Chapter 7: Summarizing Research Results: Data Reduction and Descriptive Statistics

Test Bank

Multiple Choice

1. Anomalous data are data that ______.

a. are not anticipated by the researcher

b. are anticipated by the researcher

c. cannot be analyzed quantitatively

d. cannot be used for ethical reasons

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe the concept of data reduction and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Preliminary Considerations: Missing Data and Anomalous Data

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Data a researcher discovers to be very different in nature from either expected results or the main body of data are referred to as ______.

a. androgynous

b. anthropological

c. anomalous

d. anastigmatic

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe the concept of data reduction and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Preliminary Considerations: Missing Data and Anomalous Data

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Anomalous data may be dealt with by all methods EXCEPT ______.

a. not analyzing them

b. analyzing them along with other data

c. analyzing them separately from other data

d. replacing the anomalous data with an average of the rest of the data

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe the concept of data reduction and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Preliminary Considerations: Missing Data and Anomalous Data

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Which one of the following is NOT true of descriptive statistics?

a. summarize complex data

b. show how the data vary

c. show population parameters

d. show if different groups of people differ in some way

Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe the concept of descriptive statistics and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Data Reduction and Multivariate Data

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Which of the following are TRUE of descriptive statistics?

a. summarize complex data

b. analyze complex data

c. show population parameters

d. analyze sample types

Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe the concept of descriptive statistics and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Data Reduction and Multivariate Data

Difficulty Level: Hard

6. In communication research, the word “metric” refers to ______.

a. use of the metric system in research reporting

b. use of scales ranging between 1 and 10

c. use of scales ranging between 100 and 1,000

d. units of measurement

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: z score.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Z Score

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. The formula for calculating variance includes everything EXCEPT ______.

a. scores for each individual in a group

b. the mean score for the group

c. the number of individuals in the group

d. a description of the population

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Variance and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. The formula for calculating chi-square includes ______.

a. median

b. values expected to be found

c. the number of individuals in the group

d. mode

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: chi-square.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Chi-Square: Formula

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Standard deviation is the ______ variance.

a. square of

b. square-root of

c. range of

d. mean of

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Variance and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Statistical calculations can help us decide everything EXCEPT ______.

a. whether there are significant differences among groups of people

b. whether there are significant relationships among variables

c. what level of confidence we can have when we attempt to generalize our findings

d. who we should survey

Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe the concept of descriptive statistics and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Chapter Overview

Difficulty Level: Hard

11. Which one of the following lists shows measures of central tendency only?

a. range, maximum, and minimum

b. mean, median, and mode

c. mean, median, and maximum

d. mean, minimum, and maximum

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: mean, median, and mode.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Which one of the following lists shows measures of dispersion only?

a. mean, median, and mode

b. mode, maximum, and minimum

c. mean, median, and maximum

d. range, minimum, and maximum

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Measures of Dispersion: Minimum, Maximum, Range, Interquartile Range, Variance, and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. Mean, mode, and median are measures of ______.

a. dispersion

b. distortion

c. correlation

d. central tendency

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: mean, median, and mode.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. Mean, median, and mode are in a class of statistics known as ______.

a. inferential

b. descriptive

c. nonlinear

d. computational

Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe the concept of descriptive statistics and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. The statistics minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation are in a class of statistics known as ______.

a. measures of correlation

b. measures of disbursement

c. measures of dispersion

d. descriptive statistics

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Measures of Dispersion: Minimum, Maximum, Range, Interquartile Range, Variance, and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. What does the chi-square statistic compares?

a. mean scores in different groups

b. range of scores in different groups

c. distribution of scores in different groups

d. distribution of means in different groups

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: chi-square.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Chi-Square Test

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. Statistics that describe the relationship between two variables are known as ______ statistics.

a. multivariate

b. univariate

c. bivariate

d. polyvariate

Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe the concept of descriptive statistics and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Data Reduction and Bivariate Data

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. Statistics that describe the relationship among three or more variables are known as ______ statistics.

a. multivariate

b. univariate

c. bivariate

e. polyvariate

Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe the concept of descriptive statistics and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Data Reduction and Multivariate Data

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. The chi-square test is used to assess whether groups differ on which of the following types of variables?

a. bivariate and univariate

b. linear and curvilinear

c. nominal and ordinal

d. interval and ratio

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: chi-square.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Chi-Square Test

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. Which one of the following is NOT a measure of dispersion?

a. minimum

b. maximum

c. mean

d. range

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Measures of Dispersion: Minimum, Maximum, Range, Interquartile Range, Variance, and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. Which one of the following lists does NOT show measures of dispersion?

a. minimum and maximum

b. maximum and range

c. mean and mode

d. minimum and range

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Measures of Dispersion: Minimum, Maximum, Range, Interquartile Range, Variance, and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. Which one of the following is not a measure of central tendency?

a. mean

b. median

c. average

d. variance

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: mean, median, and mode.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. The term “mean” refers to the ______ in a data set.

a. most frequent score

b. midrange score

c. lowest score

d. average score

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: mean, median, and mode.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. The term “mode” refers to the ______ in a data set.

