Methods of Inquiry Help Guide

NOTE!!
 Do not rely on this as your only form of studying. Pay
attention in lessons and read the book through the
semester. Don’t leave it until the end (trust us).
 Working out the sums will help you the most. Get in
groups and work examples out together it really helps with
understanding.
 The practical portion of this paper may seem quite
complicated, just don’t overthink and work thing out in
steps.

😊Happy Studying 😊
 Theory Practice
1. A researcher is interested in the travel time of Utrecht University
students to college. A group of 50 students is interviewed. Their
mean travel time in 16.7 minutes. For this study the mean of 16.7
minutes is an example of a(n)
A. Parameter
B. Statistic
C. Population
D. Sample

2. A researcher is curious about the IQ of students at the Utrecht

University. The entire group students is an example of a:
A. Parameter
B. Statistic
C. Population
D. Sample

3. Statistical techniques that summarize and organize the data are

classified as:
A. Population statistics
B. Sample statistics
C. Descriptive statistics
D. Inferential statistics

4. A sports psychologist was interested in the effects of a six-week

imagery intervention on an athlete’s ability to execute a sport-
specific skills such penalty taking in football. How might you define
the imagery variable?
A. Independent variable
B. Dependent variable
C. Outcome variable
D. Resultant variable
 5. Five-point Likert scales (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree,
strongly agree) are frequently used to measure motivations and
attitudes. A Likert scale is a:
A. Discrete variable.
B. Ordinal variable.
C. Categorical variable.
D. All of the above options (A, B and C)

6. In a 500m speed skating race, time results would be considered an

example of which level of measurement?
A. Nominal
B. Ordinal
C. Interval
D. Ratio

7. IQ tests are standardized so that the mean score is 100 for the
entire group of people who take the test. However, if you select a
group of 50 who took the test, you probably would not get 100.
What statistical concept explains the difference between the two
means?
A. Statistical error
B. Inferential error
C. Residual error
D. Sampling error

8. A researchers studies the factors that determine the number of

children future couples decide to have. The variable ‘number of
children’ is a :
A. Discrete variable
B. Continuous variable
C. Categorical variable
D. Ordinal variable
 9. A teacher asks students to identity their favourite reality television
show. What type of measurement scale do the different television
shows make up?
A. Nominal
B. Ordinal
C. Interval
D. Ratio

10. The median is always:

A. The most frequently occurring score in a data set
B. The middle score when results are ranked in order of magnitude
C. The same as the mean
D. The difference between the maximum and minimum scores.

11. The seminar rooms in the library are identified by the letters A
to H. A researcher records the number of classes held in each room
during the first semester. What kind of graph would be appropriate
to present the frequency distributions of these data?
A. Histogram
B. Scatterplot
C. Bar chart
D. Box plot

12. A set of scores is presented in a histogram. The histogram

shows a series of bars that tend to decrease in height from left to
right. What is the shape of the distribution?
A. Leptokurtic
B. Positively skewed
C. Negativity skewed
D. Normal
 13. What is the mean for the following scores: 2, 5, 4, 1, 8?
A. 3
B. 4
C. 5
D. 20

14. What is the mean for the scores shown in the frequency
distribution?
A. 1.5
Value f
B. 3.0 1 1
C. 2.9 2 3
3 3
D. 5.8 4 2
5 1

15. What is the median for the following scores: 2, 5, 4, 1, 8?

A. 3.5
B. 4
C. 4.5
D. 7

16. A teacher gave a statistics test to a class of Geography

students and computed the measures of central tendency for the
test scores. Which of the following statements cannot be an
accurate description of the scores?
A. The majority of students had scores above the mean.
B. The majority of students had scores above the median.
C. The majority of students had scores above the mode.
D. All of the above options (A, B and C) are false statements.
 17. Which of the following sets of scores has the greatest
variability (range)?
A. 2, 5, 8, 11
B. 13, 13, 13, 13
C. 20, 25, 26 ,27
D. 42, 43, 44, 45

18. Which of the following statements is the most accurate

description for the concept of standard deviation?
A. The total distance from the smallest score to the highest score.
B. The square root of the total distance from the smallest score to the
highest score.
C. The squared average distance between all scores and the mean.
D. The average distance between a score and the mean.

19. What is the variance for the following set of scores: 2, 2, 2, 2,

2.
A. 0
B. 2
C. 4
D. 25

20. Normally distributed data are normally referred to as :

A. Bell-shaped
B. Asymmetrical
C. Skewed
D. Peaked
 21. Take the formula Z = (X – µ)/σ, where µ is the mean of the
population, X is the value of the element, Z is the z-score and σ is
the standard deviation. What does this formula calculate?
A. Confidence interval.
B. Standard score.
C. Standard error of the mean.
D. Variance.

22. A population has a mean of μ=35 and a standard deviation of

σ=5. After 3 points are added to every score in the population, what
are the new values for the mean and standard deviation?
A. μ=35 and σ=5
B. μ=35 and σ=8
C. μ=38 and σ=5
D. μ=38 and σ=8

23. Of the following Z-score values, which one represents the

location closest to the mean?
A. Z=+0.5
B. Z=+1,0
C. Z=-1.5
D. Z=-0.3

24. If the scores on a test have a mean of 26 and a standard

deviation of 4, what is the z-score for a score of 18?
A. 2
B. 11
C. -2
D. –1.41

25. A population has a μ=50 and σ=10. If these scores are

transformed into z-scores, the population of z-scores will have a
mean and standard deviation of:
A. μ=50 and σ=10
B. μ=50 and σ=1,96
C. μ=1 and σ=0
D. μ=0 and σ=1

26. If all possible samples of size n=30 are selected from a

population with μ=80 and σ=10 and the mean is computed for each
sample, then what shape is expected for the distribution of sample
means?
A. The sample means tend to form a normal-shaped distribution whether
the
population is normal or not.
B. The sample means tend to form a normal-shaped distribution only if the
population
distribution is normal.
C. The sample size of n=30 is too small to predict the shape of the
distribution.
D. The mean of each sample will be very close to 80, hence the
distribution of means
will have little variability.

