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Using and Understanding Mathematics

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MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Solve the problem.


1) Find the mean for the given sample data. Round your answer to the nearest tenth if necessary.
20, 18, 20, 20, 12
A) 18 B) 20 C) 17 D) 22.5
Answer: A

2) The students in Hugh Logan's math class took the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Their math scores are shown below.
Find the mean score. Round your answer to the nearest tenth.

647 541 340 350 491


353 356 508 470 482
A) 444.9 B) 463.1 C) 476.0 D) 453.8
Answer: D

3) Last year, nine employees of an electronics company retired. Their ages at retirement are listed below. Find the
mean retirement age. Round your answer to the nearest tenth.

57 64 59
53 66 58
67 51 54
A) 58.0 B) 58.8 C) 58.1 D) 57.5
Answer: B

4) The grocery expenses for six families were $43.84, $71.11, $79.58, $88.66, $72.70, and $77.99. Compute the mean
grocery bill. Round your answer to the nearest cent.
A) $74.78 B) $108.47 C) $72.31 D) $86.78
Answer: C

5) Frank's Furniture employees earned the following amounts last week:

$542.27 $383.77 $172.37 $547.20 $200.49


$461.29 $261.33 $467.24 $205.97

What was the mean amount earned by an employee last week? Round your answer to the nearest cent.
A) $360.21 B) $353.55 C) $463.13 D) $405.24
Answer: A

6) The local Tupperware dealers earned these commissions last month:

$2965.95 $2743.78 $2972.72 $3591.18


$4897.62 $4202.64 $1330.73
$2341.77 $4722.08 $2260.74

What was the mean commission earned? Round your answer to the nearest cent.
A) $3558.80 B) $4003.65 C) $3196.92 D) $3202.92
Answer: D

1
7) Bill kept track of the number of hours he spent exercising each week. The results for four months are shown
below. Find the mean number of hours Bill spent exercising per week. Round your answer to the nearest tenth
of an hour.

7.5 8.5 8.3 8.0 8.3 7.5


8.2 8.3 6.5 7.5 8.0 7.9
7.4 8.5 8.5 7.8 8.3 8.2
A) 8.2 hours B) 8.0 hours C) 7.5 hours D) 8.4 hours
Answer: B

8) The weights, in pounds, of twelve apples are given below. Find the mean weight. Round your answer to the
nearest thousandth of a pound.

0.27 0.33 0.36 0.25 0.25 0.31


0.33 0.28 0.30 0.36 0.34 0.30
A) 0.334 lb B) 0.307 lb C) 0.282 lb D) 0.305 lb
Answer: B

9) The numbers below represent the amount of precipitation, in inches, on January 1st in eleven different U.S.
cities. Find the mean precipitation. Round your answer to the nearest ten-thousandth of an inch.

0.152 0.072 0.146 0.099 0.079 0.108


0.151 0.087 0.109 0.131 0.082
A) 0.1013 in. B) 0.1216 in. C) 0.108 in. D) 0.1105 in.
Answer: D

10) The heights of nine different mountains are shown in the table below. Find the mean height. Round your
answer to the nearest foot.

Mountain Height (feet)


Mt Mckinley, Alaska 20,320
Aconcagua, Argentina 22,834
Kilimanjaro, Tanzania 19,340
Mont Blanc, France 15,771
Mt Everest, Nepal/Tibet 29,028
K2, Kashmir 28,250
Mt Cook, New Zealand 12,349
Mt Logan, Yukon 19,850
Citlaltepec, Mexico 18,700

A) 19,850 ft B) 20,837 ft C) 20,309 ft D) 20,716 ft


Answer: D

2
11) The grades are given for a student for a particular semester. Use weighted means to find the grade point
average. Assume the grade point values are A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, and F = 0. Round your answer to the
nearest tenth when necessary.

Grade Credit Hours


A 3
D 1
D 2
F 2
D 3

A) 11 B) 1.4 C) 1.6 D) 2.2


Answer: C

Find the median for the given sample data.


12) 6, 7, 11, 21, 30, 30, 49
Find the median for the data.
A) 21 B) 11 C) 25.5 D) 30
Answer: A

13) The salaries of ten randomly selected doctors are shown below.

$111,000 $129,000 $198,000 $228,000 $223,000


$131,000 $110,000 $714,000 $241,000 $170,000

Find the median salary.


A) $226,000 B) $251,000 C) $198,000 D) $184,000
Answer: D

14) A new business had the following monthly net gains:

$6402 $1264 $3667 $7635 $7165


$3830 $1037 $8530 $5086 $5758

Find the median net gain.


A) $5597.11 B) $5086.00 C) $5037.40 D) $5422.00
Answer: D

15) The distances traveled (in miles) to 7 different swim meets are given below:

18, 30, 33, 57, 65, 73, 86

Find the median distance traveled.


A) 52 miles B) 65 miles C) 57 miles D) 33 miles
Answer: C

3
16) A store manager kept track of the number of newspapers sold each week over a seven-week period. The results
are shown below.

89, 15, 210, 107, 261, 249, 236

Find the median number of newspapers sold.


A) 236 B) 107 C) 210 D) 167
Answer: C

17) The number of vehicles passing through a bank drive-up line during each 15-minute period was recorded. The
results are shown below. Find the median number of vehicles going through the line in a fifteen-minute period.

20 22 20 23
23 20 25 22
30 26 26 24
19 26 20 15
10 22 22 22
A) 22 B) 26 C) 21.85 D) 23
Answer: A

18) The weights (in ounces) of 21 cookies are shown. Find the median weight.

0.75 1.03 0.81 1.62 0.69 0.72 1.20


1.03 1.53 0.93 0.75 1.35 1.33 0.69
0.47 1.35 0.72 1.33 1.72 0.69 0.56
A) 0.81 ounces B) 1.03 ounces C) 0.93 ounces D) 0.69 ounces
Answer: C

19) The normal monthly precipitation (in inches) for August is listed for 20 different U.S. cities. Find the median of
the data.

3.5 1.6 2.4 3.7 4.1


3.9 1.0 3.6 4.2 3.4
3.7 2.2 1.5 4.2 3.4
2.7 0.4 3.7 2.0 3.6
A) 3.50 in. B) 2.94 in. C) 3.45 in. D) 3.40 in.
Answer: C

Find the mode(s) for the given sample data.


20) -20, -45, -46, -45, -49, -45, -49
A) -49 B) -45 C) -42.7 D) -46
Answer: B

21) 20, 44, 46, 44, 49, 44, 49


A) 49 B) 44 C) 42.3 D) 46
Answer: B

22) 80, 48, 32, 48, 29, 80


A) 80 B) 48 C) 52.8 D) 80, 48
Answer: D

4
23) 7.16, 7.41, 7.56, 7.16, 7.88, 7.99, 7.62
A) 7.16 B) 7.54 C) 7.56 D) 7.41
Answer: A

24) 96, 25, 96, 13, 25, 29, 56, 96


A) 54.5 B) 96 C) 42.5 D) 25
Answer: B

25) Last year, nine employees of an electronics company retired. Their ages at retirement are listed below. Find the
mode(s).

51 65 66
55 56 61
67 58 54
A) No mode B) 51, 65, 66, 55, 56, 61, 67, 58, 54
C) 59.2 D) 58
Answer: A

26) The weights (in ounces) of 14 different apples are shown below.

4.6 4.8 4.9 5.2 4.1 4.6 4.8


4.7 5.0 5.2 4.6 4.7 5.2 6.5
A) None B) 4.6 C) 4.6, 5.2 D) 4.90
Answer: C

27) The speeds (in mi/h) of the cars passing a certain checkpoint are measured by radar. The results are shown
below.

40.9 40.0 41.3 40.3 40.7


40.7 40.0 41.9 40.2 40.3
40.9 41.9 40.3 42.8 40.0
44.7 44.7 41.3 43.3 40.9
A) 40.40 B) 40.9, 40.3, 40.0 C) 40.0 D) 40.9
Answer: B

5
28) The table shows the country represented by the winner of the 10,000 meter run in the Summer Olympic Games
in various years.

Year Country
1912 Finland
1920 Finland
1924 Finland
1928 Finland
1932 Poland
1936 Finland
1948 Czechoslovakia
1952 Czechoslovakia
1956 USSR
1960 USSR
1964 United States
1968 Kenya
1972 Finland
1976 Finland
1980 Ethiopia
1984 Italy
1988 Morocco
1992 Morocco

Find the mode of the country data.


A) Finland B) 1912 C) 7 D) Morocco
Answer: A

29) The blood types for 30 people who agreed to participate in a medical study were as follows.

O A A O A AB O B A O
A O A B O O O AB A A
A B O A A O O B O O

Find the mode of the blood types.


A) A B) O C) 13 D) O, A
Answer: B

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

State which type of average, the mean, median, or mode, would be most appropriate in the situation described. Explain
your thinking.
30) An engineer has designed an elevator and wishes to determine the maximum number of people that will be
allowed to ride in the elevator at a time. In order to do this, the engineer needs to know the average weight of
the people likely to ride in the elevator. Which type of average would be the most useful?
Answer: The mean. The mean takes into account the numerical value of all the weights and thus will allow the
engineer to estimate the total weight of a given number of people.

31) You are considering moving to a new city and would like to know the average price of a new home in that city.
Which type of average would be the most useful to you?
Answer: The median. The median gives the center of the data and is not affected by the few unusually high home
prices. The median gives a better indication of the "typical" home price than either the mean or the mode.

6
32) A parcel service wants to estimate how many vans it will need. It knows how many parcels are delivered each
day, but it also needs to know the average volume of the parcels. Which average would be the most useful?
Answer: The mean. The mean takes into account the actual volume of all the parcels and thus will allow the
parcel service to estimate the total volume of a given number of parcels.

33) A shoe manufacturer wants to know in which size they should make the most shoes. Which type of average
would be the most useful?
Answer: The mode. The manufacturer needs to know the most common shoe size.

34) A state governor is planning a tax cut. A researcher calculates the average amount that will be saved by
residents of the state. Which average would best convey the amount that will be saved by most residents of the
state?
Answer: The median. Explanations will vary. Possible answer: The median gives the center of the data and is not
affected by the few unusually high salaries. The median gives a better indication of the "typical" amount
that will be saved than either the mean or the mode.

35) A state governor is planning a tax cut. The governor is to announce the average amount that people would save
if the tax cut were to take effect. If the governor wants to exaggerate the benefit of the tax cut, which average
would he quote?
Answer: The mean. The mean will affected by the few unusually high salaries and will be larger than the median.
The mean will not be representative of the amount that most people will save.

36) Before a mayoral election, a pollster tries to predict which candidate will win the most votes. Which average
does the pollster need to know?
Answer: The mode. The pollster needs to know which candidate will receive the most votes - the most common
"value" in the distribution, which is the mode.

37) The table below provides a frequency distribution for the winner of the Davis Cup during the period 1977-1994.

Winner of
Davis Cup Frequency
United States 6
Germany 3
Czechoslovakia 1
Australia 3
France 1
Sweden 4

Which measure of center, the mean, the median, or the mode is most appropriate here? Why?
Answer: The mode. The data (winning country) is qualitative. Since the data are not numerical values, it is not
possible to find the median or mean, only the most frequently occurring value (i.e. the mode).

38) Suppose that a state introduces a state income tax which will be at a flat rate of 3%. The state legislature wishes
to estimate how much money they will receive in taxes, and to do this they need to know the average income of
residents of the state. Which information would be most useful, the mean income, the median income, or the
mode of the incomes? Why?
Answer: Answers will vary. Possible answer: The mean income would be most useful as it takes into account the
numerical value of all incomes and thus best predicts how much tax will be paid.

7
39) Dave is a college student contemplating a possible career option. One factor that will influence his decision is
the amount of money he is likely to make. He decides to look up the average starting salary of graduates in that
profession. Which information would be most useful to him, the mean starting salary, the median starting
salary, or the mode of the starting salaries. Why?
Answer: The median salary would be most useful. Explanations will vary. Possible answer: The median gives the
center of the data and is not affected by the few unusually high (or low) starting salaries. The median
gives a better indication of the "typical" salary than either the mean or the mode.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Identify the distribution as symmetric, left-skewed, or right-skewed.


