Question 1

Researchers studying anthropometry collected body girth measurements and skeletal

diameter measurements, as well as age, weight, height and gender, for 507 physically

active individuals. The histogram below shows the sample distribution of heights in

centimeters, and the table shows sample statistics calculated based on this sample. Which

of the following is not necessarily true?

Your Answer Score Explanation

The point estimate for
the population mean is
171.1 cm.
The sample median is
170.3 cm.
While the sample statistics provided in the table are point
The population mean is estimates for the unknown parameters, it's necessarily not true
171.1 cm. C1.00 that the true population parameters will be exactly equal to these
o values.
r
The sample mean is r
171.1 cm. e
c1.00 /
Total t 1.00
Question Explanation

This question refers to the following learning objective(s): Define sample statistic as a
point estimate for a population parameter, for example, the sample mean is used to
estimate the population mean, and note that point estimate and sample statistic are
synonymous.
Question 2
Which of the following is false?
Your Answer Score Explanation
Standard error measures the Referring to the formula SE=σ/n−−√, standard
variability in means of samples of the error is calculated using samples from
same size taken from different C1.00 the same population (which has population
populations. o standard deviation σ).
r
In order to reduce the standard error r
by half, sample size should be e
increased by a factor of 4. c
Standard error computed based on a t
sample standard deviation will always
be lower than the standard deviation
of that sample.
As the sample size increases, the
variability of the sampling distribution
decreases.
1.00 /
Total
1.00
Question Explanation

This question refers to the following learning objective(s): Calculate the sampling
variability of the mean, the standard error, as SE=σ/n−−√.
Question 3
The standard error measures:
Your Answer Score Explanation
the variability of the sampled observations
the variability in the population
the variability of population parameters
the variability of sample statistics C1.00
Total o1.00 / 1.00
Question Explanation r
r
e
This question refers to the following learning objective(s): Distinguish standard deviation
(σ or s) and standard error (SE): standard deviation measures the variability in the data,
c
t
while standard error measures the variability in point estimates from different samples of
the same size and from the same population, i.e. measures the sampling variability.

Question 3
Students are asked to count the number of chocolate chips in 22 cookies for a class

activity. They found that the cookies on average had 14.77 chocolate chips with a standard

deviation of 4.37 chocolate chips. After collecting the data, a student reports the standard

error of the mean to be 0.93 chocolate chips. What is the best way to interpret the

student’s result?
Your Answer Score Explanation
The student either made a calculation error or his result is meaningless,
because it does not make sense to talk about 0.93 chocolate chips.
0.93 is the standard deviation of the number of chocolate chips in a
chocolate chip cookie.
0.93 chocolate chips is a measure of the variability in the mean number of
chocolate chips across all chocolate chip cookies.
0.93 chocolate chips is a measure of the variability we’d expect in
calculations of the mean number of chocolate chips if we took repeated C1.00
random samples of 22 cookies. o
r 1.00 /
Total r 1.00
Question Explanation e
c
This question refers to the following learning objective(s): Distinguishtstandard deviation
(σ or s) and standard error (SE): standard deviation measures the variability in the data,
while standard error measures the variability in point estimates from different samples of
the same size and from the same population, i.e. measures the sampling variability.
Question 4
Suppose you took a large number of random samples of size n from a large population and

calculated the mean of each sample. Then suppose you plotted the distribution of your

sample means in a histogram. Now consider the following possible attributes of your

collected data and the population from which they were sampled. For which of the

following sets of attributes would you not expect your histogram of your sample means to

follow a nearly normal distribution?

Your Answer Score Explanation
n = 20. The population distribution is
nearly normal.
Sample size is small and the population
n = 10. The population distribution is
distribution might be skewed, hence likely not
unknown, but the distribution of data in C1.00
going to yield nearly normal sampling
each sample is heavily skewed. o distribution.
r
n = 120. The population distribution is r
unknown, but the distribution of data in e
each sample is slightly skewed. c
n = 120. The population distribution is t
slightly skewed.
1.00 /
Total
1.00
Question Explanation

This question refers to the following learning objective(s):

Recognize that the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) is about the distribution of point
estimates, and that given certain conditions, this distribution will be nearly normal.

• In the case of the mean the CLT tells us that if

(1a) the sample size is sufficiently large (n≥30) and the data are not extremely
skewed or
(1b) the population is known to have a normal distribution, and
(2) the observations in the sample are independent,
then the distribution of the sample mean will be nearly normal, centered at the true
population mean and with a standard error of σn√.
x¯∼N(mean=μ,SE=σn−−√)
• When the population distribution is unknown, condition (1a) can be checked using a
histogram or some other visualization of the distribution of the observed data in the
sample.

