Unit 3: Sampling techniques and descriptive statistics - Practice Quiz

GEN532 — Research Methodology 60 Questions
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1 In statistics, a sample is best defined as:

introduction to sampling Easy
A. A single data value
B. A subset selected from the population
C. The entire group under study
D. A summary measure of data

2 The complete set of all items or individuals under study is called the:

introduction to sampling Easy
A. Variable
B. Sample
C. Population
D. Statistic

3 One main advantage of sampling over studying the whole population is that it:

introduction to sampling Easy
A. Removes all errors
B. Saves time and cost
C. Always gives exact results
D. Increases the population size

4 In simple random sampling, every member of the population has:

types of sampling: random and non random sampling Easy
A. An equal chance of being selected
B. No chance of being selected
C. A chance based on convenience
D. A chance based on their opinion

5 Which of the following is an example of non-random sampling?

types of sampling: random and non random sampling Easy
A. Convenience sampling
B. Stratified random sampling
C. Simple random sampling
D. Systematic random sampling

6 Dividing a population into subgroups and then randomly selecting from each is called:

types of sampling: random and non random sampling Easy
A. Quota sampling
B. Stratified sampling
C. Snowball sampling
D. Judgment sampling

7 In which sampling method does the researcher select units based on personal expertise or judgment?

types of sampling: random and non random sampling Easy
A. Systematic sampling
B. Judgment sampling
C. Cluster sampling
D. Simple random sampling

8 Data that describes qualities or categories, such as colour or gender, is called:

introduction to types of data-qualitative, quantitative, ordinal Easy
A. Discrete data
B. Continuous data
C. Qualitative data
D. Quantitative data

9 Which of the following is an example of quantitative data?

introduction to types of data-qualitative, quantitative, ordinal Easy
A. Blood group
B. Eye colour
C. Favourite food
D. Height in centimetres

10 Data that can be ranked in a meaningful order, such as poor, average, good, is called:

introduction to types of data-qualitative, quantitative, ordinal Easy
A. Nominal data
B. Ordinal data
C. Ratio data
D. Continuous data

11 The arithmetic mean of the values is:

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Easy
A.
B.
C.
D.

12 The median of a data set is the:

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Easy
A. Middle value when data is arranged in order
B. Most frequently occurring value
C. Sum of all values
D. Difference between largest and smallest values

13 The median of the values is:

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Easy
A.
B.
C.
D.

14 The arithmetic mean is calculated by:

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Easy
A. Choosing the middle value
B. Dividing the sum of values by their number
C. Picking the most common value
D. Subtracting the smallest from the largest

15 Which measure of central tendency is most affected by extreme values (outliers)?

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Easy
A. Range
B. Arithmetic mean
C. Median
D. Mode

16 Which of the following is a characteristic of an ideal average?

characteristics of an ideal average Easy
A. It should be easy to understand and calculate
B. It should always be the largest value
C. It should ignore some of the data
D. It should change with the observer

17 An ideal average should be based on:

characteristics of an ideal average Easy
A. A single random observation
B. Only the smallest observation
C. All observations in the data
D. Only the largest observation

18 The value of Karl Pearson's coefficient of correlation always lies between:

correlation - Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation Easy
A. and
B. and
C. and
D. and

19 A Karl Pearson correlation coefficient of indicates:

correlation - Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation Easy
A. Perfect negative correlation
B. No correlation
C. A weak correlation
D. Perfect positive correlation

20 Inferential statistics is mainly used to:

introduction to inferential statistics Easy
A. Measure only qualitative data
B. Only organise data in tables
C. Draw conclusions about a population from a sample
D. List every value in the population

21 A researcher studies employees but collects data from only of them. The employees represent the:

introduction to sampling Medium
A. Parameter
B. Census
C. Population
D. Sample

22 Which of the following is the main advantage of sampling over a complete census?

introduction to sampling Medium
A. It always eliminates all forms of error
B. It reduces cost and time while giving reliable estimates
C. It removes the need for statistical inference
D. It guarantees results identical to the population

