A Collection of Multiple-Choice Cumulative Questions

In no Particular Order Answers are in Red

1. US Air has a flight to New York for $160 and United Airlines has a flight to New York for $200. Which
statement is true?

(A) The cost of the United flight is 25% more than US Air.
(B) The cost of the US Air flight is 80% less than the United flight. answer: A
(C) The cost of the United flight is 120% more than the US Air flight.
(D) The cost of the US Air flight is 25% less than United.
(E) The cost of the United flight is 20% more than US Air.

2. Which histogram below most closely depicts a normal distribution? answer: A

Histogram A Histogram B Histogram C Histogram D Histogram E

3. Suppose you could take all samples of size 64 from a population with a mean of 12 and a standard deviation
of 3.2. What would be the standard deviation of the sample means?
answer: C
(A) 3.2 (B) 0.2 (C) 0.4 (D) 0.3 (E) 1.6

4. In a normally distributed variable, a value x∗ is considered unusually large if

(A) P (x ≤ x∗ ) < 0.05.

(B) P (x ≥ x∗ ) < 0.05. answer: B
∗
(C) P (x ≤ x ) > 0.05.
(D) P (x ≥ x∗ ) > 0.05.
(E) P (x = x∗ ) > 0.05.

5. A hypothesis test is conducted and the P -value of the test statistic is 0.02. Four of the following statements
are valid. Which statement is not valid.
(A) It is not very likely that the extremeness of the test statistic is due to chance.
(B) Assuming the null hypothesis is true, there is a 2% chance of getting a more
extreme test statistic.
answer: C
(C) There is a 2% chance that the null hypothesis is false.
(D) At the 0.05 significance level, you would reject the null hypothesis.
(E) At the 0.01 significance level, you would fail to reject the null hypothesis.
 6. Which of the following is NOT required of a binomial distribution

(A) Each trial has exactly two outcomes. answer: D

(B) There is a fixed number of trials.
(C) The probability of success remains fixed for all trials.
(D) There are more than 30 trials.
√
7. The mean = np and the standard deviation = n p q for

(A) all probability distributions. answer: C

(B) normal distributions.
(C) binomial distributions.
(D) none of the above

8. The t distribution should be used to build confidence interval estimates of a population mean when the popu-
lation standard deviation is

(A) small.
(B) 30 or more. answer: D
(C) too large to fit the normal distribution.
(D) unknown.

9. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the sampling distribution of sample means (the means of all
possible samples of a given size)?

(A) It is normally distributed. answer: C

(B) It is centered on the population mean.
(C) It has a standard deviation (σx̄ ) which is larger than the population standard deviation (σ).
(D) It has a standard deviation (σx̄ ) which is smaller than the population standard deviation (σ).

10. Which of the following is a possible alternative hypothesis H1 for a two-tailed test.
(A) µ < 30 (B) µ 6= 30 (C) µ = 30 (D) µ > 30 answer: B

11. Suppose that at the 95% confidence level we calculate a confidence interval described by 43.8 < µ < 46.2.
Which of the following statements can not be made about this result.

(A) The sample mean is 45.

(B) The population mean is 45. answer: B
(C) The margin of error is 1.2.
(D) We are 95% confident that the population mean lies between 43.8 and 46.2.
12. Inferential statistics is so named because it allows us to examine a sample and make inferences about

(A) another sample. answer: C

(B) an element of the sample.
(C) the population from which the sample was taken.
(D) none of the above.

13. If the P-value of a given test statistic is 0.03 then,

(A) It is unlikely that the extremeness of the test statistic is due to chance. answer: D
(B) Assuming the null hypothesis is true, there is a 3% chance of getting a more extreme test statistic.
(C) At the 0.05 significance level, you would reject the null hypothesis.
(D) All of the above are viable conclusions.

14. The most frequently occurring value in a data set is called the

(A) mean. (B) median. (C) mode. (D) range. answer: C

15. The median of a data set is also denoted by

(A) Q1 (B) Q3 (C) P2 (D) P50 answer: D

16. A box of 8 marbles has 4 red, 2 green, and 2 blue marbles. If you select one marble, what is the probability
that it is a red or blue marble.

(A) 0.60 (B) 0.75 (C) 6.00 (D) 0.80 answer: B

17. A box of 8 marbles has 4 red, 2 green, and 2 blue marbles. If you select two marbles, without replacement,
what is the probability that you select a red marble followed by a green marble.

(A) 0.0625 (B) 0.1250 (C) 0.1429 (D) 0.6000 answer: C

18. Suppose a normally distributed random variable x has a mean of 100 and P (x < 90) = 0.40.
What is the probability that x is between 90 and 110? Ie. What is P (90 < x < 110)?

(A) 0.60 (B) 0.20 (C) 0.40 (D) 0.30 answer: B

19. Suppose you are calculating the minimum sample size required for a confidence interval about a population
mean and you know σ. Which of the following does not influence the minimum sample size?

(A) the size of the population (N )

(B) confidence level (α) answer: A
(C) the acceptable margin of error (E)
(D) the size of the population standard deviation (σ)
A Collection of Past Questions Organized by Chapter
Chapter 1: Sampling, Levels of Measurement, Percentages

1. A random sample is one with which characteristic?

(A) Its members are chosen haphazardly. answer:

(B) Every member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen for the sample.
(C) The population is divided into classes, and some members are chosen from each class.
(D) Every k th member of the population is chosen for the sample.

2. In a survey of 200 randomly selected Burlington residents, only 8% of them used public transportation. Which
of the following describes the population for this survey?

(A) The 200 Burlington residents selected for the survey.

(B) All Burlington residents. answer:
(C) All Burlington residents who use public transportation.
(D) All Burlington residents who do not use public transportation.

3. US Air has a flight to New York for $160 and United Airlines has a flight to New York for $200. Three of the
following statements are true. Which statement is FALSE?

(A) The US Air flight costs 20% less than United.

