Statistics for the Social Sciences
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
Statistics for the Social Sciences introduces students to essential statistical concepts and techniques used in analyzing data within sociology, psychology, political science, and related fields. The course covers descriptive statistics, probability theory, sampling methods, hypothesis testing, correlation, and regression analysis, with a focus on interpreting and communicating results relevant to social science research. Emphasis is placed on the practical application of statistical tools, critical evaluation of quantitative data, and ethical considerations in data collection and analysis, preparing students to both conduct and assess empirical research within the social sciences.
Recommended Textbook
Statistics for People Who Think They Hate Statistics 6th Edition by Neil J. Salkind
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Chapter 1: Statistics or Sadistics Its up to You
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Q1) A common goal in statistics is to ______.
A)generalize results from a sample to a population
B)generalize results from a population to a sample
C)generalize results from a population to a second population
D)generalize results from a sample to a second sample
Answer: A
Q2) Generally, although sometimes called different things, the same statistics are used in most disciplines.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) The average age of everyone in the class is an example of what type of statistics?
A)inferential
B)mode
C)median
D)descriptive
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: Means to an End: Computing and Understanding Averages
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Q1) What is the median of the following set of scores: 1.3, 4.7, 2.3, 3.3, 3.0, 2.9?
A)2.95
B)3.05
C)2.90
D)3.00
Answer: A
Q2) What is the most common average computed?
A)mode
B)mean
C)variance
D)median
Answer: B
Q3) What should be used to determine central tendency?
A)a correlation
B)a graph
C)the standard deviation
D)the average
Answer: D
Q4) What is meant by the term outlier?
Answer: An outlier refers to any extreme scores in a data set.
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Chapter 3: Vive La Différence: Understanding Variability
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Q1) The highest score minus the lowest score plus one is equal to the _______.
A)exclusive range
B)variance
C)inclusive range
D)standard deviation
Answer: C
Q2) Biased estimates can be used ______.
A)to describe a sample
B)to describe a population
C)to describe a sample or a population
D)none of the above
Answer: A
Q3) Why is the square root taken when computing s?
Answer: In order to compute the standard deviation, the deviations are squared.The square root of the standard deviation is taken in order to return to the same units in which the values were originally measured.
Q4) It is possible for a set of data to have no variability.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is another name for a cumulative frequency polygon?
A)ogive
B)cumulative polygon
C)olive
D)cumulative tally
Q2) The most basic way to illustrate data is through the creation of a histogram.
A)True
B)False
Q3) If you have a distribution of 20 scores, and you want 2 intervals, what should be the size of your class interval?
A)50
B)25
C)10
D)5
Q4) The largest class interval goes here on a frequency distribution:
A)the top
B)the bottom
C)in the middle
D)either at the top or bottom
Q5) What is a histogram?
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Chapter 5: Ice Cream and Crime: Computing Correlation
Coefficients
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Q1) Which of the following correlations would be interpreted as a very strong relationship?
A).80
B).70
C).60
D).50
Q2) The coefficient of determination is the percentage of variance in one variable that
A)is accounted for by the variance in the other variable
B)matters only when the other variable is constant
C)equals the square root of the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient
D)can be determined by taking the square root of the phi coefficient
Q3) What is the numerical index that describes the relationships between two variables?
A)regression coefficient
B)chi index
C)correlation coefficient
D)psi index
Q4) How is a direct correlation different from an indirect correlation?
Q5) Why will you rarely find a perfect correlation between any two variables?
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Chapter 6: Just the Truth: An Introduction to Understanding
Reliability and Validity
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Q1) The EATS test (of culinary skills) has been shown to be correlated with being a fine chef 2 years after culinary school.This is an example of which type of validity?
A)content validity
B)criterion validity
C)concurrent validity
D)construct validity
Q2) Reliability and validity specifically relate to the ______.
A)quality of the data themselves
B)appropriateness of the statistical tests chosen
C)qualitative methodology
D)correlations between variables
Q3) The correlation between scores from Time 1 and Time 2 is called _______.
A)test-retest reliability
B)parallel forms reliability
C)internal consistency reliability
D)similar forms reliability
Q4) What is the difference between reliability and validity?
Q5) How does error impact reliability? Write the general equation for reliability that demonstrates this concept.
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Chapter 7: Hypotheticals and You: Testing Your Questions
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Q1) If you were to hypothesize that there is no relationship between reaction time and problem-solving abilities, you would have a ______.
A)directional research hypothesis
B)nondirectional research hypothesis
C)null hypothesis
D)hypothesis type that cannot be determined
Q2) When writing a research hypothesis, what type of letters are used?
A)Arabic
B)Greek
C)Roman
D)Latin (English)
Q3) Hypotheses should reflect the theory or literature on which they are based.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What type of hypothesis posits a difference between groups where the difference is specified?
