SELF-TEST EXERCISES (Introduction to Statistics)

1. A researcher claims that less than 60% of oat plants are resistant to crown rust disease. When
1000 oat plants were selected from a large population of oat plants, 47% were found to be resistant to
that disease.

a) What is the population of interest?

b) What is the sample?

c) What is the parameter?

d) What is the statistic?

e) Does the value 60% refer to the parameter or the statistic?

f) Is the value 47% a parameter or a statistic?

g) Explain briefly how the statistic can be used to make inferences about the parameter to test the
claim.

2. A manufacturer of computer chips claims that less than 10% of his products are defective. When
1000 chips were selected from a large production, 7.5% were found to be defective.

a) What is the population of interest?

b) What is the sample?

c) What is the parameter?

d) What is the statistic?

e) Does the value 10% refer to the parameter or the statistic?

f) Is the value 7.5% a parameter or a statistic?

g) Explain briefly how the statistic can be used to make inferences about the parameter to test the
claim.
3. The biochemical MOPEG plays a role in brain function. A study was made on alcohol consumers
to determine the amount of change in the concentration of MOPEG in the cerebrospinal fluid caused by
drinking alcohol.

To do so, seven healthy male volunteers participated in the study. The researchers found that the
average change in in the concentration of MOPEG in the cerebrospinal fluid is 4.3 pmol/ml.

Identify the following:

a) Variable of interest

b) Population of interest

c) Sample

4. The collection and summarization of the physical characteristics of the habitants of a particular
country is an example of _____________________________________.

5. The estimation of the population average family expenditure on healthy food based on the
sample average expenditure of 1,000 families is an example of
_____________________________________.

6. Monoamine oxidase (MAO) is an enzyme that is thought to play a role in the regulation of behavior.
To see whether different categories of 40,000 schizophrenic patients in a certain country have different
levels of MAO activity.

Researchers collected blood specimens from 42 patients and measured the MAO activity. In this study,
methods that result in decisions concerning levels of MAO activity of schizophrenic patients based only
on the sample results are called _____________________________________.

7. To see whether different categories of 40,000 schizophrenic patients in a certain country have
different levels of MAO activity.

Researchers collected blood specimens from 42 patients and measured the MAO activity. The 42
patients who will participate in this study constitute the_____________________________________.
8. The Human Resources Director of a large corporation wishes to develop an employee benefits
package and decides to select 500 employees from a list of all (N = 40,000) workers in order to study
their preferences for the various components of a potential package. All the employees in the
corporation constitute the _____________________________________.

9. Studies shown that mean IQ of college students in the UAE is 104 with a standard deviation of
16. Suppose a psychologist wishes to investigate the mean IQ of students at the AURAK. 25 students
were sampled and the sample mean was 103. The sample standard deviation was 12.

a) What is the population of interest?

b) What is the parameter?

c) What is the sample?

d) What is the statistic?

10. For each variable below, identify the type of variable whether it’s quantitative (discrete or
continuous) or qualitative (nominal or ordinal).

a) The number of kilometers joggers run per week

b) The day closing price of the stock of Amazon.com

c) The level of blood glucose (mg/dl)

d) The months in which children to take their vaccine.

e) The final letter grades (A, B, C, D and F) received by students in a statistics course

f) Marital status

g) The rating scale from 0 to 10 where 0 indicates “worst” to 10 indicates “excellent” of a new drug
efficiency.

h) The weight of a baby at birth.

i) The month of highest rate of cold and flu diseases

j) The number of Toyotas imported monthly by the UAE over the last 5 years

k) The size of soft drink ordered (small/regular/large)

l) The number of bacterial colonies in a petri dish.