0.4975
0.4982
0.4987

0.0080
0.0478
0.0871
0.1255
0.1628
0.1985
0.2324
0.2642
0.2939
0.3212
0.3461
0.3686
0.3888
0.4066
0.4222
0.4357
0.4474
0.4573
0.4656
0.4726
0.4783
0.4830
0.4868
0.4898
0.4922
0.4941
0.4956
0.4967
0.4976
0.4982
0.4987

0.0120
0.0517
0.0910
0.1293
0.1664
0.2019
0.2357
0.2673
0.2967
0.3238
0.3485
0.3708
0.3907
0.4082
0.4236
0.4370
0.4484
0.4582
0.4664
0.4732
0.4788
0.4834
0.4871
0.4901
0.4925
0.4943
0.4957
0.4968
0.4977
0.4983
0.4988

0.0160
0.0557
0.0948
0.1331
0.1700
0.2054
0.2389
0.2704
0.2995
0.3264
0.3508
0.3729
0.3925
0.4099
0.4251
0.4382
0.4495
0.4591
0.4671
0.4738
0.4793
0.4838
0.4875
0.4904
0.4927
0.4945
0.4959
0.4969
0.4977
0.4984
0.4988

0.0199
0.0596
0.0987
0.1368
0.1736
0.2088
0.2422
0.2734
0.3023
0.3289
0.3531
0.3749
0.3944
0.4115
0.4265
0.4394
0.4505
0.4599
0.4678
0.4744
0.4798
0.4842
0.4878
0.4906
0.4929
0.4946
0.4960
0.4970
0.4978
0.4984
0.4989

0.0239
0.0636
0.1026
0.1406
0.1772
0.2123
0.2454
0.2764
0.3051
0.3315
0.3554
0.3770
0.3962
0.4131
0.4279
0.4406
0.4515
0.4608
0.4686
0.4750
0.4803
0.4846
0.4881
0.4909
0.4931
0.4948
0.4961
0.4971
0.4979
0.4985
0.4989

0.0279
0.0675
0.1064
0.1443
0.1808
0.2157
0.2486
0.2794
0.3078
0.3340
0.3577
0.3790
0.3980
0.4147
0.4292
0.4418
0.4525
0.4616
0.4693
0.4756
0.4808
0.4850
0.4884
0.4911
0.4932
0.4949
0.4962
0.4972
0.4979
0.4985
0.4989

0.0319
0.0714
0.1103
0.1480
0.1844
0.2190
0.2517
0.2823
0.3106
0.3365
0.3599
0.3810
0.3997
0.4162
0.4306
0.4429
0.4535
0.4625
0.4699
0.4761
0.4812
0.4854
0.4887
0.4913
0.4934
0.4951
0.4963
0.4973
0.4980
0.4986
0.4990

0.0359
0.0753
0.1141
0.1517
0.1879
0.2224
0.2549
0.2852
0.3133
0.3389
0.3621
0.3830
0.4015
0.4177
0.4319
0.4441
0.4545
0.4633
0.4706
0.4767
0.4817
0.4857
0.4890
0.4916
0.4936
0.4952
0.4964
0.4974
0.4981
0.4986
0.4990

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Page 10 of 10