Chapter 3: Numerical Descriptive Measures

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers
the question.

1) Which of the following statistics is not a measure of central tendency? 1)

A) Arithmetic mean B) Q3
C) Mode D) Median

2) Which of the arithmetic mean, median, mode, and geometric mean are 2)
resistant measures of central tendency?
A) The arithmetic mean and median only
B) The mode and arithmetic mean only
C) The median and mode only
D) The arithmetic mean and mode only

3) Which of the following is the easiest to compute? 3)

A) The sum of the values B) The arithmetic mean
C) The mode D) The median

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers
the question.

SCENARIO 3-1

Health care issues are receiving much attention in both academic and political arenas. A sociologist
recently conducted a survey of citizens over 60 years of age whose net worth is too high to qualify
for Medicaid. The ages of 25 senior citizens were as follows:

60 61 62 63 64 65 66 68 68 69 70 73 73
74 75 76 76 81 81 82 86 87 89 90 92

4) Referring to Scenario 3-1, calculate the arithmetic mean age of the 4)

senior citizens to the nearest hundredth of a year.

5) Referring to Scenario 3-1, determine the median age of the senior 5)

citizens.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers
the question.

6) True or False: The median of the values 3.4, 4.7, 1.9, 7.6, and 6.5 is 1.9. 6)
A) True B) False

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 7) True or False: The median of the values 3.4, 4.7, 1.9, 7.6, and 6.5 is 4.05. 7)
A) True B) False

8) True or False: In a sample of size 40, the sample mean is 15. In this case, the 8)
sum of all observations in the sample is X i = 600.
A) True B) False

9) True or False: The median of a data set with 20 items would be the average of 9)
the 10th and the 11th items in the ordered array.
A) True B) False

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers
the question.

SCENARIO 3-3

The ordered array below represents the number of vitamin supplements sold by a health food
store in a sample of 16 days.

19, 19, 20, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 41

Note: For this sample, the sum of the values is 448, and the sum of the squared di erences between
each value and the mean is 812.

10) Referring to Scenario 3-3, the arithmetic mean of the number of 10)
vitamin supplements sold in this sample is ________.

11) Referring to Scenario 3-3, the median number of vitamin supplements 11)
sold in this sample is ________.

SCENARIO 3-5

The rates of return of a Fortune 500 company over the past 15 years are: 3.17%, 4.43%, 5.93%,
5.43%, 7.29%, 8.21%, 6.23%, 5.23%, 4.34%, 6.68%, 7.14%, -5.56%, -5.23%, -5.73%, -10.34%

12) Referring to Scenario 3-5, compute the arithmetic mean rate of return 12)
per year.

2
SCENARIO 3-7

In a recent academic year, many public universities in the United States raised tuition and fees due
to a decrease in state subsidies. The change in the cost of tuition, a shared dormitory room, and the
most popular meal plan from the previous academic year for a sample of 10 public universities
were as follows: $1,589, $593, $1,223, $869, $423, $1,720, $708, $1425, $922 and $308.

13) Referring to Scenario 3-7, what is the mean and median change in the 13)
cost?

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers
the question.

14) In a right-skewed distribution 14)

A) the median is greater than the arithmetic mean.
B) the median equals the arithmetic mean.
C) the median is less than the arithmetic mean.
D) none of the above.

15) True or False: The coefficient of variation measures variability in a data set 15)
relative to the size of the arithmetic mean.
A) True B) False

16) True or False: The coefficient of variation is a measure of central tendency in 16)
the data.
A) True B) False

17) True or False: The coefficient of variation is a measure of relative variation. 17)
A) True B) False

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SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers
the question.

SCENARIO 3-1

Health care issues are receiving much attention in both academic and political arenas. A sociologist
recently conducted a survey of citizens over 60 years of age whose net worth is too high to qualify
for Medicaid. The ages of 25 senior citizens were as follows:

60 61 62 63 64 65 66 68 68 69 70 73 73
74 75 76 76 81 81 82 86 87 89 90 92

18) Referring to Scenario 3-1, calculate the skewness statistic for the age of 18)
the senior citizens accurate to two decimal places.

19) Referring to Scenario 3-1, what type of shape does the distribution of 19)
the sample appear to have?

