Chapter 1, What is Stats?

When TV advertisements report "2 out of 3 dentists surveyed indicated they would recommend Brand X toothpaste to their patients," an informed consumer may question the conclusion because the:

Advertisement does not include the total number of dentists surveyed.

An example of a qualitative variable is _________________.

Color of ink in a pen

The performance of personal and business investments is measured as a percentage, "return on investment." What type of variable is "return on investment"?

Continuous

What type of variable is "pounds of popcorn" served at a movie theater?

Continuous

What type of variable is the number of gallons of gasoline pumped by a filling station during a day?

Continuous

What type of variable is the number of auto accidents reported in a given month?

Discrete

What level of measurement is the Centigrade temperature scale?

Interval

The reported unemployment is 5.5% of the population. What measurement scale is used to measure unemployment?

Interval or ratio

A marketing class of 50 students evaluated the instructor using the following scale: superior, good, average, poor, and inferior. The descriptive summary showed the following survey results: 2% superior, 8% good, 45% average, 45% poor, and 0% inferior.

Most students rated the instructor as poor or average.

A survey includes a question regarding marital status that has the following responses: single, married, divorced, separated, or widowed. What is the scale of measurement for this question?

Nominal

If Gallup, Harris, and other pollsters asked people to indicate their political party affiliation as Democrat, Republican, or Independent, the data gathered would be an example of which scale of measurement?

Nominal

Shoe style is an example of what level of measurement?

Nominal

The Equal Employment Opportunity Act requires employers to classify their employees by gender and national origin. Which level of measurement is this?

Nominal

The members of each basketball team wear numbers on their jerseys. What scale of measurement are these numbers considered?

Nominal

What level of measurement is a person's "favorite sport"?

Nominal

Which one of the following is NOT an example of discrete data?

Number of miles between New York City and Chicago

A bank asks customers to evaluate the drive-thru service as good, average, or poor. Which level of measurement is this classification

Ordinal

A group of women tried five brands of fingernail polish and ranked them according to preference. What level of measurement is this?

Ordinal

Respondents were asked, "Do you now earn more than or less than you did five years ago?" What is this level of measurement?

Ordinal

The final rankings of the top 20 NCAA college basketball teams are an example of which level of measurement?

Ordinal

Which word is NOT part of the definition of descriptive statistics?

Predicting

The names of the positions in a corporation, such as chief operating officer or controller, are examples of what type of variable?

Qualitative

What type of variable is the number of robberies reported in your city?

Quantitative

The Nielsen Ratings break down the number of people watching a particular television show by age. What level of measurement is age

Ratio

The incomes of 50 loan applicants are obtained. Which level of measurement is income?

Ratio

Your height and weight are examples of which level of measurement?

Ratio

A portion or part of a population is called a

Sample

The general process of gathering, organizing, summarizing, analyzing, and interpreting data is called ____________.

Statistics

The main purpose of descriptive statistics is to:

Summarize data in a useful and informative manner.

Which of the following is an example of a continuous variable?

Tons of concrete to complete a parking garage