Question: Suppose an implication derived from a hypothesis turns out to be false. This occurrence:
Answer Options:
a. Indicates that the hypothesis was derived inductively.
b. Shows that the hypothesis should never have been formulated.
c. Proves that the hypothesis is grounded in defective reasoning.
d. Indicates that the hypothesis was derived deductively.
e. Provides evidence that the hypothesis is false.
Answer: e. Provides evidence that the hypothesis is false.
Question: One of the implications of the atmospheric pressure hypothesis was:
a. It is impossible to produce a pure vacuum.
b. The pressure of the atmosphere would support a column of mercury about 29 inches high.
c. The pressure of the atmosphere is higher on mountaintops than it is in valleys.
d. The pressure of the atmosphere would support a column of water about 29 inches high.
e. Water freezes at a lower temperature at sea level than it does on mountaintops.
Answer: a. It is impossible to produce a pure vacuum.
Question: Suppose that for a large population, the margin of error of Poll A is 2%, and the margin of error of Poll B is 4%. Then,
a. The sample used in Poll A is much larger than the sample used in Poll B.
b. The sample used in Poll A is slightly larger than the sample used in Poll B.
c. The sample used in Poll B is much larger than the sample used in Poll A.
d. The sample used in Poll B is slightly larger than the sample used in Poll A.
e. The difference in sampling error is unrelated to the size of the samples.
Answer: a. The sample used in Poll A is much larger than the sample used in Poll B.
Question: Given Data Set 1C, what is the modal age of the houses?
a. 3 years.
b. 4 years.
c. 4.3 years.
d. 4 years.
e. 3.5 years.
Answer: a. 3 years.
Question: Suppose a quality control inspector pulls every tenth can of soup from a conveyor belt to ensure that the cans are filled to capacity. How should this procedure be evaluated?
a. The sample may not be a random sample.
b. The procedure is defective because it fails to specify which can is selected first.
c. The procedure guarantees that the sample is a random sample.
d. The sample is not large enough for the kind of test being done.
e. The procedure calls for an excessively large sample.
Answer: a. The sample may not be a random sample.
Question: Prior to the discovery of atmospheric pressure, the failure of wine to pour from the bottom of a barrel unless an opening was made in the top was explained by:
a. The Empedoclean theory of the four elements.
b. The Aristotelian theory of natural place.
c. The fact that all seventeenth-century wine barrels were made from oak.
d. The fact that fermentation produces sediment, which clogs the tap.
e. The principle that nature abhors a vacuum.
Answer: e. The principle that nature abhors a vacuum.
Question: Suppose that two sets of data conform to a normal probability distribution, and that the standard deviation of Set X is 2, while the standard deviation of Set Y is 4. Then,
a. Set X contains a larger amount of data than set Y.
b. The curve for Set Y is more flattened and spread out than the curve for Set X.
c. The variance for both sets of data will be the same.
d. The curve for Set X is more flattened and spread out than the curve for Set Y.
e. Set Y contains a larger amount of data than set X.
Answer: b. The curve for Set Y is more flattened and spread out than the curve for Set X.
Question: Suppose a poll is taken to sample voter preferences in an upcoming presidential election. To conduct the poll, an interviewer standing on a street corner in the financial district of a large city asks questions of people as they pass by. What result would be expected from such a poll?
a. The people on the street corner would refuse to speak to the interviewer.
b. The people interviewed would not be candid with their answers.
c. The responses would be biased in favor of the Democratic candidate.
d. The responses would be biased in favor of the Republican candidate.
e. The responses would accurately predict the outcome of the election.
Answer: d. The responses would be biased in favor of the Republican candidate.
Question: Range, variance, and standard deviation are measurements of:
a. Gradations of quality.
b. Sampling error.
c. Intensity.
d. Dispersion.
e. Quantity.
Answer: d. Dispersion.
