UNIVERSITY OF DAR ES SALAAM

MBEYA COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND ALLIED SCIENCES

BIOSTATISTICS: REVIEW QUESTIONS 1

SECTION A: MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

In the following multiple choice questions, circle the correct answer.

1. A numerical value used as a summary measure for a sample, such as sample mean, is known as a
a. population parameter
b. sample parameter
c. sample statistic
d. population mean
e. None of the above answers is correct.

2. is an example of a
a. population parameter
b. sample statistic
c. population variance
d. mode
e. None of the above answers is correct.

3. The mean of a sample is

a. always equal to the mean of the population
b. always smaller than the mean of the population
c. computed by summing the data values and dividing the sum by (n - 1)
d. computed by summing all the data values and dividing the sum by the number of items
e. None of the above answers is correct.

4. The sum of the percent frequencies for all classes will always equal
a. one
b. the number of classes
c. the number of items in the study
d. 100
e. None of the above answers is correct.

5. In a five number summary, which of the following is not used for data summarization?
a. the smallest value
b. the largest value
c. the median
d. the 25th percentile
e. the mean

6. Since the mode is the most frequently occurring data value, it

a. can never be larger than the mean
b. is always larger than the median
c. is always larger than the mean
d. must have a value of at least two
e. None of the above answers is correct.
 Data 1
The following data show the number of hours worked by 200 statistics students.

Number of Hours Frequency

0- 9 40
10 - 19 50
20 - 29 70
30 - 39 40

7. Refer to data 1. The class width for this distribution

a. is 9
b. is 10
c. is 11
d. varies from class to class
e. None of the above answers is correct.

8. Refer to data 1. The number of students working 19 hours or less

a. is 40
b. is 50
c. is 90
d. cannot be determined without the original data
e. None of the above answers is correct.

9. Refer to data 1. The relative frequency of students working 9 hours or less

a. is .2
b. is .45
c. is 40
d. cannot be determined from the information given
e. None of the above answers is correct.

10. Refer to data 1. The cumulative relative frequency for the class of 10 - 19
a. is 90
b. is .25
c. is .45
d. is 50
e. None of the above answers is correct.

11. The difference between the largest and the smallest data values is the
a. variance
b. interquartile range
c. range
d. coefficient of variation
e. None of the above answers is correct.

12. Which of the following is not a measure of central location?

a. mean
b. median
 c. variance
d. mode
e. None of the above answers is correct.

13. If a data set has an even number of observations, the median

a. cannot be determined
b. is the average value of the two middle items
c. must be equal to the mean
d. is the average value of the two middle items when all items are arranged in ascending
order
e. None of the above answers is correct.

14. The sum of deviations of the individual data elements from their mean is
a. always greater than zero
b. always less than zero
c. sometimes greater than and sometimes less than zero, depending on the data elements
d. always equal to zero
e. None of the above answers is correct.

15. The value that has half of the observations above it and half the observations below it is called the
a. range
b. median
c. mean
d. mode
e. None of the above answers is correct.

16. The most frequently occurring value of a data set is called the
a. range
b. mode
c. mean
d. median
e. None of the above answers is correct.

17. In a sample of 800 students in a university, 160, or 20%, are Business majors. Based on the above
information, the school's paper reported that "20% of all the students at the university are Business
majors." This report is an example of
a. a sample
b. a population
c. statistical inference
d. descriptive statistics
e. None of the above answers is correct.

18. A statistics professor asked students in a class their ages. On the basis of this information, the
professor states that the average age of all the students in the university is 21 years. This is an
example of
a. a census
b. descriptive statistics
c. an experiment
d. statistical inference
 e. None of the above answers is correct.

19. A tabular summary of a set of data showing the fraction of the total number of items in several
classes is a
a. frequency distribution
b. relative frequency distribution
c. frequency
d. cumulative frequency distribution
e. None of the above answers is correct.

20. The standard deviation of a sample of 100 observations equals 64. The variance of the sample
equals
a. 8
b. 10
c. 6,400
d. 4,096
e. None of the above answers is correct.