40) The amounts of tax paid by U.S. residents
A) Left-skewed B) Right-skewed C) Symmetric
Answer: B

41) Weights of new-born babies


A) Left-skewed B) Right-skewed C) Symmetric
Answer: C

42) Number of days worked last year by adult males in a U.S. city which has a low unemployment rate
A) Right-skewed B) Left-skewed C) Symmetric
Answer: B

43) Amount of credit card debt of families in the U.S.


A) Left-skewed B) Right-skewed C) Symmetric
Answer: B

44) Shoe sizes of adult women


A) Right-skewed B) Symmetric C) Left-skewed
Answer: B

45) Age at death for residents of the U.S.


A) Right-skewed B) Symmetric C) Left-skewed
Answer: C

46) The diameters of the apples growing on a particular tree


A) Symmetric B) Right-skewed C) Left-skewed
Answer: A

47) Number of siblings of adults in the U.S.


A) Symmetric B) Right-skewed C) Left-skewed
Answer: B

48) Exam scores for an exam in which most students did very well but a few students failed
A) Right-skewed B) Left-skewed C) Symmetric
Answer: B

49) Lengths of human pregnancies


A) Left-skewed B) Symmetric C) Right-skewed
Answer: B

8
State how many peaks you would expect for the distribution described.
50) Heights of a group of college athletes consisting of the gymnastics team and the basketball team
A) Three B) None C) Two D) One
Answer: C

51) Sales of gloves in Boston over a one-year period


A) None B) One C) Three D) Two
Answer: B

52) Voice pitch for the people in the school auditorium consisting of 6 year olds giving a concert, their mothers, and
their fathers
A) Two B) None C) Three D) One
Answer: C

53) Numbers of people with birthdays in a particular month (January through December)
A) Two B) One C) None D) Three
Answer: C

54) Weights of the first graders at a school


A) One B) Three C) None D) Two
Answer: A

55) Number showing when a single die is rolled 100 times


A) Three B) Two C) None D) One
Answer: C

56) Sales of birthday cards over a one-year period


A) None B) One C) Two D) Three
Answer: A

57) Speeds of everyone traveling on a country road, including cyclists and motorists
A) Two B) One C) Three D) None
Answer: A

Answer the question.


58) Tell which of the following distributions would have the least variation.
A) Weights of all adults B) Weights of 20-year olds
C) Weights of adult men D) Weights of 20-year old women
Answer: D

59) Tell which of the following distributions would have the least variation.
A) 100-meter times for male college seniors B) 100-meter times for adults
C) 100-meter times for male Olympic sprinters D) 100-meter times for college seniors
Answer: C

9
60) Tell which of the following distributions would have the most variation.
A) Scores on a test in which all students got a perfect score
B) Scores on a test in which half the students got a C and half failed
C) Scores on a test in which half the students got an A and half failed
D) Scores on a test in which half the students got an A and half got a B
Answer: C

61) Tell which of the following distributions would have the most variation.
A) Temperature over a one-year period in Boston.
B) Temperature over a one-year period in San Diego.
C) Temperature over a one-month period in San Diego.
D) Temperature over a one-month period in Boston.
Answer: A

62) Tell which of the following distributions would have the most variation.
A) Salaries of CEOs of U.S. corporations B) Salaries of high-school teachers
C) Salaries of bank clerks D) Salaries of waitresses
Answer: A

63) Tell which of the following distributions would have the most variation.
A) The number of hours of light per day over a one-year period in New York
B) The number of hours of light per day over a one-year period in Mexico City
C) The number of hours of light per day over a one-year period at the North Pole
D) The number of hours of light per day over a one-year period at the equator
Answer: C

64) Tell which of the following distributions would have the least variation.
A) Number of children for women in India
B) Number of children for women in Kenya
C) Number of children for women in Haiti
D) Number of children for women in Portland, Oregon
Answer: D

65) Tell which of the following distributions would have the least variation.
A) Weights of all pet cats B) Weights of all children who have a pet cat
C) Weights of all pets D) Weights of all pet dogs
Answer: A

10
Select the requested distribution.
66) Which of the distributions has the greatest variation?
A)

B)

C)

Answer: A

67) Which of the distributions is skewed to the right?


A)

11
B)

C)

D)

Answer: B

12
68) Which of the distributions is multimodal?
A)

B)

C)

Answer: B

69) Which of the distributions is symmetric?


A)

13
B)

C)

D)

Answer: B

70) Which of the distributions is multimodal and approximately symmetric?


A)

14
B)

C)

D)

Answer: A

Provide an appropriate response.


71) Of the mean, median, and mode, which is (are) affected by outliers?
A) The median and mode B) The mean and mode
C) The mean only D) The mean and median
Answer: C

72) Of the mean, median, and mode, which take(s) into account the numerical size of all the data values?
A) The median and mode B) The mean only
C) The mean and median D) All of them
Answer: B

73) Which quantity describes how widely data values are spread about the center of a distribution?
A) Skewness B) Number of peaks C) Variation D) Mean
Answer: C

74) Rank the mean, median, and mode in order of ascending size for a right-skewed distribution.
A) Mode, Mean, Median B) Mode, Median, Mean
C) Mean, Median, Mode D) Median, Mode, Mean
Answer: B

15
75) Which of the following statements is not true for a left-skewed distribution?
A) The mode is greater than the mean B) The mode is at the peak
C) The mean is greater than the median D) The median is smaller than the mode
Answer: C

76) Which of the following is not possible?


A) A distribution is left-skewed and the mean is equal to the median
B) A distribution is right-skewed and the mean is greater than the median
C) A distribution has a single peak and the mean and median are different
D) A distribution is not symmetric and the median is equal to the mean
Answer: A

77) Which of the following statements is true?


A) The median is always one of the data points in a set of data
B) The mean is always one of the data points in a set of data.
C) The mode is always one of the data points in a set of data.
D) None of the above is true
Answer: C

78) Which of the following is not possible?


A) A distribution is symmetric and single peaked and the mean, median, and mode are all equal.
B) A distribution is symmetric and single peaked and the mode is greater than the mean.
C) A distribution is symmetric and the mode is different from the mean.
D) Two data sets have equal means and modes but still have very different distributions.
Answer: B

79) A data set consists of 9 values which are not all the same. Which of the following is possible?
A) The median is equal to the largest value. B) The mean is equal to the largest value.
C) The mode is equal to the largest value. D) None of the above is possible.
Answer: C

80) A data set consists of 9 values which are all different. Which of the following is possible?
A) The median is equal to the second smallest value.
B) The mean is equal to the second smallest value.
C) The mode is equal to the second smallest value.
D) None of the above is possible.
Answer: B

Find the range for the given data.


81) Jeanne is currently taking college economics. On the past five quizzes, Jeanne got the following scores.

5 17 3 14 10
A) 5 B) 14 C) 17 D) 3
Answer: B

16
82) Rich Borne is currently taking Chemistry 101. On the five laboratory assignments for the quarter, he got the
following scores.

29 36 17 43 60
A) 7 B) 17 C) 60 D) 43
Answer: D

83) The owner of a small manufacturing plant employs six people. The commute distances, in miles, for the six
employees are listed below.

2.4 5.1 1.4 4.3 6.2 3.9


A) 1.5 mi B) 1.4 mi C) 4.8 mi D) 5.1 mi
Answer: C

84) The amount that Jeremy has saved in each of the last six months is shown below.

$115 $534 $122 $599 $417 $289


A) $115 B) $484 C) $534 D) $167
Answer: B

85) Each student in a sixth-grade class recorded the amount of time he or she had spent watching television during
a one-week period. The times (in hours) are listed below.

18.1 22.7 8.5 26.5 17.7


29.9 21.7 13.1 25.0 24.6
A) 21.4 hours B) 4.6 hours C) 17.7 hours D) 8.5 hours
Answer: A

86) The manager of an electrical supply store measured the diameters of the rolls of wire in the inventory. The
diameters of the rolls (in m) are listed below.

0.519
0.599
0.137
0.341
0.335
0.118
A) 0.481 m B) 0.118 m C) 0.198 m D) 0.519 m
Answer: A

87) Fred, a local mechanic, gathered the following data regarding the price, in dollars, of an oil and filter change at
twelve competing service stations.

32.95 24.95 26.95 28.75


18.90 28.50 30.95 22.95
24.95 26.95 29.75 28.00
A) $8.20 B) $10.95 C) $14.05 D) $12.05
Answer: C

17
Obtain the five-number summary for the given data.
88) The test scores of 15 students are listed below.

40 47 51 54 56
63 66 69 73 80
85 87 90 94 95
A) 40, 54, 71.0, 87, 95 B) 40, 54, 69, 87, 95
C) 40, 53.25, 71.0, 85.5, 95 D) 40, 53.25, 69, 85.5, 95
Answer: B

89) The weekly salaries (in dollars) of sixteen government workers are listed below.

690 599 813 644


728 576 481 618
529 679 685 465
559 787 498 826
A) 465, 536.50, 618, 718.5, 826 B) 465, 544.0, 631.0, 709, 826
C) 465, 529, 618, 690, 826 D) 465, 536.50, 631.0, 718.5, 826
Answer: B

90) The normal annual precipitation (in inches) is given below for 21 different U.S. cities.

39.1 30.3 18.5 32.3 27.1 27.8 8.6


23.5 42.6 31.8 20.0 12.0 5.1 13.6
22.3 10.9 16.2 25.4 17.2 14.9 51.7
A) 5.1, 13.925, 21.15, 29.675, 51.7 B) 5.1, 13.925, 22.3, 29.675, 51.7
C) 5.1, 14.25, 21.15, 31.05, 51.7 D) 5.1, 14.25, 22.3, 31.05, 51.7
Answer: D

91) The weights (in pounds) of 18 randomly selected adults are given below.

120 145 187 153 119 138


127 142 179 164 182 202
114 174 130 149 167 174
A) 114, 129.25, 151.0, 175.25, 202 B) 114, 130, 151.0, 174, 202
C) 114, 128.50, 151.0, 170.5, 202 D) 114, 128.50, 149, 170.5, 202
Answer: B

92) The National Education Association collects data on the number of years of teaching experience of high-school
teachers. A sample taken this year of 19 high-school teachers yielded the following data on number of years of
teaching experience.

33 13 1 21 31
8 3 12 2 23
25 1 33 28 6
18 24 22 31
A) 1, 5.25, 19.5, 25.75, 33 B) 1, 5.25, 21, 25.75, 33
C) 1, 6, 19.5, 28, 33 D) 1, 6, 21, 28, 33
Answer: D

18
Construct a boxplot as requested.
93) The weights (in pounds) of 30 newborn babies are listed below. Construct a boxplot for the data set.

5.5 5.7 5.8 5.9 6.1 6.1 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6
6.7 6.7 6.7 6.9 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.2
7.4 7.5 7.7 7.7 7.8 8.0 8.1 8.1 8.3 8.7
A) B)

C) D)

Answer: D

94) The test scores of 32 students are listed below. Construct a boxplot for the data set.

32 37 41 44 46 48 53 55
57 57 59 63 65 66 68 69
70 71 74 74 75 77 78 79
81 82 83 86 89 92 95 99
A) B)

C) D)

Answer: C

19
95) The test scores of 40 students are listed below. Construct a boxplot for the data set.

25 35 43 44 47 48 54 55 56 57
59 62 63 65 66 68 69 69 71 72
72 73 74 76 77 77 78 79 80 81
81 82 83 85 89 92 93 94 97 98
A) B)

C) D)

Answer: D

96) The weekly salaries (in dollars) of 24 randomly selected employees of a company are shown below. Construct a
boxplot for the data set.

310 320 450 460 470 500 520 540


580 600 650 700 710 840 870 900
1000 1200 1250 1300 1400 1720 2500 3700
A) B)

C) D)

Answer: D

20
97) The highest temperatures ever recorded (in °F) in 32 different U.S. states are shown below. Construct a boxplot
for the data set.

