STAT 245 SAIT P RACTICE S ET 1

1. The human resources manager at a firm randomly collects payroll information of 45 employees and
finds their average bi-weekly pay to be $2, 605. The average bi-weekly pay of all employees at the firm
is $2, 857. Describe each of the following based on the given information.
(a) The population of interest.
(b) The selected sample
(c) The parameter
(d) The statistics
2. In a post office, the mailboxes are numbered from 1 to 5,000. These numbers represent .

(a) categorical data (c) cross-sectional data

(b) time series data (d) quantitative data

3. A student was interested in the average grade of all students in her program on a statistics exam.
Identify which statistical terminology (population, parameter, sample, statistic, variable, observation,
element, data) is referred to in the following:
(a) The average score of all students that wrote the exam.
(b) A grade of 75 on the statistics exam.
(c) Flora, a student who wrote the exam.
(d) Grades of 83, 58, 85, 76, 92.
(e) A randomly selected group of students that wrote the exam.
(f) All students that wrote the exam.
(g) The average score of a selection of students that wrote the exam.
(h) Grades on the statistics exam.
4. Determine which branch of statistics, descriptive or inferential, better applies in each of the following
scenarios.
(a) The proportion of international students admitted to Ontario colleges this year is less than the
proportion admitted last year.
(b) Based on a poll, a researcher predicted that the current mayor will not run for re-election.
(c) The population of an island is projected to double in 15 years.
(d) The price of a new smart watch is double that of that of its predecessor.
5. The birth weight of newborns, measured in grams, is an example of .
(a) categorical data
(b) either categorical or quantitative data
(c) neither categorical nor quantitative data
(d) quantitative data
6. Data collected at the same, or approximately the same, point in time are data.
(a) time series
(b) static
(c) cross-sectional
(d) one-dimensional

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7. Determine which of the four levels of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio) is most appropriate.
(a) Colours of M&Ms (red, orange, yellow, brown, blue, green).
(b) Depths (km) of earthquakes.
(c) Years in which US presidents were inaugurated.
(d) The movie Avatar was given a rating of 4 stars on a scale of 5 stars.
(e) Car models (Chevrolet Aveo, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Buick Lucerne) used for crash testings.
(f) Blood lead levels of low, medium and high.
(g) Body temperatures (in degrees Fahrenheit).
8. The entities on which data are collected are .
(a) elements
(b) populations
(c) sets
(d) samples
9. Determine the level of measurement for each of these questions posed to students taking a statistics
course:
(a) The professor helped me learn. (strongly agree, agree, disagree)
(b) How relevant is this course? (highly relevant, just relevant, not relevant)
(c) How long (in minutes) does it take you to travel to class from home?
(d) What grade do you expert in this course? (A, B, C, D, or F )
(e) What is your postal code?
10. All data collected in a study are referred to as the .
(a) census
(b) inference
(c) variable
(d) data set
11. The number of observations in a complete data set having 10 elements and 5 variables is .
(a) 5
(b) 10
(c) 25
(d) 50
12. Suppose the current weather report for your area contains the following information. Specify the level
of measurement for each of the variables.
(a) Temperature 84◦ C
(b) Wind Speed 10 mph
(c) Wind Direction (from the) South
(d) Sky Description Sunny
(e) Moulds Level High

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13. Laura Naples, manager of Heritage Inn, periodically collects and tabulates information about a sample
of the hotel’s overnight guests. This information aids her in planning and scheduling decisions she must
make. The table below lists data on 10 randomly selected hotel registrants, collected as the registrants
checked out. The data listed for each registrant are: number of people in the group; birth date of
person registering; shuttle service used, yes or no; total telephone charges incurred; and reason for
stay, business or personal.

Number Telephone
ID of Birth Date Shuttle Reason
of People Charges
Registrant (mm/dd/yy) Used for Stay
in Group ($)

01 1 05/07/59 Yes 0.00 Personal

02 4 11/23/48 No 12.46 Business

03 2 04/30/73 No 1.20 Business

04 2 12/16/71 No 2.90 Business

05 1 05/09/39 Yes 0.00 Personal

06 3 09/14/69 Yes 4.65 Business

07 2 04/22/66 No 9.35 Personal

08 5 10/28/54 Yes 2.10 Personal

09 1 11/12/49 No 1.85 Business

10 2 01/30/62 No 5.80 Business

(a) How many elements are there in the data set?

