1) A population is a collection of all individuals, objects, or measurements of interest.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: This is the definition of a population.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
2) Statistics are used as a basis for making decisions.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: This is the ultimate purpose of statistics. After we organize, summarize, and analyze data, we make decisions based on our summaries and analysis.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Why Study Statistics?
Learning Objective: 01-01 Explain why knowledge of statistics is important.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
3) A listing of 100 family annual incomes is an example of statistics.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: A listing of incomes is raw data. Statistics is used to organize, summarize, and present the data.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: What is Meant by Statistics?
Learning Objective: 01-02 Define statistics and provide an example of how statistics is applied.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
4) The average number of passengers on commercial flights between Chicago and New York City is an example of a statistic.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: Statistics is used to organize, summarize, and analyze raw data. Raw data would be a list of all commercial flights between the two cities and the number of passengers on each, while statistics would take that raw data and create summary measures, such as determining the mean or average for these flights.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: What is Meant by Statistics?
Learning Objective: 01-02 Define statistics and provide an example of how statistics is applied.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
5) Statistics is used to report the summary results of market surveys.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: Statistics is used to summarize raw data into a more useful form. While we could look at all the individual survey results, summarizing the results is helpful if we wish to make decisions.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: What is Meant by Statistics?
Learning Objective: 01-02 Define statistics and provide an example of how statistics is applied.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
6) A sample is a portion or part of the population of interest.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: This is the definition of a sample.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
7) To infer something about a population, we usually take a sample from the population.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: This is the purpose of inferential statistics, where we estimate or infer something about a population based on a sample taken from that population.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
8) Descriptive statistics are used to find out something about a population based on a sample.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: Inferential statistics uses sample information to find out something about a population.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
9) There are four levels of measurement: qualitative, quantitative, discrete, and continuous.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: The four levels of measurement are nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
10) The ordinal level of measurement is considered the "lowest" level of measurement.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: The nominal scale is the "lowest" level of measurement.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
11) A store asks shoppers for their zip codes to identify market areas. Zip codes are an example of ratio data.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: While zip codes use numbers, they are only labels. Therefore, they represent a nominal measurement scale.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
12) An ordinal level of measurement implies some sort of ranking.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: If qualitative data can be ranked on a relative basis, it is ordinal rather than nominal. An example of the ordinal level would be a survey in which service is classified as poor, average, or exceptional.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
13) Data measured on a nominal scale can only be classified into categories.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: Nominal level data can only be put into categories. An example would be car color: you can create a list of colors, but the order in which the color is presented is not relevant. In contrast, qualitative data that can be put into ordered categories based on some sort of ranking is at the ordinal level. An example would be a survey in which service is classified as poor, average, or exceptional.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
14) The terms descriptive statistics and inferential statistics can be used interchangeably.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: Descriptive statistics are used to organize, summarize, and present data. Inferential statistics use sample information to make inferences about a population.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
15) A marketing research agency was hired to test a new DVD player. Consumers rated it outstanding, very good, fair, or poor. The level of measurement for this experiment is ordinal.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: Qualitative data that can be put into ordered categories based on some sort of ranking is ordinal level. In this case, outstanding is superior to very good, very good is superior to fair, and fair is superior to poor.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
16) The Union of Electrical Workers of America with 9,128 members polled 362 members about a new wage package that will be submitted to management. The population is the 362 members.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: The 362 members are a sample or portion of the population of 9,128 union members.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
17) The CIA World Factbook cited these numbers for the United States:
• The birthrate is 13.66 births per 1,000 of the population.
• The average life expectancy for females is 81.17 years.
• Approximately 316.7 million persons reside in the United States.
Each of these numbers is referred to as a statistic.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: Statistics are numbers used to communicate a piece of information. Each of the statistics provided in this list is a summary of the data for the population as a whole.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: What is Meant by Statistics?
Learning Objective: 01-02 Define statistics and provide an example of how statistics is applied.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
18) If we select 100 persons from 25,000 registered voters and question them about candidates and issues, the 100 persons are referred to as the population.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: The 100 people are a sample or portion of the population of 25,000 registered voters.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
19) Statistics is defined as a body of techniques used to facilitate the collection, organization, presentation, analysis, and interpretation of information for the purpose of making better decisions.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: This is the definition of the term statistics.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: What is Meant by Statistics?
