Question 1

A parameter is the boundary on the population of interest.

Accepted Answer

A parameter is a numerical characteristic of a population, not the boundary on the population of interest.

Question 2

It is possible for a nonstatistical sample to yield statistics that have values closer to the corresponding parameter than will a statistical sample.

Accepted Answer

This can happen if the nonstatistical sample was intentionally selected to be representative of the population, while the statistical sample was not properly designed or executed. However, in general, statistical samples are more likely to yield statistics that are representative of the population parameter.

Question 3

Population parameters are descriptive numerical measures,such as an average,that describe the entire population.

Accepted Answer

Population parameters are, by definition, descriptive measures that describe the entire population.

Question 4

When a company scans the bar codes on its products in an effort to count the number of products that remain in inventory,the company is collecting data through experimentation.

Accepted Answer

Scanning bar codes to count inventory is an example of observational data collection, not experimentation, as it involves observing and recording existing conditions without manipulating any variables.

Question 5

Recently,an analyst in a company's marketing department surveyed customers regarding how often they buy a particular product.One customer indicated that she purchased the product 17 times in the last six months,but the analyst recorded the response as 71 times.This is an example of observer bias.

Accepted Answer

This is an example of a data entry error or recording error, not observer bias. Observer bias occurs when the researcher's expectations or preferences influence the recording of data or interpretation of results, not simple mistakes in data transcription.

Question 6

A census is an enumeration of the entire sample of items selected from the population of interest.

Accepted Answer

A census is an enumeration of the entire population of interest, not just a sample.

Question 7

When the production manager selects a sample of items that have been produced on her production line and computes the proportion of those items that are defective,the proportion is referred to as a statistic.

Accepted Answer

This is because a statistic is a numerical value that summarizes a sample of data and is used to make inferences about the population from which the sample was drawn. In this case, the production manager is computing the proportion of defective items in her sample, which is a statistic.

Question 8

When a survey is done you can always assume that non-respondents would have answered the same way as those who did respond.

Accepted Answer

It is not safe to assume that non-respondents would have answered the same way as respondents as there may be differences in characteristics or opinions between the two groups. This is known as non-response bias.

Question 9

When the United States conducts a census that counts all people in the country,this is an example of using a sample.

Accepted Answer

When the United States conducts a census, it does not use a sample. Instead, it tries to count every individual living in the country.

Question 10

If an analyst computes statistics from a sample,the sample is by definition a statistical sample.

Accepted Answer

The answer of If an analyst computes statistics from a...

Question 11

It is possible for an interviewer to interject bias into the data collection project by the way he or she asks the questions.

Accepted Answer

It is possible for an interviewer to interject bias into the data collection project by the way he or she asks the questions. This can happen through the interviewer's tone, word choice, or phrasing of the questions. It is important for interviewers to be aware of this possibility and take steps to minimize bias in their questioning.

Question 12

Data collected on the Internet can generally be considered accurate since the data must go through a screening process before they can be placed on the Internet.

Accepted Answer

Data on the Internet may not necessarily go through a screening process before being posted, making it prone to errors, misinformation, or incomplete information. It is important to always verify the accuracy and reliability of online data sources.

Question 13

When a group of university students takes a poll of their fellow students on whether they support a proposed fee increase,the sampling method they would use when students walking near the library are surveyed would be called a random sample.

Accepted Answer

The sampling method described is convenience sampling, not random sampling.

Question 14

Statistics are measures computed from the entire population of data.

Accepted Answer

Statistics are measures computed from a sample of the population, not the entire population.

Question 15

When the marketing manager for a large company surveys a portion of the total customers of his company,he is using a sample from the population.

Accepted Answer

When the marketing manager surveys a portion of the total customers, he is using a sample from the population of all customers.

Question 16

A sample is selected from a population in cases where selecting data from the entire population is either very difficult or very expensive.

Accepted Answer

This is true. Sampling is often used as a cost-effective and practical method for obtaining information about a population.

Question 17

A pharmaceutical company conducts a study where 50 patients are given a drug.They find that 10 percent of patients experience nausea as a side effect.This 10 percent is an example of a parameter.

Accepted Answer

This 10 percent is an example of a statistic because it is a measure derived from a sample (the 50 patients) rather than the entire population.

Question 18

The First National Bank mailed out a survey to all 3,456 savings account customers.A total of 568 surveys were returned.Values computed from the returned surveys would constitute parameters since all 568 customers were surveyed.

Accepted Answer

Values computed from the returned surveys would constitute statistics, not parameters, because they are derived from a sample (568 respondents) of the entire population (3,456 customers), not the entire population itself.

Question 19

Selection bias occurs when the respondent decides which of the questions on the survey to answer.

Accepted Answer

Selection bias refers to a distortion in a statistical analysis, resulting from the method of collecting samples. It occurs when the sample obtained is not representative of the population intended to be analyzed, not from respondents choosing which questions to answer on a survey.

Question 20

When people fail to respond to a survey,the data collection process may suffer from nonresponse bias.

Accepted Answer

Nonresponse bias occurs when individuals who do not respond to a survey differ in some way from those who do respond, leading to a biased sample. This can negatively impact the accuracy and representativeness of the data collected.

Quiz 1: The Where,Why,and How of Data Collection