20) Referring to Scenario 3-1, calculate the kurtosis statistic for the age of 20)
the senior citizens accurate to two decimal places.

21) Referring to Scenario 3-1, does the distribution of the sample appear 21)
to be lepokurtic or platykurtic?

22) Referring to Scenario 3-1, calculate the variance of the ages of the 22)
senior citizens correct to the nearest hundredth of a year squared.

23) Referring to Scenario 3-1, calculate the standard deviation of the ages 23)
of the senior citizens correct to the nearest hundredth of a year.

24) Referring to Scenario 3-1, calculate the coe cient of variation of the 24)
ages of the senior citizens.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers
the question.

25) True or False: A population with 200 elements has an arithmetic mean of 10. 25)
From this information, it can be shown that the population standard
deviation is 15.
A) True B) False

4
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers
the question.

SCENARIO 3-3

The ordered array below represents the number of vitamin supplements sold by a health food
store in a sample of 16 days.

19, 19, 20, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 41

Note: For this sample, the sum of the values is 448, and the sum of the squared di erences between
each value and the mean is 812.

26) Referring to Scenario 3-3, the skewness statistic of the number of 26)
vitamin supplements sold in this sample is ________.

27) Referring to Scenario 3-3, is the number of vitamin supplements sold 27)
in this sample right- or left- skewed?

28) Referring to Scenario 3-3, the kurtosis statistic of the number of 28)
vitamin supplements sold in this sample is ________.

29) Referring to Scenario 3-3, is the number of vitamin supplements sold 29)
in this sample lepokurtic or platykurtic?

30) Referring to Scenario 3-3, the range of the number of vitamin 30)
supplements sold in this sample is ________.

31) Referring to Scenario 3-3, the variance of the number of vitamin 31)
supplements sold in this sample is ________.

32) Referring to Scenario 3-3, the standard deviation of the number of 32)
vitamin supplements sold in this sample is ________.

33) Referring to Scenario 3-3, the coe cient of variation of the number of 33)
vitamin supplements sold in this sample is ________ percent.

34) Referring to Scenario 3-3, what type of shape does the distribution of 34)
the sample appear to have?

5
SCENARIO 3-5

The rates of return of a Fortune 500 company over the past 15 years are: 3.17%, 4.43%, 5.93%,
5.43%, 7.29%, 8.21%, 6.23%, 5.23%, 4.34%, 6.68%, 7.14%, -5.56%, -5.23%, -5.73%, -10.34%

35) Referring to Scenario 3-5, what is the range of the rate of return? 35)

36) Referring to Scenario 3-5, what is the shape of the distribution for the 36)
rate of return?

SCENARIO 3-7

In a recent academic year, many public universities in the United States raised tuition and fees due
to a decrease in state subsidies. The change in the cost of tuition, a shared dormitory room, and the
most popular meal plan from the previous academic year for a sample of 10 public universities
were as follows: $1,589, $593, $1,223, $869, $423, $1,720, $708, $1425, $922 and $308.

37) Referring to Scenario 3-7, what is the standard deviation of the change 37)
in the cost?

38) Referring to Scenario 3-7, what is the coe cient of variation of the 38)
change in cost?

39) Referring to Scenario 3-7, what is the skewness statistic of the change 39)
in the cost?

40) Referring to Scenario 3-7, is the change in the cost right- or 40)
left-skewed?

41) Referring to Scenario 3-7, what is the kurtosis statistic of the change in 41)
the cost?

42) Referring to Scenario 3-7, is the change in the cost lepokurtic or 42)
platykurtic?

43) Referring to Scenario 3-7, what are the (absolute values of) the Z 43)
scores of the change in cost?

6
 44) Referring to Scenario 3-7, are the data skewed? If so, how? 44)

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers
the question.

45) In general, which of the following descriptive summary measures cannot be 45)
easily approximated from a boxplot?
A) The variance B) The median
C) The range D) The interquartile range

46) The smaller the spread of scores around the arithmetic mean, 46)
A) the smaller the coefficient of variation.
B) the smaller the standard deviation.
C) the smaller the interquartile range.
D) All the above.

