MULTIPLE CHOICE – Write your answer in the space provided, using
UPPERCASE letters. Illegible answers will be marked incorrect. You DO
NOT need to justify your answer.
1) When doing a significance test, a student gets a p-value of 0.06. This means: [1
mark]
I. Assuming Ho is true, the sample results are a likely event.
II. 94% of samples should give results that fall in this interval.
III. We reject Ho.
A. I only
B. III only
C. I and II
D. I and III
E. II and III
ANSWER: A
2) What is the purpose of inferential statistics versus descriptive statistics? [1 mark]
A. Inferential statistics describe the outcome of random phenomena
B. Inferential statistics are used to make informed predictions about parameters
we don’t know
C. Inferential statistics describe samples that are normally distributed and large
enough (n>30)
D. Inferential statistics are used to generate samples of random data for a more
reliable analysis
E. Inferential statistics are used to predict outcomes for games of chance
ANSWER: B
STUDY A (questions 3 & 4) You are interested in the flowering time of tulips in early
spring and decided to keep track of the date that different gardens in your neighborhood
bloom. You use April 1 as a reference point and record the number of days past this date
st
for each garden. You sample 13 gardens and find that the mean number of days is 12.3
with a standard deviation of 3.1.
3) For STUDY A, what is the 95% confidence interval for the average days past April 1 st
that the gardens bloomed based on this sample? [1 mark]
A. (10.4,14.2)
B. (5.1,18.1)
C. (5.5,19.1)
D. (-1.9,1.9)
E. (10.7,13.8)
ANSWER: A
,4) For STUDY A, which of the following statements about the confidence interval is
true? [1 mark]
A. The confidence interval indicates the range over which you would fail to
reject the null hypothesis of a single-sample t-test.
B. The average number of days before flowering in the sample is between the
days given by the interval.
C. There is a 95% probability that the true average number of days before
flowering is between the days given by the interval.
D. The confidence interval is based on a z-distribution
E. None of the above.
ANSWER: B
STUDY B (questions 5, 6 & 7) As a mushroom farmer in the Kingston region, you are
trying to find new opportunities to sell the range of goods you produce. You decide to try
developing homegrown mushroom kits, but wanted to do a market survey first to see if
the average homeowner could growth mushrooms successfully. You approach 23 random
people at the weekend farmers market and ask if they would be willing to try growing
Oyster mushrooms from your kit. You first ask them whether they have previous
experience growing mushrooms and then follow up with each participant each week over
the next three weeks and ask them whether the mushrooms successfully grew. You are
interested in evaluating whether success at growing mushrooms by the end of the 3 weeks
depended on previous experience.
5) For STUDY B, what statistical test would be most appropriate for testing your
question? [1 mark]
A. One-sample t-test
B. Two-sample t-test
C. Chi-square test
D. Single-factor ANOVA
E. Two-factor ANOVA
ANSWER: C
6) For STUDY B, identify the type of study design. [1 mark]
A. Cohort study
B. Stratified survey
C. Case-control study
D. Cluster survey
E. Simple random survey
ANSWER: A
, 7) For STUDY B, select the plot that is most appropriate for showing whether success at
growing mushrooms by the end of the 3 weeks depended on previous experience. [1
mark]
A. Bar chart
B. Box plot
C. Grouped bar chart
D. Grouped box chart
E. Scatter plot
ANSWER: C
8) Which of the following statements is FALSE? [1 mark]
A. We repeatedly sample a population in practice to create the sampling
distribution
B. The ‘true’ sampling distribution does not change among samples
C. The population distribution does not change among samples
D. The sample mean is variable among different samples
E. The estimated standard error is variable among different samples
ANSWER: A
9) Which of the following statements best explains why confidence intervals cannot be
used to test for significance in a t-test? [1 mark]
A. Confidence intervals do not share a common sampling distribution with t-
tests.
B. Confidence intervals indicate the range over which the true population value
lies.
C. Confidence intervals are a statement about the sampling distribution of your
population, not of the null distribution.
D. Confidence intervals do not use the standard error estimated from your
sample.
E. Confidence intervals are always two-tailed whereas t-test can be one- or two-
tailed.