Learning Objective: 01-02 Define statistics and provide an example of how statistics is applied.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
20) Categorizing voters as Democrats, Republicans, and Independents is an example of interval level measurement.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: Political party is a label that corresponds to a nominal level of measurement.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Apply
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
21) The order in which runners finish in a race would be an example of continuous data.
Answer: FALSE
Explanation: The order in which runners finish a race is an example of an ordinal level of measurement and is discrete data.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Types of Variables
Learning Objective: 01-04 Classify variables as qualitative or quantitative, and discrete or continuous.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
22) Based on a sample of 3,000 people, the civilian unemployment rate in the United States was 5.5%. 5.5% is referred to as a statistic.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: The unemployment rate is a single summary statistic used to convey information about the population as a whole.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: What is Meant by Statistics?
Learning Objective: 01-02 Define statistics and provide an example of how statistics is applied.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
23) The principal difference between the interval and ratio scale is that the ratio scale has a meaningful zero point.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: This is the principal difference between interval and ratio level data. Interval level data has no true zero, so zero is just a point on a scale rather than the absence of something. Ratio level data has a true zero point, so zero means the absence of something. If you have a zero balance in your savings account, it means you have no money saved.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Analyze
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
24) The branch of mathematics used to facilitate the collection, organization, presentation, analysis, and interpretation of numerical information is referred to as statistics.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: This is another possible definition of statistics.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: What is Meant by Statistics?
Learning Objective: 01-02 Define statistics and provide an example of how statistics is applied.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
25) The number of children in a family is a discrete variable.
Answer: TRUE
Explanation: Discrete variables have gaps between the values. A family will have zero, one, two, or more children. An individual family cannot have values between those gaps, such as 1.5 children.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-04 Classify variables as qualitative or quantitative, and discrete or continuous.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
26) The main purpose of descriptive statistics is to
A) summarize data in a useful and informative manner.
B) make inferences about a population.
C) determine if the data adequately represent the population.
D) gather or collect data.
Answer: A
Explanation: Descriptive statistics summarize existing data. It does not collect new data or draw conclusions about a population.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
27) Which of the following is an example of a continuous variable?
A) Tons of concrete to complete a parking garage
B) Number of students in a statistics class
C) Zip codes of shoppers
D) Rankings of baseball teams in a league
Answer: A
Explanation: A continuous variable assumes any value within a range. Numbers of students, zip codes, and rankings have "gaps" between the values and hence are not continuous.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Variables
Learning Objective: 01-04 Classify variables as qualitative or quantitative, and discrete or continuous.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
28) The incomes of 50 loan applicants are obtained. Which level of measurement is income?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: D
Explanation: Incomes are measured on a ratio scale because the variable has a zero point (no income) and the ratio between two values is meaningful.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
29) When TV advertisements report that "2 out of 3 dentists surveyed indicated they would recommend Brand X toothpaste to their patients," an informed consumer may question the conclusion because
A) the sample was only 5 dentists.
B) the sample of dentists is clearly explained.
C) the advertisement does not include the total number of dentists surveyed.
D) the conclusion is not illustrated with a graph.
Answer: C
Explanation: The ad implies that most dentists would recommend the product. However, without knowing anything about how many dentists were selected, and how they were selected, it would be difficult to accept the results of the survey.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
30) A bank asks customers to evaluate its drive-through service as good, average, or poor. Which level of measurement is this classification?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: B
Explanation: Ordinal is the correct answer because a "good" response is better than an "average" one. However, the difference between the responses is not a constant size.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
31) A portion or part of a population is called a
A) random survey.
B) sample.
C) tally.
D) frequency distribution.
Answer: B
Explanation: A sample is a subset of a population of interest.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
32) If Gallup, Harris, and other pollsters asked people to indicate their political party affiliations as Democrat, Republican, or independent, the data gathered would be an example of which scale of measurement?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: A
Explanation: Political party affiliation is measured with a label or name and therefore is nominal. It is a categorization with no natural order and cannot be ranked or ordered.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
33) The members of each basketball team wear numbers on their jerseys. What scale of measurement are these numbers considered?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: A
Explanation: Jersey numbers are labels for identification purposes only. These labels have no natural order and cannot be ranked or ordered.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
34) A marketing class of 50 students evaluated the instructor using the following scale: superior, good, average, poor, or inferior. The descriptive summary showed the following survey results: 2% superior, 8% good, 45% average, 45% poor, and 0% inferior.