(B) The United flight costs 25% more than US Air. answer:
(C) The US Air flight costs 80% of the United flight.
(D) The United flight costs 80% more than the cost of US Air.

4. In a high-school with 200 males and 300 females, 50 students are needed for a study. The researchers decide
to randomly select 20 males and 30 females.

• This is an example which type of sampling method?

(a) systematic (b) stratified (c) cluster (d) None of these answer:

• This sampling method is

(a) random but not simple random. (b) simple random. (c) neither answer:

5. Your social security number is an example of what level of measurement?

(A) Nominal
(B) Ordinal
(C) Interval answer:
(D) Ratio

6. In an effort to determine the amount of debt for Champlain College students, I surveyed 100 students from
each class (Freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior). What method of sampling did I use?

(A) Stratified
(B) Systematic answer:
(C) Cluster
 (D) Convenience

Chapter 2: Descriptive Statistics

7. Which of the following is not a measure of center?

(a) standard deviation (b) mean (c) median (d) mode answer:

8. The median of a data set is also denoted by

(a) Q1 (b) Q3 (c) P2 (d) P50 answer:

9. Consider the data {10, 15, 20, 25, 30}.

Which of the following measures would not change if the 20 was replaced by a 25?

(A) The mean

(B) The median answer:
(C) The mode
(D) The range

10. For the data {10, 15, 20, 25, 30}, which of the following measures not change if the 30 was replaced by a 40?

(A) The mean

(B) The median answer:
(C) The standard deviation
(D) The range

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

(A) The median answer:

(B) The range
(C) The variance
(D) The standard deviation

12. In a normally distributed variable, those values more than 2 standard deviations away from the mean are
considered

(A) discrete.
(B) normal. answer:
(C) impossible.
(D) unusual.

13. The symbol x represents

(A) the population mean

(B) the population standard deviation answer:
 (C) the sample mean
(D) the sample standard deviation

14. The most frequently occurring value in a data set is called the answer:

(A) mean.
(B) median.
(C) mode.
(D) range.

Chapter 3: Tables and Graphics

15. Given the histograms below,

Histogram A Histogram B Histogram C Histogram D

• which histogram most closely depicts a uniform distribution? answer:

A) Histogram A B) Histogram B C) Histogram C D) Histogram D

• which histogram most closely depicts a normal distribution? answer:

A) Histogram A B) Histogram B C) Histogram C D) Histogram D

• which histogram most closely depicts a skewed distribution? answer:

A) Histogram A B) Histogram B C) Histogram C D) Histogram D

16. A normal destribution can best be described as what?

(A) skewed
(B) flat
(C) symmetric and bell-shaped
(D) uniform

Chapter 4: Introduction to Probability

17. A box of 8 marbles has 4 red, 2 green, and 2 blue marbles. If you select one marble, what is the probability
that it is a red or blue marble.

(A) 0.60 (B) 0.75 (C) 6.00 (D) 0.80 answer:

 18. A box of 8 marbles has 4 red, 2 green, and 2 blue marbles. If you select two marbles, without replacement,
what is the probability that you select a red marble followed by a green marble.

(A) 0.0625 (B) 0.1250 (C) 0.1429 (D) 0.6000 answer:

Chapter 5: Binomial Probability Distribution

19. A fair coin is tossed 10 times. What is the probability that of getting exactly 5 heads?

(a) 0.10 (b) 0.50 (c) 0.125 (d) 0.246 answer:

20. A fair coin is tossed 10 times. What is the probability that of getting less than 3 heads?
(a) 0.172 (b) 0.055 (c) 0.117 (d) 0.044 answer:

21. A binomial distribution consists of 150 trials. If the probability of success on each trial is 0.4, what is the
standard deviation of the distribution.

(a) 36 (b) 16 (c) 4 (d) 6 answer:

22. Which of the following is NOT required of a binomial distribution

(A) Each trial has exactly two outcomes. answer:

(B) There is a fixed number of trials.
(C) The probability of success remains fixed for all trials.
(D) There are more than 30 trials.
√
23. The mean = np and the standard deviation = n p q for

(A) all probability distributions. answer:

(B) normal distributions.
(C) binomial distributions.
(D) none of the above

Chapter 6: Normal Distributions

24. If you got a 79 on a test in a class with a mean score of 85 and a standard deviation of 4.8, the z-score of your
test score would be

(a) 1.25 (b) -2.50 (c) -1.25 (d) 2.50 answer:

25. If the heights of women are normally distributed with a mean of 64 inches and a standard deviation of 1 inch,
the probability of randomly selecting a woman taller than 62.5 inches is

(a) 0.0668 (b) 0.9332 (c) 0.6195 (d) 0.9938 answer:

 26. Suppose a normally distributed random variable x has a mean of 100 and P (x < 90) = 0.40.
What is the probability that x is between 90 and 110? Ie. What is P (90 < x < 110)?

(a) 0.60 (b) 0.20 (c) 0.40 (d) 0.30 answer:

27. Suppose you were to take samples of size 64 from a population with a mean of 12 and a standard deviation of
3.2. What would be the standard deviation of the sample means?

(a) 0.60 (b) 0.20 (c) 0.40 (d) 0.30 answer:

28. In a normally distributed variable, a value x∗ is considered an unusually large if

(A) P (x ≤ x∗ ) < 0.05.

(B) P (x ≥ x∗ ) < 0.05. answer:
(C) P (x ≤ x∗ ) > 0.05.
(D) P (x ≥ x∗ ) > 0.05.

29. If the heights of women are normally distributed with a mean of 64 inches, which of the following is the highest?
The probability of randomly choosing

(A) one woman and finding her height is between 63 and 65 inches. answer:
(B) 15 women and finding that their mean height is between 63 and 65 inches.
(C) 100 women and finding that their mean height is between 63 and 65 inches.
(D) all of the above have the same probability.

30. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the sampling distribution of sample means (the means of all
possible samples of a given size)?

(A) It is approximately normally distributed. answer:

(B) It is centered on the population mean.
(C) It has a standard deviation (σx̄ ) which is larger than the population standard deviation (σ).
(D) It has a standard deviation (σx̄ ) which is smaller than the population standard deviation (σ).

31. Suppose a normally distributed random variable x has a mean of 100 and P (x < 90) = 0.20.
What is the probability that x is between 90 and 110? Ie. What is P (90 < x < 110)?
(a) 0.60 (b) 0.20 (c) 0.40 (d) 0.30 answer:

Chapter 7: Confidence Intervals

32. Suppose that at the 95% confidence level we calculate a confidence interval described by 43.8 < µ < 46.2.
Which of the following statements can not be made about this result. answer:

(A) The sample mean was 45.

(B) The population mean is 45.
(C) The margin of error is 1.2.
 (D) We are 95% confident that the population mean lies between 43.8 and 46.2.

33. Inferential statistics is so named because it allows us to examine a sample and make inferences about

(A) another sample. answer:

(B) an element of the sample.
(C) the population from which the sample was taken.
(D) none of the above.

34. Which of the following factors would NOT influence the size of the margin of error (E), in a confidence interval
estimate of a population mean?

(A) the standard deviation answer:

(B) the confidence level
(C) the sample size
(D) the size of the population

35. You want to estimate the proportion of American voters who are optimistic about the state of the economy.
How large a sample would be needed to ensure a 95% probability that the actual population proportion will
be no more than 3 percentage points from the sample population?

(A) 1506 (B) 1068 (C) 3152 (D) 938 answer:

Chapter 8: Hypothesis Testing - One Sample

36. Which of the following represents a parameter.

(a) µ (b) s (c) x̄ (d) p̂ answer:

37. In hypothesis testing the significance level α represents the probability of

(A) a Type I error.

(B) a Type II error. answer:
(C) rejecting the null hypothesis when it is false.
(D) accepting the null hypothesis when it is true.

38. In hypothesis testing, the significance level α represents the probability of

(A) rejecting the claim.

(B) a Type I error. answer:
(C) rejecting the null hypothesis when it is false.
(D) rejecting the alternate hypothesis when it is false.

39. Which of the following is a possible alternative hypothesis H1 for a two-tailed test.

(A) µ < 30 answer:

(B) µ 6= 30
(C) µ = 30
 (D) µ > 30

40. If the P-value of a given test statistic is 0.03 then,

(A) It is unlikely that the extremeness of the test statistic is due to chance. answer:
(B) Assuming the null hypothesis is true, there is a 3% chance of getting a more extreme test statistic.
(C) At the 0.05 significance level, you would reject the null hypothesis.
(D) All of the above are viable conclusions.

41. The symbol µ represents the

(A) population mean.

(B) sample mean. answer:
(C) population standard deviation.
(D) significance level.

42. If the P-value of a given test statistic is 0.18 then,

(A) It is quite possible that the extremeness of the test statistic is due to chance. answer:
(B) Assuming the null hypothesis is true, there is an 18% chance of getting a more extreme test statistic.
(C) At the 0.05 significance level, you would fail to reject the null hypothesis.
(D) All of the above are viable conclusions.

43. The P -value is

(A) the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true.

(B) the probability that the claim is true. answer:
(C) the estimate of the population parameter given the sample statistic.
(D) the probability of getting a test statistic more extreme than the one you got assuming the null hypothesis
is correct.

44. You test a claim that more than 10% of adults have tatoos. Your test statistic turns out to be zp̂ = 2.31.
What is the P -value of this test statistic?

(A) 0.9896
(B) 0.0104 answer:
(C) 0.0208
(D) 0.0951

45. Which of the following alternate hypotheses is indicative of a two tailed test.

(A) H1 : µ < 100

(B) H1 : µ = 100 answer:
(C) H1 : µ 6= 100
(D) H1 : µ > 100
 46. If you want to conduct a hypothesis test about a mean from a population with a skewed distribution, you
should

(A) use a stratified sample.

(B) use a large significance level. answer:
(C) have all outcomes classified as success or failure.
(D) use a sample size greater than 30.

47. For hypothesis tests about a mean, you should use a sample size greater than 30 when

(A) the population distribution is not normal.

(B) the P -value is less than α. answer:
(C) the population size is large.
(D) the significance level is greater than 0.01.

Chapter 10: Correlation and Regression

48. I found a significant correlation between the time it takes students to complete an exam and the score on the
exam. The regression equation is given by
ŷ = 2.5 x − 10.2
where y is the score on the exam and x is the completion time (in minutes). Is this a positive or negative
correlation?

(A) Positive Correlation answer:

(B) Negative Correlation

49. Many studies have shown that students score higher on math tests when there is classical music playing in the
background. Identify the response variable.

(A) Math test scores answer:

(B) classical music in the background

50. If we fail to find a significant linear relationship between two variables, then the best prediction for any value
of x would be found by using what?

(A) regression equation

(B) average x-value answer:
(C) average y-value
(D) the slope of the regression line
 STATISTICS 8
CHAPTERS 1 TO 6, SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Correct answers are in bold italics..

This scenario applies to Questions 1 and 2: A study was done to compare the lung capacity of
coal miners to the lung capacity of farm workers. The researcher studied 200 workers of each
type. Other factors that might affect lung capacity are smoking habits and exercise habits. The
smoking habits of the two worker types are similar, but the coal miners generally exercise less
than the farm workers.

1. Which of the following is the explanatory variable in this study?

a. Exercise
b. Lung capacity
c. Smoking or not
d. Occupation

2. Which of the following is a confounding variable in this study?

a. Exercise
b. Lung capacity
c. Smoking or not
d. Occupation

This scenario applies to Questions 3 to 5: A randomized experiment was done by randomly

assigning each participant either to walk for half an hour three times a week or to sit quietly
reading a book for half an hour three times a week. At the end of a year the change in
participants' blood pressure over the year was measured, and the change was compared for the
two groups.

