Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e

SAGE Publishing, 2017

Chapter 8: Are Your Curves Normal? Probability and Why It

Counts

Test Bank
Multiple Choice

1. What is the basis for the normal curve?

a. mean
b. asymptotic
c. probability
d. symmetry
Ans: c
Answer Location: Why Probability?
Learning Objective: Why understanding probability is basic to understanding statistics
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

2. What is the foundation of inferential statistics?

a. probability
b. linear algebra
c. mathematical proofs
d. Algebra
Ans: a
Answer Location: Why Probability?
Learning Objective: Why understanding probability is basic to understanding statistics
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Which of the following is a characteristic of the normal curve?

a. Mean, median, and mode are different.
b. Mean, median, and mode are the same.
c. Mean and median are the same, but the mode is different.
d. Mean and mode are the same, but the median is different.
Ans: b
Answer Location: The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Which of the following characteristics is associated with the “tails” of the normal curve?
a. asymptotic
b. symmetry
c. probability
d. bell-shape
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
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Ans: a
Answer Location: The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Which of the following is another name for the normal curve?

a. asymptotic
b. symmetry
c. probability
d. bell-shaped curve
Ans: d
Answer Location: The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

6. What characteristic of the normal curve deals with skewness?

a. asymptotic
b. symmetry
c. probability
d. mean, median, and mode
Ans: b
Answer Location: The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

7. The fact that the tails of a normal distribution never touch the horizontal axis relates to the
following property: ______.
a. symmetrical
b. asymptotic
c. equidistant
d. approximate
Ans: b
Answer Location: The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

8. If you fold a normal curve, each half would fit perfectly on top of the other. This characteristic
is known as _______.
a. asymptotic
b. symmetry
c. probability
d. variability
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
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Ans: b
Answer Location: The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

9. When we want to infer from a sample to the population, what assumption must be met?
a. The sample is normally distributed.
b. The sample is large.
c. The population is normally distributed.
d. The population is large.
Ans: c
Answer Location: Hey, That’s Not Normal!
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Under the normal curve, approximately what percentage of scores falls between −1 and +1
standard deviations around the mean?
a. 14%
b. 34%
c. 68%
d. 95%
Ans: c
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Under the normal curve, approximately what percentage of scores falls between −1 and −2
standard deviations below the mean?
a. 14%
b. 34%
c. 68%
d. 95%
Ans: a
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

12. What type of standard score has M = 0 and SD = 1?

a. IQ score
b. T score
c. x score
d. z score
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
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Ans: d
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

13. If you want to calculate a z score for a test where your raw score was 24, what other
information must you know?
a. shape of the distribution
b. mean, median, and mode
c. mean and standard deviation
d. standard deviation only
Ans: c
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

14. If you know the z score, standard deviation(s), and mean (M), what formula would you use to
compute the raw score (X)?
a. X = (z + s) ÷ M
b. M = z(s) + X
c. X = z(s) + M
d. z = (M – X) ÷ s
Ans: c
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Which of the following is true of z scores that fall below the mean?
a. They are positive.
b. They are equal to the mode.
c. They are negative.
d. They are in the upper half of the distribution.
Ans: c
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

16. Which of the following is true of z scores that fall above the mean?
a. They are negative.
b. They are positive.
c. They are equal to zero.
d. They are equal to one.
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
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Ans: b
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

17. What types of values are most likely to be seen?

a. Values very close to the mean
b. Values very far from the mean
c. Very high values
d. Very low values
Ans: a
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

18. What is true of z scores that are equal to the mean?

a. They are negative.
b. They are positive.
c. They are equal to zero.
d. They are equal to one.
Ans: c
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

19. What percentage of all scores fall below a z score of +1?

a. 16%
b. 34%
c. 50%
d. 84%
Ans: d
Answer Location: What z Scores Represent
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