27. What is a definition of the standard error?

A. Standard deviation of the sample.
B. Squared standard deviation.
C. Standard deviation of sample means.
D. Standard deviation of the population mean.

28. When does a researcher risk a Type I error?

A. Anytime the decision is ‘fail to reject’.
B. Anytime H0 is rejected.
C. Anytime H1 is rejected.
D. All of the above options.

29. Which of the following assumptions are required if an

independent t-test is to be used?
A. Samples are drawn from a normally distributed population.
B. Homogeneity of variances (equal variances).
C. The data are either interval or ratio scales.
D. All the above assumptions (A, B and C) are required.

30. What is the correct decision in a hypothesis if the data

produce a t-statistic that is in the critical region?
A. Reject H0
B. Fail to reject H0
C. Reject H1
D. Fail to reject H1

31. How does the shape of the t distribution compare to the

normal distribution?
A. The t distribution is taller and less spread out, especially when n is
large.
B. The t distribution is taller and less spread out, especially when n is
small.
C. The t distribution is flatter and more spread out, especially when n is
large.
D. The t distribution is flatter and more spread out, especially when n is
small.
 32. Suppose you wanted to apply a one-tailed test as opposed to
a two-tailed test. How would you covert a significance of p = .284?
A. .284 / 2 = .142
B. .284 × 2 = .568
C. .284 / 0.05 = 5.68
D. .284 × 0.05 = .0142

33. A research report summarizes the results of a t-test by stating:

t(35)=5.2, p<0.05. Which of the following is a correct interpretation
of this report?
A. The H0 was not rejected and the probability of a Type I error is less than
.05.
B. The H0 was not rejected and the probability of a Type II error is less
than .05.
C. The H0 was rejected and the probability of a Type I error is less
than .05.
D. The H0 was rejected and the probability of a Type II error is less
than .05.

34. Which of the following is true about a 95% confidence interval

of the mean of a given sample:
A. 95 out of 100 sample means will fall within the limits of the confidence
interval.
B. There is a 95% chance that the population mean will fall within the
limits of the
confidence interval.
C. 95 out of 100 population means will fall within the limits of the
confidence interval.
D. There is a .05 probability that the population mean falls within the
limits of the
confidence interval.
 35. What effect would increasing the sample size have on a
confidence interval?
A. The confidence interval would increase in size.
B. The confidence interval would decrease in size.
C. The confidence interval is unaffected by sample size.
D. The confidence interval could either increase or decrease in size.

36. Which statistical test is used to identify whether there is a

relationship between two categorical variables?
A. Student’s t-test.
B. Spearman’s correlation test.
C. Pearson’s Chi-square test.
D. Mann-Whitney test.

37. What is the null hypothesis for a Chi-square test?

A. Both variables have a significant relationship.
B. Both variables have equal means.
C. Both variables are independent.
D. Both variables are dependent.

38. In order for accurate measures of the linear relationship

between two variables to be achieved, what type of data are
required if using Pearson’s correlation coefficient?
A. Nominal
B. Ordinal
C. Interval
D. Ratio

39. A Pearson correlation of r=-0.6 indicates

A. An increase in X is accompanied by an increase in Y; the relationship is
strong.
B. An increase in X is accompanied by an increase in Y; the relationship is
moderate.
C. An increase in X is accompanied by a decrease in Y; the relationship is
strong.
D. An increase in X is accompanied by a decrease in Y; the relationship is
moderate.

40. A scatterplot shows:

A. The frequency with which values appear in the data.
B. The average value of groups of data.
C. Scores on one variable plotted against scores on a second variable.
D. The proportion of data falling into different categories.

41. R2 is the notation for:

A. The coefficient of correlation.
B. The coefficient of determination.
C. The coefficient of variation.
D. The coefficient of regression.
42. Suppose the correlation between height and weight for adults
is +0.80. What proportion of the variability in weight can be
explained by the relationship with height?
A. 20%
B. 36%
C. 64%
D. 80%

43. In a linear regression equation, Y=a + bX, what is the b

denote?
A. The regression coefficient, the slope of the line.
B. The intercept with the Y-axis.
C. The correlation coefficient, the strength of the line
D. The score on the variable X.

44. In a linear regression equation, what does a slope of 2.5

indicate?
A. For every increase of 2.5 on the y-axis, there is an increase of 5.0 on
the x-axis.
B. For every increase of 2.5 on the x-axis, there is an equivalent increase
on the y-axis.
C. For every increase of 1.00 on the x-axis, there is an increase of 2.5 on
the y-axis.
D. For every increase of 1.00 on the y-axis, there is an decrease of 2.5 on
the x-axis.

45. Which of the following statements about the t-statistic in

regression analysis is not true?
A. The t-statistic tests whether the regression coefficient, b, is equal to 0.
B. The t-statistic provides some idea of how well a predictor predicts the
outcome
variable.
C. The t-statistic can be used to see whether a predictor variable makes a
statistically
significant contribution to the regression model.
D. The t-statistic is equal to the regression coefficient divided by its
standard deviation.