A)directional hypothesis
B)nondirectional hypothesis
C)research hypothesis
D)null hypothesis
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Chapter 8: Are Your Curves Normal Probability and Why It
Counts
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Sample Questions
Q1) 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
Q2) 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.
Q3) If I flip a coin 10 times, how many possible combinations or outcomes could I have?
A)10²
B)2¹
C)10¹
D)2²
Q4) Why do we use standard scores?
Q5) Define asymptotic.
Q6) Why is it important that the tails of a normal curve never touch the x-axis?
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Chapter 9: Significantly Significant: What It Means for You and Me
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Q1) If you conclude that your findings yield a 1 in 100 chance that differences were not due to the hypothesized reason, what is the corresponding p value?
A).01
B).05
C).10
D).20
Q2) If we reject the null hypothesis, it suggests that ______.
A)The obtained value is more extreme than the critical value.
B)The obtained value is smaller than the critical value.
C)The obtained value is the same as the critical value.
D)There is a difference between the obtained value and the critical value.
Q3) A(n) _______ difference is due to some systematic influence and not due to chance.
A)significant
B)insignificant
C)null
D)serendipitous
Q4) What is the difference between Type I error and Type II error?
Q5) Define power (with regard to hypothesis testing).
Q6) How would a researcher determine when statistical significance is important? Page 11
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Chapter 10: Only the Lonely: The One Sample Z-Test
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Q1) If you have a population standard deviation of 20 and a sample size of 4, what is your standard error of the mean?
A) 10
B)10
C)5
D) 5
Q2) In t-test, if the resultant t value is 2.72 and p<.05, what is the interpretation?
A)There is a statistical significance in the test.
B)There is no statistical significance in the test.
C)unknown
D)not sure
Q3) If you're comparing the test scores between two classrooms, you should use a one-sample Z-test.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Effect size is a measure of how different two groups are from one another.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is effect size?
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Chapter 11: Tea for Two: Tests Between the Means of Different Groups
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Q1) If there is significant difference between the distributions of scores in two groups with effect size at .37, how big are the differences between the two groups?
A)no
B)small
C)medium
D)large
Q2) When examining group difference where the direction of the difference is specified, which of the following is used?
A)two-tailed test
B)one-tailed test
C)directional hypothesis
D)critical value
Q3) The t-test for independent means is used when each group is tested _______.
A)only once
B)only twice
C)once or twice
D)any number of times
Q4) Under what circumstances would a researcher reject the null hypothesis?
Q5) What are you assuming when you use the simple formula for effect size?
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Chapter 12: Tea for Two Again: Tests Between the Means of Related Groups
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Q1) In hypothesis testing, the test statistic must be compared against the obtained value.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Under what circumstances would you use a t-test for dependent samples?
Q3) Interpret, in words, what it means for a research question that a null hypothesis was rejected.
Q4) In running a t-test for dependent means on a group of individuals, how many individuals are there in the group when the degree of freedom is 58?
A)57
B)58
C)59
D)60
Q5) In the equation t = 1.03, p < .01, the number of .01 refers to significance level.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What is the difference between a t-test for independent samples and a t-test for dependent samples?
Page 15
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Chapter 13: Two Groups Too Many Try Analysis of Variance
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Q1) How would you interpret the equation: ?
Q2) The ANOVA is a(n) _______.
A)omnibus test
B)correlational test
C)regressional analysis
D)factorial correlation
Q3) What is the next step after choosing a specific test in the computation of the F statistic?
A)setting the level of risk
B)selecting the appropriate test
C)computing the obtained value
D)stating research hypotheses
Q4) A research study is investigating the effects of studying French 1, 2, or 3 hours weekly between fourth graders and ninth graders.How would this factorial design be best described?
A)2 × 3
B)3 × 2
C)3 × 3
D)6 × 3
Q5) What is the MSw th n value?
16
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Chapter 14: Two Too Many Factors: Factorial Analysis of
Variancea Brief Introduction
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Q1) When plotted on a graph, if the lines representing the effects of two variables cross, you have _______.
A)an interaction effect
B)no interaction effect
C)possibly an interaction effect
D)n effect that cannot be determined
Q2) If you find that income significantly varies on the basis of gender, you have ______.
A)a main effect
B)an interaction effect
C)both a main effect and an interaction effect
D)neither a main effect nor an interaction effect
Q3) You would want to use a factorial ANOVA if you had _______ variables.
A)two independent
B)two dependent
C)one independent
D)three dependent
Q4) What are the three research hypotheses used in a 2 × 2 factorial analysis?
Q5) What are the three null hypotheses used in a 2 × 2 factorial analysis?
Q6) Why do we use SPSS to calculate a factorial ANOVA?
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Chapter 15: Cousins or Just Good Friends Testing
Relationships Using Correlation Coefficient
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Q1) If two variables are significantly correlated, this means that one variable causes the other.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following is another use of correlation coefficients?
