Chapter 1:

1. The science of statistics includes which of the following:

A. Organizing data.
B. Presenting data.
C. Interpreting data.
D. All of the above.
All of these are correct answers. We also usually include collecting and analyzing data in our
definition of statistics.

2. In descriptive statistics our main objective is to

A. Describe the population.
B. Describe the data we collected.
C. Infer something about the population.
D. Compute an average.
The best answer is b since we are trying to “summarize data in an informative way.”

3. Which of the following statements is true regarding a population?

A. It must be a large number of values.
B. It must refer to people.
C. It is a collection individuals, objects, or measurements.
D. None of the above.
The correct answer is c. The population doesn't have to be large or refer only to people.

4. Which of the following statements is true regarding a sample?

A. It is a part of population.
B. It must contain at least five observations.
C. It refers to descriptive statistics.
D. All of the above are correct.
The correct answer is a, which is the definition of a sample.

5. A qualitative variable
A. Always refers to a sample.
B. Is not numeric.
C. Has only two possible outcomes.
D. All of the above are correct.
The correct answer is b. Examples of qualitative variables include hair color, religious affiliation,
and gender.

6. A discrete variable is
A. An example of a qualitative variable.
B. Can assume only whole number values.
C. Can assume only certain clearly separated values.
D. Cannot be negative.
The correct answer is c. It could be fractions, such as ¼, ½, and ¾, and it could assume negative
values.

7. A nominal scale variable is

A. Usually the result of counting something.
B. Has a meaningful zero point.
C. May assume negative values.
D. Cannot have more than two categories.
The best answer is a. Recall nominal variables can only be classified, but there is no natural
order. M&M candies organized by color is an example of the nominal scale of measurement.
 8. The ratio scale of measurement
A. Usually involves ranking.
B. Cannot assume negative values.
C. Has a meaningful zero point.
D. Is usually based on counting.
The correct answer is c. The ratio scale is the “highest” level of measurement. The height of
basketball players and the weight of college students are examples of the ratio scale of
measurement.

9. The ordinal scale of measurement

A. Has a meaningful zero point.
B. Is based on ranks
C. Cannot assume negative values.
D. All of the above.
The correct answer is b. The word “order” is another way of indicating ranking.

10. Which of the following are examples of continuous variables?

A. Birth weight of babies
B. Distance between tollbooths on the New Jersey Turnpike.
C. Age of the CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies
D. All of the above.
The correct answer is d. All the examples are correct. A continuous variable may assume an
infinite number of values within a given range.

Chapter2:
1. In a frequency distribution the categories must
A. Be mutually exclusive.
B. Have at least 5 observations.
C. Be of the same size.
D. Be of nominal scale.

The correct answer is a. However c. is also very desirable.

2. To determine the class interval A. Divide the class frequencies in half.

B. Divide the class frequency by the number of observations.
C. Find the difference between consecutive lower class limits.
D. Count the number of observations in the class.

The correct answer is c. You could also find the difference between consecutive upper class
limits.

3. The class frequency is A. The number of observations in each class.

B. The difference between consecutive lower class limits.
C. Always contains at least 5 observations.
D. Usually a multiple of the lower limit of the first class.

The correct answer is a. That's its definition.

4. A research organization is making a study of the selling price of home computers.

There are 45 computers in the study. How many
classes would you recommend?
A. 10
B. 20
C. 6
D. 3

The correct answer is c because the fifth power of 2 is only 32, but the sixth power of 2 is 64 and
45 is between them.

5. To find the class midpoint

A. Divide the class interval in half and add the result to the lower limit.
B. Find the difference between consecutive lower limits.
C. Count the number of observations in the class.
D. Divide the class frequency by the number of observations.

The correct answer is a. because that value is most representative of all values in the class.

6. Which of the following is not a guideline for a frequency distribution?

A. Avoid open-ended classes.
B. Have more than 5 but less than 15 classes.
C. Make the lower limit of the first class a multiple of the class interval.
D. Have more than 5 observations in each class.

The correct answer is d. You really can't control how many observations will fall in a class.

7. To convert a frequency distribution to a relative frequency distribution

A. Find the difference between consecutive lower class limits.
B. Divide the class frequency by the total number of observations.
C. Divide the lower limit of the first class by the class interval.
D. Multiple the class frequency by 100.

The correct answer is b. The word “relative” implies it has a relation to the total number of
observations.

8. In a line chart the horizontal axis:

A. Is usually in dollars.
B. Usually involves time, such as months or years.
C. Is usually shown with a dotted line.
D. Is usually reported as a percent.

The correct answer is b. The other answers do not make any sense.

9. The difference between a histogram and a frequency polygon is

A. The frequency polygon is reported as a percent.
B. The histogram employs bars whereas the midpoints are connected for a frequency
polygon.
C. Bars cannot be adjacent in a histogram.
D. Open-ended classes can be accommodated with a frequency polygon.

