Test Bank

Chapter 4: Measures of Central Tendency

Multiple Choice

1. What is the usefulness of averages in social science research?

A. Averages are important to the study of social phenomenon because an average offers information about centers or middles of distributions.

B. Averages offer the social scientist the opportunity to examine the clustering of data.

C. Averages allow social researchers to determine where the middle of a data set is located.

D. All of these

2. Descriptive statistics that offer information about where the scores in a particular data set tend to cluster are referred to in scientific jargon as what?

A. inferential explorative statistics

B. measures of central tendency

C. measures of generalized tendency

D. normal measures of generalized tendency

3. The mean, median, and mode are examples of which of the following?

A. inferential explorative statistics

B. measures of generalized tendency

C. measures of central tendency

D. normal measures of generalized tendency

4. The property of the mean that causes all deviation scores based on the mean to sum to zero is referred to by social scientists as what?

A. median

B. point of the mean

C. median point

D. midpoint of the magnitude

5. The distance between the mean of a data set and any given raw score in that set is known as ______.

A. a deviation score

B. a midpoint

C. the median

D. the midpoint of the magnitude

6. Data points that are equal to the mean will have a deviation score of ______.

A. 1

B. 0

C. −1

D. 0.1

7. Within a normal distribution, where would the most frequently occurring scores be located?

A. within the tails at either end of the distribution

B. directly in the middle of the curve

C. The normal curve depicts only those most frequently occurring scores, so a researcher could look anywhere along the curve

D. The normal curve does not take into account the frequently occurring scores, so a researcher would be hard pressed to find them on this curve.

8. The three basic shapes a distribution can take are which of the following?

A. a positive skew, negative skew, and normal

B. normal, bifurcated skew, and midpoint of the magnitude skew

C. midpoint of the magnitude, normal, and bifurcated

D. midpoint of the magnitude, ambiguous, and bifurcated

9. Which of the following is the simplest measure?

A. median

B. mode

C. mean

D. midpoint of the magnitude

10. Which of the following measure is appropriate for use with nominal data?

A. mean

B. median

C. midpoint of the magnitude

D. mode

11. Which of the following measures does not require any mathematical calculations and can be employed with any level of measurement?

A. mean

B. median

C. midpoint of the magnitude

D. mode

12. What is the definition of mode?

A. the most frequently occurring score

B. the middle score

C. the arithmetic average

D. the score that rests at the 50th percentile

13. What is the median?

A. It is the score that cuts a distribution in half, with 50% of the scores above that value and 50% below.

B. It is the score that represents the arithmetic average of a distribution.

C. It is the score that rests at the 50th percentile.

D. It is the absolute value of the scores that sit at the very end of the tails of a normal distribution.

14. The symbol MP is often used by research scientists to denote which of the following?

A. midpoint of the magnitude

B. modal position

C. median position

D. mean

15. The symbol Md is often used by researchers to indicate what?

A. mean

B. median

C. mode

D. modal position

16. Which of the following is true about the process of locating the median?

A. There is no easy task to finding the location of the median as it requires some formal calculations.

B. The median position tells a researcher precisely where within the data set, the median can be found.

C. The modal position is an easily identifiable measure and allows a researcher to quickly locate the median.

D. The midpoint of the magnitude, although somewhat tricky to calculate, will enable a research scientist to find the location of the median.

17. One key advantage to the use of the median as a measure of central tendency is ______.

A. the fact that it is not sensitive to extreme values or outliers

B. the fact that it is sensitive to outliers

C. the fact that it can also be used to calculate the value of the tails on the normal curve

D. the fact that it allows a research scientist to determine the precise shape of the distribution with which he or she is working

18. One of the biggest disadvantages of the use of the median as a measure of central tendency is what?

A. It is too easy to compute.

B. It fails to fully use all available data points.

C. It is susceptible to extreme scores and outliers.

D. It uses all available data points.

19. Which of the following is the arithmetic average of a set of data points?

A. mean

B. median

C. mode

D. midpoint of the magnitudes

20. What is one disadvantage to the use of the mean as a measure of central tendency?

A. It is susceptible to extreme scores and outliers.

B. It is not susceptible to extreme scores and outliers.

C. It is a mathematically simple measure and fails to provide a research scientist with enough information so reliable generalizations can be made.

D. It fails to make use of the entire set of data points available.

21. What is one advantage to the use of the mean as a measure of central tendency?

A. It is a mathematically intricate measure and provides a research scientist with enough information that generalizations can be made using the mean alone.

