UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS 2016/2017 ACADEMIC YEAR

3rd YEAR EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCEINCE

NURSING (UPGRADING)

COURSE CODE/TITLE: HNS B308: BIOSTATISTICS

END OF SESSION: VIII DURATION: 3 HOURS

DAY/TIME: WEDNESDAY:8.00- 11.00AM DATE:14/12/2016 (NEW LIB)

ANSWER: QUESTION ALL QUESTIONS

SECTION A (20 MARKS)
1. The mean is:
a) summary of some data estimated by adding all the numbers, and dividing by the number of
numbers minus one.
b) a summary of the data that is a measure of the population rather than the sample.
c) a summary of some data that is always half way between the maximum and minimum value of the
data.
d) a summary of the data in terms of the most common value of the data.
e) none of the above.

2. If data show "homogeneity of variance", it means that:

(a) they must be analysed with a Chi-Square test.
(b) scores in each group or condition show comparable amounts of variance.
(c) the data are normally distributed.
(d) they have been measured on an interval or ratio scale.
(e) none of the above.

3. The variance is always:

(a) a measure of how noisy the data are, relative to a control.
(b) the square of the standard deviation.
(c) a measure of how many mistakes the subjects made.
(d) a measure that changes if you add a constant to all of the data.
(e) none of the above.

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4. The null hypothesis is always:
(a) proved to be incorrect by a significant result.
(b) the hypothesis you do not believe before an experiment.
(c) the simplest explanation for the data collected.
(d) Shown to be highly unlikely by a significant result.
(e) none of the above.

5. For the results of a parametric statistical test to be valid, the data should:
(a) not show homogeneity of variance.
(b) be measurements on a categorical scale
(c) show homoscedasticity.
(d) be roughly normally distributed.
(e) be measurements on a rating scale.

6. A type two error:

(a) is when one rejects the null hypothesis when it is in fact true.
(b) is when one accepts the null hypothesis when it is false.
(c) is always the result of bias in the sample.
(d) is the error of using the wrong test.
(e) is the error of using the same data twice.

7. A significant negative correlation between data sets implies:

(a) that there is no relationship between the two sets of data.
(b) that the relationship between two sets of data is not a simple linear one.
(c) that one data set is related to the other at better than chance levels.
(d) that the data consist mainly of negative numbers.
(e) none of the above.

8. If a sample is unrepresentative, this implies:

(a) that not enough data were collected.
(b) that the data are not normally distributed.
(c) that one single measurement was not typical and therefore not useful.
(d) that this sample should not be used to make inferences about the population.
(e) none of the above.

9. If data are normally distributed:

(a) the data are typical of the population.
(b) the data consist of categorical data.
(c) the probability distribution of the population is bell shaped.
(d) the data are always positive.
(e) the data are based on ranks.
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10. If you perform a one-tailed statistical test, your hypothesis is:
(a) that the experiment was conducted double blind.
(b) that the difference between your groups will be in a specific direction.
(c) that two different measurements are unpredictable from each other.
(d) that the variance of two measurements does not differ significantly.
(e) that the mean of two measurements does not differ significantly.

11 The following sample was obtained from group of high blood pressure patients. 2, 3, 7,
8,9,10 what is the standard error of the mean of this sample
a. 1.86 b 3.27 c. 1.34 d. 3.34
12 A variable is a
a) subset of the population
b) parameter of the population.
c) relative frequency.
d) characteristic of the population to be measured.

13. The probability of committing a Type I error is called

a)  b)  c)  d) 

14. Consider the following null and alternative hypotheses.

H 0 :   78 H a :   81
These hypotheses _______________.
a) are not mutually exclusive
b) are not collectively exhaustive
c) do not reference a population parameter
d) are established correctly

15. A national achievement test is administered to nurses annually. The test has a mean score of
100 and a standard deviation of 15. If Jane’s z-score is 1.20, what was her score on the test?
a) 82 b) 118 c) 100 d) 112

16. Which of the following is an example of nominal qualitative variable

a. Blood pressure level.
b. The number of times a child brush his/her teeth.
c. Whether or not someone fail in an exam.
d. Weight of babies at birth.
e. The time to run a certain distance.

17. The stages of a malignant disease (cancer) is recorded using the symbols 0, I, II, III, IV. We
say that the scale used is:
a). Alphanumeric b). Numerical c). Ordinal d). Nominal

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18) The median of a series of numerical values is:
a) A value for which half of the values are higher and half of the values are lower
b) The value located exactly midway between the minimum and maximum of the series
c) The most commonly encountered values among the series
d) A measure of the eccentricity of the series
19. Pearson correlation coefficient, denoted by r, measures:
a) The scattering strength of data for a statistical series
b) The strength of the correlation between the mean and median
c) The strength of the linear relationship between two numerical variables
d) The tendency of simultaneous increase for two numerical variables

20. Which of the statements below is not true of the Normal distribution. A Normal curve is a
curve which is:
a) Symmetrical to the mean
b) Symmetrical to the vertical axis, which passes through 0
c) Has a maximum where the average of the series of values is located
d) Tends to 0 towards plus infinity and minus infinity (i.e. very low and very high value

SECTION B (40 MARKS)