The correct answer is b. The other answers are just distracters.

10. In a cumulative frequency polygon

A. The class frequencies are converted to a percent.
B. There must be at least 5 observations in each class.
C. We add the class frequencies starting with the first class.
D. All of the above.

The correct answer is c. Cumulative is a word, which implies adding.

 11. For questions 11- 12 refer to the following information on the number of units
assembled per shift at Acme Assembly, Inc.

The class interval is:

A. 10
B. 25
C. 9
D. None of the above.

The correct answer is a. 10, found by 30 – 20.

12. For questions 11- 12 refer to the following information on the number of units
assembled per shift at Acme Assembly, Inc.

The frequency for the third class is

A. 200
B. 51
C. 10
D. None of the above.

The correct answer is b. Recall that frequency is the count of the number of shifts that assembled
between 40 and 50 units.

13. In a frequency table

A. the classes must be mutually exclusive.
B. the data is quantitative.
C. the should be at least 100 observations in the sample.
D. All of the above are correct.

The correct answer is a. Each observation must fit in only one category.

14. A pie chart is used when we wish to emphasize

A. The number of observations in each category.
B. The percent of observations in each category.
C. The level of measurement of the observations.
D. All of the above.

The correct answer is b. A pie chart will emphasize the difference in the percent of observations
in each category.

Chapter3:
1. A difference between calculating the sample mean and the population mean is
A. Only in the symbols, we use instead of μ and n instead of N.
B. We divide the sum of the observations by n - 1 instead of n.
C. The observations are ranked and select the middle value for the population mean.
D. There are no differences.

The correct answer is a. (n-1) occurs in the sample standard deviation and answer c is describing
the calculation of the median.
 2. Which of the following measures of central location is affected most by extreme
values?
A. Median
B. Mean
C. Mode
D. Geometric mean

The correct answer is b. A very large or very small value changes the sum or total drastically and
hence will have an effect on the mean.

3. Which level of measurement is required for the median?

A. Nominal
B. Ordinal
C. Interval
D. Ratio

The correct answer is b. The data must be ranked or ordered to find the mean

4. Which level of measurement is required for the mode?

A. Nominal
B. Ordinal
C. Interval
D. Ratio

The correct answer is a. You can find a mode for any level of data.

5. In a set of observations, which measure of central tendency reports the value that
occurs most often?
A. Mean
B. Median
C. Mode
D. Geometric mean

The correct answer is c. That's the definition of the mode.

6. The weighted mean is a special case of the

A. Mean
B. Median
C. Mode
D. Geometric mean

The correct answer is a, as the name implies.

7. The relationship between the geometric mean and the arithmetic mean is
A. They will always be the same.
B. The geometric mean will always be larger.
C. The geometric mean will be equal to or less than the mean.
D. The mean will always be larger than the geometric mean.

The correct answer is c.

8. Suppose you compare the mean of raw data and the mean of the same raw data
grouped into a frequency
distribution. These two means will be
A. Exactly equal.
B. The same as the median.
C. The same as the geometric mean.
D. Approximately equal.

The correct answer is d. The grouping of the data tends to lose some of the accuracy.

9. In a set of 10 observations the mean is 20 and the median is 15. There are 2 values
that are 6, and all other values are different. What is the mode?
A. 15
B. 20
C. 6
D. None of the above.

The correct answer is c. It doesn't matter what the mean and median are.

10. Which of the measures of central tendency is the largest in a positively skewed
distribution?
A. Mean
B. Median
C. Mode
D. Cannot tell from the information given.

The correct answer is a. The mean is most affected by an extremely positive tail.

11. Which of the following is not a measure of dispersion?

A. Range
B. Variance
C. Standard deviation
D. All of the above are measures of dispersion

The correct answer is d.

12. A disadvantage of the range is

A. Only two values are used in its calculation.
B. It is in different units than the mean.
C. It does not exist for some data sets.
D. All of the above.

The correct answer is a. The range is simply the difference between the highest and the lowest
values in a data set.

13. The mean deviation is

A. Based on squared deviations from the mean.
B. Also called the variance.
C. Based on absolute values.
D. Always reported in squared units.

The correct answer is c. The variance and standard deviation use squared deviations

14. The standard deviation is

A. Based on squared deviations from the mean.
B. In the same units as the mean.
C. Uses all the observations in its calculation.
D. All of the above.
The correct answer is d. The standard deviation is the positive square root of the variance.

15. The variance is

A. Found by dividing by N by the mean.
B. In the same units as the original data.
C. Found by squaring the standard deviation.
D. All of the above.

The correct answer is c. It is also the arithmetic mean of the squared deviations from the mean.