3. This is a randomized experiment rather than an observational study because:

a. Blood pressure was measured at the beginning and end of the study.
b. The two groups were compared at the end of the study.
c. The participants were randomly assigned to either walk or read, rather than choosing
their own activity.
d. A random sample of participants was used.

4. The two treatments in this study were:

a. Walking for half an hour three times a week and reading a book for half an hour three
times a week.
b. Having blood pressure measured at the beginning of the study and having blood pressure
measured at the end of the study.
c. Walking or reading a book for half an hour three times a week and having blood pressure
measured.
d. Walking or reading a book for half an hour three times a week and doing nothing.
Scenario for Questions 3 to 5, continued

5. If a statistically significant difference in blood pressure change at the end of a year for the
two activities was found, then:
a. It cannot be concluded that the difference in activity caused a difference in the change in
blood pressure because in the course of a year there are lots of possible confounding
variables.
b. Whether or not the difference was caused by the difference in activity depends on what
else the participants did during the year.
c. It cannot be concluded that the difference in activity caused a difference in the change in
blood pressure because it might be the opposite, that people with high blood pressure
were more likely to read a book than to walk.
d. It can be concluded that the difference in activity caused a difference in the change in
blood pressure because of the way the study was done.

6. What is one of the distinctions between a population parameter and a sample statistic?
a. A population parameter is only based on conceptual measurements, but a sample statistic
is based on a combination of real and conceptual measurements.
b. A sample statistic changes each time you try to measure it, but a population parameter
remains fixed.
c. A population parameter changes each time you try to measure it, but a sample statistic
remains fixed across samples.
d. The true value of a sample statistic can never be known but the true value of a population
parameter can be known.

7. A magazine printed a survey in its monthly issue and asked readers to fill it out and send it
in. Over 1000 readers did so. This type of sample is called
a. a cluster sample.
b. a self-selected sample.
c. a stratified sample.
d. a simple random sample.

8. Which of the following would be most likely to produce selection bias in a survey?
a. Using questions with biased wording.
b. Only receiving responses from half of the people in the sample.
c. Conducting interviews by telephone instead of in person.
d. Using a random sample of students at a university to estimate the proportion of people
who think the legal drinking age should be lowered.

9. Which one of the following variables is not categorical?

a. Age of a person.
b. Gender of a person: male or female.
c. Choice on a test item: true or false.
d. Marital status of a person (single, married, divorced, other)
10. A polling agency conducted a survey of 100 doctors on the question “Are you willing to treat
women patients with the recently approved pill RU-486”? The conservative margin of error
associated with the 95% confidence interval for the percent who say 'yes' is
a. 50% b. 10% c. 5% d. 2%

11. Which one of these statistics is unaffected by outliers?

a. Mean
b. Interquartile range
c. Standard deviation
d. Range

12. A list of 5 pulse rates is: 70, 64, 80, 74, 92. What is the median for this list?
a. 74 b. 76 c. 77 d. 80

13. Which of the following would indicate that a dataset is not bell-shaped?
a. The range is equal to 5 standard deviations.
b. The range is larger than the interquartile range.
c. The mean is much smaller than the median.
d. There are no outliers.

14. A scatter plot of number of teachers and number of people with college degrees for cities in
California reveals a positive association. The most likely explanation for this positive
association is:
a. Teachers encourage people to get college degrees, so an increase in the number of
teachers is causing an increase in the number of people with college degrees.
b. Larger cities tend to have both more teachers and more people with college degrees, so
the association is explained by a third variable, the size of the city.
c. Teaching is a common profession for people with college degrees, so an increase in the
number of people with college degrees causes an increase in the number of teachers.
d. Cities with higher incomes tend to have more teachers and more people going to college,
so income is a confounding variable, making causation between number of teachers and
number of people with college degrees difficult to prove.

15. The value of a correlation is reported by a researcher to be r = −0.5. Which of the following
statements is correct?
a. The x-variable explains 25% of the variability in the y-variable.
b. The x-variable explains −25% of the variability in the y-variable.
c. The x-variable explains 50% of the variability in the y-variable.
d. The x-variable explains −50% of the variability in the y-variable.

16. What is the effect of an outlier on the value of a correlation coefficient?

a. An outlier will always decrease a correlation coefficient.
b. An outlier will always increase a correlation coefficient.
c. An outlier might either decrease or increase a correlation coefficient, depending on
where it is in relation to the other points.
d. An outlier will have no effect on a correlation coefficient.
17. One use of a regression line is
a. to determine if any x-values are outliers.
b. to determine if any y-values are outliers.
c. to determine if a change in x causes a change in y.
d. to estimate the change in y for a one-unit change in x.

18. Past data has shown that the regression line relating the final exam score and the midterm
exam score for students who take statistics from a certain professor is:
final exam = 50 + 0.5 × midterm
One interpretation of the slope is
a. a student who scored 0 on the midterm would be predicted to score 50 on the final exam.
b. a student who scored 0 on the final exam would be predicted to score 50 on the midterm
exam.
c. a student who scored 10 points higher than another student on the midterm would be
predicted to score 5 points higher than the other student on the final exam.
d. students only receive half as much credit (.5) for a correct answer on the final exam
compared to a correct answer on the midterm exam.