100 100 105 105 106 106 107 107


109 110 110 112 112 112 114 114
114 115 116 117 118 118 118 118
118 119 120 121 122 125 128 134
A) B)

C) D)

Answer: D

98) The normal monthly precipitation (in inches) for August is listed for 20 different U.S. cities. Construct a boxplot
for the data set.

4.0 1.0 1.5 1.6 2.0


2.2 2.4 2.7 3.4 3.4
3.5 3.6 3.6 3.7 3.7
3.9 4.1 4.2 4.2 7.0
A) B)

C) D)

Answer: C

21
99) Here are the ages of the male and female employees at First River Bank. Draw a box plot for each of the two
data sets.

Males Age Females Age


Mike 18 Kellie 21
Steven 19 Lauren 21
Jeff 21 Pat 23
Kevin 21 Beth 26
Robert 24 Stacy 26
Jason 26 Tracie 28
Dean 27 Meredith 29
Roy 28 Tiffany 35
Ronald 29 Jackie 37
A) B)

C) D)

Answer: C

22
100) Here are the heights of the male and female employees at First City Bank. Draw a double box plot for each of
the two data sets.

Males Height (inches) Females Height (inches)


Ronald 62 Lauren 56
Robert 64 Tracie 59
Jeff 66 Kim 60
Kevin 66 Tiffany 62
Ralph 68 Stacy 66
Mike 70 Jackie 66
Dean 73 Kellie 68
Steven 75 Pat 71
Jason 78 Beth 73
A) B)

C) D)

Answer: C

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

Provide an appropriate response.


101) Four different distributions are represented by the four boxplots below.

Which distribution has the smallest median? Which has the greatest variation? Which is skewed to the left?
Answer: Distribution C has the smallest median. Distribution D has the greatest variation. Distribution C is
skewed to the left.

23
102) Draw one boxplot to illustrate bell-shaped data, another for uniform data, and a third for skewed data. Which
of these shapes matches the boxplot for the first 100 digits of π? (Below is the frequency table for the first 100
digits of π.)

x 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
f 8 8 12 11 10 8 9 8 12 14

Answer: Check students' drawings. The boxplot for a skewed distribution has a long whisker on one side. The
boxplots for uniform and bell-shaped distributions are symmetric but for a bell-shaped distribution, the
whiskers are long relative to the width of the box. The distribution of the given frequency table is roughly
uniform.

103) In the Florida lottery, the numbers (between 1 and 49) are generated randomly with the expectation that each
number has an equal chance of winning. Draw a boxplot which should illustrate the data set of all numbers
picked for the lottery during the past year.
Answer: Check students' drawings. Students should draw a boxplot for a uniform distribution (a symmetric
boxplot with the length of each whisker roughly equal to half the width of the box).

104) Boxplots are graphs that are useful for revealing central tendency, the spread of the data, the distribution of the
data and the presence of outliers. Draw an example of a box plot and comment on each of these characteristics
as shown by your boxplot.
Answer: Answers will vary.

105) Describe any similarities or differences in the two distributions represented by the boxplots below. Assume the
two boxplots have the same scale.

Answer: Answers will vary. Possible answer: The distribution represented by the first boxplot is symmetric, while
the distribution represented by the second boxplot is skewed to the right.

24
106) Discuss the differences between the distributions represented by the two boxplots below. Explain your
reasoning.

Answer: Answers will vary. Possible answer: The first boxplot represents a bell-shaped distribution since it is
symmetrical and has long whiskers relative to the width of the box (indicating that observations close to
the mean are more common than those far from the mean).
The second boxplot represents a left-skewed distribution, since the whisker to the left is relatively long.

107) A population consists of 100 professional gymnasts and 100 professional basketball players. For this group, the
average height is 70 inches. However, most of the gymnasts are between 57 and 61 inches tall while most of the
basketball players are between 78 and 82 inches tall. For this group, observations far from the mean are more
common than observations close to the mean. Describe what a boxplot for the heights of this group would look
like. Discuss, in particular, the lengths of the whiskers relative to the width of the box and explain your
reasoning.
Answer: Answers will vary. Possible answer: For this data, the whiskers will be very short relative to the width of
the box since the first and third quartiles will be far apart.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Find the standard deviation for the given data. Round your answer to one more decimal place than the original data.
108) 3, 5, 6, 6, 9, 1
A) 2.8 B) 7.6 C) 5.4 D) 2.5
Answer: A

109) 7, 15, 14, 10, 10, 9, 19, 19, 12


A) 4.6 B) 4.0 C) 1.6 D) 4.3
Answer: D

110) 3, 2, 12, 9, 10, 11, 11, 10, 10


A) 3.6 B) 1.1 C) 3.4 D) 3.9
Answer: A

111) 40 20 37 20 17 49 72
A) 9289.3 B) 19.8 C) 11,643 D) 37
Answer: B

112) 290, 201, 130, 283, 135, 124, 147, 156, 270
A) 69.9 B) 24.1 C) 74.7 D) 65.9
Answer: A

25
113) 20.9, 10.2, 26.2, 48.8, 20.0, 24.9
A) 3800.2 B) 37.5 C) 4628.7 D) 12.87
Answer: D

114) The numbers below represent the test scores of nine students.
46, 81, 54, 53, 27, 41, 67, 33, 89
Find the standard deviation.
A) 21.0 B) 6.8 C) 22.4 D) 19.8
Answer: A

115) The manager of an electrical supply store measured the diameters of the rolls of wire in the inventory. The
diameters of the rolls (in m) are listed below. Compute the standard deviation.
0.45 0.558 0.644 0.145 0.627 0.268 0.294
A) 1.5010 m B) 0.1946 m C) 0.145 m D) 1.2737 m
Answer: B

116) The numbers listed below represent the amount of precipitation (in inches) last year in six different U.S. cities.
10.4 12.0 31.6 30.2 12.6 22.2
Compute the standard deviation s.
A) 9.53 in. B) 30.9 in. C) 2360.2 in. D) 2814.4 in.
Answer: A

117) The numbers listed below represent the amount of money that Tom has saved in each of the last 8 months.
$278 $441 $244 $384 $337 $348 $362 $207
Compute the standard deviation.
A) $77.2 B) $887,323.0 C) $845,650.1 D) $272.0
Answer: A

Use the range rule of thumb to approximate the standard deviation.


118) 2, 6, 15, 9, 11, 22, 1, 4, 8, 19
A) 6.3 B) 2 C) 5.25 D) 6.8
Answer: C

119) 15, 42, 53, 7, 9, 12, 14, 28, 47


A) 29.1 B) 15.8 C) 11.5 D) 16.6
Answer: C

120) 22, 29, 21, 24, 27, 28, 25, 36


A) 1.65 B) 4.2 C) 2.8 D) 3.75
Answer: D

121) 496, 598, 503, 528, 565, 601, 576, 543


A) 170.2 B) 18.75 C) 26.25 D) 60.6
Answer: C

122) 3.5 1.6 2.4 3.7 4.1 3.9


1.0 3.6 4.2 3.4 3.7 2.2
A) 1.4 B) 12.03 C) 1.09 D) 0.8
Answer: D

26
123) The heights in feet of people who work in an office are as follows. Round results to the nearest tenth.
5.9 6.0 5.5 5.4 5.9 5.5 5.6 6.2 5.8 5.5
A) 0.5 B) 0.1 C) 0.2 D) 1.2
Answer: C

124) The race speeds for the top eight cars in a 200-mile race are listed below. Round results to the nearest tenth.
182.4 178.3 189.2 183.5 175.6 187.6 181.7 185.7
A) 1.1 B) 6.8 C) 3.4 D) 7.5
Answer: C

125) The following is a set of data showing the water temperature in a heated tub at different time intervals. Round
results to the nearest tenth.
114.6 115.8 116.7 113.5 113.4 114.6 112.9 115.2
A) -55.9 B) 0.8 C) 1.3 D) 1.0
Answer: D

126) The maximum value of a distribution is 18.1 and the minimum value is 5.5. Round results to the nearest tenth.
A) 14.2 B) 8.2 C) 3.2 D) 0.2
Answer: C

127) A distribution of data has a maximum value of 78, a median value of 51, and a minimum of 24. Round results
to the nearest tenth.
A) 10.8 B) 27.0 C) 7.2 D) 13.5
Answer: D

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

Provide an appropriate response.


128) We want to compare two different groups of students, students taking Composition 1 in a traditional lecture
format and students taking Composition 1 in a distance learning format. We know that the mean score on the
research paper is 85 for both groups. What additional information would be provided by knowing the standard
deviation?
Answer: Answers will vary. Possible answer: The standard deviation will give an indication of how widely the
scores vary. More precisely, it gives an indication of how much the scores deviate, on average, from the
mean score of 85.

27
129) You are late for work. You have two options for getting to work. You may take the bus which takes on average
40 minutes with a standard deviation of 12 minutes. Or you can cycle which takes on average 50 minutes with
a standard deviation of 2 minutes. Compare these two distributions.
You leave your house at 8.20 am and are supposed to start work at 9.00 am.
Which option would you choose if you will be fired if you are even a few minutes late?
Which option would you choose if you know that up to 15 minutes late is OK but after that there is trouble?
Explain your thinking.
Answer: Taking the bus is faster on average but there is more variation in the times. Cycling takes longer on
average but there is less variation in the times.

Possibility one - you will be fired if you are even a few minutes late.
You should take the bus. If you cycle you will definitely be a little late. If you take the bus you could be
on time or could be very late but you at least have a chance of being on time.
Possibility two: you will be OK if you are not more than 15 minutes late:
You should cycle. If you cycle you will almost certainly be there by 9.15 am. If you take the bus there is a
chance you will be more than fifteen minutes late.

130) A company advertises an average of 42,000 miles for one of its new tires. In the manufacturing process there is
some variation around that average. Would the company want a process that provides a large or a small
standard deviation? Justify your answer.
Answer: Answers will vary. Possible answer: A small standard deviation would be preferable as this would
indicate that the lifetimes of the tires do not vary too widely around the mean.

131) Marcella is nearing retirement age and has some money to invest. She is deciding between Fund A which in the
past has grown by a mean of 7% per year with a standard deviation of 2% and Fund B which has grown by a
mean of 10% with a standard deviation of 6%. Which fund should she choose? Explain your thinking.
Answer: Fund A would be less risky. Fund B has a higher mean return but also a higher standard deviation
indicating that there is more variation in its returns. Since Marcella is nearing retirement age, this is
probably a short-term investment. Marcella won't have time to ride out the fluctuations and will not
have much flexibility about when to withdraw her money. Of course she may be lucky with Fund B but if
she wants more security, she should choose Fund A.

132) You are the coach of a basketball team. Player A's mean score per game over the last season has been 24 with a
standard deviation of 2. Player B's mean score per game over the last season has been 23 with a standard
deviation of 6. Contrast the performance of the two players. Which player would be your choice to play in a
game in which you all you need is a medium performance to win? Which player would be your choice to play
in a game in which your team needs an exceptional performance in order to win?
Answer: Player A has been playing more consistently, with little variation from game to game. Player B has
almost the same mean score per game as player A but a higher standard deviation. This means that there
is more variation in his score per game, sometimes his score is very high, sometimes quite low
If only a medium performance is needed, player A should be chosen as player A rarely has a poor game.
If an exceptional performance is needed, player B should be chosen as he is more likely to have an
exceptional game than player A

28
133) The range and standard deviation of the data set below are 35 and 12.47 respectively.

5, 24, 25, 26, 40

If the 26 is replaced with 39, how will this affect the range? How will this affect the standard deviation. Use
your answers to explain why the standard deviation is preferable to the range as a measure of variation.
Answer: Answers will vary. Possible answer: The range will be unaffected, while the standard deviation will
increase. The standard deviation is preferable as it takes into account the numerical value of all
observations while the range depends only on the smallest and largest observations and disregards other
observations.