Question: One of the problems that led to the discovery of atmospheric pressure was:
a. Why Gasparo Berti’s experiment worked in Rome but not in Florence.
b. Why it was impossible to siphon mercury from one container to another.
c. Why suction pumps failed to work on mountain tops.
d. Why the water in Gasparo Berti’s glass pipe always descended to the same level.
e. Why water boils at a lower temperature on mountaintops than it does at sea level.
Answer: d. Why the water in Gasparo Berti’s glass pipe always descended to the same level.
Question: One of the hypotheses involved in the discovery of radium was:
a. Pure uranium contained an unknown element later known as radium.
b. The intense rays emitted by pitchblende were caused by uranium.
c. The intense rays emitted by pitchblende were caused by impurities in the crystals.
d. It would be possible to produce a radioactive isotope of barium.
e. Mendeleev’s periodic table of the elements was incorrect in some respects.
Answer: c. The intense rays emitted by pitchblende were caused by impurities in the crystals.
Question: Given Data Set 1B, what is the modal age of the cars?
a. 5 years.
b. 4 years.
c. 6 years.
d. 3 years.
e. 3.5 years.
Answer: b. 4 years.
Question: Given Data Set 1A, what is the mean length of service of the employees?
a. 3 years.
b. 2.5 years.
c. 3.2 years.
d. 4 years.
e. 3.5 years.
Answer: c. 3.2 years.
Question: An implication of the hypothesis leading to the discovery of Neptune was:
a. Examination of the orbit of Neptune would reveal the existence of a ninth planet.
b. A powerful telescope could detect a previously unseen satellite of Uranus.
c. The gravitational field of Uranus caused perturbations in the orbit of Saturn.
d. Directing a telescope to a particular region of the sky would reveal a new planet.
e. The combined mass of Neptune and Uranus was less than the mass of Saturn.
Answer: d. Directing a telescope to a particular region of the sky would reveal a new planet.
Question: Suppose that the price of crude oil, the primary raw material for gasoline, increases by 30 percent. Assuming everything else stays the same, by how much has the cost of producing gasoline increased?
a. 35 percent.
b. 32 percent.
c. 30 percent.
d. More than 35 percent.
e. Less than 30 percent.
Answer: e. Less than 30 percent.
Question: One way of exaggerating fluctuations in the price of a company’s stock is to:
a. Contract the horizontal scale.
b. Chop off the bottom of the graph and expand the vertical scale.
c. Chop off the top of the graph and expand the horizontal scale.
d. Use a thicker line to represent the fluctuations.
e. Alter the background color of the graph.
Answer: b. Chop off the bottom of the graph and expand the vertical scale.
Question: Suppose that a poll is taken about how marriage partners relate to each other, and one of the questions asked is if the person being interviewed has ever lied to his/her spouse. Can the responses to this question be trusted?
a. Yes, because the question is very straightforward.
b. Yes, because most people are inclined to answer truthfully in a poll.
c. No, because interviewers who have lied to their spouse would probably deny it.
d. No, because the question is ambiguous.
e. Yes, because the vast majority of marriage partners do not lie to their spouse.
Answer: c. No, because interviewers who have lied to their spouse would probably deny it.
Question: The key problem underlying the discovery of radium was:
Answer Options:
a. Why certain isotopes of thorium are radioactive.
b. Why uranium has the power to darken photographic plates.
c. Why pitchblende emits rays that are stronger than rays emitted by pure uranium.
d. Why rays emitted by thorium are stronger than rays emitted by uranium.
e. Why X-rays are stronger than rays emitted by pure uranium.
Answer: c. Why pitchblende emits rays that are stronger than rays emitted by pure uranium.
Question: A sample that is not representative of the population from which it is drawn is said to be:
a. Compromised.
b. Distorted.
c. Biased.
d. Contaminated.
e. Unresponsive.
Answer: c. Biased.
Question: Suppose that you want to buy a pair of size 9 shoes, and you are told that the average size of the shoes in Bob’s Shoe Store are size 9. Under what circumstances is this information useful to you?
a. The shoes reflect the latest fashions.
b. The standard deviation is relatively large.
c. The average is a mean.
d. The average is a modal average.
e. The average is a median.
Answer: d. The average is a modal average.