A) The instructor's performance was great!
B) The instructor's performance was inferior.
C) Most students rated the instructor as poor or average.
D) No conclusions can be made.
Answer: C
Explanation: The percentages indicate that 90% of the 50 students rated the instructor as average or poor. No students rated the instructor as inferior. "Great" was not measured.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Analyze
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
35) A survey includes a question about marital status that has the following responses: single, married, divorced, separated, or widowed. What is the scale of measurement for this question?
A) Ratio
B) Interval
C) Ordinal
D) Nominal
Answer: D
Explanation: Marital status is nominal because it has no natural order and cannot be ranked or ordered.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
36) Respondents were asked, "Do you now earn more than or less than you did five years ago?" What is this level of measurement?
A) Interval
B) Ratio
C) Nominal
D) Ordinal
Answer: D
Explanation: The survey asks for a relative measure of income today in comparison to five years ago. The response is either "more" or "less." There is no absolute measure of income to compute how much more or less is earned, and therefore this is a nominal level of measurement.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
37) Which word is NOT part of the definition of descriptive statistics?
A) Organizing
B) Summarizing
C) Presenting
D) Predicting
Answer: D
Explanation: In descriptive statistics, we organize, summarize, and present data. We do not predict.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
38) The reported unemployment is 5.5% of the population. What measurement scale is used to measure unemployment?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: D
Explanation: Unemployment percentages have a true zero point (no unemployment), and the ratio between two values is meaningful. Consequently, this is ratio level data.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
39) The Equal Employment Opportunity Act requires employers to classify their employees by gender and national origin. Which level of measurement is this?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: A
Explanation: Gender and national origin are labels with no natural order and cannot be ranked or ordered.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
40) What level of measurement is the Centigrade temperature scale?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: C
Explanation: Temperature can be ranked and the distance between temperatures can be computed, but there is no natural value of zero on the Centigrade scale.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
41) What type of variable is the number of gallons of gasoline pumped by a filling station during a day?
A) Qualitative
B) Continuous
C) Attribute
D) Discrete
Answer: B
Explanation: The number of gallons pumped is a numerical variable that can assume any value within a range. There are no gaps in the scale, so the data are continuous.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Types of Variables
Learning Objective: 01-04 Classify variables as qualitative or quantitative, and discrete or continuous.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
42) The performance of personal and business investments is measured as a percentage called "return on investment." What type of variable is "return on investment"?
A) Qualitative
B) Continuous
C) Attribute
D) Discrete
Answer: B
Explanation: "Return on investment" can assume any value within a range. There are no gaps in the scale, so the data are continuous.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Types of Variables
Learning Objective: 01-04 Classify variables as qualitative or quantitative, and discrete or continuous.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
43) What type of variable is the number of robberies reported in your city?
A) Attribute
B) Continuous
C) Quantitative
D) Qualitative
Answer: C
Explanation: The number of robberies is counted and must be a whole number, such as 0, 500, or 3,125,874.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Types of Variables
Learning Objective: 01-04 Classify variables as qualitative or quantitative, and discrete or continuous.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
44) What type of variable is the number of auto accidents reported in a given month?
A) Interval
B) Ratio
C) Continuous
D) Discrete
Answer: D
Explanation: The number of auto accidents is counted and must be a whole number, such as 0, 500, or 3,125,874.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Types of Variables
Learning Objective: 01-04 Classify variables as qualitative or quantitative, and discrete or continuous.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
45) The names of the positions in a corporation, such as chief operating officer or controller, are examples of what type of variable?
A) Qualitative
B) Quantitative
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: A
Explanation: The variable, job title, is qualitative.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Variables
Learning Objective: 01-04 Classify variables as qualitative or quantitative, and discrete or continuous.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
46) What type of variable is "pounds of popcorn" served at a movie theater?