(b) How many variables are there in the data set?
(c) How many observations are there in the data set?
(d) What are the observations for the second element listed?
(e) What is the total number of measurements in the data set?
(f) Which variables are quantitative?
(g) Which variables are qualitative?
(h) What is the level of measurement for each of the variables?
(i) Does the data set represent cross-sectional or times series data?
(j) Does the data set represent an experimental or an observational study?

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STAT 245 SAIT P RACTICE S ET 1
14. Michael, Inc., a manufacturer of electric guitars, is a small firm with 50 employees. The table below
shows the hourly wage distribution of the employees.

Hourly Wages (in Dollars) Number of Employees

10 – 13.99 8

14 – 17.99 12

18 – 21.99 20

22 – 25.99 10

(a) How many employees receive hourly wages of at least $18?

(b) What percentage of the employees has hourly wages of at least $18?
(c) What percentage of the employees has hourly wages of less than $14?

15. The following histogram represents the Canadian Pulp and Paper Industry quarterly operating profits
(in millions of dollars) over the last decade. The upper limit for each is indicated on the horizontal axis.
Read the statements below and indicate whether a statement is True or False.

(a) The histogram indicates a fairly normal distribution of quarterly profits.

(b) Forty observations were studied.
(c) The median is in the category with an upper limit of 249 million dollars.
(d) The mode will be the category between 299 and 349 million dollars.
(e) A profit of $212 millions would be counted in the category fifth from the left.
(f) The two categories with the smallest non-zero frequencies account for 7.5% of the data.

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16. The data below give the average weekly price of gas per litre in Canada (to the nearest cent) for 2015.

S TEM AND L EAF PLOT FOR G AS P RICES ( NEAREST CENT )

stem unit = 10, leaf unit = 1

(a) What was the lowest weekly average price of gas per litre in 2015?
(b) What was the highest weekly average price of gas per litre in 2015?
(c) List the actual values in the sixth row.
(d) For how many weeks was the average weekly price of gas less than 98g/L? Circle or highlight the
values included in the stem and leaf plot.
(e) Canadians were very upset about gas prices in 2015 saying that for most of the year the average
weekly price of gas was greater than 100g/L? Is this statement correct? Justify your answer.

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ANSWERS
1. (a) Payroll information of all employees
(b) Payroll information of 45 randomly selected employees
(c) $2, 857 (average bi-weekly pay of all employees at the firm)
(d) $2, 605 (average bi-weekly pay of 45 randomly selected employees)
2. a

3. (a) Parameter (d) Data (g) Statistic

(b) Observation (e) Sample
(c) Element (f) Population (h) Variable

4. (a) Descriptive (b) Inferential (c) Inferential (d) Descriptive

5. d
6. c
7. (a) Nominal (b) Ratio (c) Interval (d) Ordinal (e) Nominal (f) Ordinal (g) Interval
8. a
9. (a) Ordinal (b) Ordinal (c) Ratio (d) Ordinal (e) Nominal
10. d
11. b
12. (a) Interval (b) Ratio (c) Nominal (d) Nominal (e) Ordinal
13. (a) 10 elements
(b) 5 variables
(c) 10 observations
(d) 4, 11/23/48, No, $12.46, Business
(e) 50
(f) People in group, telephone charges
(g) Birth date, shuttle used, reason for stay
(h) People in group – ratio, birth date – ordinal, shuttle used – nominal, telephone charges – ratio,
reason for stay – nominal.
(i) cross-sectional
(j) observational
14. (a) 30% (b) 60% (c) 16%
15. (a) False (b) True (c) True (d) False (e) False (f) True
16. (a) 68 g/L
(b) 132 g/L
(c) 110, 110, 112, 114, 116
(d) 27 weeks
(e) The statement is incorrect. Count of gas prices greater than 100g/L is 22 which is not more than
half of the average gas prices.

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