ANSWER: C
UPPERCASE letters. Illegible answers will be marked incorrect. You DO
NOT need to justify your answer.
1) When doing a significance test, a student gets a p-value of 0.06. This means: [1
mark]
I. Assuming Ho is true, the sample results are a likely event.
II. 94% of samples should give results that fall in this interval.
III. We reject Ho.
A. I only
B. III only
C. I and II
D. I and III
E. II and III
ANSWER: A
2) What is the purpose of inferential statistics versus descriptive statistics? [1 mark]
A. Inferential statistics describe the outcome of random phenomena
B. Inferential statistics are used to make informed predictions about parameters
we don’t know
C. Inferential statistics describe samples that are normally distributed and large
enough (n>30)
D. Inferential statistics are used to generate samples of random data for a more
reliable analysis
E. Inferential statistics are used to predict outcomes for games of chance
ANSWER: B
STUDY A (questions 3 & 4) You are interested in the flowering time of tulips in early
spring and decided to keep track of the date that different gardens in your neighborhood
bloom. You use April 1 as a reference point and record the number of days past this date
st
for each garden. You sample 13 gardens and find that the mean number of days is 12.3
with a standard deviation of 3.1.
3) For STUDY A, what is the 95% confidence interval for the average days past April 1 st
that the gardens bloomed based on this sample? [1 mark]
A. (10.4,14.2)
B. (5.1,18.1)
C. (5.5,19.1)
D. (-1.9,1.9)
E. (10.7,13.8)
ANSWER: A
,4) For STUDY A, which of the following statements about the confidence interval is
true? [1 mark]
A. The confidence interval indicates the range over which you would fail to
reject the null hypothesis of a single-sample t-test.
B. The average number of days before flowering in the sample is between the
days given by the interval.
C. There is a 95% probability that the true average number of days before
flowering is between the days given by the interval.
D. The confidence interval is based on a z-distribution
E. None of the above.
ANSWER: B
STUDY B (questions 5, 6 & 7) As a mushroom farmer in the Kingston region, you are
trying to find new opportunities to sell the range of goods you produce. You decide to try
developing homegrown mushroom kits, but wanted to do a market survey first to see if
the average homeowner could growth mushrooms successfully. You approach 23 random
people at the weekend farmers market and ask if they would be willing to try growing
Oyster mushrooms from your kit. You first ask them whether they have previous
experience growing mushrooms and then follow up with each participant each week over
the next three weeks and ask them whether the mushrooms successfully grew. You are
interested in evaluating whether success at growing mushrooms by the end of the 3 weeks
depended on previous experience.
5) For STUDY B, what statistical test would be most appropriate for testing your
question? [1 mark]
A. One-sample t-test
B. Two-sample t-test
C. Chi-square test
D. Single-factor ANOVA
E. Two-factor ANOVA
ANSWER: C
6) For STUDY B, identify the type of study design. [1 mark]
A. Cohort study
B. Stratified survey
C. Case-control study
D. Cluster survey
E. Simple random survey
ANSWER: A
, 7) For STUDY B, select the plot that is most appropriate for showing whether success at
growing mushrooms by the end of the 3 weeks depended on previous experience. [1
mark]
A. Bar chart
B. Box plot
C. Grouped bar chart
D. Grouped box chart
E. Scatter plot
ANSWER: C
8) Which of the following statements is FALSE? [1 mark]
A. We repeatedly sample a population in practice to create the sampling
distribution
B. The ‘true’ sampling distribution does not change among samples
C. The population distribution does not change among samples
D. The sample mean is variable among different samples
E. The estimated standard error is variable among different samples
ANSWER: A
9) Which of the following statements best explains why confidence intervals cannot be
used to test for significance in a t-test? [1 mark]
A. Confidence intervals do not share a common sampling distribution with t-
tests.
B. Confidence intervals indicate the range over which the true population value
lies.
C. Confidence intervals are a statement about the sampling distribution of your
population, not of the null distribution.
D. Confidence intervals do not use the standard error estimated from your
sample.
E. Confidence intervals are always two-tailed whereas t-test can be one- or two-
tailed.
ANSWER: C