A)testing mean differences
B)testing causal relationships
C)estimating reliability
D)estimating power
Q3) In the formula for calculating degrees of freedom for a correlation coefficient, what does the n represent?
A)sample size
B)number of groups
C)number of pairs
D)population
Q4) A correlation coefficient can only test one variable at a time.
A)True
B)False
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Q5) Write an example of a research hypothesis for a one-tailed t-test for the correlation coefficient.
Chapter 16: Predicting Wholl Win the Super Bowl: Using Linear
Regression
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Q1) Which of the following determines the direction of the regression line?
A)intercept
B)predicted score
C)criterion score
D)slope
Q2) When adding additional predictors to a regression analysis, you should try to find predictors that are related to _______ but not _______.
A)the independent variable; the dependent variables
B)the dependent variable; the independent variables
C)the predictors; the outcome
D)all main effects; any interaction effect
Q3) Using the regression formula with a slope = .904 and an intercept = .719, what would the predicted college GPA be for a student whose current high school GPA = 3.2?
A)2.69
B)2.33
C)3.61
D)3.20
Q4) Why do we use and not Y in the regression equation?
Q5) How is the regression line related to the correlation coefficient?
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Chapter 17: What to Do When Youre Not Normal:
CHI-Square and Some Other Nonparametric Tests
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Q1) Which of the following compares the overall difference between two or more independent samples on more than one dimension?
A)Wilcoxon rank test
B)The sign test
C)Friedman two-way ANOVA
D)Kruskal-Wallis one-way ANOVA
Q2) Chi-square is a nonparametric statistical test.
A)True
B)False
Q3) If there are three categories for which you are calculating a one-sample chi-square, what are the degrees of freedom?
A)0
B)1
C)2
D)3
Q4) Give an example of a research situation where the one-sample chi-square test would be the most appropriate statistical technique to use.
Q5) How do you interpret = 18.9, p < .05?
Q6) How do nonparametric statistics differ from parametric statistics?
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Chapter 18: Some Other Important Statistical Procedures
You Should Know About
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Q1) Of the following, which procedure allows a researcher to explore how items on a particular measure cluster together?
A)correlation
B)factor analysis
C)path analysis
D)MANOVA
Q2) In data analysis, researchers often use a technique based on how well various items are related to one another and form clusters.What technique is this?
A)path analysis
B)logistic regression
C)factor analysis
D)meta-analysis
Q3) Which analysis examines correlations and allows researchers to suggest direction?
A)path analysis
B)meta-analysis
C)factor analysis
D)multiple regression
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Chapter 19: Data Mining: An Introduction to Getting the
Most Out of Your Big Data
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Q1) Technological advances allow for more _____________ among institutions and people and machines.
A)relationships
B)interconnectedness
C)independence
D)dependence
Q2) Which program can easily read and convert a .csv file into a .sav file, according to Salkind?
A)Excel
B)Adobe
C)SPSS
D)Internet Explorer
Q3) A pivot table can be created from almost any __________ output.
A)Google
B)SPSS
C)pivot
D)Microsoft
Q4) A pivot table can be created from almost any Google outcomes.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 20: A Statistical Software Sampler
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Q1) Which of the following is free and works on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Unix platforms but takes a while to get used to because the learning curve tends to be a bit steep?
A)R
B)Minitab
C)StatCrunch
D)SPSS
Q2) According to the text, what is one of the most important things to remember when buying a statistics software package?
A)buy direct from the manufacturer
B)try before you buy
C)always buy shareware
D)share software packages with friends
Q3) PSPP is an open-source variant of SPSS.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Almost all big statistics packages do the same things.However, they are different in the ways they do them.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 21: The Ten or More Best and Most Fun Internet
Sites for Statistics Stuff
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Q1) A good resource for browsing hundreds and hundreds of links related to research is the University of Michigan's Research Guides page.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is the resource locator that we often call the "web address?"
A)WA
B)URL
C)Locator
D)Address
Q3) The following course is an online component of a basic statistics course taught at the University of Newcastle, Australia, and contains a complete and interactive statistics text:
A)SurfStat Australia
B)StatMatch Australia
C)Statistics 101
D)Data Analysis 101
Q4) The URL of a website will work consistently from day to day.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 22: The Ten Commandments of Data Collection
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Q1) Never ______ the original data, such as the test booklets, interview notes, and so forth.
A)use
B)overuse
C)discard
D)destroy
Q2) Always make a duplicate copy of the data file.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Practicing with _______ data can help you make sure that it is easy to go from your original scoring sheets to the data collection form.
A)high-scoring
B)any
C)pilot
D)lost
Q4) Try to follow up on subjects who missed their ______.
A)thoughts
B)their testing session
C)duplicate version
D)more complex version
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