16. In a positively skewed distribution\

A. The mean, median, and mode are all equal.
B. The mean is larger than the median.
C. The median is larger than the mean.
D. The standard deviation must be larger than the mean or the median.

The correct answer is b. The mean is most affected by extreme values.

17. Which of the following statements is true regarding the standard deviation?
A. It cannot assume a negative value.
B. If it is zero, then all the data values are the same.
C. It is in the same units as the mean.
D. All the above are all correct.

The correct answer is d. The standard deviation is the non-negative square root of the variance.

18. Under which of the following conditions would the standard deviation assume a
negative value.
A. When all the data values were negative.
B. When more than half of the data values were negative.
C. If all the data values were the same.
D. The standard deviation cannot be negative.

The correct answer is d. Because we square the differences between each value and the mean, the
possibility of negative values is removed.

Chapter4:
0% (0 out of 10 correct) Responses to questions are indicated by the symbol.

1. For a stem-and-leaf display

A. Arrange the leaf values from smallest to largest.
B. Make sure the stem value is only one digit.
C. Do not allow stems with no leaf values.
D. All of the above.

The correct answer is a. Multiple digit stems and stems with no leaves are possible.

2.Questions 2 to 6 refer to the following information. It reports the number of TV sets

sold per day at the Appliance Center.
R-1 Ref4-1

This arrangement is called a

A. Frequency distribution
B. A frequency polygon
C. A pie chart
D. A stem-and-leaf chart.

The correct answer is d. The numbers on the left are the stems and the numbers on the right are
the leaves.

3.Questions 2 to 6 refer to the following information. It reports the number of TV sets

sold per day at the Appliance Center.

R-1 Ref4-1
How many days were studied?
A. 11
B. 30
C. 50
D. None of the above

The correct answer is b. found by counting each leaf on the right.

4.Questions 2 to 6 refer to the following information. It reports the number of TV sets

sold per day at the Appliance Center.

R-1 Ref4-1

What was the smallest and largest number of sets sold per day?
A. 1, 8
B. 10, 80
C. 11,88
D. None of the above

The correct answer is c. Remember the stem is part of the observation.

5.Questions 2 to 6 refer to the following information. It reports the number of TV sets

sold per day at the Appliance Center.

R-1 Ref4-1

How many days were there less than 30 sets sold?

A. 15
B. 6
C. 30
D. None of the above

The correct answer is b. The actual values are 11, 11, 13, 13, 13, and 26.
 6.Questions 2 to 6 refer to the following information. It reports the number of TV sets
sold per day at the Appliance Center.

R-1 Ref4-1

The actual number of sets sold per day between 60 and 69 is

A. 65, 66, 67, 68, 68
B. 60, 69
C. Cannot tell from the information given
D. None of the above

The correct answer is a. Each leaf represents another observation.

7. The quartile deviation is

A. The square root of the variance.
B. Based on the middle 50 percent of the observations.
C. In squared units of the original data.
D. Appropriate only for symmetric distributions.

The correct answer is b. The quartile deviation is half the distance from the first to the third
quartiles.

8. In a symmetric distribution
A. The mean, median, and mode are equal.
B. The mean is the largest measure of location.
C. The median is the largest measure of location.
D. The standard deviation is the largest value.

The correct answer is a. Recall symmetric distributions match on each side of the median when
“folded over”.

9. A coefficient of skewness of -2.73 was computed for a set of data. We conclude

that
A. The mean is larger than the median.
B. The median is larger than the mean.
C. The standard deviation is a negative number.
D. Something is wrong because the coefficient of skewness cannot be less than -1.00.

The correct answer is b. The mean is more negatively affected by the extreme negative values.

10. A scatter diagram:

A. Is a graphic tool designed to portray the relationship between variables.
B. Uses interval or ratio scale data.
C. Does not allow negative values.
D. Both A and B are correct.

The correct answer is d. The diagram could include negative values.

Chapter 5

0% (0 out of 10 correct) Responses to questions are indicated by the symbol.

 1. Which of the following is a correct statement about a probability?
A. It may range from 0 to 1.
B. It may assume negative values.
C. It may be greater than 1.
D. It cannot be reported to more than 1 decimal place.
E. All the above are correct.

The correct answer is a. Zero represents the impossible and one, a sure thing.

2. An experiment is a
A. Collection of events.
B. Collection of outcomes.
C. Always greater than 1.
D. The act of taking a measurement or the observation of some activity.
E. None of the above is correct.

The correct answer is d. That's its definition.

3. Which of the following is not a type of probability?

A. Subjective
B. Independent
C. Relative frequency
D. Classical

The correct answer is b. “Independent” refers to a relation between events, not probabilities.

4. Events are independent if

A. By virtue of one event happening another cannot.
B. The probability of their occurrence is greater than 1.
C. We can count the possible outcomes.
D. The probability of one event happening does not affect the probability of another event
happening.
E. None of the above.

