STAT225: Introduction to Statistics in the Behavioral Sciences

1. In a school election, five people run for student body president. The actual number of votes
for each candidate would be a(n)
variable. If the total number of votes were
removed and the candidates were listed in order of least to most popular, this would be a(n)
variable.
a. ratio; ordinal
b. ordinal; ratio
c. ratio; nominal
d. nominal; ordinal
2. A researcher was interested in the effects of gender on attitudes toward women in
leadership positions. The researcher surveyed a group of individuals, 12 of whom were men
and 12 of whom were women. In this example, what is the explanatory/independent
variable?
a.
b.
c.
d.

type of leadership position

the 12 women in the study
the gender of the participants
the participants' attitudes toward women in leadership positions

3. A researcher was interested in the effects of gender on attitudes toward women in

leadership positions. The researcher surveyed a group of individuals, 12 of whom were men
and 12 of whom were women. In this example, what is the response/dependent variable?
a.
b.
c.
d.

type of leadership position

the 12 women in the study
the gender of the participants
the participants' attitudes toward women in leadership positions

Please use the following information to answer questions 4 through

9
An industrial psychologist at a company has heard that desk bikes could help employees to
lose weight, increase their stamina, and improve productivity. Sixteen employees were
provided with desk bikes and the total number of pounds they lost, after one month, was
recorded. Here are the data, in pounds lost, per employee:
4
8
12
0
2
20 18
0
12
6
12 16 10
8
12
4

4. What is the range of this distribution?

a. 0 t o 20
b. 20
c. 18
d. 4
5. What is the mean number of pounds that were lost by the employees in one month?
a. 9.88
b. 10.4
c. 12
d. 9
6. What is the median number of pounds that were lost by the employees in one month?
a. 8
b. 9
c. 10
d. 11

7. What is the variance of the number of pounds that were lost by the employees in one
month?
a. 37.33
b. 9.72
c. 9.85
d. 6.11
8. What is the Interquartile range for this distribution?
a. 4
b. 8
c. 9
d. 12
9. How many outliers are in this distribution?
a. 0
b. 1
c. 2
d. Unable to determine from this information

Please use the following information to answer questions 10 and 11.

Test Performance (in Percentage)

The following graph depicts the typical relationship found between physiological arousal
(anxiety) levels (e.g., range from 0 = no anxiety to 10=extreme anxiety) and test performance
(e.g., percentage of correct answers on test).
Relationship Between Physiological Arousal
Level and Test
Performan
ce

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

10.

4
6
Physiological Arousal
Level

10

Based on this graph, what type of relation exists between physiological arousal level
and test performance?
a.
b.
c.
d.

There is no relation between age and reaction time

Linear
Curvilinear
It is not possible to tell, given the information in the graph.

11.
Which of the following best captures what the graph (Physiological Arousal Level and Test
Performance) depicts?
a. There is no relation between physiological arousal level and test performance.
b. There is a linear relation between physiological arousal level and test
performance, such that test performance increases with increased physiological
arousal level.
c. There is a linear relation between physiological arousal level and test
performance, such that test performance decreases with increased physiological
arousal level.

Please use the following information to answer questions 10 and 11.

d. Test performance increases as physiological arousal level increases, becoming its
best at a moderate arousal level, but after that point, test performance decreases as
physiological arousal levels increase.

Please use the following information to answer questions 12 and 13.

Self-Esteem Scores

A psychologist was interested in seeing if she could predict a persons level of depression,
based on his or her self-esteem. Depression" was assessed using a standardized depression
inventory; the higher the score on the depression measure, the more depressive symptoms the
person was experiencing. Self-Esteem" was assessed using a standardized self-esteem
measure; the higher the score on the self-esteem measure, the higher the persons reported
level of self-esteem. This table shows the results for the 10 participants.
Relationship Between Self-Esteem Scores and
Depression
Score
s

5
4.75
4.5
4.25
4
3.75
3.5
3.25
3
2.75
2.5
2.25
2 0

12.

10

20
Depression
Scores

30

40

Based on the information presented in the scatterplot, what is the most likely correlation
between depression scores and self-esteem scores?
a. +.76
b. -.76
c. +.23
d. -.23

Mean
Standard Deviation
13.

Self-Esteem Scores

Depression Scores

3.43
0.75

15.78
10.34

The above chart contains the means and standard deviations for self-esteem scores and
depression scores. Using this information and the most likely correlation coefficient
obtained in Question 12, what is the regression equation for this data?
a.
b.
c.
d.

y = -51.72-10.48x
y= -21.45 -1.65x
y = 51.72-10.48x
y= 21.45 -1.65x

14.

A nutritionist was interested in determining the smoking status of her clients. She asked
each of her clients to report his or her current smoking status: Smoker, Ex-Smoker, and
Non-Smoker. Which of the following graphical techniques is the best way for her to
represent the data?
a. pie chart
b. scatterplot
c. histogram
d. stemplot

15.

A car dealership has collected the ages, in years, of all its first time customers. The best
way to graph this data would be using a
.
a. scatterplot
b. histogram
c. pie chart
d. pictogram

16.

When recruiting a sample of individuals to participate in a study on reaction time,

researchers used the most recent census to identify local older adults, who were
between the ages of 60 and 65, between 65 and 70, between 70 and 75, between 75
and
80, and between 80 and 85. Once they had identified these subgroups, the researchers
randomly selected 20 people from within each age group to participate in the study.
What kind of sampling method did the researchers use?

a.
b.
c.
d.
17.

convenience sampling
random sampling
stratified sampling
cluster sampling

Restaurant diners, who post reviews of restaurants they have dined at, on
OpenTable.com, constitute what type of sample?
a.
b.
c.
d.

cluster sample
volunteer sample
random sample
convenience sample

Please use the following information and histogram to answer questions 18, 19, and 20.
Business Magazine graphed the ages of the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of 48 large
companies.

18.

What is the shape of this distribution?

a.
b.
c.
d.

19.

What percentage of CEOs are under the age of 30?

a.
b.
c.
d.

20.

symmetric - uniform
skewed right
skewed left
symmetric - bimodal

6%
3%
2%
4%

Which of the following is true about the distribution?

a.
b.
c.
d.

The median will be larger than the mean

The median will be smaller than the mean
The median and mean will be about the same
Unable to tell from the information provided

21.

According to U.S. News & World Report data, in 1995 tuition costs at Indiana University, a
public university, were $2,984 per year, while the tuition costs at the University of Evansville, a
private university in Indiana, were $11,800 per year. In that same year the average cost of tuition
at all public U.S. colleges was $2,208, with a standard deviation of $1,041, and the average cost of tuition
at all private U.S. colleges was $10,979.68, with a standard deviation of $4,057.
a. What is the z score for Indiana University?
b. What is the z score for the University of Evansville?
c. Which school was more expensive to attend in 1995, relative to the cost of education in its own category?
d. What is the probability of a private university costing less than $11,800? (Hint: Use the mean and
standard deviation values for all private schools to answer this question.)
e. What is the probability of a public university costing less than $2,984? (Hint: Use the mean and standard
deviation values for all public schools to answer this question.)