21. The variance of a sample of 81 observations equals 64. The standard deviation of the sample
equals
a. 0
b. 4096
c. 8
d. 6,561
e. None of the above answers is correct.

Data 2
A researcher has collected the following sample data.

5 12 6 8 5
6 7 5 12 4

22. Refer to data 2. The median is

a. 5
b. 6
c. 7
d. 8
e. None of the above answers is correct.

23. Refer to data 2. The mode is

a. 5
b. 6
c. 7
d. 8
e. None of the above answers is correct.

24. Refer to data 2. The mean is

a. 5
b. 6
 c. 7
d. 8
e. None of the above answers is correct.

Data 3
A researcher has collected the following sample data. The mean of the sample is 5.
3 5 12 3 2

25. Refer to data 3. The variance is

a. 80
b. 4.062
c. 13.2
d. 16.5
e. None of the above answers is correct.

26. Refer to data 3. The standard deviation is

a. 8.944
b. 4.062
c. 13.2
d. 16.5
e. None of the above answers is correct.

27. Refer to data 3. The coefficient of variation is

a. 72.66%
b. 81.24%
c. 264%
d. 330%
e. None of the above answers is correct.

28. Refer to data 3. The range is

a. 1
b. 2
c. 10
d. 12
e. None of the above answers is correct.

Data 4
The following is the frequency distribution for the speeds of a sample of automobiles traveling on
an interstate highway.

Speed
Miles per Hour Frequency
50 - 54 2
55 - 59 4
60 - 64 5
65 - 69 10
70 - 74 9
75 - 79 5
35
29. Refer to data 4. The mean is
a. 35
b. 670
c. 10
d. 67
e. None of the above answers is correct.

30. Refer to data 4. The variance is

a. 6.969
b. 7.071
c. 48.570
d. 50.000
e. None of the above answers is correct.

31. Refer to data 4. The standard deviation is

a. 6.969
b. 7.071
c. 48.570
d. 50.000
e. None of the above answers is correct.

32. Which of the following is not a measure of dispersion?

a. the range
b. the 50th percentile
c. the standard deviation
d. the interquartile range
e. the variance

33. The measure of dispersion that is influenced most by extreme values is

a. the variance
b. the standard deviation
c. the range
d. the interquartile range
e. None of the above answers is correct.

34. The descriptive measure of dispersion that is based on the concept of a deviation about the mean is
a. the range
b. the interquartile range
c. both a and b
d. the standard deviation
e. None of the above answers is correct.

35. If the largest value of a data set is doubled, which of the following is false?
a. The mean increases.
b. The standard deviation increases.
c. The interquartile range increases.
d. The range increases.
e. The median remains unchanged.
 36. The five-number summary for scores on a statistics exam is 35, 68, 77, 83, 97. In all, 196 students
took the test. About how many had scores between 77 and 83?
a. 6
b. 39
c. 49
d. 98
e. It cannot be determined from the information given.

SECTION B: TRUE OR FALSE QUESTIONS

For each of the following write “TRUE” if the statement is correct and FALSE if it is no correct.

37. A population is the collection of all measurements of items in a given study. T

38. A statistic is a function of all the measurements in a population. F
39. The median is sensitive to extreme values in one direction. F
40. The standard deviation of a set of measurements is a measure of variability. T
41. If the original units in a data set are (linear) inches, then the standard deviation of the set is F
expressed in square inches.
42. "Political party affiliation" is an example of qualitative data. T
43. "Nationality" of college students is an example of quantitative data. F
44. "Age" of patients is an example of quantitative data. T
45. "Religion affiliation" of UDSM-MCHAS students is an example of ordinal data. F
46. "Body temperature" of people, as measured in the Fahrenheit scale, is an example of interval data. T
47. The third quartile of a population or distribution corresponds to the 30th percentile of the F
distribution.
48. A random variable cannot be predicted in advance. T
49. A discrete random variable is the one that takes all possible values in the specified range. F
50. It is possible for the distribution to have no mode, but it is impossible for the distribution to have
more than one modes. F