The correct answer is d. That's its definition.

5. The Special Rule of Addition is used to combine

A. Independent events.
B. Mutually exclusive events
C. Events that total more than one.
D. Events based on subjective probabilities
E. Found by using joint probabilities.

The correct answer is b. There is no “double counting” among mutually exclusive events.

6. We use the General Rule of Multiplication to combine

A. Events that are not independent.
B. Mutually exclusive events.
C. Events that total more than 1.00.
D. Events based on subjective probabilities
E. Found by using joint probabilities.

The correct answer is a. It considers dependent or conditional probability.

7. When we find the probability of an event happening by subtracting the probability

of the event not happening from 1, we are using
A. Subjective probability
B. The complement rule.
C. The general rule of addition.
D. The special rule of multiplication
E. Joint probability

The correct answer is b. That's its definition.

8. When we determine the number of combinations

A. We are really computing a probability.
B. The order of the outcomes is not important.
C. The order of the outcomes is important.
D. We multiple the likelihood of two independent trials.
E. None of the above.

The correct answer is b. Order is only important is permutations.

9. Bayes' Theorem
A. Is an example of subjective probability
B. Can assume of value less than 0.
C. Is used to revise a probability based on new or additional information.
D. Is found by applying the complement rule.
E. None of the above.

The correct answer is c. That's a fact!

10. The difference between a permutation and a combination is:

A. In a permutation order is important and in a combination it is not.
B. In a permutation order is not important and in a combination it is important.
C. A combination is based on the classical definition of probability.
D. A permutation is based on the classical definition of probability.
E. None of the above.

The correct answer is a.

Chapter6:
1. The difference between a random variable and a probability distribution is
A. A random variable does not include the probability of an event.
B. A random variable can only assume whole numbers.
C. A probability distribution can only assume whole numbers.
D. None of the above.

The correct answer is a. A random variable is a value resulting from an experiment, while a
probability distribution is a listing of all possible outcomes and their associated probability.

2. Which of the following is not a requirement of a binomial distribution?

A. A constant probability of success.
B. Only two possible outcomes.
C. A fixed number of trails.
D. Equally likely outcomes.

The correct answer is d. A binomial distribution has only two possible outcomes on each trial,
results from counting successes over a series of trials, the probability of success stays the same
from trial to trial and successive trials are independent.
 3. The mean and the variance are equal in
A. All probability distributions.
B. The binomial distribution.
C. The Poisson distribution.
D. The hypergeometric distribution.

The correct answer is c. The mean and variance of the binomial are nπ and nπ(1-π), respectively.

4. In which of the following distributions is the probability of a success usually

small?
A. Binomial
B. Poisson
C. Hypergeometric
D. All distribution

The correct answer is b. That's why it is often referred to as the “law of improbable events.”

5. Which of the following is not a requirement of a probability distribution?

A. Equally likely probability of a success.
B. Sum of the possible outcomes is 1.00.
C. The outcomes are mutually exclusive.
D. The probability of each outcome is between 0 and 1.

The correct answer is a. Only the classical notion of probability requires the events to be equally
likely.

6. For a binomial distribution

A. n must assume a number between 1 and 20 or 25.
B. must be a multiple of .10.
C. There must be at least 3 possible outcomes.
D. None of the above.

The correct answer is d. A binomial distribution has only two possible outcomes on each trial,
results from counting successes over a series of trials, the probability of success stays the same
from trial to trial and successive trials are independent.

7. Which of the following is a major difference between the binomial and the
hypergeometric distributions?
A. The sum of the outcomes can be greater than 1 for the hypergeometric.
B. The probability of a success changes from trial to trial in the hypergeometric distribution.
C. The number of trials changes in the hypergeometric distribution.
D. The outcomes cannot be whole numbers in the hypergeometric distribution.

The correct answer is b. A typical case where the hypergeometric distribution applies is sampling
without replacement. Hence the probability of a success changes from trial to trial.

8. In a continuous probability distribution

A. Only certain outcomes are possible.
B. All the values within a certain range are possible.
C. The sum of the outcomes is greater than 1.00
D. None of the above.

The correct answer is b. Continuous implies without interruption. So it includes all numbers,
without exception, in a range.
 9. For a binomial distribution with n = 15 as changes from .50 toward .05 the
distribution will
A. Become more positively skewed.
B. Become more negatively skewed
C. Become symmetrical.
D. All of the above.

The correct answer is a. As the likelihood of success gets smaller, the positive tail gets relatively
longer.

10. The expected value of the a probability distribution

A. Is the same as the random variable.
B. Is another term for the mean.
C. Is also called the variance.
D. Cannot be greater than 1.

The correct answer is b. The average or mean describes what you “expect.”