134) Do you think it is possible to find two data sets such that the first data set has a smaller range but a larger
standard deviation than the second set? If so, give an example of two such data sets. If it is not possible, explain
why not.
Answer: It is possible to find two such data sets. Examples will vary.

135) In essence, the standard deviation indicates how far, on average, the observations are from the mean. Do you
think that for the data set below the standard deviation will give a good indication of the typical deviation from
the mean?

2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 100

What drawback of the standard deviation is illustrated by this example?


Answer: Answers will vary. Possible answer: No, the standard deviation is 31.9. This is not a good indication of
the typical deviation from the mean because the data set contains an extreme observation, namely 100.
The standard deviation is very sensitive to extreme observations.

136) Can the sample variance ever be a negative number? If so, for what types of data? If not, why not? Can the
sample variance ever be zero? If so, for what types of data? If not, why not? Explain your reasoning.
Answer: Answers will vary. Possible answer: The variance can never be a negative number since it is a sum of
squared terms each of which must be positive or zero. It can be zero only if all observations are identical,
in which case all deviations from the mean will be zero.

137) How does Q3 - Q2 compare to Q2 - Q1 for a distribution which is skewed to the right? for a distribution which
is skewed to the left? for a uniform distribution? (The three quartiles of a data set from smallest to largest are
denoted Q1 , Q2, Q3 ).
Answer: For a distribution which is skewed to the right, Q3 - Q2 is greater than Q2 - Q1 .
For a distribution which is skewed to the left, Q3 - Q2 is smaller than Q2 - Q1 .
For a uniform distribution, Q3 - Q2 is equal to Q2 - Q1 .

29
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

State whether the distribution appears to be (roughly) normal.


138)

A) Not normal B) Normal


Answer: B

139)

A) Not normal B) Normal


Answer: A

140)

A) Not normal B) Normal


Answer: A

30
141)

A) Normal B) Not normal


Answer: A

142)

A) Normal B) Not normal


Answer: B

State whether you would expect the data set to be normally distributed.
143) The amount of property taxes paid by homeowners
A) Not normal B) Normal
Answer: A

144) The number of siblings of the students at Bloomington High School


A) Normal B) Not normal
Answer: B

145) Sales of birthday cards over a one-year period


A) Normal B) Not normal
Answer: B

146) The amount of coffee which a filling machine puts into "4 ounce jars"
A) Normal B) Not normal
Answer: A

147) Resting heart rates for adults


A) Normal B) Not normal
Answer: A

148) Scores on a test in which most students have near perfect scores and a few fail.
A) Normal B) Not normal
Answer: B

31
149) Amount of credit card debt of families in the U.S.
A) Not normal B) Normal
Answer: A

150) Times for able bodied female college students to run 400 meters.
A) Normal B) Not normal
Answer: A

151) Age at death for residents of the U.S.


A) Not normal B) Normal
Answer: A

152) The diameters of the redwood trees in a forest.


A) Normal B) Not normal
Answer: A

Use the 68-95-99.7 rule to solve the problem.


153) The time it take Claudia to drive to work is normally distributed with a mean of 48 minutes and a standard
deviation of 5 minutes. What percentage of the time will it take her less than 53 minutes to drive to work?
A) 84% B) 16% C) 32% D) 68%
Answer: A

154) For adults in the town of Bridgeport, systolic blood pressure is normally distributed with a mean of 130 mmHg
and a standard deviation of 11 mmHg. What percentage of adults in the town have a systolic blood pressure
less than 97 mmHg?
A) 99.7% B) 0.3% C) 99.85% D) 0.15%
Answer: D

155) For women at Hartford College, times to run 400 meters are normally distributed with a mean of 82 seconds
and a standard deviation of 5 seconds. What percentage of the times are more than 67 seconds?
A) 99.7% B) 0.15% C) 0.3% D) 99.85%
Answer: D

156) Scores on a test are normally distributed with a mean of 101 and a standard deviation of 20. What percentage of
scores are greater than 161?
A) 0.3% B) 99.7% C) 0.15% D) 99.85%
Answer: C

157) At one college, GPA's are normally distributed with a mean of 3 and a standard deviation of 0.6. What
percentage of students at the college have a GPA between 2.4 and 3.6?
A) 68% B) 84% C) 99.7% D) 95%
Answer: A

158) The amount of Jen's monthly phone bill is normally distributed with a mean of $70 and a standard deviation of
$9. What percentage of her phone bills are between $43 and $97?
A) 99.7% B) 99.9% C) 95% D) 68%
Answer: A

32
159) The amount of Jen's monthly phone bill is normally distributed with a mean of $61 and a standard deviation of
$12. Fill in the blanks.

68% of her phone bills are between $___ and $___.


A) 61, 73 B) 49, 73 C) 37, 85 D) 37, 61
Answer: B

160) The annual precipitation for one city is normally distributed with a mean of 27.5 inches and a standard
deviation of 3.2 inches. Fill in the blanks.

In 99.7% of the years, the precipitation in this city is between ___ and ___ inches.
A) 17.9, 37.1 B) 21.1, 27.5 C) 21.1, 33.9 D) 27.5, 37.1
Answer: A

161) Assume that a distribution has a mean of 28 and a standard deviation of 7. What percentage of the values in the
distribution do we expect to fall between 21 and 28?
A) 34% B) 17% C) 68% D) 25%
Answer: A

162) Assume that a distribution has a mean of 26 and a standard deviation of 7. What percentage of the values in the
distribution do we expect to fall between 26 and 40?
A) 47.5% B) 25% C) 95% D) 5%
Answer: A

Solve the problem. Round your answer to two decimal places.


163) Scores on a test are normally distributed with a mean of 86 and a standard deviation of 10. What is the standard
score for an exam score of 79 ?
A) -0.8 B) -0.7 C) -1.43 D) 0.8
Answer: B

164) Scores on a test are normally distributed with a mean of 86 and a standard deviation of 3. What is the exam
score corresponding to a standard score of -0.95?
A) 85.68 B) 88.85 C) 83.15 D) None of the above
Answer: C

For the given data value, find the standard score and the percentile.
165) A data value 0.6 standard deviations above the mean.
A) z = 0.6; percentile = 72.57 B) z = 0.06; percentile = 51.99
C) z = -0.6; percentile = 27.43 D) z = 0.6; percentile = 2.5
Answer: A

166) A data value 2.5 standard deviations above the mean.


A) z = 0.25; percentile = 59.87 B) z = 2.5; percentile = 99.38
C) z = 2.5; percentile = 1.95 D) z = -2.5; percentile = 0.62
Answer: B

167) A data value 1.3 standard deviations above the mean.


A) z = 1.3; percentile = 2.2 B) z = 0.13; percentile = 55.96
C) z = 1.3; percentile = 90.32 D) z = -1.3; percentile = 9.68
Answer: C

33
168) A data value 0.9 standard deviations below the mean.
A) z = -0.09; percentile = 46.02 B) z = 0.9; percentile = 81.59
C) z = -0.9; percentile = 81.59 D) z = -0.9; percentile = 18.41
Answer: D

169) A data value 1.8 standard deviations below the mean.


A) z = 1.8; percentile = 96.41 B) z = -1.8; percentile = 96.41
C) z = -0.18; percentile = 42.07 D) z = -1.8; percentile = 3.59
Answer: D

170) A data value 2.3 standard deviations below the mean.


A) z = -2.3; percentile = 98.93 B) z = -2.3; percentile = 1.07
C) z = -0.23; percentile = 40.13 D) z = 2.3; percentile = 98.93
Answer: B

Find the standard score for the given data value.


171) A data value in the 8th percentile.
A) z = -2.4 B) z = 0.85 C) z = 78.81 D) z = -1.4
Answer: D

172) A data value in the 16th percentile.


A) z = -1.0 B) z = -2.1 C) z = 1.0 D) z = 55.96
Answer: A

173) A data value in the 31st percentile.


A) z = -1.9 B) z = 61.79 C) z = 0.5 D) z = -0.5
Answer: D

174) A data value in the 46th percentile.


A) z = -1.7 B) z = -0.1 C) z = -2.6 D) z = 0.1
Answer: B

175) A data value in the 58th percentile.


A) z = -1.6 B) z = -2.5 C) z = 72.57 D) z = 0.2
Answer: D

176) A data value in the 88th percentile.


A) z = -2.4 B) z = -1.4 C) z = 81.59 D) z = 1.2
Answer: D

177) A data value in the 97th percentile.


A) z = -2.3 B) z = -1.3 C) z = 82.89 D) z = 1.9
Answer: D

Solve the problem.


178) Suppose that the mean salary in a particular profession is $45,000 with a standard deviation of $2,000. To what
percentile does a salary of $48,000 correspond?
A) 91st B) 93rd C) 43rd D) 41st
Answer: B

34
179) Assume that math SAT scores are normally distributed with a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100. A
score of 560 represents what percentile? Round the percentile to the nearest tenth.
A) 68.8 B) 66.7 C) 70.1 D) 72.6
Answer: D

180) Scores on a test are normally distributed with a mean of 72 and a standard deviation of 5. What is the percentile
for an exam score of 84? Round the percentile to the nearest tenth.
A) 99.4 B) 2.4 C) 99.2 D) 2
Answer: C

181) Weights of adult females in a certain country are normally distributed with a mean of 137 lb and a standard
deviation of 15 lb. A weight of 158 lb represents what percentile? Round the percentile to the nearest tenth.
A) 1.4 B) 2.2 C) 91.9 D) 93.3
Answer: C

182) The diameters of bolts produced by a certain machine are normally distributed with a mean of 0.30 inches and a
standard deviation of 0.01 inches. What percentage of bolts will have a diameter greater than 0.32 inches?
A) 47.72% B) 2.28% C) 97.72% D) 37.45%
Answer: B

183) The monthly incomes of trainees at a local factory are normally distributed with a mean of $1600 and a standard
deviation $150. What percentage of trainees earn less than $1390 a month?
A) 91.92% B) 44.04% C) 1.40% D) 8.08%
Answer: D

184) The volumes of soda in quart soda bottles are normally distributed with a mean of 32.3 oz and a standard
deviation of 1.2 oz. What percentage of bottles contain less than 32 oz of soda?
A) 0.25% B) 59.87% C) 38.21% D) 40.13%
Answer: D

185) Suppose that the mean salary in a particular profession is $45,000 with a standard deviation of $2,000. What
percentage of people in that profession earn less than $48,000?
A) 55.96% B) 1.50% C) 6.68% D) 93.32%
Answer: D

186) Assume that math SAT scores are normally distributed with a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100. If
you scored 560, what percentage of those taking the test scored below you?
A) 0.60% B) 72.57% C) 27.43% D) 51.99%
Answer: B

187) In a certain country, weights of women are normally distributed with a mean of 138 lb and a standard deviation
of 15 lb. What percentage of women in that country weigh more than 120 lb?
A) 88.49% B) 53.98% C) 11.51% D) 1.20%
Answer: A

188) Scores on a test are approximately normally distributed with a mean of 70 and a standard deviation of 9. The
teacher wants to give A's to the top 10% of students. What is the bottom cutoff for an A grade? Round your
answer to the nearest whole number.
A) 80 B) 79 C) 82 D) 90
Answer: C

35
189) Scores on a test are approximately normally distributed with a mean of 70 and a standard deviation of 9. The
teacher wants to give A's to the top 10% of students and B's to the next 23%. What is the bottom cutoff for a B
grade? Round your answer to the nearest whole number.
A) 76 B) 71 C) 74 D) 66
Answer: C

190) Scores on a test are approximately normally distributed with a mean of 70 and a standard deviation of 9. The
teacher wants to give A's to the top 10% of students, B's to the next 25%, and C's to the next 42%. What is the
bottom cutoff for a C grade? Round your answer to the nearest whole number.
A) 77 B) 68 C) 63 D) 65
Answer: C

191) Scores on a test are approximately normally distributed with a mean of 70 and a standard deviation of 9. The
teacher wants to give A's to the top 10% of students, B's to the next 25%, C's to the next 40%, D's to the next 16%,
and F's to the bottom 9%. What is the bottom cutoff for a D grade? Round your answer to the nearest whole
number.
A) 56 B) 65 C) 62 D) 58
Answer: D

Provide an appropriate response.


