Chapter 1

What is Statistics?
True/False
1. A population is a collection of all individuals, objects, or measurements of interest.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

2. A sample is a portion or part of the population of interest.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

3. To infer something about a population, we usually take a sample from the population.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

4. The techniques used to find out something about a population, such as their average weight, based on a
sample are referred to as descriptive statistics.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2
AACSB: MD

5. There are four levels of measurement-qualitative, quantitative, discrete, and continuous.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

6. Ordinal level of measurement is considered the "lowest" level of measurement.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

7. A store asks shoppers for their zip code to identify market areas. Zip codes are an example of ratio
data.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5
AACSB: REF

8. Ordinal level of measurement implies some sort of ranking.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

9. Data that can only be classified into categories is nominal data.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

Statistical Techniques in Business & Economics Lind/Marchal/Wathen, 13/e

10. The words descriptive statistics and inferential statistics can be used interchangeably.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

11. 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
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5
AACSB: AS

12. The Union of Electrical Workers of America with 9,128 members polled 362 members regarding a
new wage package to be submitted to management. The population is the 362 members.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

13. The CIA World Factbook cited these numbers for the U.S:
Birthrate is 14.14 births per 1,000 population
Average life expectancy for females is 80 years
Approximately 290 million persons residing in the United States
Each of these numbers is referred to as statistic.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 1

14. If we select 100 persons out of 25,000 registered voters and question them about candidates and
issues, the 100 persons are referred to as the population.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

15. 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
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 1
AACSB: CA

16. Another name for inductive statistics is descriptive statistics.

Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

17. Categorizing voters as Democrats, Republicans and Independents is an example of interval level
measurement.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

18. The order that runners finish in a race would be an example of continuous data.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 4

19. 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.

Test Bank, Chapter 1

Answer: True

Difficulty: Easy

Goal: 1

Statistical Techniques in Business & Economics Lind/Marchal/Wathen, 13/e

20. The principal difference between the interval and ratio scale is that the ratio scale has a meaningful
zero point.
Answer: True
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5

21. The branch of mathematics used to facilitate the collection, organization, presentation, analysis and
interpretation of numerical data is referred to as a statistic.
Answer: False
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 1

22. The number of children in a family is a discrete variable.

Answer: True
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

Multiple Choice

23. 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 represents the population.
D) Gather or collect data.
Answer: A
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

24. Which of the following is an example of a continuous variable?

A) Family income
B) Number of students in a statistics class
C) Zip codes of shoppers
D) Rankings of baseball teams in a league
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 4

25. The incomes of a group of 50 loan applicants are obtained. Which level of measurement is income?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

Test Bank, Chapter 1

26. When TV advertisements report "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
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 2
AACSB: EU

27. A bank asks customers to evaluate the drive-thru service as good, average, or poor. Which level of
measurement is this classification?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

28. What is a portion or part of a population called?

A) Random survey
B) Sample
C) Tally
D) Frequency distribution
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

29. If Gallup, Harris and other pollsters asked people to indicate their political party affiliation Democrat, Republican or Independent, the data gathered would be an example of which scale of
measurement?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

30. The members of each basketball team wear numbers on the back of their jerseys. What scale of
measurement are these numbers considered?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

Statistical Techniques in Business & Economics Lind/Marchal/Wathen, 13/e

Test Bank, Chapter 1

31. A marketing class of 50 students evaluated the instructor using the following scale: superior, good,
average, poor, and 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
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 2
AACSB: AS

32. A questionnaire contained a question regarding marital status. The respondent checked either single,
married, divorced, separated or widowed. What is the scale of measurement for this question?
A) Ratio
B) Interval
C) Ordinal
D) Nominal
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

33. 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
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5
AACSB: REF

34. Which word is NOT part of the definition of descriptive statistics?

A) Organizing
B) Analyzing
C) Presenting
D) Predicting
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 2

35. The reported unemployment is 5.5% of the population. What type of scale is used to measure
unemployment?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval or ratio
D) Descriptive
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5

Statistical Techniques in Business & Economics Lind/Marchal/Wathen, 13/e

Test Bank, Chapter 1

36. 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
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5
AACSB: MD

37. What level of measurement are the Centigrade and Fahrenheit temperature scales?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5

38. 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
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 3

39. What type of variable is "projected return on an investment"?

A) Qualitative
B) Continuous
C) Attribute
D) Discrete
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 3
AACSB: CA

40. What type of variable is the number of robberies reported in your city?
A) Attribute
B) Continuous
C) Discrete
D) Qualitative
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 3

Statistical Techniques in Business & Economics Lind/Marchal/Wathen, 13/e

41. What level of measurement is the number of auto accidents reported in a given month?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5

42. The names of the positions on a hockey team, such as forward and goalie, are examples of what level
of measurement?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
E) None of the above
Answer: A
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