47) In right-skewed distributions, which of the following is the correct 47)

statement?
A) The distance from Q1 to Q2 is greater than the distance from Q2 to Q3.
B) The distance from Q1 to Q2 is less than the distance from Q2 to Q3.
C) The mode is greater than the arithmetic mean.
D) The arithmetic mean is less than the median.

48) In left-skewed distributions, which of the following is the correct statement? 48)
A) The distance from the smallest observation to Q2 is less than the
distance from Q2 to the largest observation.
B) The distance from Q1 to Q3 is twice the distance from the Q1 to Q2.
C) The distance from the smallest observation to Q1 is larger than the
distance from Q3 to the largest observation.
D) The distance from Q1 to Q2 is smaller than the distance from Q2 to Q3.

49) Which of the following is NOT sensitive to extreme values? 49)

A) The standard deviation B) The coefficient of variation
C) The range D) The interquartile range

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 50) A manufacturer of ashlight ba eries took a sample of 130 ba eries from a 50)
day's production and used them continuously until they were drained. The
number of hours until failure are recorded. Given below is the boxplot of the
number of hours it took to drain each of the 130 ba eries. The distribution of
the number of hours is

A) symmetrical. B) right-skewed.
C) left-skewed. D) none of the above

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers
the question.

SCENARIO 3-1

Health care issues are receiving much attention in both academic and political arenas. A sociologist
recently conducted a survey of citizens over 60 years of age whose net worth is too high to qualify
for Medicaid. The ages of 25 senior citizens were as follows:

60 61 62 63 64 65 66 68 68 69 70 73 73
74 75 76 76 81 81 82 86 87 89 90 92

51) Referring to Scenario 3-1 determine the rst quartile of the ages of the 51)
senior citizens.

52) Referring to Scenario 3-1 determine the third quartile of the ages of 52)
the senior citizens.

8
 53) Referring to Scenario 3-1, determine the interquartile range of the ages 53)
of the senior citizens.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers
the question.

54) Referring to Scenario 3-1, determine which of the following is the correct 54)
statement.
A) The mean age of senior citizens sampled is 73.5 years of age.
B) The middle 50% of the senior citizens sampled are between 65.5 and
73.0 years of age.
C) One fourth of the senior citizens sampled are below 65.5 years of age.
D) All of the above are correct.

55) Referring to Scenario 3-1, identify which of the following is the correct 55)
statement.
A) The middle 50% of the senior citizens sampled are between 65.5 and
73.0 years of age.
B) 25% of the senior citizens sampled are older than 81.5 years of age.
C) One fourth of the senior citizens sampled are below 64 years of age.
D) All of the above are correct.

56) True or False: In a set of numerical data, the value for Q3 can never be 56)
smaller than the value for Q1.
A) True B) False

57) True or False: In a set of numerical data, the value for Q2 is always halfway 57)
between Q1 and Q3.
A) True B) False

58) True or False: If the distribution of a data set were perfectly symmetrical, the 58)
distance from Q1 to the median would always equal the distance from Q3 to
the median in a boxplot.
A) True B) False

59) True or False: In right-skewed distributions, the distance from Q3 to the 59)
largest value is greater than the distance from the smallest observation to
Q1.
A) True B) False

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60) True or False: In left-skewed distributions, the distance from the smallest 60)
value to Q1 is greater than the distance from Q3 to the largest value.
A) True B) False

61) True or False: A boxplot is a graphical representation of a five-number 61)

summary.
A) True B) False

62) True or False: The five-number summary consists of the smallest value, the 62)
first quartile, the median, the third quartile, and the largest value.
A) True B) False

63) True or False: In a boxplot, the box portion represents the data between the 63)
first and third quartile values.
A) True B) False

64) True or False: The line drawn within the box of the boxplot always 64)
represents the arithmetic mean.
A) True B) False

65) True or False: The line drawn within the box of the boxplot always 65)
represents the median.
A) True B) False

66) True or False: In exploratory data analysis, a boxplot can be used to illustrate 66)
the median, quartiles, and extreme values.
A) True B) False

67) True or False: The interquartile range is a measure of variation or dispersion 67)
in a set of data.
A) True B) False

68) True or False: The interquartile range is a measure of central tendency in a 68)
set of data.
A) True B) False

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SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers
the question.