Questions 19 to 21: A survey asked people how often they exceed speed limits. The data are
then categorized into the following contingency table of counts showing the relationship between
age group and response.
Exceed Limit if Possible?
Age Always Not Always Total
Under 30 100 100 200
Over 30 40 160 200
Total 140 260 400

19. Among people with age over 30, what's the "risk" of always exceeding the speed limit?
a. 0.20
b. 0.40
c. 0.33
d. 0.50

20. Among people with age under 30 what are the odds that they always exceed the speed limit?
a. 1 to 2
b. 2 to 1
c. 1 to 1
d. 50%

21. What is the relative risk of always exceeding the speed limit for people under 30 compared to
people over 30?
a. 2.5
b. 0.4
c. 0.5
d. 30%
Questions 22 and 23: A newspaper article reported that "Children who routinely compete in
vigorous after-school sports on smoggy days are three times more likely to get asthma than their
non-athletic peers." (Sacramento Bee, Feb 1, 2002, p. A1)

22. Of the following, which is the most important additional information that would be useful
before making a decision about participation in school sports?
a. Where was the study conducted?
b. How many students in the study participated in after-school sports?
c. What is the baseline risk for getting asthma?
d. Who funded the study?

23. The newspaper also reported that "The number of children in the study who contracted
asthma was relatively small, 265 of 3,535." Which of the following is represented by
265/3535 = .075?
a. The overall risk of getting asthma for the children in this study.
b. The baseline risk of getting asthma for the “non-athletic peers” in the study.
c. The risk of getting asthma for children in the study who participated in sports.
d. The relative risk of getting asthma for children who routinely participate in vigorous
after-school sports on smoggy days and their non-athletic peers.

Questions 24 to 26: The following histogram shows the distribution of the difference between
the actual and “ideal” weights for 119 female students. Notice that percent is given on the
vertical axis. Ideal weights are responses to the question “What is your ideal weight”? The
difference = actual −ideal. (Source: idealwtwomen dataset on CD.)

24. What is the approximate shape of the distribution?

a. Nearly symmetric.
b. Skewed to the left.
c. Skewed to the right.
d. Bimodal (has more than one peak).

25. The median of the distribution is approximately

a. −10 pounds.
b. 10 pounds.
c. 30 pounds.
d. 50 pounds.
Scenario for Questions 24 to 26, continued

26. Most of the women in this sample felt that their actual weight was
a. about the same as their ideal weight.
b. less than their ideal weight.
c. greater than their ideal weight.
d. no more than 2 pounds different from their ideal weight.

27. A chi-square test of the relationship between personal perception of emotional health and
marital status led to rejection of the null hypothesis, indicating that there is a relationship
between these two variables. One conclusion that can be drawn is:
a. Marriage leads to better emotional health.
b. Better emotional health leads to marriage.
c. The more emotionally healthy someone is, the more likely they are to be married.
d. There are likely to be confounding variables related to both emotional health and
marital status.

28. A chi-square test involves a set of counts called “expected counts.” What are the expected
counts?
a. Hypothetical counts that would occur of the alternative hypothesis were true.
b. Hypothetical counts that would occur if the null hypothesis were true.
c. The actual counts that did occur in the observed data.
d. The long-run counts that would be expected if the observed counts are representative.

29. Pick the choice that best completes the following sentence. If a relationship between two
variables is called statistically significant, it means the investigators think the variables are
a. related in the population represented by the sample.
b. not related in the population represented by the sample.
c. related in the sample due to chance alone.
d. very important.

30. Simpson's Paradox occurs when

a. No baseline risk is given, so it is not know whether or not a high relative risk has
practical importance.
b. A confounding variable rather than the explanatory variable is responsible for a change in
the response variable.
c. The direction of the relationship between two variables changes when the categories of
a confounding variable are taken into account.
d. The results of a test are statistically significant but are really due to chance.
AP STATS Name _____________________
Ch. 9 Multiple Choice Review Questions Date________Period _________

1. The sample mean, x is called a ________ of the population mean m .

a) Point estimate d) Confidence level

b) Margin of error e) Interval estimate
c) Critical z-value

2. The standard deviation of SAT scores is 100 points. A researcher decides to take a sample of 500 students’
scores to estimate the mean score of students in your state. What is the standard deviation of the sample
mean?
a) .2 c) 5
b) 4.47 d) 100
e) Can’t be determined without sample mean

3. The 99.7% confidence interval for the mean length of frog jumps is (12.64 cm, 14.44 cm). Which of the
following statements is a correct interpretation of 99.7% confidence.

a) Of the total number of frogs in your area of the country, 99.7% can jump between 12.64 cm and
14.44 cm.
b) There’s a 99.7% chance that the mean length of frog jumps falls between 12.64cm and 14.44 cm.
c) If we were to repeat this sampling many times, 99.7% of the confidence intervals we could
construct would contain the true population mean.
d) 99.7% of the confidence intervals we could construct after repeated sampling would go from 12.64
cm to 14.44 cm.
e) There’s a 99.7% chance that any particular frog I catch can jump between 12.64 cm and 14.44 cm.

4. True or False: A 95% confidence interval is narrower than a 90% confidence interval for the same data set.

5. What’s the critical z-value for an 85% confidence interval?

a) .8023 b) 1.44 c) 1.04

d) Can’t be determined without knowing the population standard deviation
e) Can’t be determined without knowing the sample size

6. True or False: Increasing the sample size will decrease the margin of error in your confidence interval.

7. You have a table of standard normal probabilities that gives you the area of the curve from the left tail to
the z-score of interest. When using this type of table, what area of the curve would you use to find the
corresponding z-score for confidence interval of 95%?

a) .05 d) .975
b) .90 e) 2.0
c) .95
8. You want to compute a 90% confidence interval for the mean of a population with unknown population
standard deviation. The sample size is 30. The value of t* you would use for this interval is

a) 1.96 b) 1.645 c) 1.699 d) 0.90 e) 1.311

9. A 95% confidence interval for the mean reading achievement score for a population of third-grade students
is (44.2, 54.2). Suppose you compute a 99% confidence interval using the same information. Which of the
following statements is correct?

a) The intervals have the same width.

b) The 99% interval is shorter.
c) The 99% interval is longer.
d) The answer can’t be determined from the information given.
e) None of the above.