• The larger the sample size (n), the less important the shape of the distribution
becomes, i.e. when n is very large the sampling distribution will be nearly normal
regardless of the shape of the population distribution.
Question 5
The General Social Survey (GSS) is a sociological survey used to collect data on

demographic characteristics and attitudes of residents of the United States. In 2010, the

survey collected responses from over a thousand US residents. The survey is conducted

face-to-face with an in-person interview of a randomly-selected sample of adults. One of

the questions on the survey is “For how many days during the past 30 days was your

mental health, which includes stress, depression, and problems with emotions, not good?”

Based on responses from 1,151 US residents, the survey reported a 95% confidence

interval of 3.40 to 4.24 days in 2010. Given this information, which of the following

statements would be most appropriate to make regarding the true average number of

days of “not good” mental health in 2010 for US residents?

Your Answer Score Explanation
For all US residents in 2010, based on this 95% confidence interval, we
would reject a null hypothesis stating that the true average number of days C1.00
of “not good” mental health is 5 days. o
There is not sufficient information to calculate the margin of error of this r
confidence interval. r
e
For these 1,151 residents in 2010, we are 95% confident that the average c
number of days of “not good” mental health is between 3.40 and 4.24 t
days.
For all US residents in 2010, there is a 95% probability that the true
average number of days of “not good” mental health is between 3.40 and
4.24 days.
1.00 /
Total
1.00
Question Explanation

This question refers to the following learning objective(s):

• Interpret a confidence interval as “We are XX% confident that the true population
parameter is in this interval”, where XX% is the desired confidence level.

• Define margin of error as the distance required to travel in either direction away from
the point estimate when constructing a confidence interval.
Question 6
An insurance company is reviewing its current policy rates. When originally setting the

rates they believed that the average claim amount was $1,800. They are concerned that

the true mean is actually higher than this, because they could potentially lose a lot of

money. They randomly select 40 claims, which yield a sample mean of $1,950. Which of

the following is the correct set of hypotheses for this scenario?

Your Answer Score Explanation
H0:μ=1,800
HA:μ>1,800 C1.00
o
H0:x¯=1,800 r
HA:x¯>1,800 r
H0:μ=1,800 e
HA:μ>1,950 c
t
H0:μ=1,950
HA:μ>1,800
Total 1.00 / 1.00
Question Explanation

This question refers to the following learning objective(s):

• Always construct hypotheses about population parameters (e.g. population mean, μ)

and not the sample statistics (e.g. sample mean, x¯). Note that the population
parameter is unknown while the sample statistic is measured using the observed data
and hence there is no point in hypothesizing about it.
• Define the null value as the value the parameter is set to equal in the null hypothesis.

• Note that the alternative hypothesis might be one-sided (μ the null value) or two-sided
(μ ≠ the null value), and the choice depends on the research question.
Question 7
Your friend likes to show off to his coworkers using statistical terminology, but he makes

errors so much that you often have to correct him. He just completed the following

hypothesis test:

H0 : μ = 100 ; HA : μ ≠ 100

x = 105, s = 10, n = 40

p-value = 0.0016

He claims the definition of this p-value is “the probability of obtaining a sample mean of

105 from a random sample of n = 40 when the true population mean is assumed to be

100.” Which of the following is true? (You may assume his calculations are correct, only
focus on his interpretation.)
Your Answer Score Explanation
Your friend is wrong, the statement should be revised as “the probability of
obtaining a sample mean of 105 or more extreme from a random sample C1.00
of n = 40 when the true population mean is assumed to be 100." o
Your friend is wrong, the sample size is irrelevant. r
r
Your friend is wrong, the statement should be revised as “the probability of
e
obtaining a sample mean of 105 from a random sample of n = 40 when the c
true population mean is assumed to be different than 105.” t
Your friend is right.
1.00 /
Total
1.00
Question Explanation

This question refers to the following learning objective(s): Define a p-value as the
conditional probability of obtaining a sample statistic at least as extreme as the one
observed given that the null hypothesis is true.

  p-value = P(observed or more extreme sample statistic | H0 true)

Question 8

All but one of the following confidence intervals has a margin of error of 0.7. Which is the
confidence interval with the different margin of error?
Your
Score Explanation
Answer
(1.6,4.4)
The width of a confidence interval is 2 times the margin of error, since we
add and subtract the same margin of error to the sample statistics to obtain the
bounds of the confidence interval. To solve this question we need to calculate
(−0.5,0.9) I 0.00
the margin of error using this rule for each choice:
n
o
|(−0.5−0.9)/2|=0.7
r
(−4.7,−3.3) r
(20.3,21.7) e
c
0.00 /
Total t
1.00
Question Explanation

This question refers to the following learning objective(s):

• Recognize that when the sample size increases we would expect the sampling
variability to decrease.