192) Which of the following statements concerning the standard normal curve is/are true (if any)?

a. The area under the standard normal curve to the left of -3 is zero.
b. The area under the standard normal curve between any two z-scores is greater than zero.
c. The area under the standard normal curve between two z-scores will be negative if both z-scores are
negative.
d. The area under the standard normal curve to the left of any z-score is less than 1.
A) a, c B) b, d C) a D) a, b
Answer: B

193) Which of the following statements concerning areas under the standard normal curve is/are true?

a. If a z-score is negative, the area to its right is greater than 0.5


b. If the area to the right of a z-score is less than 0.5, the z-score is negative.
c. If a z-score is positive, the area to its left is less than 0.5
A) a B) a, c C) a, b D) b, c E) b
Answer: A

194) The area under the standard normal curve between 1 and 2 is equal to 0.1359. Scores on a particular aptitude
test are normally distributed with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 10. Which of the following are
equal to 13.59%?

a. The percentage of scores between 120 and 130


b. The percentage of scores between 110 and 120
c. The percentage of scores between 80 and 90
d. The percentage of scores between 90 and 120

A) d B) a, b C) b, c D) b E) a
Answer: C

36
195) A variable is normally distributed with a mean of 100. Which of the following is the largest?
A) The percentage of observations between 90 and 100
B) The percentage of observations between 100 and 110
C) The percentage of observations between 95 and 105
D) The percentage of observations between 80 and 90
Answer: C

196) Heights of gymnasts at a certain college are normally distributed. Which of the following are the most plausible
values for the mean and standard deviation?
A) Mean = 60 in., standard deviation = 0.5 in. B) Mean = 60 in., standard deviation = -1 in.
C) Mean = 61 in., standard deviation = 6.2 in. D) Mean = 61 in., standard deviation = 2.1 in.
Answer: D

197) For women at Durham College, times to run the 400 meters are normally distributed. Which of the following
are the most plausible values for the mean and standard deviation?
A) Mean = 77 sec, standard deviation = 20 sec B) Mean = 77 sec, standard deviation = 16 sec
C) Mean = 77 sec, standard deviation = 9.1 sec D) Mean = 77 sec, standard deviation = 2.1 sec
Answer: C

198) Weights of adults in a certain age group are normally distributed. Which of the following are plausible values
for the mean and standard deviation?
A) Mean = 160 lb, standard deviation = 25 lb B) Mean = 158 lb, standard deviation = 5 lb
C) Mean = 155 lb, standard deviation = -20 lb D) Mean = 155 lb, standard deviation = 12 lb
Answer: A

199) Scores on a test are normally distributed. Which of the following statements is (are) plausible?
A: Daniel had a standard score of 1.9 and got an A
B: Jon had a standard score of 0.7 and got a D
C: Eric had a standard score of -1.6 and got a B
D: Raul had a standard score of 0 and got a C
A) A and D B) A and B C) B and C D) C and D E) A only
Answer: A

200) Scores on a test are normally distributed. Which of the following statements is (are) plausible?
A: Margo's score was in the 90th percentile and she got a C
B: Helena's score was in the 40th percentile and she got an A
C: Monica's score was in the 5th percentile and she failed
D: Gale's score was in the 70th percentile and she got a D
A) C only B) A and B C) D only D) C and D E) B and C
Answer: A

State whether you think the difference between what occurred and what you would expect by chance is statistically
significant.
201) In 50 rolls of a die, you got 40 sixes.
A) Not statistically significant B) Statistically significant
Answer: B

202) You draw a card at random from a deck of cards and replace it. You repeat this 100 times and get an ace 40
times.
A) Statistically significant B) Not statistically significant
Answer: A

37
203) You draw a card at random from a deck of cards and replace it. You repeat this 60 times and get a heart 13
times.
A) Not statistically significant B) Statistically significant
Answer: A

204) There are two candidates for mayor, Maria Hernandez, and Eric Wong. Of 100 people polled, 53 say they will
vote for Maria Hernandez.
A) Statistically significant B) Not statistically significant
Answer: B

205) Of the people taking the medication, 38 out of 100 noticed improvement in their arthritis. Of the people taking
the placebo, 35 out of 100 noticed improvement in their arthritis.
A) Statistically significant B) Not statistically significant
Answer: B

206) In nine out of the last ten years, the stock market has gone up.
A) Not statistically significant B) Statistically significant
Answer: B

207) In eighteen of the last twenty years the annual precipitation in a certain region has been less than in the
previous year.
A) Not statistically significant B) Statistically significant
Answer: B

208) 34 of the 220 suicide cases occurred on a Monday.


A) Not statistically significant B) Statistically significant
Answer: A

209) At Linden High School there are math tests at the end of each three-month session. On all of the last 10 days
when there was a math test at school, Brian got a cold and had to stay home. He didn't have colds at other times.
A) Not statistically significant B) Statistically significant
Answer: B

Find the margin of error for the survey results described.


210) In a survey of 125 adults, 30% said that they had tried acupuncture at some point in their lives.
Give your answer as a decimal to three decimal places.
A) 0.008 B) 0.089 C) 0.179 D) 0.045
Answer: B

211) In a poll of 433 adults, 46% said that they favored the proposed environmental laws.
Give your answer as a decimal to three decimal places.
A) 0.048 B) 0.024 C) 0.002 D) 0.096
Answer: A

212) During the questioning of 82 potential jury members, 33% said that they had already formed an opinion as to
the guilt of the defendant.
Give your answer as a percentage to one decimal place.
A) 22.1% B) 1.2% C) 11.0% D) 5.5%
Answer: C

38
213) In a survey of 602 employees of a large company, 25% said that they had high job satisfaction.
Give your answer as a decimal to three decimal places.
A) 0.082 B) 0.002 C) 0.041 D) 0.020
Answer: C

214) In a poll of 1093 college students, 19% said that they had cheated at least once on an exam.
Give your answer as a percentage to one decimal place.
A) 6.0% B) 0.1% C) 3.0% D) 1.5%
Answer: C

215) In a poll of 1534 adults, 35% said that they exercised regularly.
Give your answer as a percentage to one decimal place.
A) 0.1% B) 2.6% C) 1.3% D) 5.1%
Answer: B

Find a 95% confidence interval for the true population proportion.


216) In a survey of 114 adults, 24% said that they had tried acupuncture at some point in their lives.
A) 23.1% to 24.9% B) 19.3% to 28.7% C) 23.9% to 24.1% D) 14.6% to 33.4%
Answer: D

217) In a survey of 415 adults, 59% said that they favored the proposed environmental laws.
A) 58.8% to 59.2% B) 56.5% to 61.5% C) 54.1% to 63.9% D) 59% to 63.9%
Answer: C

218) During the questioning of 78 potential jury members, 37% said that they had already formed an opinion as to
the guilt of the defendant.
A) 35.7% to 38.3% B) 25.7% to 48.3% C) 36.9% to 37.1% D) 31.3% to 42.7%
Answer: B

219) In a survey of 765 employees of a large company, 32% said that they had high job satisfaction.
A) 28.4% to 35.6% B) 32% to 35.6% C) 30.2% to 33.8% D) 31.9% to 32.1%
Answer: A

220) In a poll of 1082 college students, 19% said that they had cheated at least once on an exam.
A) 17.5% to 20.5% B) 12.9% to 25.1% C) 16.0% to 22.0% D) 18.9% to 19.1%
Answer: C

221) In a poll of 1810 adults, 33% said that they exercised regularly.
A) 32.9% to 33.1% B) 30.6% to 35.4% C) 28.3% to 37.7% D) 31.8% to 34.2%
Answer: B

222) In a random sample of 250 births at one hospital, 34% were by Caesarean section.
A) 33.9% to 34.1% B) 33.6% to 34.4% C) 30.8% to 37.2% D) 27.7% to 40.3%
Answer: D

223) In a survey of 257 female employees of a large company, 21% said that they had experienced some form of
sexual harassment while working for the company.
A) 8.5% to 33.5% B) 20.9% to 21.1% C) 14.8% to 27.2% D) 20.6% to 21.4%
Answer: C

39
A hypothesis test is to be performed. State the null and alternative hypotheses.
224) A consumer advocacy group believes that the mean volume of juice in a company's 16-ounce juice bottles is
actually less than 16 ounces.
A) Null hypothesis: mean volume = 16 ounces
Alternative hypothesis: mean volume ≤ 16 ounces
B) Null hypothesis: mean volume = 16 ounces
Alternative hypothesis: mean volume < 16 ounces
C) Null hypothesis: mean volume > 16 ounces
Alternative hypothesis: mean volume < 16 ounces
D) Null hypothesis: mean volume < 16 ounces
Alternative hypothesis: mean volume = 16 ounces
Answer: B

225) At one school, the average amount of time that tenth-graders spend watching television each week is
21.6 hours. The principal introduces a campaign to encourage the students to watch less television. One year
later, the principal wants to perform a hypothesis test to determine whether the average amount of time spent
watching television per week has decreased.
A) Null hypothesis: mean time = 21.6 hours B) Null hypothesis: mean time > 21.6 hours
Alternative hypothesis: mean time 21.6 hours
≤ Alternative hypothesis: mean time < 21.6 hours
C) Null hypothesis: mean time = 21.6 hours D) Null hypothesis: mean time < 21.6 hours
Alternative hypothesis: mean time < 21.6 hours Alternative hypothesis: mean time = 21.6 hours
Answer: C

226) A health insurer has determined that the "reasonable and customary" fee for a certain medical procedure is
$1200. They suspect that the average fee charged by one particular clinic for this procedure is higher than $1200.
The insurer wants to perform a hypothesis test to determine whether their suspicion is correct.
A) Null hypothesis: mean fee = $1200 B) Null hypothesis: mean fee < $1200
Alternative hypothesis: mean fee ≥ $1200 Alternative hypothesis: mean fee > $1200
C) Null hypothesis: mean fee > $1200 D) Null hypothesis: mean fee = $1200
Alternative hypothesis: mean fee = $1200 Alternative hypothesis: mean fee > $1200
Answer: D

227) Carter Motor Company claims that its new sedan, the Libra, will average better than 25 miles per gallon, which
is the gas mileage of its competitor.
A) Null hypothesis: mean gas mileage < 23 mpg
Alternative hypothesis: mean gas mileage > 23 mpg
B) Null hypothesis: mean gas mileage > 23 mpg
Alternative hypothesis: mean gas mileage = 23 mpg
C) Null hypothesis: mean gas mileage = 23 mpg
Alternative hypothesis: mean gas mileage ≥ 23 mpg
D) Null hypothesis: mean gas mileage = 23 mpg
Alternative hypothesis: mean gas mileage > 23 mpg
Answer: D

40
228) A consumer group believes that the proportion of defects among computers produced by one manufacturer is
greater than the 2% claimed by the company.
A) Null hypothesis: proportion of defectives > 2%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of defectives = 2%
B) Null hypothesis: proportion of defectives < 2%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of defectives > 2%
C) Null hypothesis: proportion of defectives = 2%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of defectives > 2%
D) Null hypothesis: proportion of defectives = 2%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of defectives ≥ 2%
Answer: C

229) Last month the mean waiting time at a bank was 8.4 minutes. The manager has installed a new computer
system and claims that people will no longer have to wait as long.
A) Null hypothesis: mean waiting time < 8.4 minutes
Alternative hypothesis: mean waiting time = 8.4 minutes
B) Null hypothesis: mean waiting time = 8.4 minutes
Alternative hypothesis: mean waiting time ≤ 8.4 minutes
C) Null hypothesis: mean waiting time = 8.4 minutes
Alternative hypothesis: mean waiting time < 8.4 minutes
D) Null hypothesis: mean waiting time > 8.4 minutes
Alternative hypothesis: mean waiting time < 8.4 minutes
Answer: C