a. most frequent score

b. midrange score

c. lowest score

d. average score

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: mean, median, and mode.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode

Difficulty Level: Easy

25. The term “median” refers to the ______ in a data set.

a. score that appears most frequently

b. score with equal numbers of scores on either side of it

c. lowest score

d. average score

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: mean, median, and mode.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. The term “range” refers to the difference between the ______ in a data set.

a. most frequent score and the least frequent score

b. highest and the lowest scores

c. highest score and the mean

d. mean and the median

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Measures of Dispersion: Minimum, Maximum, Range, Interquartile Range, Variance, and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Easy

27. “Degrees of freedom” is a term that reflects the number of______.

a. different statistical tests that were run on a data set

b. times data were reanalyzed to confirm initial findings

c. different ways data could be combined and still produce the same statistical results

d. times that a population can be repeatedly sampled

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: chi-square.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Chi-Square Test

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. A data set consists of all the data from a research project.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe the concept of descriptive statistics and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Introduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Professionalism demands that you analyze all the data in a data set, not just part of it.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe the concept of data reduction and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Data Reduction

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Statistical procedures cannot summarize complex quantitative data.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe the concept of data reduction and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Data Reduction

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. The term “frequencies” refers to the average number of times a particular value occurs.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe the concept of data reduction and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Data Reduction and Univariate Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. The range of values for a variable is the difference between the median and maximum values.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Variance and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Mean, median, and mode all summarize data in the same way.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: mean, median, and mode.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode

Difficulty Level: Easy

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

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: mean, median, and mode.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode

Difficulty Level: Easy

8. Mean, median, and mode are all measures of central tendency.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: mean, median, and mode.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode

Difficulty Level: Easy

9. If you know the mean and median values of a data set, you will automatically know the value of the mode.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: mean, median, and mode.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Minimum, maximum, and range are all measures of dispersion.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Measures of Dispersion: Minimum, Maximum, Range, Interquartile Range, Variance, and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Minimum, maximum, and range are all measures of central tendency.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Measures of Dispersion: Minimum, Maximum, Range, Interquartile Range, Variance, and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Degrees of freedom is an estimate of the number of independent pieces of information on which an estimate is based.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe the concept of descriptive statistics and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Chi Square: Example

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. The chi-square test looks for differences in average scores between two groups.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: chi-square.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Chi Square Test

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. The chi-square test assesses the differences in the distribution of data between groups.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: chi-square.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: The Chi Square Test

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. A z-score is the number of times any one score appears in a data set.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: z score.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Z Score

Difficulty Level: Easy

16. A z-score is the number of units of standard deviation a value is above or below the mean.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: z score.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Z Score

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. Inferential statistics help us make generalizations about a population from a smaller sample of that population.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe the concept of descriptive statistics and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Chapter Overview

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. Descriptive statistics help us make generalizations about a population from a smaller sample of that population.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe the concept of descriptive statistics and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Chapter Overview

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. The term “frequencies” refers to the number of times a particular score occurs.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe the concept of data reduction and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Data Reduction and Univariate Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

20. Variance and standard deviation standardize different measures so we can compare them “on a level playing field.”

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Variance and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. Variance is a measure of the extent to which scores in a data set vary.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Variance and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Easy

22. Variance is the square root of standard deviation.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Variance and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Easy

23. Standard deviation is the square root of variance.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Standard Deviation: Formula

Difficulty Level: Easy

24. The larger the standard deviation of a variable, the wider its range of scores on either side of the mean.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Variance and Standard Deviation

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. Contingency tables show the relationship between two or more variables.

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe the concept of data reduction and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Data Reduction and Bivariate Data

Difficulty Level: Easy

26. Anomalous data must be dealt with by not analyzing it.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe the concept of descriptive statistics and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Preliminary Considerations: Missing Data and Anomalous Data

Difficulty Level: Medium

Essay

1. Explain with examples the difference between categorical and continuous data. Why do we need to know what type of data we are using?

Learning Objective: 7.2: Describe the concept of data reduction and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Data Reduction and Bivariate Data

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Explain the purpose of a z-score and how it is calculated.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: z score.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Z Score

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Explain the purpose of the chi-square test and identify the type of data used to compute it.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: chi-square.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: The Chi-square Test

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Identify and explain three main uses of statistics.

Learning Objective: 7.1: Describe the concept of descriptive statistics and provide examples.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Chapter Overview

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Explain mean, median, and mode and how they differ.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: mean, median, and mode.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Measures of Central Tendency: Mean, Median, and Mode

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Explain minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Measures of Dispersion: Minimum, Maximum, Range, Interquartile Range, Variance, and Standard Deviation.

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Explain, with examples, how measures of dispersion differ from measures of central tendency.

Learning Objective: 7.3: Explain and calculate the following statistical measures: mean, median, and mode; minimum, maximum, range, variance, and standard deviation.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Measures of Dispersion: Minimum, Maximum, Range, Interquartile Range, Variance, and Standard Deviation.

Difficulty Level: Hard