Chapter 2: Measuring and Describing Variables

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Every variable has one name and at least ______ value(s).

A. one

B. two

C. three

D. four

Learning Objective: 2-1: How to recognize the essential features of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Essential Features

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Age, measured in years, is an example of a(n) ______-level variable.

A. nominal

B. ordinal

C. interval

D. ratio

Learning Objective: 2-2: How to determine a variable’s level of measurement.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Interval-Level Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Education coded as “high school diploma,” “some college,” “college graduate,” and “advanced degree” is an example of a(n) ______-level variable.

A. nominal

B. ordinal

C. interval

D. ratio

Learning Objective: 2-2: How to determine a variable’s level of measurement.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ordinal-Level Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Which of the following is an example of a nominal-level variable?

A. age

B. ideology on a scale from extremely liberal to extremely conservative

C. family income (in dollars)

D. gender

Learning Objective: 2-2: How to determine a variable’s level of measurement.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Nominal-Level Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. A key feature of an ordinal-level variable is that the values are ______.

A. solely categorical

B. able to be ranked

C. continuous

D. anonymous

Learning Objective: 2-2: How to determine a variable’s level of measurement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ordinal-Level Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. A researcher who wants to learn the precise differences between his or her units of analysis will likely use a(n) ______-level variable to code the characteristics.

A. nominal

B. ordinal

C. interval

D. ratio

Learning Objective: 2-2: How to determine a variable’s level of measurement.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Interval-Level Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Which of the following is an example of a measure of central tendency?

A. median

B. standard deviation

C. dispersion

D. distribution

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Describing Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Suppose you knew the day of the month on which each of your classmates was born. The most frequently occurring day of birth is called the ______.

A. average

B. mode

C. mean

D. median

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Describing Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. The median value of a variable is ______.

A. the most commonly occurring value

B. the average value

C. the upper limit value

D. the middle value

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Describing Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Which of the following variables has a median value?

A. marital status

B. gender

C. percentage of eligible voters casting ballots in the United States

D. ethnicity of eligible voters in the United States

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Describing Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. A researcher studies presidential approval polls and finds the following values: 46, 46, 48, 49, 51, and 52. What is the median approval rating?

A. 48

B. 48.5

C. 49

D. 49.5

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Describing Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. A researcher studies presidential approval polls and finds the following values: 46, 46, 48, 49, 51, and 52. What is the mean approval rating?

A. 46

B. 48

C. 48.67

D. 50

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Describing Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. A description of the amount of variation in a variable is called ______.

A. average

B. dispersion

C. diffusion

D. differentiation

Learning Objective: 2-4: How to describe the amount of dispersion in a variable

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Describing Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. A table listing how many respondents to a survey reside in each state is called a ______.

A. bar graph

B. pie chart

C. region table

D. frequency distribution

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Nominal Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. ______ variables are measured with more precision than ______ variables.

A. Ordinal; nominal

B. Nominal; ordinal

C. Interval; ratio

D. Ratio; interval

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ordinal Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. The cumulative percentage records the percentage of cases ______.

A. below a given level

B. above a given level

C. at or below a given level

D. at or above a given level

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ordinal Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. A percentile reports the percentage of cases in a distribution ______.

A. above a given value

B. at a given value

C. at or below a given value

D. below a given value

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ordinal Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. Suppose a researcher studying attitudes on gun control finds 40 percent of respondents in favor and 40 percent of respondents opposed and the remaining 20 percent uncertain. The distribution of responses would be referred to as ______.

A. multimodal

B. bimodal

C. unimodal

D. modal

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Ordinal Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. In a study of the number of cups of coffee students drink while preparing for an exam a researcher learns that the median number of cups is 2, but the mean number of cups is 2.9. This indicates the mean is ______.

A. positively skewed

B. negatively skewed

C. perfectly symmetric

D. not skewed

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Interval Variables

Difficulty Level: Hard

20. Which of the following is the most resistant measure of central tendency to skew?

A. median

B. mode

C. mean

D. dispersion

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Interval Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. Many nominal and ordinal variables have a singular central tendency that is captured clearly by the mode.

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ordinal Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Dispersion describes the number of categories in a variable.

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Describing Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. The percentage of voters who report voting twice a year or less is known as the cumulative percentage.

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Ordinal Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Nominal-level variables are the most precise.

Learning Objective: 2-2: How to determine a variable’s level of measurement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Nominal-Level Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. A method of describing the dispersion of a variable that includes the minimum value, lower quartile, median, upper quartile, and maximum value is called the interquartile range.

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Interval Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. A distribution with a skinnier left-hand tail is said to have a negative skew.

Learning Objective: 2-3: How to describe the central tendency of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Interval Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Age, measured in years, is an example of a nominal-level variable.

Learning Objective: 2-2: How to determine a variable’s level of measurement.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Interval-Level Variables

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. A histogram shows the percentage or frequency of cases falling into intervals of the variable.

Learning Objective: Not applicable.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sometimes Less Is More: Simplifying Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. Mean, median, and mode are all measures of dispersion.

Learning Objective: Not applicable.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Additive Indexes

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. A variable is an empirical measurement of a characteristic.

Learning Objective: 2-1: How to recognize the essential features of a variable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. A variable that codes each state by the region of the country it is located in is called a nominal-level variable.

Learning Objective: 2-2: How to determine a variable’s level of measurement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Nominal-Level Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. The ranking in ordinal-level variables is reflected in the variable’s numeric codes.

Learning Objective: 2-2: How to determine a variable’s level of measurement.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Ordinal-Level Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. A variable that measures per capita income by state as “low,” “medium,” or “high” is an interval-level variable.

Learning Objective: 2-2: How to determine a variable’s level of measurement.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Interval-Level Variables

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. A researcher wants to measure individual support of internationalism so she creates an additive index or index consisting of multiple ordinal-level variables measuring attitudes on the U.N., foreign policy, foreign aid, and foreign intervention.

Learning Objective: Not applicable.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Additive Indexes

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. A Likert-type scale is an additive index of five- or seven-point value ordinal variables.

Learning Objective: Not applicable.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Additive Indexes

Difficulty Level: Easy