20. What percentage of all scores fall above a z score of +1?

a. 16%
b. 34%
c. 50%
d. 84%
Ans: a
Answer Location: What z Scores Represent
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
SAGE Publishing, 2017

Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

21. In a distribution with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, what is the probability
that a score will be 115 or higher?
a. 16%
b. 34%
c. 50%
d. 84%
Ans: a
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

22. What type of standard score is computed by multiplying the z score by 10 and adding 50?
a. IQ score
b. t score
c. x score
d. z score
Ans: b
Answer Location: What z Scores Represent
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

23. What is the standard used by statisticians to determine the probability of an event occurring
outside of chance alone?
a. 0.05%
b. 5%
c. 95%
d. 99%
Ans: b
Answer Location: What z Scores Really Represent
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

24. If I flip a coin 10 times, how many possible combinations or outcomes could I have?
a. 102
b. 210
c. 1010
d. 22
Ans: b
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
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Answer Location: What z Scores Really Represent

Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

25. Under the normal curve, if a z score of 1.65 included 45% of the area above the mean, what
percentage would remain above 1.65 on the x-axis?
a. 5%
b. 25%
c. 85%
d. 95%
Ans: a
Answer Location: What z Scores Represent
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Hard

26. What is the z score for a raw score of 85 where the group mean is 75, and the standard
deviation is 5?
a. −2.0
b. 2.5
c. 2.0
d. −2.5
Ans: c
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

27. If the null hypothesis claims that there is no difference between groups, it assumes the
likelihood of this to be _______.
a. 0%
b. 5%
c. 95%
d. 100%
Ans: d
Answer Location: Hypothesis Testing and z Scores: The First Step
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

28. The _______ is the most commonly used standard score.

a. z score
b. t score
c. f score
d. p score
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
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Ans: a
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

29. To calculate a z score, you subtract ______.

a. the mean from the raw score and divide this difference by the standard deviation
b. the mean from the raw score and divide this difference by the variance
c. the raw score from the mean and divide this difference by the standard deviation
d. the raw score from the mean and divide this difference by the variance
Ans: a
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

30. z scores that fall below the mean are _______.

a. positive
b. negative
c. either positive or negative
d. zero
Ans: b
Answer Location: Our favorite standard score: the z score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

31. z scores that fall above the mean are _______.

a. positive
b. negative
c. zero
d. one
Ans: a
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

32. A score that is three standard deviations above the mean would have a z score of _______.
a. 0
b. −3
c. 3
d. 1
Ans: c
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
SAGE Publishing, 2017

Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores

Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

33. A score that is 2.5 standard deviations below the mean would have a z score of _______.
a. 2.5
b. −2.5
c. 0
d. 25
Ans: b
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

34. What is the t score for a z score of −1?

a. 10
b. 40
c. 50
d. 60
Ans: b
Answer Location: What z Scores Represent
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

35. What is the t score for a z score of +3?

a. 30
b. 50
c. 80
d. 100
Ans: c
Answer Location: What z Scores Represent
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

36. _______ of scores fall within three standard deviations of the mean.
a. 50%
b. 95%
c. 68%
d. 99.5%
Ans: d
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
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Difficulty Level: Medium

37. _______ of scores fall within one standard deviation of the mean.
a. 99.5%
b. 68%
c. 50%
d. 95%
Ans: b
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

38. _______ of scores fall on either side of the distribution.

a. 99.5%
b. 68%
c. 50%
d. 95%
Ans: c
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

39. If a distribution has a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, what value would be +2
standard deviations from the mean?
a. 70
b. 85
c. 115
d. 130
Ans: d
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

40. If a distribution has a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 5, what value would be −1
standard deviation from the mean?
a. 45
b. 50
c. 55
d. 60
Ans: a
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Application
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
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Difficulty Level: Medium

41. If a distribution has a mean of 25 and a standard deviation of 2, what value would be −4
standard deviations from the mean?
a. 17
b. 14
c. 25
d. 33
Ans: a
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

