Which of the following statements is false?

a. A measure of center alone does not completely summarize a distribution of quantitative data.

b. If the original measurements are in inches, converting them to centimeters will not change the mean or standard deviation.

c. One of the disadvantages of a histogram is that it doesn’t show each data value.

d. In a quantitative data set, adding a new data value equal to the mean will decrease the standard deviation.

e. If a distribution of quantitative data is strongly skewed, the median and interquartile range should be reported rather than the mean and standard deviation.

Short Answer

Expert verified

The option that is false is:

a. If the measurements were taken in inches, converting them to centimetres has no effect on the mean or standard deviation.

Step by step solution

01

 Step 1: Given information 

We have to tell which of the given statements is false.

02

Explanation 

(a)True, because a quantitative data distribution is summarised by a measure of centre, a measure of variation, and the distribution's shape. As a result, the measure of centre alone does not adequately characterise the dispersion.

(b) False; the mean and standard deviation will change in the same way as the original measurements, because the mean and standard deviation are likewise transformed to centimetres when the original data are converted to centimetres.

(c) True, because the histogram shows data values as bars, and each data value at a bar has a range of possible values, therefore we can't discern the exact data value from the bar.

(d) True, because adding a data value equal to the mean in quantative data reduces the variance from the mean in the data collection, and the standard deviation reflects the variation in departures from the mean, hence the standard deviation lowers.

(e) True, because if a distribution is extremely skewed, the mean and standard deviation will be heavily influenced by the skewness, so it's preferable not to use them. Because the skewness has less of an impact on the median and interquartile range, it is preferable to use the median and interquartile range.

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

Happy customers As the Hispanic population in the United States has grown, businesses have tried to understand what Hispanics like. One study interviewed separate random samples of Hispanic and Anglo customers leaving a bank. Customers were classified as Hispanic if they preferred to be interviewed in Spanish or as Anglo if they preferred English. Each customer rated the importance of several aspects of bank service on a 10- point scale.25 Here are summary results for the importance of “reliability” (the accuracy of account records, etc.):

Researchers want to know if there is a difference in the mean reliability ratings of all Anglo and Hispanic bank customers.

a. State appropriate hypotheses for performing a significance test. Be sure to define the parameters of interest.

b. Check that the conditions for performing the test are met.

American-made cars Nathan and Kyle both work for the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), but they live in different states. In Nathan’s state, 80%of the registered cars are made by American manufacturers. In Kyle’s state, only 60%of the registered cars are made by American manufacturers. Nathan selects a random sample of 100cars in his state and Kyle selects a random sample of 70cars in his state. Let pn-pkbe the difference (Nathan’s state – Kyle’s state) in the sample proportion of cars made by American manufacturers.

a. What is the shape of the sampling distribution of pn-pk? Why?

b. Find the mean of the sampling distribution.

c. Calculate and interpret the standard deviation of the sampling distribution.

An agricultural station is testing the yields for six different varieties of seed corn. The station has four large fields available, located in four distinctly different parts of the county. The agricultural researchers consider the climatic and soil conditions in the four parts of the county as being quite different, but are reasonably confident that the conditions within each field are fairly similar throughout. The researchers divide each field into six sections and then randomly assign one variety of corn seed to each section in that field. This procedure is done for each field. At the end of the growing season, the corn will be harvested, and the yield (measured in tons per acre) will be compared. Which one of the following statements about the design is correct?

a. This is an observational study because the researchers are watching the corn grow.

b. This a randomized block design with fields as blocks and seed types as treatments.

c. This is a randomized block design with seed types as blocks and fields as treatments.

d. This is a completely randomized design because the six seed types were randomly assigned to the four fields.

e. This is a completely randomized design with24treatments—6 seed types and 4 fields.

Literacy A researcher reports that 80%of high school graduates, but only 40%of high school dropouts, would pass a basic literacy test. Assume that the researcher’s claim is true. Suppose we give a basic literacy test to a random sample of 60high school graduates and a separate random sample of 75high school dropouts.p^G,p^Dbe the sample proportions of graduates and dropouts, respectively, who pass the test.

a. What is the shape of the sampling distribution of p^G-p^D. Why?

b. Find the mean of the sampling distribution.

c. Calculate and interpret the standard deviation of the sampling distribution.

Researchers wondered whether maintaining a patient’s body temperature close to normal by heating the patient during surgery would affect rates of infection of wounds. Patients were assigned at random to two groups: the normothermic group (core temperatures were maintained at near normal, 36.5°C, using heating blankets) and the hypothermic group (core temperatures were allowed to decrease to about 34.5°C). If keeping patients warm during surgery alters the chance of infection, patients in the two groups should show a difference in the average length of their hospital stays. Here are summary statistics on hospital stay (in number of days) for the two groups:

a. Construct and interpret a 95%confidence interval for the difference in the true mean length of hospital stay for normothermic and hypothermic patients like these.

b. Does your interval in part (a) suggest that keeping patients warm during surgery affects the average length of patients’ hospital stays? Justify your answer.

c. Interpret the meaning of “95%confidence” in the context of this study.

See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Math Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free