230) The governor of a state claims that since his tax cuts have taken effect, the unemployment rate has dropped.
The unemployment rate in the state had been 6.3% prior to the tax cuts.
A) Null hypothesis: unemployment rate = 6.3%
Alternative hypothesis: unemployment rate < 6.3%
B) Null hypothesis: unemployment rate < 6.3%
Alternative hypothesis: unemployment rate = 6.3%
C) Null hypothesis: unemployment rate > 6.3%
Alternative hypothesis: unemployment rate < 6.3%
D) Null hypothesis: unemployment rate = 6.3%
Alternative hypothesis: unemployment rate ≤ 6.3%
Answer: A

231) During one flu epidemic the proportion of adults nationwide who have come down with the flu is 8%. The
manufacturer of a flu vaccine claims that those who have been vaccinated are less likely to catch the flu.
A) Null hypothesis: proportion of those vaccinated catching the flu > 8%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of those vaccinated catching the flu < 8%
B) Null hypothesis: proportion of those vaccinated catching the flu = 8%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of those vaccinated catching the flu ≤ 8%
C) Null hypothesis: proportion of those vaccinated catching the flu = 8%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of those vaccinated catching the flu < 8%
D) Null hypothesis: proportion of those vaccinated catching the flu < 8%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of those vaccinated catching the flu = 8%
Answer: C

41
232) An environmental group believes that the health of the residents of Castletown is adversely affected by the oil
refinery in their town. It believes that in Castletown, the proportion of children who suffer from asthma is
higher than the nationwide proportion of 9.1%.
A) Null hypothesis: proportion of Castletown children with asthma > 9.1%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of Castletown children with asthma = 9.1%
B) Null hypothesis: proportion of Castletown children with asthma = 9.1%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of Castletown children with asthma > 9.1%
C) Null hypothesis: proportion of Castletown children with asthma = 9.1%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of Castletown children with asthma ≥ 9.1%
D) Null hypothesis: proportion of Castletown children with asthma < 9.1%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of Castletown children with asthma > 9.1%
Answer: B

233) In a clinical study of an arthritis medication, 28% of those taking the placebo reported improvement. The
manufacturer of the medication claims that among those taking the medication, the proportion reporting
improvement will be higher than this.
A) Null hypothesis: proportion reporting improvement < 28%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion reporting improvement > 28%
B) Null hypothesis: proportion reporting improvement > 28%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion reporting improvement = 28%
C) Null hypothesis: proportion reporting improvement = 28%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion reporting improvement > 28%
D) Null hypothesis: proportion reporting improvement = 28%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion reporting improvement ≥ 28%
Answer: C

A hypothesis test is to be performed. Describe the two possible outcomes of the test using the context of the given
situation.
234) A consumer advocacy group believes that the mean volume of juice in a company's 16-ounce juice bottles is
actually less than 16 ounces.
The hypotheses are as follows:
Null hypothesis: mean volume = 16 ounces
Alternative hypothesis: mean volume < 16 ounces
A) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean volume is less than 16 ounces.
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the mean volume is equal to 16
ounces.
B) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean volume is less than 16 ounces.
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the mean volume
is less than 16 ounces.
C) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean volume is less than 16 ounces.
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the mean volume
is equal to 16 ounces.
D) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean volume is not equal to 16 ounces.
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the mean volume is equal to 16
ounces.
Answer: B

42
235) A health insurer has determined that the "reasonable and customary" fee for a certain medical procedure is
$1200. They suspect that the average fee charged by one particular clinic for this procedure is higher than $1200.
The insurer wants to perform a hypothesis test to determine whether their suspicion is correct.
The hypothesis tests are as follows:
Null hypothesis: mean fee = $1200
Alternative hypothesis: mean fee > $1200
A) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean fee is not equal to $1200.
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the mean fee is
greater than $1200.
B) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean fee is greater than $1200.
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the mean fee is
greater than $1200.
C) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean fee is greater than $1200.
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the mean fee is equal to $1200.
D) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean fee is greater than $1200.
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the mean fee is
equal to $1200.
Answer: B

236) Carter Motor Company claims that its new sedan, the Libra, will average better than 22 miles per gallon, which
is the gas mileage of its competitor.
The hypotheses are as follows:
Null hypothesis: mean gas mileage = 23 mpg
Alternative hypothesis: mean gas mileage > 23 mpg
A) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean gas mileage is not equal to 23 mpg.
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the mean gas
mileage is greater than 23 mpg.
B) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean gas mileage is greater than 23 mpg.
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the mean gas
mileage is equal to 23 mpg.
C) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean gas mileage is greater than 23 mpg.
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the mean gas mileage is equal to
23 mpg.
D) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean gas mileage is greater than 23 mpg.
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the mean gas
mileage is greater than 23 mpg.
Answer: D

43
237) Last month the average waiting time at a bank was 8.4 minutes. The manager has installed a new computer
system and claims that people will no longer have to wait as long.
The hypotheses are as follows:
Null hypothesis: average waiting time = 8.4 minutes
Alternative hypothesis: average waiting time < 8.4 minutes
A) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean waiting time is not equal to 8.4
minutes.
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the mean waiting
time is less than 8.4 minutes.
B) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean waiting time is less than 8.4 minutes.
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the mean waiting time is equal to
8.4 minutes.
C) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence that the mean waiting time is equal to
8.4 minutes.
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the mean waiting time is equal to
8.4 minutes.
D) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the mean waiting time is less than 8.4 minutes.
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the mean waiting
time is less than 8.4 minutes.
Answer: D

238) The governor of a state claims that since his tax cuts have taken effect, the unemployment rate has dropped.
The unemployment rate in the state had been 6.3% prior to the tax cuts.
The hypotheses are as follows:
Null hypothesis: unemployment rate = 6.3%
Alternative hypothesis: unemployment rate < 6.3%
A) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the unemployment rate is less than 6.3%.
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the
unemployment rate is less than 6.3%.
B) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the unemployment rate is less than 6.3%.
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the unemployment rate is equal to
6.3%.
C) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the unemployment rate is not equal to 6.3%.
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the unemployment rate is equal to
6.3%.
D) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence that the unemployment rate is equal to
6.3%.
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the
unemployment rate is equal to 6.3%.
Answer: A

44
239) During one flu epidemic the proportion of adults nationwide who have come down with the flu is 8%. The
manufacturer of a flu vaccine claims that those who have been vaccinated are less likely to catch the flu.
The hypotheses are as follows:
Null hypothesis: proportion of those vaccinated catching the flu = 8%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of those vaccinated catching the flu < 8%
A) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the proportion of those vaccinated catching the
flu is not equal to 8%
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the proportion of
those vaccinated catching the flu is equal to 8%.
B) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence that the proportion of those vaccinated
catching the flu is equal to 8%
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the proportion of those vaccinated
catching the flu is equal to 8%.
C) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the proportion of those vaccinated catching the
flu is less than 8%
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the proportion of
those vaccinated catching the flu is less than 8%.
D) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the proportion of those vaccinated catching the
flu is less than 8%
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the proportion of those vaccinated
catching the flu is equal to 8%.
Answer: C

240) An environmental group believes that the health of the residents of Castletown is adversely affected by the oil
refinery in their town. It believes that in Castletown, the proportion of children who suffer from asthma is
higher than the nationwide proportion of 9.1%.
The hypotheses are as follows:
Null hypothesis: proportion of Castletown children with asthma = 9.1%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of Castletown children with asthma > 9.1%
A) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the proportion of Castletown children with
asthma is greater than 9.1%
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the proportion of
Castletown children with asthma is greater than 9.1%
B) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the proportion of Castletown children with
asthma is greater than 9.1%
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the proportion of Castletown
children with asthma is equal to 9.1%
C) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the proportion of Castletown children with
asthma is not equal to 9.1%
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the proportion of Castletown
children with asthma is equal to 9.1%
D) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence that the proportion of Castletown
children with asthma is equal to 9.1%
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the proportion of
Castletown children with asthma is greater than 9.1%
Answer: A

45
241) In a clinical study of an arthritis medication, 28% of those taking the placebo reported improvement. The
manufacturer of the medication claims that among those taking the medication, the proportion reporting
improvement will be higher than this.
The hypotheses are as follows:
Null hypothesis: proportion reporting improvement = 28%
Alternative hypothesis: proportion reporting improvement > 28%
A) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the proportion reporting improvement is not
equal to 28%
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the proportion
reporting improvement is greater than 28%
B) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the proportion reporting improvement is
greater than 28%
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the proportion reporting
improvement is equal to 28%
C) Rejecting the null hypothesis means there is evidence that the proportion reporting improvement is
greater than 28%
Failing to reject the null hypothesis means there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the proportion
reporting improvement is greater than 28%
D) Rejecting the alternative hypothesis means there is evidence that the proportion reporting improvement is
equal to 28%
Accepting the null hypothesis means there is evidence to conclude that the proportion reporting
improvement is equal to 28%
Answer: C

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

The result of a hypothesis is described in terms of the probability of obtaining a particular sample. Use the given context
to formulate the null and alternative hypotheses. Discuss whether the sample provides evidence for rejecting the null
hypothesis.
242) A public bus company official claims that the mean waiting time for bus number 14 during peak hours is only
10 minutes. Karen finds this hard to believe as she seems to be invariably late for work. For 42 randomly
selected days, her mean waiting time for bus 14 during peak hours was 11.3 minutes.
Assuming that the population mean waiting time is 10 minutes , the probability of selecting a random sample
with a mean waiting time of 11.3 minutes or more is 0.0026.
Answer: Null hypothesis: mean waiting time = 10 minutes
Alternative hypothesis: mean waiting time > 10 minutes
The results is significant at the 0.01 level. There is strong evidence for rejecting the null hypothesis in
favor of the alternative hypothesis that the mean waiting time is more than 10 minutes.

243) A consumer group believes that the mean volume of juice in a company's 24 ounce juice bottles is actually less
than 24 ounces.
In a random sample of 310 bottles, the mean volume of juice was 23.9 ounces.
Assuming that the mean volume of juice for all the company's 24-ounce bottles is 24 ounces, the probability of
selecting a random sample with a mean volume of 23.9 ounces or less is 0.00017.
Answer: Null hypothesis: mean volume of juice in 24-ounce bottles is 24 ounces
Alternative hypothesis: mean volume of juice in 24-ounce bottles is less than 24 ounces
The results is significant at the 0.01 level. There is strong evidence for rejecting the null hypothesis in
favor of the alternative hypothesis that the mean volume is less than 24 ounces.

46
244) A company claims that it pays women the same as men for comparable work. The union decides to investigate
this claim. The mean monthly salary for men in entry level positions is $2250. Amongst a random sample of 60
female employees in similar positions , the mean monthly salary was $2210.
Assuming that the mean salary for all female employees in entry level positions is $2250, the probability of
selecting a sample in which the mean monthly salary is $2210 or less is 0.06.
Answer: Null hypothesis: mean monthly salary for female entry level employees = $2250
Alternative hypothesis: mean monthly salary for female entry level employees < $2250
The result is not significant at the 0.05 level, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the company
pays female entry level employees less than male entry level employees.

245) The mean resting heart rate for students at Northridge College is 72 beats per minute. An exercise physiologist
believes that for athletes, the mean resting heart rate will be lower. She finds that for a random sample of 55
athletes at the college, the mean resting heart rate is 71 beats per minute.
Assuming that the mean resting heart rate for all athletes at the college is 72 beats per minute, the probability of
selecting a random sample with a mean of 71 or less beats per minute is 0.14.
Answer: Null hypothesis: mean resting heart rate for college athletes = 72 beats per minute
Alternative hypothesis: mean resting heart rate for college athletes < 72 beats per minute
The result is not significant at the 0.05 level and there are no grounds for rejecting the null hypothesis.
There is insufficient evidence to conclude that the mean resting heart rate for college athletes is less than
72 beats per minute.

