barron’s ap statistics review flash cards (2008) experimental design

Barron’s AP Statistics Review Flash Cards (2008)

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 1 Each of the 30 major baseball teams carries a 40-person roster. A sample of 60

players (5 percent of all 1,200 players) is to be randomly selected to undergo drug tests. To do this, each team is instructed to put their 40 names in a hat and randomly draw two names. Will this method result in a simple random sample of the 1,200 baseball players?

A) Yes, because each player has the same chance of being selected.

B) Yes, because each team is equally represented

C) Yes, because this is an example of stratified sampling, which is a special case of simple random sampling.

D) No, because the teams are not chosen randomly

E) No, because not each group of 60 players has the same chance of being selected

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 2

Advantage(s) to using surveys as opposed to experiments is (are) that

I. Surveys are generally cheaper to conduct

II. It is generally easier to conclude cause and effect from surveys.

III. Surveys are generally not subject to bias.

A) I only B) II only C) III only D) I and II E) II and III


A company wishes to survey what people think about a new product it plans to market. They decide to randomly sample from their customer database as this includes phone numbers and addresses. This procedure is an example of which type of sampling?

A) Cluster B) Convenience C) Simple random

D) Stratified E) Systematic

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 4 Two studies are run to compare the experiences of low income families receiving food

stamps to those receiving cash subsidies. The first study interviews 50 families who have been in each government program for at least 2 years, while the second randomly assigns 50 families to each program and interviews them after 2 years. Which of the following is a true statement?

A) Both studies are observational studies because of the time period involved.

B) Both studies are observational studies because there are no control groups.

C) The first study is an observational study; the second is an experiment.

D) The first study is an experiment; the second is an observational study.

E) Both studies are experiments, because in each, families are receiving treatments (food stamps or cash).

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 5 A food judge is given an assignment to choose and sample the food at 52 (out of over 20,000)

NYC restaurants. She has an assistant list all restaurants whose name begins with A, assigns each a number, and uses a random number generator to pick two of these numbers and thus two restaurants. She proceeds to use the same procedure for each letter of the alphabet and combines the results into a group of 52. Which of the following are true statements?

I. Her procedure makes use of chance.

II. Her procedure results in a simple random sample

III. Each restaurant in NYC has an equal probability of being selected.

A) I and II B) I and III C) II and III D) I, II and III

E) None of the above gives the complete set of true responses.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 6 In a study of Parkinson’s disease, 100 volunteers had incisions made through

their skulls. The patients were randomly sorted into two groups, one of which had a new drug inserted into the brain. In the other group, the skulls were closed with no treatment given. The patients did not know who received the drug. In the weeks to follow all 100 volunteers showed similar improvement in physical condition. What is this an example of?

A) The effect of a treatment unit

B) The placebo effect

C) The control group effect

D) Sampling error

E) Voluntary response bias

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 7 Fifty migraine patients are randomly selected from hospital records. Half the

patients are told to drink ice water and sit in the dark when they next experience a migraine; the remaining patients are told to use neither of these possible remedies. Participants then report back as to any relief, if any. Serious faults of this experimental design include which of the following?

I. Lack of randomization

II. Probable confounding variables

III. Lack of blinding



Which of the following is most useful in establishing cause-and-effect relationships?

A) Complete census

B) A least squares regression line showing high correlation

C) A simple random sample (SRS)

D) A well-designed, well-conducted survey incorporating chance to ensure a representative sample

E) A controlled experiment


A sales representative wishes to survey her client base of 47 companies. She has 47 business cards, all of the identical size, from her contacts in the companies, and decides to drop them all in a small box, shake them up, and reach in to pick 5 cards for her sample. This procedure is an example of which type of sampling?

A) Cluster B) Convenience C) Simple Random


EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 10 A newspaper advice columnist asks her readers if they would have married their current spouse if they

had to do it over again. Of the 25,000 responses, 80 percent said no. What does this show?

A) The survey is meaningless because of voluntary response bias.

B) No meaningful conclusion is possible without knowing something more about the characteristics of her readers.

C) The survey would have been more meaningful if she had picked a random sample of the 25,000 readers who responded.

D) The survey would have been more meaningful if she had used a control group.

E) This was a legitimate sample, randomly drawn from her readers, and of sufficient size to allow the conclusion that most of her readers who are married would have second thoughts about marrying their current spouse.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 11 A researcher planning a survey of heads of households in New York has census

lists for each of the 62 counties in the state. The procedure will be to obtain a simple random sample of heads of households from each of the counties rather than grouping all the census lists together and obtaining a sample from the entire group. Which of the following is a true statement about the resulting stratified sample?