42. If a distribution has a mean of 30 and a standard deviation of 5, how many standard
deviations is 60 from the mean?
a. 5
b. 6
c. −6
d. 0
Ans: b
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

43. If a distribution has a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 25, how many standard
deviations is 0 from the mean?
a. 2
b. −2
c. 0
d. 5
Ans: b
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

44. If a distribution has a mean of 1,000 and a standard deviation of 100, how many standard
deviations is 600 from the mean?
a. −2
b. −4
c. 4
d. 2
Ans: b
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
SAGE Publishing, 2017

Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

45. The entire normal curve contains _______ of scores.

a. 25%
b. 50%
c. 99.9%
d. 100%
Ans: d
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

46. What two scores would divide a normal distribution such that 64.26% of the general
population falls within them if the mean is 100 and the standard deviation is 15?
a. 80 to 120
b. 85 to 115
c. 90 to 110
d. 75 to 125
Ans: b
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Hard

47. Both t scores and z scores are considered what type of score?
a. standard scores
b. error scores
c. average scores
d. standardized scores
Ans: a
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

48. Which of the following can be used to measure the shape of a distribution?
a. mean
b. mode
c. kurtosis
d. median
Ans: c
Answer Location: Kurtosis
Learning Objective: Using the SKEW and KURT functions
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
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Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Difficulty Level: Medium

49. Kurtosis is used to ______.

a. measure the central tendency of the distribution
b. describe the shape of the distribution
c. measure the variance in the distribution
d. describe the range of a distribution
Ans: b
Answer Location: Kurtosis
Learning Objective: Using the SKEW and KURT functions
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

50. What do you need to calculate first before calculating skewness?

a. mean and median
b. median and mode
c. mode and mean
d. mode and variance
Ans: a
Answer Location: Kurtosis
Learning Objective: Using the SKEW and KURT functions
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

51. What you need to calculate first before calculating the kurtosis?
a. mean and standard deviation
b. median and standard deviation
c. mode and variance
d. median and variance
Ans: a
Answer Location: Kurtosis
Learning Objective: Using the SKEW and KURT functions
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

52. A distribution of scores in which almost the entire class scored very high, but a few students
scored fairly low would be ______.
a. negatively skewed
b. positively skewed
c. unskewed
d. normally distributed
Ans: a
Answer Location: Skewness
Learning Objective: Using the SKEW and KURT functions
Cognitive Domain: Application
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
SAGE Publishing, 2017

Difficulty Level: Medium

53. A distribution of scores in which almost the entire class scored very low, but a few students
scored fairly high would be ______.
a. positively skewed
b. negatively skewed
c. unskewed
d. normally distributed
Ans: a
Answer Location: Skewness
Learning Objective: Using the SKEW and KURT functions
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

54. What is the term associated with the lack of symmetry in a distribution?
a. ogive
b. skewness
c. kurtosis
d. variability
Ans: b
Answer Location: Skewness
Learning Objective: Using the SKEW and KURT functions
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

55. In order to say that a distribution is positively skewed, which of the following must be true?
a. right tail must be longer than left
b. right tail must be shorter than left
c. right and left tail must be equal
d. curve must be bell shaped
Ans: a
Answer Location: Skewness
Learning Objective: Using the SKEW and KURT functions
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

56. In order to say that a distribution is negatively skewed, which of the following must be true?
a. right tail must be longer than the left
b. left tail must be longer than the right
c. both tails must be of equal length
d. the curve must be bell shaped
Ans: b
Answer Location: Skewness
Learning Objective: Using the SKEW and KURT functions
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
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57. When the left tail of a distribution’s curve is longer the right, what is this called?
a. platykurtic
b. leptokurtic
c. positive skew
d. negative skew
Ans: d
Answer Location: Skewness
Learning Objective: Using the SKEW and KURT functions
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