10. A researcher computes a 90% confidence interval for the mean weight (in lb) of widgets produced in a
factory. The interval is (7.2, 8.9). Which of these is a correct interpretation of this interval?

a) Out of all the widgets produced in all widget factories, 90% weigh between 7.2 and 8.9 lbs.
b) We can be 90% confident that all widgets weigh between 7.2 and 8.9 lbs.
c) There’s a 90% chance the population value is between 7.2 and 8.9 lbs.
d) Ninety percent of all sample means are equivalent to the true mean weight of all the widgets.
e) If you drew many samples of size n and constructed a confidence interval from each sample, 90%
of the intervals would contain the true population value.

For questions 11-15 refer to the data below:

To estimate the mean height of female high school juniors, you take a random sample of 30 female
students and get these results (in inches.) You want to construct a 97% confidence Interval.

72 51 67 68 61 69 58 56 60 56
66 61 60 59 59 54 58 53 68 63
57 62 63 64 56 62 58 67 57 70

11. What’s your point estimate of m ?

a) 61.17 b) 30 c) 5.4 d) .968 e) 65

12. What’s your critical value for the t- score?

a) 1.645 b) 2.28 c) 1.96 d) 2.576 e) 2.17

13. What’s your σ x value?

a) 61.17 b) 5.37 c) 5.27 d) 2.17 e) .98

14. What’s the margin of error?

a) 5.432 in b) .968 in c) 3.66 in d) 2.2 in e) s / n

15.. What’s this interval?

a) (58.93, 63.40) b) (60.20, 62.14) c) (65, 69.4) d) (40,60) e) (60,65)

 For questions 16 and 17 refer to the following information:
A researcher is interested in estimating the mean blood alcohol content (BAC) of people arrested for
driving under the influence. The sample consists of 250 individuals with a mean BAC of .145. Based
on past data, the researcher assumes a population standard deviation of .065.

16. What’s the margin of error for a 90% confidence interval in this scenario?(Use Z since pop SD is known)

a) .0041 b) .0068 c) .107 d) .0080

e) Not enough information to compute the margin of error

17. What’s the 95% confidence interval for the scenario above?

a) (.137, .153) b) (.080, .210) c) (.138, .152) d) (.111, .172)

e) Not enough information to compute the interval

18. Using a random sample of 4,000 students, you compute a 95% confidence interval to estimate the mean
calories consumed by 8th graders. You decide to compute another 95% confidence interval using a
different sample, this time with only 1,000 students. What change would you expect from the first
confidence interval to the second?

a) The margin of error will be 4 times as wide.

b) The margin of error will be 2 times as wide.
c) The margin of error will decrease.
d) The confidence interval will be smaller
e) σ x will decrease

19. A teacher administers a standardized math test to his class of 75 students. The mean score (out of 300
possible points) is 235. From previous studies, you know the population standard deviation is 28. Using
the sample data given, calculate a 95% confidence interval for the population mean.

a) (234.1, 235.9) b) (226.7, 243.3) c) (228.7, 241.3) d) (233.0, 237.0) e) (200.0, 300.0)

20. The government claims that students earn an average of $4500 during their summer break from studies. A random
sample of students gave a sample average of $3975, and a 95% confidence interval was found to be $3525 < µ <
$4425. This confidence level is interpreted to mean that

a) If the study were to be repeated many times, there is a 95% probability that the true average summer
earnings is not $4500 as the government claims.
b) Because our specific confidence interval does not contain the value $4500 there is a 95%
probability that the true average summer earnings is not $4500.
c) If we were to repeat our survey many times, then about 95% of all the confidence intervals will
contain the value $4500.
d) If we repeat our survey many times, then about 95% of our confidence intervals will contain the true value
of the average earnings of students.
e) There is a 95% probability that the true average earnings are between $3525 and $4425 for all students.
21. The college newspaper of a large Midwestern university periodically conducts a survey of students on campus to
determine the attitude on campus concerning issues of interest. Pictures of the students interviewed along with quotes of
their responses are printed in the paper. Students are interviewed by a reporter “roaming” the campus selecting students
to interview “haphazardly.” On a particular day the reporter interviews five students and asks them if they feel there is
adequate student parking on campus. Four of the students say, “no.”

Which of the following conditions for inference about a proportion using a confidence interval are violated in
this example?

A The data are an SRS from the population of interest.

B The population is at least ten times as large as the sample.
C nˆp ³ 10 and n(1 - pˆ ) ³ 10 .
D We are interested in inference about a proportion.
E More than one condition is violated.

22. You want to design a study to estimate the proportion of students on your campus who agree with the
statement “The student government is an effective organization for expressing the needs of students to the
administration.” You will use a 95% confidence interval and you would like the margin of error to be
0.05 or less. In previous years, it has been noted that the 32% of the campus agree with the statement.
The minimum sample size required is approximately

A 22 B 1795 C 335 D 271 E None of these

23. A marketing company wants to estimate the proportion of consumers in a certain region of the country
who would react favorably to a new marketing campaign. Further, the company wants to estimate to have a
margin of error of no more than 5 percent with 90 percent confidence. Of the following, which is the closest to
the minimum number of consumers needed to obtain the estimate with the desired precision?

A 136 B 271 C 385 D 542 E 769

24. A professor sampled 46 students from a large university to obtain a 95% confidence interval for the proportion
of students in favor of raising ASB fees. The interval was (.356, .397). If the professor had used a 90% confidence
interval instead, the confidence interval would have been

A Wider and would have a smaller chance of missing the true proportion.
B Narrower and would have a larger chance of missing the true proportion.
C Narrower and would have a smaller chance of missing the true proportion.
D Wider and would have a larger chance of missing the true proportion.
E Wider, but the chance of missing the true proportion cannot be determined.

25. An agricultural researcher plants 25 plots with a new variety of corn. The average yield for these plots is
X = 150 bushels per acre. Assume that the yield per acre for the new variety of corn follows a normal
distribution with unknown mean m and standard deviation s = 10 bushels. A 90% confidence interval for m is

A) 150 ± 2.00. B) 150 ± 3.29. C) 150 ± 3.42. D) 150 ± 16.45. E) 150 ± 32.
26. A 95% confidence interval for the mean m of a population is computed from a random sample and
found to be 9 ± 3. Which of the following is a correct statement?