• Define margin of error as the distance required to travel in either direction away from
the point estimate when constructing a confidence interval, i.e. z⋆×SE.

Question 8
Which of the following is false about confidence intervals? All else held constant,
Your Answer Score Explanation
as the sample mean
increases, the margin
of error stays
constant.
This is false: To understand why, you could think about the most
extreme case: increasing the confidence level to 100% would mean
as the confidence
your confidence intervals (calculated under repeated samples)
level increases, the C1.00 would capture the true parameter 100% of the time! So increasing
width decreases. o the confidence level should increase the width of the confidence
r
interval.
r
as the standard e
deviation of the c
sample increases, the t
width increases.
as the sample size
increases, the margin
of error decreases.
1.00 /
Total
1.00
Question Explanation

This question refers to the following learning objective(s):

• Recognize that when the sample size increases we would expect the sampling
variability to decrease.

• Define margin of error as the distance required to travel in either direction away from
the point estimate when constructing a confidence interval, i.e. z⋆×SE.
Question 9
A researcher found a 2006 - 2010 survey showing that the average age of women at first

marriage is 23.44. Suppose a researcher believes that this value may have increased more

recently, but as a good scientist he also wants to consider the possibility that the average

age may have decreased. The researcher has set up his hypothesis test; which of the
following states the appropriate HA correctly?
Your Answer Score Explanation
HA:μ<23.44 year
s old.
HA:μ≠23.44 years Because the researcher is interested in both an increase or a
old. C1.00 decrease, HA should be two-sided.
o
HA:μ>23.44 year r
s old. r
HA:μ=23.44 year e
s old. c
t
1.00 /
Total
1.00
Question Explanation

This question refers to the following learning objective(s): Note that the alternative
hypothesis might be one-sided (μ the null value) or two-sided (μ≠ the null value), and the
choice depends on the research question.

Question 9
One-sided alternative hypotheses are phrased in terms of:
Your Answer Score Explanation
≈ or =
≠
≤ or ≥
< or > C1.00
Total o1.00 / 1.00
r
Question Explanation
r
This question erefers to the following learning objective(s): Note that the alternative
c be one-sided (μ the null value) or two-sided (μ≠ the null value), and the
hypothesis might
choice dependst on the research question.
Question 10
A Type 2 error occurs when the null hypothesis is
Your Answer Score Explanation
rejected when it is true
not rejected when it is true
not rejected when it is false C1.00
rejected when it is false o
Total r 1.00 / 1.00
r
Question Explanation e
c
This question refers to the
t following learning objective(s): Note that the conclusion of a
hypothesis test might be erroneous regardless of the decision we make.

• Define a Type 1 error as rejecting the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is
actually true.
• Define a Type 2 error as failing to reject the null hypothesis when the alternative
hypothesis is actually true.

Question 10
You set up a two-sided hypothesis test for a population mean μ with a null hypothesis
of H0:μ=100. You chose a significance level of α=0.05. The p-value calculated from the
data is 0.12, and hence you failed to reject the null hypothesis. Suppose that after your
analysis was completed and published, an expert informed you that the true value of μ is
104. How would you describe the result of your analysis?
Your Answer Score Explanation
A Type 2 error was made because you failed Type 2 error is made when the null
to reject the null hypothesis but μ is really C1.00 hypothesis is failed to be rejected when it
not equal to 100. o was indeed false.
You did not make a Type 1 or Type 2 error. r
r
A Type 1 error was made because you failed
e
to reject the null hypothesis but μ is really c
not equal to 100. t
1.00 /
Total
1.00
Question Explanation

This question refers to the following learning objective(s): Note that the conclusion of a
hypothesis test might be erroneous regardless of the decision we make.

• Define a Type 1 error as rejecting the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is
 actually true.
• Define a Type 2 error as failing to reject the null hypothesis when the alternative
hypothesis is actually true.
Question 11
A statistician is studying blood pressure levels of Italians in the age range 75-80. The

following is some information about her study:

I. The data were collected by responses to a survey conducted by email, and no

measures were taken to get information from those who did not respond to the initial
survey email.