58. When most people scored high on a test of knitting knowledge, and very few people scored
low, what is the distribution called?
a. platykurtic
b. leptokurtic
c. positively skewed
d. negatively skewed
Ans: c
Answer Location: Skewness
Learning Objective: Using the SKEW and KURT functions
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

59. What is the term associated with how flat or peaked a distribution appears?
a. ogive
b. skewness
c. kurtosis
d. variability
Ans: c
Answer Location: Kurtosis
Learning Objective: Using the SKEW and KURT functions
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

True/False

1. The study of probability is the basis for determining the degree of confidence we have in
stating that a particular finding or outcome is true.
Ans: T
Answer Location: Why Probability?
Learning Objective: Why understanding probability is basic to understanding statistics
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
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2. Algebra allows us to determine the exact mathematical likelihood that a difference between
groups is due to practice or treatment, as compared with chance or error.
Ans: F
Answer Location: Why Probability?
Learning Objective: Why understanding probability is basic to understanding statistics
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Easy

3. The normal curve has no skew.

Ans: T
Answer Location: The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Learning Objective: Why understanding probability is basic to understanding statistics
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

4. The normal curve is only sometimes symmetrical.

Ans: F
Answer Location: The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

5. Events that occur in the extremes of the normal curve have a very small probability of
occurring.
Ans: T
Answer Location: The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Easy

6. The percentages or areas under the normal curve can be interpreted as probabilities.
Ans: T
Answer Location: More Normal Curve 101
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

7. Standard scores are raw scores that have been adjusted for the particular mean and standard
deviation of the distribution from which they are derived.
Ans: T
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

Short Answer
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
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1. What are three characteristics of a normal curve?

Ans: A normal curve has the three following characteristics: (1) The mean, median, and mode are
equal to each other, (2) the curve is symmetrical, and (3) the tails of the curve are asymptotic.
Answer Location: The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Knowledge
Difficulty Level: Medium

2. Define asymptotic.
Ans: The term asymptotic refers to the tails of the normal curve, which come closer and closer to
the horizontal axis but never touch it.
Answer Location: The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

3. Why is it important that the tails of a normal curve never touch the x-axis?
Ans: The fact that they do not touch means that there is a very small chance that a score could be
obtained that is very extreme. If the tails did touch, there would be no chance of those very
extreme scores.
Answer Location: The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

4. Are distributions always normal?

Ans: No, some distributions are not normal, such as handedness. However, with most variables,
the more subjects your sample has, the more likely your distribution will look normal.
Answer Location: Hey, That’s Not Normal!
Learning Objective: What the normal, or bell-shaped, curve is and what its characteristics are
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

5. Why do we use standard scores?

Ans: We use standard scores to be able to compare one distribution to another.
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Easy

6. What is a z score?
Ans: A z score is a standard score that is the result of dividing the amount that a raw score differs
from the mean of the distribution by the standard deviation.
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
 Salkind, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, 6e
SAGE Publishing, 2017

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Why are there no pluses and minuses on the z score table?

Ans: There are no plus or minus signs in the table because the curve is symmetrical, so it does
not matter if the values of the z score are positive or negative.
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Comprehension
Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Rank the order of the following z scores in terms of distance from the mean: +2, −3, −1, +1,
and 0.
Ans: The following z scores are ranked according to their distance from the mean (smallest to
largest distance):
1. 0 (zero is the mean)
2. −1 and +1 are equidistant from the mean
3. +2
4. −3
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

9. What percentage of scores fall between the following z scores: −1 to +1; −1 to +2; and −1 to
+3?
Ans: Range of z scores Percentage of scores
−1 to +1 ~68%
−1 to +2 ~82%
−1 to +3 ~84%
Answer Location: What z Scores Represent
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium

10. What does a z score of −4 mean?

Ans: A z score of −4 means that the corresponding raw score falls four standard deviations below
the mean score of the distribution.
Answer Location: Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Learning Objective: How to compute and interpret z scores
Cognitive Domain: Application
Difficulty Level: Medium