A there is a 95% probability that m is between 6 and 12.

B 95% of values sampled are between 6 and 12.

C if we took many, many additional random samples and from each computed a 95% confidence interval
for m, approximately 95% of these intervals would contain m.

D there is a 95% probability that the true mean is 9 and a 95% chance that the true margin of error is 3.

E all of the above are true.

27. Other things being equal, the margin of error of a confidence interval increases as
A) the sample size increases.
B) the sample mean increases.
C) the population standard deviation increases.
D) the confidence level decreases.
E) none of the above.

28. Researchers are studying the yield of a crop in two locations. The researchers are going to compute
independent 90% confidence intervals for the mean yield m at each location. The probability that at
least one of the intervals will cover the true mean yield at its location is

A) 0.19. B) 0.81. C) 0.90. D) 0.95. E) 0.99.

29. To assess the accuracy of a laboratory scale, a standard weight that is known to weigh 1 gram is
repeatedly weighed a total of n times, and the mean X of the n weighings is computed. Suppose the
scale readings are normally distributed with unknown mean m and standard deviation s = 0.01 grams.
How large should n be so that a 95% confidence interval for m has a margin of error of ± 0.0001?
A) 100. B) 196. C) 385. D) 10,000. E) 38,416.

Answers:

1.A 2.B 3.C 4.False 5.B 6.True 7.D 10.E 11.A 12.B 13.E 14.D 15.A 16.B 17.A 18.B 19.C
20. D 21. A 22. C 23. C 24. B 25. C 26. C. 27. C 28. E 29. 30. B
 STATISTICS 8: CHAPTERS 7 TO 10, SAMPLE MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. If two events (both with probability greater than 0) are mutually exclusive, then:
A. They also must be independent.
B. They also could be independent.
C. They cannot be independent.

2. If two events (both with probability greater than 0) are mutually exclusive, then:
A. They also must be complements.
B. They also could be complements.
C. They cannot be complements.

3. Suppose that the probability of event A is 0.2 and the probability of event B is 0.4. Also, suppose that
the two events are independent. Then P(A|B) is:
A. P(A) = 0.2
B. P(A)/P(B) = 0.2/0.4 = ½
C. P(A) × P(B) = (0.2)(0.4) = 0.08
D. None of the above.

4. Which of the following is an example of a relative frequency probability based on measuring a

representative sample and observing relative frequencies of possible outcomes?
A. According to the late Carl Sagan, the probability that the earth will be hit by a civilization-
threatening asteroid in the next century is about 0.001.
B. If you flip a fair coin, the probability that it lands with heads up is ½.
C. Based on a recent Newsweek poll, the probability that a randomly selected adult in the US
would say they oppose federal funding for stem cell research is about 0.37.
D. A new airline boasts that the probability that its flights will be on time is 0.92, because 92% of all
flights it has ever flown did arrive on time.

5. Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between a parameter and a statistic?
A. A parameter has a sampling distribution with the statistic as its mean.
B. A parameter has a sampling distribution that can be used to determine what values the statistic is
likely to have in repeated samples.
C. A parameter is used to estimate a statistic.
D. A statistic is used to estimate a parameter.

6. A sampling distribution is the probability distribution for which one of the following:
A. A sample
B. A sample statistic
C. A population
D. A population parameter

7. Which of the following is the most common example of a situation for which the main parameter of
interest is a population proportion?
A. A binomial experiment
B. A normal experiment
C. A randomized experiment
D. An observational study
8. Which statement is not true about confidence intervals?
A. A confidence interval is an interval of values computed from sample data that is likely to include
the true population value.
B. An approximate formula for a 95% confidence interval is sample estimate ± margin of error.
C. A confidence interval between 20% and 40% means that the population proportion lies between
20% and 40%.
D. A 99% confidence interval procedure has a higher probability of producing intervals that will
include the population parameter than a 95% confidence interval procedure.

9. Which statement is not true about the 95% confidence level?

A. Confidence intervals computed by using the same procedure will include the true population value
for 95% of all possible random samples taken from the population.
B. The procedure that is used to determine the confidence interval will provide an interval that
includes the population parameter with probability of 0.95.
C. The probability that the true value of the population parameter falls between the bounds of an
already computed confidence interval is roughly 95%.
D. If we consider all possible randomly selected samples of the same size from a population, the 95%
is the percentage of those samples for which the confidence interval includes the population
parameter.

10. In a random sample of 50 men, 40% said they preferred to walk up stairs rather than take the elevator.
In a random sample of 40 women, 50% said they preferred the stairs. The difference between the two
sample proportions (men – women) is to be calculated. Which of the following choices correctly
denotes the difference between the two sample proportions that is desired?
A. p1 − p 2 = 0.10
B. pˆ 1 − pˆ 2 = 0.10
C. p1 − p 2 = −0.10
D. pˆ 1 − pˆ 2 = −0.10 <-Correct answer

11. Which of the following statements is correct about a parameter and a statistic associated with repeated
random samples of the same size from the same population?
A. Values of a parameter will vary from sample to sample but values of a statistic will not.
B. Values of both a parameter and a statistic may vary from sample to sample.
C. Values of a parameter will vary according to the sampling distribution for that parameter.
D. Values of a statistic will vary according to the sampling distribution for that statistic.