SCENARIO 3-3

The ordered array below represents the number of vitamin supplements sold by a health food
store in a sample of 16 days.

19, 19, 20, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 30, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 41

Note: For this sample, the sum of the values is 448, and the sum of the squared di erences between
each value and the mean is 812.

69) Referring to Scenario 3-3, the rst quartile of the number of vitamin 69)
supplements sold in this sample is ________.

70) Referring to Scenario 3-3, the third quartile of the number of vitamin 70)
supplements sold in this sample is ________.

71) Referring to Scenario 3-3, the interquartile range of the number of 71)
vitamin supplements sold in this sample is ________.

72) Referring to Scenario 3-3, the ve-number summary of the data in 72)
this sample consists of ________, ________, ________, ________,
________.

73) Referring to Scenario 3-3, construct a boxplot for the data in this 73)
sample.

SCENARIO 3-5

The rates of return of a Fortune 500 company over the past 15 years are: 3.17%, 4.43%, 5.93%,
5.43%, 7.29%, 8.21%, 6.23%, 5.23%, 4.34%, 6.68%, 7.14%, -5.56%, -5.23%, -5.73%, -10.34%

74) Referring to Scenario 3-5, construct a boxplot for the rate of return. 74)

11
SCENARIO 3-7

In a recent academic year, many public universities in the United States raised tuition and fees due
to a decrease in state subsidies. The change in the cost of tuition, a shared dormitory room, and the
most popular meal plan from the previous academic year for a sample of 10 public universities
were as follows: $1,589, $593, $1,223, $869, $423, $1,720, $708, $1425, $922 and $308.

75) Referring to Scenario 3-7, what is the ve-number summary of the 75)
change in the cost?

76) Referring to Scenario 3-7, what is the interquartile range of the change 76)
in the cost?

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers
the question.

77) In a perfectly symmetrical bell-shaped "normal" distribution 77)

A) the arithmetic mean equals the mode.
B) the median equals the mode.
C) the arithmetic mean equals the median.
D) All the above.

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers
the question.

SCENARIO 3-9

The following table represents the assets in billions of dollars of the five largest bond funds
sometime in the past.

Bond Fund Assets (Billions $)

PIMCO Total Return Fund 246
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index
Fund 110
Templeton Global Bond Fund 57
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index
Fund II 56
Vanguard Inflation-Protected
Securities 43

78) Referring to Scenario 3-9, what is the mean for this population of the 78)
five largest bond funds?

12
 79) Referring to Scenario 3-9, what are the variance and standard 79)
deviation for this population?

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers
the question.

80) According to the empirical rule, if the data form a "bell-shaped" normal 80)
distribution, ________ percent of the observations will be contained within 2
standard deviations around the arithmetic mean.
A) 88.89 B) 68.26 C) 93.75 D) 95.44

81) According to the empirical rule, if the data form a "bell-shaped" normal 81)
distribution, ________ percent of the observations will be contained within 3
standard deviations around the arithmetic mean.
A) 95.0 B) 99.7 C) 68.26 D) 75.00

82) According to the Chebyshev rule, at least 93.75% of all observations in any 82)
data set are contained within a distance of how many standard deviations
around the mean?
A) 4 B) 3 C) 1 D) 2

83) According to the Chebyshev rule, at least what percentage of the 83)
observations in any data set are contained within a distance of 2 standard
deviations around the mean?
A) 75% B) 67% C) 88.89% D) 95%

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers
the question.

SCENARIO 3-11

Given below are the closing prices for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the Standard &
Poor's (S&P) 500 Index over a 10-week period sometime in the past.

Dow 10,42 10,11 10,47 10,59 11,21 10,93 11,13 10,31

Jones 1 0 9,862 5 9,920 2 3 3 4 6
S&P 500 1,379 1,356 1,343 1,410 1,389 1,463 1,529 1,499 1,516 1,355

84) Referring to Scenario 3-11, what is the sample covariance between 84)
the DJIA and the S&P 500 index?

13
 85) Referring to Scenario 3-11, what is the sample correlation coe cient 85)
between the DJIA and the S&P 500 index?

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers
the question.