II. The sample observations only make up about 4% of the population.

III. The sample size is 2,047.

IV. The distribution of sample observations is skewed - the skew is easy to see, although
not very extreme.

The researcher is ready to use the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) in the main part of her

analysis. Which aspect of the her study is most likely to prevent her from using the CLT?
Your Answer Score Explanation
The correct answer is that the data arose as a result of an
(I), because the sample may
email survey. This data collection would likely result in a
not be random and hence
observations may not be C1.00 sample which is not a simple random sample of Italians aged
o 75-80, which would violate the independence of observations
independent.
r condition necessary for the CLT.
(II), because she only has r
data from a small e
c
proportion of the whole t
population.
(IV), because there is some
skew in the sample
distribution.
(III), because the sample
size is too small compared
to all Italians in the age
range 75-80.
1.00 /
Total
1.00
Question Explanation

This question refers to the following learning objective(s):

• Recognize that the Central Limit Theorem (CLT) is about the distribution of point
estimates, and that given certain conditions, this distribution will be nearly normal. In
the case of the mean the CLT tells us that if (1a) the sample size is sufficiently large (n
≥ 30 or larger if the data are considerably skewed), or (1b) the population is known to
have a normal distribution, and (2) the observations in the sample are independent,
 then the distribution of the sample mean will be nearly normal, centered at the true
population mean and with a standard error of σn√:
x¯∼N(mean=μ,SE=σn−−√)
When the population distribution is unknown, condition (1a) can be checked using a
histogram or some other visualization of the distribution of the observed data in the
sample. The larger the sample size (n), the less important the shape of the distribution
becomes, i.e. when n is very large the sampling distribution will be nearly normal
regardless of the shape of the population distribution.
• If the conditions necessary for the CLT to hold are not met, note this and do not go
forward with the analysis. (We will later learn about methods to use in these
situations.)
Question 12
SAT scores are distributed with a mean of 1,500 and a standard deviation of 300. You are

interested in estimating the average SAT score of first year students at your college. If you

would like to limit the margin of error of your 98% confidence interval to 40 points, at least

how many students should you sample?

Your
Score Explanation
Answer
131
ME=z⋆sn√→40=2.33300n√→n=2.332×3002402→n=305.3756→ n
306 C1.00 should be at least 306, since rounding down would result in a slightly larger
o margin of error than we desire.
216 r
r
217
e
Total c1.00 /
t 1.00
Question Explanation

This question refers to the following learning objective(s): Calculate the required sample
size to obtain a given margin of error at a given confidence level by working backwards
from the given margin of error.
Question 13
The significance level in hypothesis testing is the probability of
Your Answer Score Explanation
failing to reject a true
null hypothesis
failing to reject a false
null hypothesis
rejecting an alternative
hypothesis
rejecting a null
hypothesis
rejecting a true null Note that the probability of making a Type 1 error is equivalent
hypothesis C1.00 to the significance level when the null hypothesis is true.
o
Total r 1.00 /
r 1.00
Question Explanation e
c
This question refers tot the following learning objective(s): Note that the probability of
making a Type 1 error is equivalent to the significance level when the null hypothesis is
true, and choose a significance level depending on the risks associated with Type 1 and
Type 2 errors.

• Use a smaller α if Type 1 error is relatively riskier.

• Use a larger α if Type 2 error is relatively riskier.

Question 14
Researchers investigating characteristics of gifted children collected data from schools in a

large city on a random sample of thirty-six children who were identified as gifted children

soon after they reached the age of four. The following histogram shows the distribution of

the ages (in months) at which these children first counted to 10 successfully. Also provided

are some sample statistics. Suppose you read online that children first count to 10

successfully when they are 32 months old, on average. You perform a hypothesis test

evaluating whether the average age at which gifted children first count to 10 is different

than the general average of 32 months. What is the p-value of the hypothesis test? Choose

the closest answer.

Your
Score Explanation
Answer
0.0344
0.9656
0.7183
0.9312
H0:μ=32,HA:μ≠32
0.0688 C1.00 Zp−value=30.69−324.3136√=−1.82=P(x¯1.82)=2×0.034
o 4=0.0688
r 1.00 /
Total r 1.00
e
Question Explanation
c
t
This question refers to the following learning objective(s): Calculate a p-value as the area
under the normal curve beyond the observed sample mean (either in one tail or both,
depending on the alternative hypothesis). Note that in doing so you can use a Z score,
where
Z=sample statistic−null valueSE=x¯−μ0SE
Always sketch the normal curve when calculating the p-value, and shade the appropriate
area(s) depending on whether the alternative hypothesis is one- or two-sided.