246) A company claims that the proportion of defectives among its new DVD players is only 0.01 (1%). A consumer
group believes that the proportion of defectives is higher than this. The consumer group picks a random
sample of 200 of the DVD players and finds the proportion of defectives in the sample to be 0.022. Assuming
that the proportion of defectives for all the company's DVD players is p = 0.01, the probability of selecting a
sample in which the proportion of defectives is 0.022 or more is 0.044.
Answer: Null hypothesis: proportion of defective DVD players = 0.01
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of defective DVD players > 0.01
Result is significant at the 0.05 level, and provides evidence for rejecting the null hypothesis in favor of
the alternative hypothesis that the proportion of defectives is greater than 0.01.

247) In the city of Heathville, the proportion of births that are by Caesarean section is 0.23 (23%). A small private
hospital claims that at their hospital, the proportion of Caesarean births is lower. In a random sample of 120
births at the private hospital, the proportion of Caesarean births was 0.18.
Assuming that the true proportion of Caesarean births at the private hospital is 0.23, the probability of selecting
a sample in which the proportion of Caesareans is 0.18 or less is roughly 0.09.
Answer: Null hypothesis: proportion of births by Caesarean section = 0.23
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of births by Caesarean section < 0.23
Result is not significant at the 0.05 level. There are no grounds for rejecting the null hypothesis. There is
insufficient evidence to conclude that the proportion of Caesarean births at the private hospital is less
than 0.23.

47
248) The mayor of a city claims that racial profiling is not a problem in his city. A civil rights group disagrees. The
proportion of Caucasians who have been stopped while driving, without good reason, at least once in the past
year is 0.19 (19%). In a random sample of 340 African Americans , the proportion who have been stopped is
0.37 (37%). Assuming that the proportion of all African Americans in the city that have been stopped is 0.19,
the probability of selecting a sample in which the proportion who have been stopped is 0.37 or more is less than
0.001.
Answer: Null hypothesis: proportion of African Americans who have been stopped = 0.19
Alternative hypothesis: proportion of African Americans who have been stopped > 0.19
Result is significant at the 0.01 level, and provides strong evidence for rejecting the null hypothesis in
favor of the alternative hypothesis that the proportion of African Americans who have been stopped is
greater than 0.19.

MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Provide an appropriate response.


249) What does it mean for an observed difference to be statistically significant at the 0.01 level?
A) The probability of the observed difference occurring by chance is 1 in 100 or more.
B) The probability of the observed difference occurring if the alternative hypothesis is true is 1 in 100 or less.
C) The probability of the observed difference occurring by chance is 1 in 100 or less.
D) The probability of the observed difference occurring if the alternative hypothesis is true is 1 in 100 or
more.
Answer: C

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

250) You wish to test the hypotheses shown below.


Null hypothesis: mean = 40
Alternative hypothesis: mean > 40
Would you be inclined to reject the null hypothesis if the sample mean turned out to be much smaller than 40?
Explain your thinking.
Answer: No. The alternative hypothesis is that the population mean is greater than 40. A sample mean much
smaller than 40 does not provide evidence in favor of this alternative hypothesis. The null hypothesis
should be rejected only if the sample mean turns out much larger than 40.

251) Jenny is conducting a hypothesis test concerning a population mean. The hypotheses are as follows.
Null hypothesis: population mean = 50
Alternative hypothesis: population mean > 50
She selects a sample and finds that the sample mean is 54.2. She then does some calculations and is able to make
the following statement:
If the population mean were 50, the chance that the sample mean would have come out as big as 54.2 or bigger
is 0.3. Do you think that she should reject the null hypothesis? Why or why not?
Answer: Answers will vary. Possible answer. No, she should not reject the null hypothesis. If the null hypothesis
were true, the sample mean could easily be as big as 54.2 by chance. So the sample provides no evidence
against the null hypothesis

48
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.

252) Toni is conducting a hypothesis test concerning a population proportion. The hypotheses are as follows.
Null hypothesis: population proportion = 0.2
Alternative hypothesis.: population proportion > 0.2
She selects a sample and finds that the sample proportion is 0.21. She then does some calculations and is able to
make the following statement:
If the population proportion were 0.2, the chance that the sample proportion would have come out as big as 0.21
or bigger is 0.4. Which of the following is a reasonable conclusion?
A) Accept the alternative hypothesis. The sample provides evidence to support the alternative hypothesis.
B) Accept the null hypothesis. The sample provides no evidence against the alternative hypothesis.
C) Accept the null hypothesis. The sample provides evidence to support the null hypothesis.
D) Do not reject the null hypothesis. The sample provides no evidence against the null hypothesis.
Answer: D

253) If a hypothesis test is conducted at a significance level of 0.05, which of the following statements is true?
A) The probability that the null hypothesis will be rejected when it is false is 0.05.
B) The probability that the result will be significant is 0.05.
C) The probability that the null hypothesis will not be rejected when it is false is 0.05.
D) The probability that the null hypothesis will be rejected when it is true is 0.05.
Answer: D

254) A hypothesis test is conducted with the following hypotheses:


Null hypothesis: population mean = 100
Alternative hypothesis: population mean > 100
A sample is selected and the sample mean turns out to be 118
If the result is significant at the 0.01 level, which of the following is true?
A) If the null hypothesis were true, the chance that the sample mean would have been as big as 118 or bigger
is less than 0.01.
B) If the alternative hypothesis were true, the chance that the sample mean would have been as big as 118 or
bigger is less than 0.01.
C) If the null hypothesis were true, the chance that the sample mean would have been as big as 118 or bigger
is greater than 0.01.
D) If the null hypothesis were true, the chance that the sample mean would have been as small as 118 or
smaller is less than 0.01.
Answer: A

255) Suppose that the proportion of left handers in a certain population is 0.1 (10%). If samples of size 100 are
repeatedly drawn from this population and the proportion of left handers in each sample is recorded, what can
you say about the distribution of the sample proportions?
A) The sample proportions are approximately uniformly distributed between the values of 0 and 0.2.
B) Each sample proportion will be equal to 0.1.
C) The sample proportions are approximately normally distributed with a mean of 0.1 and a standard
deviation of approximately 1/20.
D) The sample proportions are approximately normally distributed with a mean of 0.1 and a standard
deviation of approximately 1/10.
Answer: C

49
256) Traditionally in hypothesis testing the null hypothesis represents the "status quo" which will be overturned only
if there is evidence against it. Which of the statements below might represent a null hypothesis?
A) The mean temperature this decade is higher than the mean temperature over the past century.
B) The teaching method raises SAT scores.
C) The defendant is guilty.
D) The treatment has no effect.
Answer: D

257) A criminal trial can be compared to a hypothesis test. The hypotheses are as follows:
Null hypothesis: The defendant is innocent
Alternative hypothesis: The defendant is guilty
Suppose that in one trial, if convicted, the defendant will receive the death penalty. Do you think that a
significance level of 0.05 or 0.01 is more appropriate in this case. Why?
A) 0.01. It is important to reject the null hypothesis if it is false.
B) 0.05. It is important not to reject the null hypothesis if it is true.
C) 0.01. It is important not to reject the null hypothesis if it is true.
D) 0.05. It is important to reject the null hypothesis if it is false.
Answer: C

SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.

258) An environmental group is investigating global warming and is conducting a hypothesis test. The hypotheses
are as follows:
Null hypothesis: The mean temperature has not changed in recent years
Alternative hypothesis: The mean temperature has increased in recent years
Do you think that the environmental group would prefer a significance level of 0.05 or 0.01. Why? Do you think
that car manufacturers would prefer a significance level of 0.05 or 0.01? Why?
Answer: The environmental group would prefer a significance level of 0.05 because it is important to reject the
null hypothesis if it is false. With a significance level of 0.01, it is harder to reject the null hypothesis -
stronger evidence against it is required before it will be rejected. The car manufacturers would prefer a
significance level of 0.01 for this reason. Car manufacturers do not want to see the null hypothesis
rejected as a finding that temperatures are increasing could lead to stricter regulations on emissions.

50
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BOOK XVII.

PHYSIOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY.


Vegetable Morphology.

Morphology in Linnæus.

I HAVE stated that Linnæus had some views on this subject. Dr.
Hooker conceives these views to be more complete and correct
than is generally allowed, though unhappily clothed in metaphorical
language and mixed with speculative matter. By his permission I
insert some remarks which I have received from him.

The fundamental passage on this subject is in the Systema


Naturæ; in the Introduction to which work the following passage
occurs:—

“Prolepsis (Anticipation) exhibits the mystery of the


metamorphosis of plants, by which the herb, which is the larva or
imperfect condition, is changed into the declared fructification: for the
plant is capable of producing either a leafy herb or a fructification. . .
...

“When a tree produces a flower, nature anticipates the produce of


five years where these come out all at once; forming of the bud-
leaves of the next year bracts; of those of the following year, the
calyx; of the following, the corolla; of the next, the stamina; of the
subsequent, the pistils, filled with the granulated marrow of the seed,
the terminus of the life of a vegetable.”

Dr. Hooker says, “I derive my idea of his having a better


knowledge of the subject than most Botanists admit, not only from
the Prolepsis, but from his paper called Reformatio Botanices
(Amœn. Acad. vol. vi.); a remarkable work, in respect of his candor
in speaking of his predecessors’ labors, and the sagacity he shows
in indicating researches to be undertaken or completed. Amongst the
latter is V. ‘Prolepsis plantarum, ulterius extendenda per earum
metamorphoses.’ The last word occurs rarely in his Prolepsis; but
when it does it seems to me that he uses it as indicating a normal
change and not an accidental one. 637

“In the Prolepsis the speculative matter, which Linnæus himself


carefully distinguishes as such, must be separated from the rest, and
this may I think be done in most of the sections. He starts with
explaining clearly and well the origin and position of buds, and their
constant presence, whether developed or not, in the axil of the leaf:
adding abundance of acute observations and experiments to prove
his statements. The leaf he declares to be the first effort of the plant
in spring: he proceeds to show, successively, that bracts, calyx,
corolla, stamens, and pistil are each of them metamorphosed leaves,
in every case giving many examples, both from monsters and from
characters presented by those organs in their normal condition.

“The (to me) obscure and critical part of the Prolepsis was that
relating to the change of the style of Carduus into two leaves. Mr.
Brown has explained this. He says it was a puzzle to him, till he went
to Upsala and consulted Fries and Wahlenberg, who informed him
that such monstrous Cardui grew in the neighborhood, and procured
him some. Considering how minute and masked the organs of
Compositæ are, it shows no little skill in Linnæus, and a very clear
view of the whole matter, to have traced the metamorphosis of all
their floral organs into leaves, except their stamens, of which he
says, ‘Sexti anni folia e staminibus me non in compositis vidisse
fateor, sed illorum loco folia pistillacea, quæ in compositis aut plenis
sunt frequentissima.’ I must say that nothing could well be clearer to
my mind than the full and accurate appreciation which Linnæus
shows of the whole series of phenomena, and their rationale. He
over and over again asserts that these organs are leaves, every one
of them,—I do not understand him to say that the prolepsis is an
accidental change of leaves into bracts, of bracts into calyx, and so
forth. Even were the language more obscure, much might be inferred
from the wide range and accuracy of the observations he details so
scientifically. It is inconceivable that a man should have traced the
sequence of the phenomena under so many varied aspects, and
shown such skill, knowledge, ingenuity, and accuracy in his methods
of observing and describing, and yet missed the rationale of the
whole. Eliminate the speculative parts and there is not a single error
of observation or judgment; whilst his history of the developement of
buds, leaves, and floral organs, and of various other obscure matters
of equal interest and importance, are of a very high order of merit,
are, in fact, for the time profound.

“There is nothing in all this that detracts from the merit of Goethe’s
638 re-discovery. With Goethe it was, I think, a deductive process,—
with Linnæus an inductive. Analyse Linnæus’s observations and
method, and I think it will prove a good example of inductive
reasoning.

“P. 473. Perhaps Professor Auguste St Hilaire of Montpellier


should share with De Candolle the honor of contributing largely to
establish the metamorphic doctrine;—their labors were
cotemporaneous.