86) Referring to Scenario 3-11, how will you classify the linear relationship 86)
between the DJIA and the S&P 500 index?
A) Moderate B) Weak
C) Strong D) No relationship

87) Referring to Scenario 3-11, for the week when the DJIA is high, you will 87)
expect the S&P index in that week to
A) be low.
B) be about the same value as the DJIA.
C) be high.
D) have no relationship with the DJIA value.

88) Referring to Scenario 3-11, you will expect an increase in the DJIA to be 88)
associated with
A) no predictable change in the S&P 500 index.
B) an increase in the S&P 500 index.
C) a decrease in the S&P 500 index.
D) no predictable change in the DJIA.

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers
the question.

SCENARIO 3-13

Energy drink consumption has continued to gain in popularity since the 1997 debut of Red Bull, the
current leader in the energy drink market. Given below are the exam scores and the number of
12-ounce energy drinks consumed within a week prior to the exam of 10 college students.

Exam Scores 75 92 84 64 64 86 81 61 73 93
Number of
Drinks 5 3 2 4 2 7 3 0 1 0

89) Referring to Scenario 3-13, what is the sample covariance between the 89)
exam scores and the number of energy drinks consumed?

14
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers
the question.

90) Referring to Scenario 3-13, how will you classify the linear relationship 90)
between the exam scores and the number of energy drinks consumed?
A) Moderate B) Strong
C) No relationship D) Weak

91) Referring to Scenario 3-13, for a student who has consumed a high number 91)
of energy drinks within the week prior to the exam, you will expect his/her
exam score to
A) not be noticeably different than the exam score had he/she not
consumed as much.
B) be noticeably higher than the exam score had he/she not consume as
much energy drink.
C) not be noticeably different than the amount of energy drinks that
he/she consumed.
D) be noticeably lower than the exam score had he/she not consume as
much energy drink.

92) Referring to Scenario 3-13, you will expect a decrease in the amount of 92)
energy drink consumed within the week prior to the exam to be associated
with
A) an increase in the exam score.
B) no predictable change in the exam score.
C) no predictable change in the amount of energy drink consumed after
the exam.
D) a decrease in the exam score.

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers
the question.

93) Referring to Scenario 3-13, what is the sample correlation coe cient 93)
between the exam scores and the number of energy drinks
consumed?

15
Answer Key
Testname: CH3-NUMERICAL DESCRIPTIVE MEASUR ES

1) B
2) C
3) C
4) 74.04 years
5) 73 years
6) B
7) B
8) A
9) A
10) 28
11) 26.5
12) 2.48%
13) $978, $895.5
14) C
15) A
16) B
17) A
18) 0.36
19) Slightly positive or right-skewed
20) -1.01
21) lepokurtic
22) 94.96 years2
23) 9.74 years
24) 13.16%
25) B
26) 0.29
27) Right-skewed
28) -1.32
29) platykurtic
30) 22
31) 54.13
32) 7.36
33) 26.3%
34) Slightly positive or right-skewed
35) 18.55%
36) Left-skewed
37) $491.8
38) 50.29%
39) 0.22
40) Right-skewed
41) -1.32
42) platykurtic
43) 1.24, 0.78, 0.50, 0.22, 1.13, 1.51, 0.55, 0.91, 0.11, 1.36
44) skewed to the right
45) A
16
Answer Key
Testname: CH3-NUMERICAL DESCRIPTIVE MEASUR ES

46) D
47) B
48) C
49) D
50) B
51) 65.5 years
52) 81.5 years
53) 16 years
54) C
55) B
56) A
57) B
58) A
59) A
60) A
61) A
62) A
63) A
64) B
65) A
66) A
67) A
68) B
69) 20
70) 35
71) 15
72) 19, 20, 26.5, 35, 41
73)

17
Answer Key
Testname: CH3-NUMERICAL DESCRIPTIVE MEASUR ES

74)

75) $308, $593, $895.5, $1425, and $1720

76) $832
77) D
78) $102.4 billions
79) 5,684.24 squared billion dollars, $75.39 billions, respectively
80) D
81) B
82) A
83) A
84) 31594.7333
85) 0.9274
86) C
87) C
88) B
89) 3.7667
90) D
91) A
92) B
93) 0.1450

18