12. Five hundred (500) random samples of size n=900 are taken from a large population in which 10% are
left-handed. The proportion of the sample that is left-handed is found for each sample and a histogram
of these 500 proportions is drawn. Which interval covers the range into which about 68% of the
values in the histogram will fall?
A. .1 ± .010
B. .1 ± .0134
C. .1 ± .0167
D. .1 ± .020
13. A randomly selected sample of 400 students at a university with 15-week semesters was asked
whether or not they think the semester should be shortened to 14 weeks (with longer classes). Forty-
six percent (46%) of the 400 students surveyed answered "yes." Which one of the following
statements about the number 46% is correct?
A. It is a sample statistic.
B. It is a population parameter.
C. It is a margin of error.
D. It is a standard error.

14. Which of the following examples involves paired data?

A. A study compared the average number of courses taken by a random sample of 100 freshmen at a
university with the average number of courses taken by a separate random sample of 100
freshmen at a community college.
B. A group of 100 students were randomly assigned to receive vitamin C (50 students) or a placebo
(50 students). The groups were followed for 2 weeks and the proportions with colds were
compared.
C. A group of 50 students had their blood pressures measured before and after watching a movie
containing violence. The mean blood pressure before the movie was compared with the mean
pressure after the movie.
D. None of the above.

15. A poll is done to estimate the proportion of adult Americans who like their jobs. The poll is based on a
random sample of 400 individuals. What is the “conservative” margin of error of this poll?
A. 0.10
B. 0.05
C. 0.04
D. 0.025

16. The expected value of a random variable is the

A. value that has the highest probability of occurring.
B. mean value over an infinite number of observations of the variable.
C. largest value that will ever occur.
D. most common value over an infinite number of observations of the variable.

17. The payoff (X) for a lottery game has the following probability distribution.
X = payoff $0 $5
probability 0.8 0.2

A. What is the expected value of X= payoff?

B. $0
C. $0.50
D. $1.00
E. $2.50

18. Which one of these variables is a continuous random variable?

A. The time it takes a randomly selected student to complete an exam.
B. The number of tattoos a randomly selected person has.
C. The number of women taller than 68 inches in a random sample of 5 women.
D. The number of correct guesses on a multiple choice test.
19. Heights of college women have a distribution that can be approximated by a normal curve with a
mean of 65 inches and a standard deviation equal to 3 inches. About what proportion of college
women are between 65 and 67 inches tall?
A. 0.75
B. 0.50
C. 0.25
D. 0.17

20. Which one of these variables is a binomial random variable?

A. time it takes a randomly selected student to complete a multiple choice exam
B. number of textbooks a randomly selected student bought this term
C. number of women taller than 68 inches in a random sample of 5 women
D. number of CDs a randomly selected person owns

21. Suppose that vehicle speeds at an interstate location have a normal distribution with a mean equal to
70 mph and standard deviation equal to 8 mph. What is the z-score for a speed of 64 mph?
A. −0.75
B. +0.75
C. −6
D. +6

22. Pulse rates of adult men are approximately normal with a mean of 70 and a standard deviation of 8.
Which choice correctly describes how to find the proportion of men that have a pulse rate greater than
78?
A. Find the area to the left of z = 1 under a standard normal curve.
B. Find the area between z = −1 and z = 1 under a standard normal curve.
C. Find the area to the right of z =1 under a standard normal curve.
D. Find the area to the right of z = −1 under a standard normal curve.

23. The probability is p = 0.80 that a patient with a certain disease will be successfully treated with a new
medical treatment. Suppose that the treatment is used on 40 patients. What is the "expected value" of
the number of patients who are successfully treated?
A. 40
B. 20
C. 8
D. 32

24. Suppose that a quiz consists of 20 True-False questions. A student hasn't studied for the exam and will
just randomly guesses at all answers (with True and False equally likely). How would you find the
probability that the student will get 8 or fewer answers correct?
A. Find the probability that X=8 in a binomial distribution with n = 20 and p=0.5.
B. Find the area between 0 and 8 in a uniform distribution that goes from 0 to 20.
C. Find the probability that X=8 for a normal distribution with mean of 10 and standard deviation of
5.
D. Find the cumulative probability for 8 in a binomial distribution with n = 20 and p = 0.5.
25. The normal approximation to the binomial distribution is most useful for finding which of the
following?
A. The probability P(X = k) when X is a binomial random variable with large n.
B. The probability P(X ≤ k) when X is a binomial random variable with large n.
C. The probability P(X = k) when X is a normal random variable with small n.
D. The probability P(X ≤ k) when X is a normal random variable with small n.

26. A lottery ticket displays the probabilities of winning various prizes on the back of the ticket. These
probabilities are examples of:
A. Relative frequency probabilities based on long-run observation.
B. Relative frequency probabilities based on physical assumptions.
C. Personal probabilities.
D. Random probabilities.

27. A climate expert was asked to assess the probability that global warming will make some cities
uninhabitable in the next 100 years. The answer to this question for the expert is an example of:
A. A relative frequency probability based on long-run observation.
B. A relative frequency probability based on physical assumptions.
C. A random probability.
D. A personal probability.

28. Imagine a test for a certain disease. Suppose the probability of a positive test result is .95 if someone
has the disease, but the probability is only .08 that someone has the disease if his or her test result was
positive. A patient receives a positive test, and the doctor tells him that he is very likely to have the
disease. The doctor's response is:
A. An example of "Confusion of the inverse."
B. An example of the "Law of small numbers."
C. An example of "The gambler's fallacy."
D. Correct, because the test is 95% accurate when someone has the disease.

29. Which one of the following probabilities is a "cumulative" probability?

A. The probability that there are exactly 4 people with Type O+ blood in a sample of 10 people.
B. The probability of exactly 3 heads in 6 flips of a coin.
C. The probability that the accumulated annual rainfall in a certain city next year, rounded to the
nearest inch, will be 18 inches.
D. The probability that a randomly selected woman's height is 67 inches or less.

30. A medical treatment has a success rate of .8. Two patients will be treated with this treatment.
Assuming the results are independent for the two patients, what is the probability that neither one of
them will be successfully cured?
A. .5
B. .36
C. .2
D. .04 (this is (1 – .8)(1 – .8) = (.2)(.2) = .04)