23 A researcher selects every person from a list of customers to form a sample. This method is called:

types of sampling: random and non random sampling Medium
A. Quota sampling
B. Convenience sampling
C. Systematic sampling
D. Stratified sampling

24 A market researcher interviews shoppers who happen to be near the store entrance because they are easy to reach. This is an example of:

types of sampling: random and non random sampling Medium
A. Systematic sampling
B. Convenience sampling
C. Simple random sampling
D. Cluster sampling

25 To ensure each subgroup (age group) is proportionally represented, a researcher divides the population into age groups and samples from each. This is:

types of sampling: random and non random sampling Medium
A. Cluster sampling
B. Stratified sampling
C. Quota sampling
D. Snowball sampling

26 Which of the following is a key feature that distinguishes random sampling from non-random sampling?

types of sampling: random and non random sampling Medium
A. The sample size is always larger
B. It is always cheaper to conduct
C. It does not require a sampling frame
D. Every unit has a known, nonzero chance of selection

27 The variable "customer satisfaction" measured as Poor, Average, Good, Excellent is an example of which type of data?

introduction to types of data-qualitative, quantitative, ordinal Medium
A. Interval
B. Ratio
C. Ordinal
D. Nominal

28 Which of the following variables is quantitative (numerical)?

introduction to types of data-qualitative, quantitative, ordinal Medium
A. Blood group of a patient
B. Number of children in a family
C. Marital status
D. Favourite colour

29 A dataset records the gender of respondents as Male or Female. This is best classified as:

introduction to types of data-qualitative, quantitative, ordinal Medium
A. Discrete quantitative data
B. Ordinal data
C. Nominal qualitative data
D. Continuous quantitative data

30 The arithmetic mean of the values is:

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Medium
A.
B.
C.
D.

31 Find the median of the data set: .

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Medium
A.
B.
C.
D.

32 In a dataset containing an extreme outlier, which measure of central tendency is most appropriate?

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Medium
A. Arithmetic mean
B. Sum of values
C. Range
D. Median

33 The mean of observations is . If one observation of value is removed, the mean of the remaining becomes:

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Medium
A.
B.
C.
D.

34 The median of the ordered data is:

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Medium
A.
B.
C.
D.

35 Which of the following is NOT a desirable characteristic of an ideal average?

characteristics of an ideal average Medium
A. It should be rigidly defined
B. It should be easy to understand
C. It should be affected greatly by extreme values
D. It should be based on all observations

36 Which characteristic of the arithmetic mean makes it suitable for further algebraic and statistical treatment?

characteristics of an ideal average Medium
A. It cannot be calculated for open-ended classes
B. It is based only on the middle value
C. It is capable of algebraic manipulation
D. It ignores extreme values

37 Karl Pearson's coefficient of correlation always lies within which range?

correlation - Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation Medium
A.
B.
C.
D.

38 If the correlation coefficient between two variables is , this indicates:

correlation - Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation Medium
A. A weak positive relationship
B. A perfect positive relationship
C. A strong negative linear relationship
D. No relationship at all

39 Karl Pearson's coefficient of correlation is given by which formula?

correlation - Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation Medium
A. (deviations from mean)
B.
C.
D.

40 A value of between two variables indicates:

correlation - Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation Medium
A. A strong negative correlation
B. That the variables are identical
C. No linear correlation between them
D. A perfect positive correlation

41 For a bivariate dataset, the covariance is , the standard deviation of is , and the standard deviation of is . What is the Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation?

correlation - Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

42 If each value of is multiplied by and each value of is increased by , how does the Karl Pearson correlation coefficient change?

correlation - Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation Hard
A. It becomes
B. It becomes
C. It becomes
D. It remains unchanged

43 A dataset of observations has a mean of . On rechecking, it is found that an observation recorded as should have been . What is the corrected mean?