QUESTION ONE (10 MARKS)
The feeding habits of two species of net-casting spiders are studied. The species,
the deinopis and menneus, coexist in eastern Australia. The following data were obtained on the size,
in millimeters, of the prey of random samples of the two species:
Dinopis 12.9 10.2 7.4 7.0 10.5 11.9 7.1 9.9 14.4 11.3
Menneus 10.2 6.9 10.9 11.0 10.1 5.3 7.5 10.3 9.2 8.8
i. Calculate the mean size for Dinopis and Menneus [2 marks]
ii. Calculate the standard deviation for Dinopis and Menneus [4 marks]
iii. Construct and interpret a 95% confidence interval for the difference in population means
[4 marks]
QUESTION TWO (10 MARKS)
a) Are there physiological indicators associated with schizophrenia? In a 1990 article, researchers
reported the results of a study that controlled for genetic and socioeconomic differences by
examining 15 pairs of identical twins, where one of the twins was schizophrenic and the other not.
The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to measure the volumes (in cubic centimeters)
of several regions and subregions inside the twins' brains. The following data came from one of
the subregions, the left hippocampus:

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 Pair Unaffect Affect
1. 1.94 1.27
2. 1.44 1.63
3. 1.56 1.47
4. 1.58 1.39
5. 2.06 1.93
6. 1.66 1.26
7. 1.75 1.71
8. 1.77 1.67
9. 1.78 1.28
10. 1.92 1.85
11. 1.25 1.02
12. 1.93 1.34
13. 2.04 2.02
14. 1.62 1.59
15. 2.08 1.97

What is the magnitude of the difference in the volumes of the left hippocampus between (all)
unaffected and affected individuals ? (construct a 95% confidence interval) [6 marks]

b) A researcher wants to estimate μ, the mean systolic blood pressure of Pwani University students,
with 95% confidence and error ε no larger than 3 mm Hg. How many students n, should the
researcher randomly sample to achieve her estimation goal if the sample standard deviation is
estimated to be 10? [4 marks]
QUESTION THREE (10 MARKS)

A sample of 6 children was selected; data about their age in years and weight in kilograms was
recorded as shown in the following table.
i. Draw a scatter plot for this data [3 marks]
ii. Find the Pearson correlation coefficient between age and weight. [6 marks]
iii. Give an interpretation of the coefficient in ii above [1 mark]

SN Age (years) Weight (Kg)

1 7 12
2 6 8
3 8 12
4 5 10
5 6 11
6 9 13

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QUESTION FOUR (10 MARKS)

a) Differentiate between the terms population and sample [2 marks]

b) For each of the following variables indicate whether it is quantitative or qualitative variable
i. The blood type of some patient in the hospital [1 mark]
ii. Blood pressure level of a patient [1 mark]
iii. Weights of babies born in a hospital [1 mark]
iv. The distance between the hospital to the house [1 mark]
v. Under-arm temperature of day-old infants born in a hospital [1 mark]
vi. Gender of babies born in a hospital during a year [1 mark]
c) One of the larger species of tarantulas is the Grammostola mollicoma, whose common name is
the Brazilian giant tawny red. A tarantula has two body parts. The anterior part of the body is
covered above by a shell, or carapace. From a recent article by F. Costa and F. Perez-Miles
titled Reproductive Biology of Uruguayan, we find that the carapace length of the adult male
G. mollicoma is normally distributed with mean 18.14 mm and standard deviation 1.76 mm.
Find the percentage of adult male G. mollicoma that have carapace length between 16 mm and
17 mm. [2 marks]

SECTION C (40 MARKS)

QUESTION ONE (20 MARKS)

iv. Some trees in a forest were showing signs of disease. A random sample of 200 trees of
various sizes was examined yielding the following results:
Sign of disease
Disease free Doubtful Diseased
Large 35 18 15
Size
Medium 46 32 14
Small 24 8 8

i. What is the probability that one tree selected at random is large? [1 mark]
ii. What is the probability that one tree selected at random is diseased? [1 mark]
iii. What is the probability that one tree selected at random is both small and diseased?
[1 mark]
iv. What is the probability that one tree selected at ramdom is either small or disease free?
[2 marks]
v. Given that a tree is large, what is the probability that it is disease free [2 marks]
vi. Test at 5% level of significance whether there is an association between size and sign of
the disease [6 marks]

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 v. Let p equal the proportion of drivers who use a seat belt in a state that does not have a
mandatory seat belt law. It was claimed that p = 0.14. An advertising campaign was
conducted to increase this proportion. Two months after the campaign, y = 104 out of a
random sample of n = 590 drivers were wearing seat belts. At 1% level of significance,
was the campaign successful? [7 marks]

QUESTION TWO (20 MARKS)

a) A nutritionist wishes to find whether consumers have any preference among four flavours of a new
soda. A sample of 100 people provided the following data

Cherry Strawberry Orange Lime Grape

32 28 14 16 10
At 5% level of significance test the claim that there is no preference in selection of fruit soda
flavours. [4 Marks]

b) A researcher wishes to try three different techniques to lower the blood pressure of individuals
diagnosed with blood pressure (Bp). the subjects are randomly assigned to three groups; the first
group take medication, the second group exercise and the third group special diet. After 4 weeks the
reduction in each person’s blood pressure is recorded. At   0.05 test the claim that there is no
difference among the means. The data are shown below. [10 marks]

Medication 10 12 9 15 13
Exercise 6 8 3 0 2
Diet 5 9 12 8 4

c)The following data are uterine weights (in mg) of each of 20 rats drawn at random from a large
stock, is it likely that the mean weight for the whole stock could be 24 mg a value observed previously
at 5% level of significance ? [6 marks]

9 18 21 26 14 18 22 27 15 19
22 29 15 19 24 30 16 20 24 32

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