B. It is not susceptible to extreme scores and outliers.

C. It is susceptible to extreme scores and outliers.

D. It makes use of the entire set of data points available.

22. Which of the following measures of central tendency can be employed with any level of measurement?

A. median

B. mode

C. mean

D. magnitude of the midpoint

23. Sorensen and Cunningham’s 2010 study aimed to determine where people convicted of what crime were more violent in prison?

A. homicide

B. sexual assault

C. assault with a deadly weapon

D. drug offenses

24. According to Piquero et al.’s study, which group of offenders was more likely to commit violent acts?

A. short-term high rate

B. long-term low rate

C. short-term low rate

D. long-term high rate

25. To give a full picture of a data distribution, it is best to make a habit of reporting which two measures of central tendency?

A. mean and mode

B. median and mode

C. mean and median

D. You should never report two measures of central tendency.

26. The ______ is the only measure of central tendency available for use with nominal-level data.

A. mode

B. median

C. mean

D. standard deviation

27. The ______ is the most frequently occurring score, value, or category in a given data set.

A. mode

B. median

C. mean

D. standard deviation

28. The symbol used by research scientists to indicate median is ______.

A. SD

B. md

C. x

D. none of these

29. The ______ is the arithmetic average of a set of data points.

A. mode

B. median

C. mean

D. variation

30. The ______ is the score that rests squarely in the middle of a distribution, with 50% falling above and 50% falling below.

A. mode

B. median

C. mean

D. variation

31. It is recommended in SPSS to use the frequencies function rather than ______ due to the fact that the Frequencies function offers a broader array of descriptive statistics as well as charts and graphs.

A. crosstabs

B. descriptives

C. histograms

D. none of these

32. In SPSS, both the Descriptives and Frequencies functions are located under the ______ header.

A. analyze

B. define

C. compute

D. produce

33. A set of raw data has a mean of 5.01 and a median of 2.35. What is the shape of this distribution?

A. negative skewed

B. positively skewed

C. normal

D. concave

34. What of the following requires no mathematical computation?

A. mean

B. median

C. mode

D. range

35. Which of the following can be used with continuous and ordinal data?

A. mean

B. median

C. mode

D. range

1. The type of skew depicted in any particular data set can be determined by the direction in which its elongated tail extends.

2. The median is the simplest measure of central tendency.

3. The mode requires no mathematical computations and can be used with any level of measurement.

4. The primary criterion on which to base a decision regarding which measure of central tendency to use is a given variable’s level of measurement.

5. Raw data points that are exactly equal to the mean will have deviation scores of 1.00.

6. A negative deviation score indicates that the raw score upon which that deviation score is based is less than the mean.

7. A positive deviation score indicates that the raw score upon which that deviation score is based is greater than the mean.

8. The mean can be considered the “fulcrum” of the data set, as positive and negative deviation scores cancel one another out, summing to zero.

9. The mean’s property of being the midpoint of the magnitudes is the characteristic summing of all deviation scores to 1.

10. Deviation scores are symbolically represented by the Greek letter Π.

11. Deviation scores with large absolute values are farther away from the mean than are those with smaller absolute values.

12. In a positively skewed distribution, the mean will be less than the median.

13. In a negatively skewed distribution, the mean will be less than the median.

14. The mean is not affected by extremely high or extremely low scores.

15. One advantage to the mean is the fact that it uses the entire data set and accounts for each and every score, even extreme outliers.

16. A key advantage to the median as a measure of central tendency is that it is not adversely affected by extreme scores.

17. One of the largest drawbacks to the use of the median as a measure of central tendency is that it fails to use the entire data set and does not offer a comprehensive picture of the data.

18. The normal distribution represents a set of scores that cluster in the center with symmetric tails extending in each direction.

19. Three measures of central tendency are the mean, median, and the mode.

20. The mode requires no mathematical computation and can be used with any level of measurement.

1. When is it NOT appropriate to use the median as a measure of central tendency?

2. Describe a normal distribution.

3. The following is a hypothetical distribution of exam scores. Calculate the mean. Note: You must first select the correct mean formula.

Grade

100

78

89

92

55

90

80

65

88

95

4. The following is a hypothetical distribution of exam scores. Calculate the mean. Note: You must first select the correct mean formula.

Grade f

88 3

76 5

79 8

90 4

93 2

100 2

65 9

75 7

85 6

87 7

5. Compute deviation scores for each of the hypothetical grades listed below. Note: Remember that you must first calculate the mean.

Grade

100

78

89

92

55

90

80

65

88

95