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

44 Which characteristic of an ideal average is primarily violated by the mode when a dataset has two peaks of equal frequency?

characteristics of an ideal average Hard
A. It should be rigidly defined
B. It should be based on all observations
C. It should be easy to understand
D. It should be affected by extreme values

45 A researcher divides a population into strata by age group and then randomly selects proportionally from each stratum. Later the same list is sampled by selecting every -th person. Which two techniques are being combined?

types of sampling: random and non random sampling Hard
A. Convenience sampling and stratified sampling
B. Cluster sampling and quota sampling
C. Simple random sampling and snowball sampling
D. Stratified random sampling and systematic sampling

46 The mean of items was . Two items and were wrongly read as and . What is the correct mean?

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

47 Two variables have a Karl Pearson correlation coefficient of . What proportion of the variation in one variable is linearly explained by the other?

correlation - Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

48 A survey records customer satisfaction as 'Poor', 'Average', 'Good', 'Excellent'. Which statement is most accurate about this data?

introduction to types of data-qualitative, quantitative, ordinal Hard
A. It is nominal; categories have no meaningful order
B. It is ratio; a true zero point exists
C. It is interval; equal differences are guaranteed
D. It is ordinal; differences between categories are not necessarily equal

49 For a moderately skewed distribution, the mode is and the mean is . Using the empirical relationship, what is the approximate median?

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

50 Which of the following best describes the concept of 'sampling error'?

introduction to sampling Hard
A. Bias introduced by a poorly worded questionnaire
B. A mistake made while recording data during collection
C. The error caused by non-response from selected units
D. The difference between a sample statistic and the true population parameter due to observing only a subset

51 The regression coefficients of a dataset are and . What is the value of the correlation coefficient?

correlation - Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

52 A journalist interviews people found by asking initial respondents to refer their acquaintances, useful for studying a hidden population of undocumented workers. This technique is:

types of sampling: random and non random sampling Hard
A. Stratified sampling, a random method
B. Snowball sampling, a non-random method
C. Cluster sampling, a random method
D. Systematic sampling, a random method

53 The combined mean of two groups is . Group A has items with mean , and Group B has items with mean . What is the value of ?

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

54 In hypothesis testing, a Type I error occurs when:

introduction to inferential statistics Hard
A. The alternative hypothesis is accidentally set as the null
B. A false null hypothesis is retained
C. A true null hypothesis is rejected
D. The sample size is too small to detect an effect

55 Which average satisfies the maximum number of characteristics of an ideal average, being rigidly defined, based on all observations, and capable of further algebraic treatment?

characteristics of an ideal average Hard
A. Mode
B. Median
C. Arithmetic mean
D. Geometric mode

56 A student computes for a dataset. What is the most appropriate conclusion?

correlation - Karl Pearson coefficient of correlation Hard
A. There is a very strong positive correlation exceeding perfect correlation
B. The variables are causally dependent on each other
C. A computational error occurred, since must lie between and
D. The relationship is non-linear and can exceed

57 Which of the following variables is best classified as discrete quantitative data?

introduction to types of data-qualitative, quantitative, ordinal Hard
A. Number of defective items in a batch
B. Blood group of patients
C. Height of students in centimetres
D. Ranking in a competition

58 In a distribution of incomes with a few extremely high earners, which measure of central tendency is most appropriate and why?

measures of central tendency: arithmetic Mean, average, median and its importance Hard
A. Median, because it is not distorted by extreme values
B. Mean, because it uses all observations
C. Mean, because it is easiest to compute
D. Mode, because it identifies the most common income

59 A researcher wants to generalize findings from a sample to a population using probability theory. This process best exemplifies:

introduction to inferential statistics Hard
A. Inferential statistics through estimation and hypothesis testing
B. Descriptive statistics through data summarization
C. Data cleaning and preprocessing techniques
D. Census enumeration of the entire population

60 A factory quality inspector, needing quick results, tests only the units placed nearest to the office door each morning. What is the key limitation of this approach?

types of sampling: random and non random sampling Hard
A. Stratified sampling was applied without defining strata
B. Convenience sampling introduces bias, so results may not represent the whole batch
C. Simple random sampling was used but the sample size is too small
D. Systematic sampling requires a fixed interval that is missing here