I. It is more susceptible to bias than would be a simple random sample.

II. It is easier and more cost effective than a simple random sample.

III. It gives comparative information that a simple random sample wouldn’t give.




Sampling error occurs

A) When interviewers make mistakes resulting in bias

B) When interviewers use judgment instead of random choice in picking the sample.

C) When samples are too small.

D) Because a sample statistic is used to estimate a population parameter.

E) In all of the above cases.


Which of the following is most important in minimizing the placebo effect?

A) Replication and randomization

B) Replication and blinding

C) Randomization and blinding

D) Randomization and a control

E) Blinding and a control


In general, for a survey to yield useable results:

I. A sample size of n = 30 is usually sufficient.

II. Researchers must be careful in the way questions are worded.

III. Researchers must carefully choose people who they think are representative of the population.



A bank wishes to survey its customers. The decision is made to randomly pick ten customers who just have checking accounts, ten customers who just have savings accounts, and ten customers who have both checking and savings accounts. This procedure is an example of which type of sampling?



EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 16 Which of the following are true statements?

I. If bias is present in a sampling procedure, it can be overcome by dramatically increasing the sample size.

II. There is no such thing as a “bad sample.”

III. Sampling techniques that use probability techniques effectively eliminate bias.

A) I only B) II only C) III only

D) None of the statements are true.

E) None of the above gives the complete set of true responses


To find out a town’s average family size, a researcher interviews a random sample of parents arriving at a pediatrician’s office. The average family size in the final 100-family sample is 3.48. Is this estimate probably too low or too high?

A) Too low because of undercoverage bias.

B) Too low because convenience samples underestimate average results

C) Too high because of undercoverage bias

D) Too high because convenience samples underestimate average results

E) Too high because convenience samples overestimate average results


Which of the following are true statements about blocking?

I. Blocking is to experiment design as stratification is to sampling design.

II. By controlling certain variables, blocking can make conclusions more specific.

III. The paired comparison design is a special case of blocking.



EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 19 Two antidepressants are to be compared in the treatment of elderly patients in a nursing home. Each

patient has his or her own room, some with spectacular views of the ocean. This experimental design is to create homogeneous blocks with respect to window view. How should randomization be used for a randomized block design?

A) Within each block, randomly pick half the patients to receive each antidepressant.

B) Randomly pick half of all patients to receive each antidepressant, but then analyze separately by blocks.

C) Randomly choose which blocks will receive which antidepressant.

D) Randomly choose half the blocks to receive each antidepressant for a given time period; then for the same time period, switch the medication in each block and compare the results.

E) For ethical reasons, allow patients to choose which medication they prefer taking, but then randomly assign patients to the blocks.


What is bias in conducting surveys?

A) An example of sampling error

B) Lack of a control group

C) Confounding variables

D) Difficulty in concluding cause and effect

E) A tendency to favor the selection of certain members of a population


A human resources department plans to survey 100 of the 3,000 employees in the firm. An alphabetical list of the employees is available, a random number between 1 and 30 is picked, and the sample consists of the person that far down the list together with every 30th person after that. This procedure is an example of which type of sampling?



EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 22Two wordings for a questionnaire on independence for Puerto Rico:

I. Would you vote for independence for Puerto Rico?II. Would you support an independent Puerto Rico separate from the US?

One of these questions showed 35 percent support for independence while the other showed 45 percent support. Which produced which result and why?

A) The first question showed the 45 percent because of lack of randomization in choice of subjects as evidenced by wording of the questions.

B) The first question showed the 35 percent because of a placebo effect.

C) The first question showed the 45 percent due to lack of blocking.

D) The first question showed the 35 percent because of response bias due to the wording of the question.

E) The first question showed the 45 percent response bias due to the wording of the question.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 23 To conduct a survey on holiday shopping patterns, a researcher opens a telephone book to a random

page, closes his eyes, puts his finger down on the page, and then reads off the next 100 names. Which of the following are true statements. Which of the following are true statements?

I. The survey incorporates chance.

II. The procedure results in a simple random sample.

III. The procedure could easily result in selection bias.




Before taking an exam students either went to bed at their normal times or were sleep deprived for 4 to 8 hours. Half of each group were given a caffeine pill before taking the exam. Determine the number of factors, levels for each, and number of treatments.

A) One factor with two levels, five treatments

B) Two factors, one with one and one with two levels, three treatments

C) Two factors, one with two and one with three levels, five treatments

D) Two factors, one with two and one with three levels, six treatments

E) Three factors, each with two levels, six treatments


A telephone survey with regard to support of a bond issue resulted in:

Age: 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 TotalFor: 45 32 28 25 15 8 153Against: 30 43 47 50 60 67 297

Which of the following sampling strategies was most likely used?