A) Interval
B) Ratio
C) Discrete
D) Continuous
Answer: D
Explanation: "Pounds of popcorn" can assume any value within a range, and there are no gaps in the scale.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Variables
Learning Objective: 01-04 Classify variables as qualitative or quantitative, and discrete or continuous.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
47) The final rankings of the top 20 NCAA college basketball teams are an example of which level of measurement?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: B
Explanation: While the rankings indicate which team is better than another, they do not measure how much better a team is relative to another.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
48) Your height and weight are examples of which level of measurement?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: D
Explanation: Height and weight are ratio variables that have a zero point, and the ratio between two values is meaningful.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
49) Shoe style is an example of what level of measurement?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: A
Explanation: Shoe style is a nominal variable because it is a label with no natural order and cannot be ranked or ordered.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
50) The general process of gathering, organizing, summarizing, analyzing, and interpreting data is called
A) statistics.
B) descriptive statistics.
C) inferential statistics.
D) levels of measurement.
Answer: A
Explanation: Statistics is the science of collecting, organizing, presenting, analyzing, and interpreting data to assist in making more effective decisions.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: What is Meant by Statistics?
Learning Objective: 01-02 Define statistics and provide an example of how statistics is applied.
Bloom's: Remember
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
51) The Nielsen Ratings break down the number of people watching a particular television show by age. What level of measurement is age?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: D
Explanation: Age is a ratio variable because it has a zero point, and the ratio between two values is meaningful.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
52) An example of a qualitative variable is
A) number of children in a family.
B) weight of a person.
C) color of ink in a pen.
D) miles between oil changes.
Answer: C
Explanation: Color is a qualitative variable because it is an attribute that can be observed but not measured.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Variables
Learning Objective: 01-04 Classify variables as qualitative or quantitative, and discrete or continuous.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
53) Which one of the following is NOT an example of discrete data?
A) Number of households watching the Home Shopping Network
B) Number of employees reporting in sick
C) Number of miles between New York City and Chicago
D) Number of members of the Denver Lions Club
Answer: C
Explanation: Discrete variables can assume only certain values, and there are gaps between the values. Miles are not discrete because they can be measured with any number of decimal point values.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Types of Variables
Learning Objective: 01-04 Classify variables as qualitative or quantitative, and discrete or continuous.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
54) What level of measurement is a person's "favorite sport"?
A) Ratio
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Nominal
Answer: D
Explanation: The variable, a person's "favorite sport," is a label with no natural order and cannot be ranked or ordered.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
55) A group of women tried five brands of fingernail polish and ranked them according to preference. What level of measurement is this?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
Answer: B
Explanation: The rankings are ordinal. While the rankings indicate which brand is preferred over another, they do not measure how much more they are preferred.
Difficulty: 2 Medium
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
56) A university wishes to conduct a student survey. In one of the questions students are asked to mark their gender as either male or female. Gender is an example of the
A) ordinal scale.
B) nominal scale.
C) ratio scale.
D) interval scale.
Answer: B
Explanation: Gender is a nominal variable because you can only classify the students into categories, and these categories have no natural order or ranking.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
57) Income is a variable often used in business and economics. Income is an example of a variable that uses the
A) ordinal scale.
B) nominal scale.
C) ratio scale.
D) interval scale.
Answer: C
Explanation: Income has a meaningful zero and the ratio between two values is meaningful, so it is ratio level data.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Levels of Measurement
Learning Objective: 01-05 Distinguish between nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio levels of measurement.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
58) When statisticians analyze sample data in order to draw conclusions about the characteristics of a population, this is referred to as
A) descriptive statistics.
B) statistical inference.
C) data analysis.
D) data summarization.
Answer: B
Explanation: This is the definition of statistical inference, in which we infer population parameters based on a sample taken from that population.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Statistics
Learning Objective: 01-03 Differentiate between descriptive and inferential statistics.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
59) The length of a bridge, measured in meters, is an example of
A) categorical data.
B) either categorical or quantitative data.
C) measurement data.
D) quantitative data.
Answer: D
Explanation: Measurements are quantitative data because the results are numerical and the numbers have meaning. Qualitative data is based on counting how many items fall into particular categories or classifications. An example would be counting the number of students in a class with various eye colors.
Difficulty: 1 Easy
Topic: Types of Variables
Learning Objective: 01-04 Classify variables as qualitative or quantitative, and discrete or continuous.
Bloom's: Understand
AACSB: Communication
Accessibility: Keyboard Navigation
