Reading Check #2

Which of the following distributions has the smallest variability? scores: 21, 23, 24, 25, and 26 scores: 12, 24, 26, 48, and 60 scores: 10, 13, 16, 19, and 42 scores: 1, 10, 13, 24, and 35

scores: 21, 23, 24, 25, and 26

In a study of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, the number of hot dogs eaten by the winners of this contest from 1990-2012 was studied. It was found that the MEDIAN number of hot dogs eaten was 20 hot dogs. This implies that

50% of the winners ate less than 20 hot dogs.

All of the following are TRUE of a pie chart, except: A slice is a particular portion of the pie chart that represents the relative frequency of a specific category; if there are a small number of observations, it's better to use actual frequencies than percentages; a pie chart is a circle; a pie chart is typically used for continuous data

a pie chart is typically used for continuous data

Imagine that you have measured the heights of everyone in your class (i.e., you took a tape measure out and recorded the number of inches like 21.4).Identify the type of data you collected. Which type of graph would be most appropriate?

histogram

A researcher records the following data: 10, 10, 10, 10, and 10. How would you describe the variability of these data?

it is equal to 0

A researcher records the exact weight of babies (in pounds) born in a particular hospital over six years. Assuming these data are symmetrically distributed, which measure of central tendency is most appropriate to describe these data?

mean

Given that the distribution of annual incomes for U.S. households is very positively skewed (i.e., skewed to the right), which measure of central tendency is most preferred?

median

A researcher carried out a study designed to investigate the effects of piano instruction on children's school performance. Fourth-grade children in Montreal were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Children in one group received three weeks of free piano instruction. Children in the other group received no formal music instruction. School performance was measured as a letter grade at the end of 3 weeks (i.e., A, B, C, D, F) In this experimental design, the dependent variable was measuring using the ______ scale and the most appropriate frequency graph of this variable would be _______.

ordinal, bar graph

A researcher is interested in getting some background information about mothers in her study. The data for mothers' education level is measured by asking them to select whether they completed: (1) some schooling, (2) high school, (3) associate's degree, or (4) college degree or higher. This data would be considered measured on the _________scale and can be displayed using a _____________.

ordinal, bar graph

If many individual scores (x) within the dataset are falling far from the mean value (M),the size of the standard deviation will be

very large

If data values are considered far from average, they would be

two or more standard deviations away from the mean.

Using her notebook, a librarian records the number of books that were checked out by a group of 10 members: 4, 2, 3, 4, 3, 1, 1, 0, 2, and 0. Is the mean equal to the median in this example?

yes