A) Cluster sampling D) Stratified sampling

B) Proportional sampling E) Systematic sampling

C) Simple random sampling


A television network conducts a weekly survey to determine the proportion of viewers who watch various programs. For the coming year, they decide to double the sample size. The main benefit of this is to

A) Reduce undercoverage bias

B) Reduce nonresponse bias

C) Eliminate sampling error.

D) Decrease population variability.

E) Decrease the standard deviation fo the sampling distribution.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 27 A botanist is running an experiment on two fertilizers that require different amounts of

watering. She has 40 test plots, half of which are in sunny locations, and half are in the shade. She randomly selects 10 sunny plots and 10 shady plots for which to use one fertilizer with its appropriate watering, while the remaining plots are for the other fertilizer with its appropriate watering. Of the following, which is the most important observation about this procedure?

A) The variables, fertilizer and water, are confounded.

B) The variables, fertilizer and sun, are confounded.

C) The variables, water and sun, are confounded.

D) No variables are confounded.

E) There is a hidden lurking variable.


Which of the following are true statements?

I. Voluntary response samples often underrepresent people with strong opinions.

II. Convenience samples often lead to undercoverage bias.

III. Questionnaires with nonneutral wording are likely to have response bias.



EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 29 Which of the following are true statements about sampling?

I. Careful analysis of a given sample will indicate whether or ont it is random.

II.

III. Sampling techniques that use probability techniques effectively eliminate bias.

A) I only B) II only C) III only

D) None of the statements are true.

E) None of the above gives the complete set of true responses


A consumer product agency tests kilowatts per hour for a sample of refrigerators, each one of three different sizes. which of the following is true?

A) There are three explanatory variables and one response variable.

B) There is one explanatory variable with three levels of response.

C) Kilowatts per hour is the only explanatory variable, but there are three response variables corresponding to the different sizes.

D) There are three levels of a single explanatory variable.

E) Each explanatory variable level has an associated level of response.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 31 Some medical investigations have indicated that nonsmokers are more likely to

develop Alzheimer's disease than smokers. Assuming these investigations were carefully carried out, what is the most reasonable conclusion?

A) These were probably observational studies, and so no conclusion about smoking provided protection again Alzheimer’s is proper.

B) Given that these were carefully carried out, they probably were experiments and thus they do show that smoking provides protection against Alzheimer’s (although it may have other undesired outcomes!).

C) Without information about use or nonuse of randomization, no conclusion about cause and effect is possible.

CONTINUED

D) Without use of blinding, for example having all participants smoke something (cigarettes or a harmless placebo), no conclusion is proper

E) No matter how carefully the investigations were carried out, no conclusion is possible without knowing the sample sizes.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 32 A critical difference between experiments and observational studies is

A) An experiment often suggests a casual relationship, whereas an observational study only suggests an association.

B) Observational studies make use of randomization, whereas experiments do not.

C) Experiments are generally more cost and time effective than observational studies.

D) Tests of significance can be used on data collected from experiments but not on data from observational studies.

E) Experiments are free to choose subjects from an entire population, whereas an observational study only considers a random sample.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 33 In a survey of 30 elementary school students, those with larger shoe sizes appear

to have higher reading levels. Of the following, which is the most important conclusion about this observation?

A) Parents interested in their child’s reading level should have their child wear a slightly larger shoe size.

B) The variables, shoe size and reading level, are being confounded.

C) The sample size is too small for any reasonable conclusion.

D) There is a lurking variable.

E) As long as the sample was randomly selected, a cause-and-effect conclusion is valid.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 34 To survey the opinions of people attending a particular Broadway play, a surveyor plans to select

every 25th theater-goer as he or she exits at the conclusion. Will this method result in a simple random sample?

A) Yes, because each theater-goer has the same chance of being selected.

B) Yes, but only if everyone leaves by the same exit.

C) Yes, because the 24 out of the 25 theater-goers who are not selectd will form a control group.

D) Yes, because this is an example of systematic sampling, which is a special case of simple random sampling.

E) No, because not every sample of the intended size has an equal chance of being selected.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 35Consider the following three events:

I. Although 75 percent of Cubs fans believe they will go to the World Series this year, in a random sample of 50 Cubs fans, only 30 “believe.”