43. What level of measurement is the price of an admission ticket to a movie theater?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

44. 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
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

45. Your height and weight are examples of which level of measurement?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5

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Test Bank, Chapter 1

46. Shoe sizes, such as 7B, 10D and 12EEE, are examples of what level of measurement?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5

47. 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.
E) None of the above.
Answer: A
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 1

48. The Nielsen Ratings break down the number of people watching a particular television show by age.
Age is what level of measurement?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5
AACSB: AS

49. Which of the following is an example of attribute data?

A) Number of children in a family
B) Weight of a person
C) Color of ink in a pen
D) Miles between oil changes
E) None of the above
Answer: C
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 3

50. 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.
E) Number of family members.
Answer: C
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 4

Statistical Techniques in Business & Economics Lind/Marchal/Wathen, 13/e

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51. What level of measurement is a bar code?

A) Ratio
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Nominal
E) None of the above
Answer: D
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5

52. A group of women tried five brands of hair spray and ranked them according to preference. What
level of measurement is this?
A) Nominal
B) Ordinal
C) Interval
D) Ratio
E) None of the above
Answer: B
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5

Fill-in-the-Blank

53. The monthly Consumer Price Index is called a(n) ________________.

Answer: statistic
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 1

54. A qualitative variable such as eye color is also referred to as a(n) _____________ variable.
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 3

Answer: attribute

55. A scale used to measure a quantitative variable is either _______________ or ________________.

Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 3

Answer: interval, ratio

56. Ranked data is an example of what level of measurement? ________________

Answer: ordinal
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5

57. What level of measurement is the prime rate of interest? ______________

Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5

Answer: ratio

58. The branch of statistics that does not involve generalizations is called ________________.
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

Answer: descriptive statistics

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Test Bank, Chapter 1

59. When we make an estimate or prediction, we use ________________ techniques.

Answer: inferential or inductive
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

60. The branch of statistics in which data is collected, analyzed and presented in a concise format is
called _____________ statistics.
Answer: descriptive
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

61. The branch of statistics from which we draw conclusions from sample data is called
_________________ statistics.
Answer: inferential
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

62. The number of workers reporting sick in any particular week is considered to be _______________
data.
Answer: discrete
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 4

63. If we test a small number of light bulbs from a large group, the small group is called a
______________.
Answer: sample
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 2

64. Among the many classes held at your college or university, your statistics class has been selected for
a study. This one class is referred to as a ______________.
Answer: sample
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 2

65. Another name for inferential statistics is ______________ statistics.

Answer: inductive
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 2

66. The "lowest" level of measurement is _____________.

Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

Answer: nominal

67. The "highest" level of measurement is ________________.

Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

Answer: ratio

68. The major advantage of ordinal data over nominal data is that it allows for ___________________.
Answer: ranking, ordering, or "greater than" relationship
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 5

69. The principal difference between the interval and ratio scale of measurement is that the ratio scale has
a ____________________.

Statistical Techniques in Business & Economics Lind/Marchal/Wathen, 13/e

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Answer: meaningful zero point

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Difficulty: Medium

Goal: 5

Test Bank, Chapter 1

70. Categorizing students as freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors is an example of the
______________ level of measurement.
Answer: ordinal
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

71. The collection of all possible objects of interest is referred to as the ______________.
Answer: population
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 2

72. The lowest level of measurement that has some sort of ranking is ____________.
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 5

Answer: ordinal

73. A variable that can have any value within a specific range is called _________________.
Difficulty: Medium
Goal: 4

Answer: continuous

74. The science of collecting, organizing, presenting, analyzing, and interpreting of data is called
____________________.
Answer: statistics
Difficulty: Easy
Goal: 1
Essay
75. Describe the difference between a population and a sample.
Answer: A population is the entire set of individuals or objects that could be observed or measured. A
sample is a subset or portion of a population.
Difficulty: Easy Goal: 2
76. A New York newspaper reported the average gasoline prices in four metropolitan areas and used a bar
chart to illustrate the differences. What type of statistics was shown? What activities did the newspaper
use to make the report?
Answer: The newspaper used descriptive statistics. The statistical activities use to make the report were
collecting data, summarizing the data, and presenting the data. Difficulty: Medium Goal: 2
77. A company was studying the demographics of their customers. As part of the study they collected the
following variables: gender, marital status, credit rating (low, medium, high), annual income, and age.
Label each variable as qualitative or quantitative, discrete or continuous, and nominal, ordinal, interval, or
ratio.
Answer: gender: qualitative, discrete, nominal
Marital status: qualitative, discrete, nominal
Credit rating: qualitative, discrete, ordinal
Annual income: quantitative, continuous, ratio
Age: quantitative, continuous, ratio Difficulty: Medium Goal: 3, 4, 5

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