II. In a survey about literacy, an embarrassed adult deliberately lies.

III. A surveyor mistakenly records answers to one question in the wrong space.

A) I, sampling error; II, response bias; III, human mistake

B) I, sampling error; II, nonresponse bias; III, hidden error

C) I, hidden bias; II, voluntary sample bias; III, sampling error

D) I, undercoverage error; II, voluntary error; III, unintentional error

E) I, small sample error; II, deliberate error; III, mistaken error


I. In well-designed observational studies, responses are systematically influenced during the collection of data.

II. In well-designed experiments, the treatments result in responses that are as similar as possible.

III. A well-designed experiment always has a single treatment but may test that treatment at different levels.

A) I only B) II only C) III only D) II and III

E) None of the statements are true.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 37 In which of the following studies are cause-and-effect (rather than simple association)

conclusions probably reasonable?

I. Studies noting heights and ages at death tend to show that taller people live longer than short people.

II. Studies noting that children born prematurely tend to engage in less risky behavior as adults.

III. Studies showing that animals fed low-calorie diets tend to live longer than animals on normal diets.

A) I only B) II only C) III only D) I, II, and III

E) Not reasonable in any of the above.


You wish to survey people who have brought in their cars for service during the past month. You decide to pick a random sample of gas stations in the city and then survey all customers from those stations who had work done during the past month. This procedure is an example of which type of sampling?




Suppose you wish to compare the average height of math/science teachers to the average height of English/social studies teachers in your high school. Which is the most appropriate technique for gathering the needed data?

A) Census

B) Sample survey

C) Experiment

D) Observational study

E) None of these methods is appropriate

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 40 Which of the following are true statements about sampling error?

I. Sampling error can be eliminated only if a survey is both extremely well designed and extremely well conducted.

II. Sampling error concerns natural variation between samples, is always present, and can be described using probability.

III. Sampling error is generally smaller when the sample size is larger.



EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 41 A researcher plans a study to examine the depth of belief in alternative, nontraditional health

procedures among the adult population. She obtains a simple random sample of 100 adults leaving an acupuncture/herbal medicine health center one morning. All but one of them agree to participate in the survey, consisting of a series of neutrally worded questions. Which of the following are true statements?

I. Proper use of chance as evidenced by the simple random sample, and neutral wording make this a well-designed survey.

II. The high response rate makes this a well-designed survey.

III. Selection bias makes this a poorly designed survey.


E) None of these statements is true.


A candy manufacturer wants to test consistency of the sugar content of chocolate-covered cherries produced in one factory. The company decides to randomly select three boxes of chocolate-covered cherries from each day’s production run at the factory and analyze every cherry in each of these boxes as to sugar content. What type of sampling is this?



EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 43 A town has one high school, which buses students from urban, suburban, and rural

communities. Which of the following sampling techniques is most recommended in studying attitudes toward military enlistment after high school graduation?

A) Cluster sample

B) Simple Random sample

C) Stratified sample

D) Systematic sample

E) Voluntary response sample


I. Based on careful use of control groups, experiments can often indicate cause-and-effect relationships.

II. Observational studies may suggest relationships, but it would be very difficult to conclude cause and effect because of the lack of control over lurking variables.

III. A complete census is the only way to absolutely establish a cause-and-effect relationship.



EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 45 What fault do all of these sampling designs have in common?

I. The New York Times plans to make a prediction for the Republican presidential nominee based on a survey of its readers.

II. An Internet site asks their viewers to vote on their choice for “Movie of the Year.”

III. A statistics teacher randomly picks a sample of his students and interviews each one concerning the clarity of the teacher’s explanations of new concepts.

A) All the designs make improper use of stratification.

B) All the designs have errors that can lead to strong bias.

C) All the designs confuse association with cause and effect.

D) None of the designs satisfactorily controls for sampling error.

E) None of the designs makes use of chance in selecting a sample.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN 46 A study is made on whether of not a particular review book helps students achieve higher

scores on the AP Statistics exam. In comparing records of 100, half of whom who purchased the review book, it is noted that the average AP Stat score is higher for those 50 students who purchased the book. Which of the following are true statements?

I. While this study indicates a relation, it does not prove causation.

II. There could well be a lurking variable responsible for the seeming relationship.

III. Self-selection here make drawing a conclusion difficult.




Which of the following best explains why we try to guard against confounding design experiments?

A) Confounding can lead to bias.

B) Confounding can conflict with randomization

C) Confounding can lead to uncertainty as to which variable is cause and effect.

D) Confounding can make it more difficult to separate subjects into treatment and control groups.

E) Confounding can negate the benefits of blinding.


Sampling error is

A) the mean of a sample statistic.

B) the standard deviation of a sample statistic.

C) the standard error of a sample statistic.

D) the result of bias.

E) the difference between a population parameter and an estimate of that parameter.

barron’s ap statistics review flash cards (2008) experimental design

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