“P. 474. Linnæus pointed out that the pappus was calyx: ‘Et
pappum gigni ex quarti anni foliis, in jam nominatis Carduis.’—Prol.
Plant. 338.” (J. D. H.)
CHAPTER VII.

Animal Morphology.

T HE subject of Animal Morphology has recently been expanded


into a form strikingly comprehensive and systematic by Mr.
Owen; and supplied by him with a copious and carefully-chosen
language; which in his hands facilitates vastly the comparison and
appreciation of the previous labors of physiologists, and opens the
way to new truths and philosophical generalizations. Though the
steps which have been made had been prepared by previous
anatomists, I will borrow my view of them mainly from him; with the
less scruple, inasmuch as he has brought into full view the labors of
his predecessors.

I have stated in the History that the skeletons of all vertebrate


animals are conceived to be reducible to a single Type, and the skull
reducible to a series of vertebræ. But inasmuch as this reduction
includes not only a detailed correspondence of the bones of man
with those of beasts, but also with those of birds, fishes, and reptiles,
it may easily be conceived that the similarities and connexions are of
a various and often remote kind. The views of such relations, held by
previous Comparative Anatomists, have led to the designations of
the bones of animals which have been employed in anatomical
descriptions; and these designations having been framed and
adopted by anatomists looking at the subject from different sides,
and having different views of analogies and relations, have been
very various and unstable; besides being often of cumbrous length
and inconvenient form.
The corresponding parts in different animals are called
homologues, 639 a term first applied to anatomy by the philosophers
of Germany; and this term Mr. Owen adopts, to the exclusion of
terms more loosely denoting identity or similarity. And the Homology
of the various bones of vertebrates having been in a great degree
determined by the labors of previous anatomists, Mr. Owen has
proposed names for each of the bones: the condition of such names
being, that the homologues in all vertebrates shall be called by the
same name, and that these names shall be founded upon the terms
and phrases in which the great anatomists of the 16th, 17th, and
18th centuries expressed the results of their researches respecting
the human skeleton. These names, thus selected, so far as
concerned the bones of the Head of Fishes, one of the most difficult
cases of this Special Homology, he published in a Table, 44 in which
they were compared, in parallel columns, with the names or phrases
used for the like purpose by Cuvier, Agassiz, Geoffroy, Hallman,
Sœmmering, Meckel, and Wagner. As an example of the
considerations by which this selection of names was determined, I
may quote what he says with regard to one of these bones of the
skull.
44 Lectures on Vertebrates. 1846, p. 158. And On the Archetype
and Homologies of the Vertebrate Skeleton. 1848, p. 172.

“With regard to the ‘squamosal’ (squamosum. Lat. pars squamosa


ossis temporis.—Sœmmering), it might be asked why the term
‘temporal’ might not be retained for this bone. I reply, because that
term has long been, and is now universally, understood in human
anatomy to signify a peculiarly anthropotomical coalesced congeries
of bones, which includes the ‘squamosal’ together with the ‘petrosal,’
the ‘tympanic,’ the ‘mastoid,’ and the ‘stylohyal.’ It seems preferable,
therefore, to restrict the signification of the term ‘temporal’ to the
whole (in Man) of which the ‘squamosal’ is a part. To this part Cuvier
has unfortunately applied the term ‘temporal’ in one class, and ‘jugal’
in another; and he has also transferred the term ‘temporal’ to a third
equally distinct bone in fishes; while to increase the confusion M.
Agassiz has shifted the name to a fourth different bone in the skull of
fishes. Whatever, therefore, may be the value assigned to the
arguments which will be presently set forth, as to the special
homologies of the ‘pars squamosa ossis temporis,’ I have felt
compelled to express the conclusion by a definite term, and in the
present instance, have selected that which recalls the best accepted
anthropomorphical designation of the part; although ‘squamosal’
must be understood and applied in an arbitrary sense; and not as
descriptive of a scale-like 640 form; which in reference to the bone so
called, is rather its exceptional than normal figure in the vertebrate
series.”

The principles which Mr. Owen here adopts in the selection of


names for the parts of the skeleton are wise and temperate. They
agree with the aphorisms concerning the language of science which
I published in the Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences; and Mr.
Owen does me the great honor of quoting with approval some of
those Aphorisms. I may perhaps take the liberty of remarking that
the system of terms which he has constructed, may, according to our
principles, be called rather a Terminology than a Nomenclature: that
is, they are analogous more nearly to the terms by which botanists
describe the parts and organs of plants, than to the names by which
they denote genera and species. As we have seen in the History,
plants as well as animals are subject to morphological laws; and the
names which are given to organs in consequence of those laws are
a part of the Terminology of the science. Nor is this distinction
between Terminology and Nomenclature without its use; for the rules
of prudence and propriety in the selection of words in the two cases
are different. The Nomenclature of genera and species may be
arbitrary and casual, as is the case to a great extent in Botany and in
Zoology, especially of fossil remains; names being given, for
instance, simply as marks of honor to individuals. But in a
Terminology, such a mode of derivation is not admissible: some
significant analogy or idea must be adopted, at least as the origin of
the name, though not necessarily true in all its applications, as we
have seen in the case of the “squamosal” just quoted. This
difference in the rules respecting two classes of scientific words is
stated in the Aphorisms xiii. and xiv. concerning the Language of
Science.

Such a Terminology of the bones of the skeletons of all vertebrates


as Mr. Owen has thus propounded, cannot be otherwise than an
immense acquisition to science, and a means of ascending from
what we know already to wider truths and new morphological
doctrines.

With regard to one of these doctrines, the resolution of the human


head into vertebræ, Mr. Owen now regards it as a great truth, and
replies to the objections of Cuvier and M. Agassiz, in detail. 45 He
gives a Table in which the Bones of the Head are resolved into four
vertebræ, which he terms the Occipital, Parietal, Frontal, and Nasal
Vertebra, respectively. These four vertebræ agree in general with
what Oken called the Ear-vertebra, the Jaw-vertebra, the Eye-
vertebra, and 641 the Nose-vertebra, in his work On the Signification
of the Bones of the Skull, published in 1807: and in various degrees,
with similar views promulgated by Spix (1815), Bojanus (1818),
Geoffroy (1824), Carus (1828). And I believe that these views, bold
and fanciful as they at first appeared, have now been accepted by
most of the principal physiologists of our time.
45 Archetype and Homologies of the Vertebrate Skeleton. 1848,
p. 141.

But another aspect of this generalization has been propounded


among physiologists; and has, like the others, been extended,
systematized, and provided with a convenient language by Mr.
Owen. Since animal skeletons are thus made up of vertebræ and
their parts are to be understood as developements of the parts of
vertebræ, Geoffroy (1822), Carus (1828), Müller (1834), Cuvier
(1836), had employed certain terms while speaking of such
developements; Mr. Owen in the Geological Transactions in 1838,
while discussing the osteology of certain fossil Saurians, used terms
of this kind, which are more systematic than those of his
predecessors, and to which he has given currency by the quantity of
valuable knowledge and thought which he has embodied in them.

According to his Terminology, 46 a vertebra, in its typical


completeness, consists of a central part or centrum; at the back of
this, two plates (the neural apophyses) and a third outward
projecting piece (the neural spine), which three, with the centrum,
form a canal for the spinal marrow; at the front of the centrum two
other plates (the hæmal apophyses) and a projecting piece, forming
a canal for a vascular trunk. Further lateral elements (pleuro-
apophyses) and other projections, are in a certain sense dependent
on these principal bones; besides which the vertebra may support
diverging appendages. These parts of the vertebra are fixed
together, so that a vertebra is by some anatomists described as a
single bone; but the parts now mentioned are usually developed
from distinct and independent centres, and are therefore called by
Mr. Owen “autogenous” elements.
46 Archetype and Homologies of the Vertebrate Skeleton. 1848,
p. 81.

The General Homology of the vertebral skeleton is the reference


of all the parts of a skeleton to their true types in a series of
vertebræ: and thus, as special homology refers all the parts of
skeletons to a given type of skeleton, say that of Man, general
homology refers all the parts of every skeleton, say that of Man, to
the parts of a series of Vertebræ. And thus as Oken propounded his
views of the Head as a resolution of the Problem of the Signification
of the Bones of the Head, 642 so have we in like manner, for the
purposes of General Homology, to solve the Problem of the
Signification of Limbs. The whole of the animal being a string of
vertebræ, what are arms and legs, hands and paws, claws and
fingers, wings and fins, and the like? This inquiry Mr. Owen has
pursued as a necessary part of his inquiries. In giving a public
lecture upon the subject in 1849, 47 he conceived that the phrase
which I have just employed would not be clearly apprehended by an
English Audience, and entitled his Discourse “On the Nature of
Limbs:” and in this discourse he explained the modifications by
which the various kinds of limbs are derived from their rudiments in
an archetypal skeleton, that is, a mere series of vertebræ without
head, arms, legs, wings, or fins.
47On the Nature of Limbs, a discourse delivered at a Meeting of
the Royal Institution, 1849.

Final Causes
It has been mentioned in the History that in the discussions which
took place concerning the Unity of Plan of animal structure, this
principle was in some measure put in opposition to the principle of
Final Causes: Morphology was opposed to Teleology. It is natural to
ask whether the recent study of Morphology has affected this
antithesis.

If there be advocates of Final Causes in Physiology who would


push their doctrines so far as to assert that every feature and every
relation in the structure of animals have a purpose discoverable by
man, such reasoners are liable to be perpetually thwarted and
embarrassed by the progress of anatomical knowledge; for this
progress often shows that an arrangement which had been
explained and admired with reference to some purpose, exists also
in cases where the purpose disappears; and again, that what had
been noted as a special teleological arrangement is the result of a
general morphological law. Thus to take an example given by Mr.
Owen: that the ossification of the head originates in several centres,
and thus in its early stages admits of compression, has been pointed
out as a provision to facilitate the birth of viviparous animals; but our
view of this provision is disturbed, when we find that the same mode
of the formation of the bony framework takes place in animals which
are born from an egg. And the number of points from which
ossification begins, depends in a wider sense on the general
homology of the animal frame, according to which each part is
composed of a certain number of autogenous vertebral elements. In
this 643 way, the admission of a new view as to Unity of Plan will
almost necessarily displace or modify some of the old views
respecting Final Causes.
But though the view of Final Causes is displaced, it is not
obliterated; and especially if the advocate of Purpose is also ready to
admit visible correspondences which have not a discoverable object,
as well as contrivances which have. And in truth, how is it possible
for the student of anatomy to shut his eyes to either of these two
evident aspects of nature? The arm and hand of man are made for
taking and holding, the wing of the sparrow is made for flying; and
each is adapted to its end with subtle and manifest contrivance.
There is plainly Design. But the arm of man and the wing of the
sparrow correspond to each other in the most exact manner, bone
for bone. Where is the Use or the Purpose of this correspondence? If
it be said that there may be a purpose though we do not see it, that
is granted. But Final Causes for us are contrivances of which we see
the end; and nothing is added to the evidence of Design by the
perception of a unity of plan which in no way tends to promote the
design.

It may be said that the design appears in the modification of the


plan in special ways for special purposes;—that the vertebral plan of
an animal being given, the fore limbs are modified in Man and in
Sparrow, as the nature and life of each require. And this is truly said;
and is indeed the truth which we are endeavoring to bring into view:
—that there are in such speculations, two elements; one given, the
other to be worked out from our examination of the case; the datum
and the problem; the homology and the teleology.

Mr. Owen, who has done so much for the former of these portions
of our knowledge, has also been constantly at the same time
contributing to the other. While he has been aiding our advances
towards the Unity of Nature, he has been ever alive to the perception
of an Intelligence which pervades Nature. While his morphological
doctrines have moved the point of view from which he sees Design,
they have never obscured his view of it, but, on the contrary, have
led him to present it to his readers in new and striking aspects. Thus
he has pointed out the final purposes in the different centres of
ossification of the long bones of the limbs of mammals, and shown
how and why they differ in this respect from reptiles (Archetype, p.
104). And in this way he has been able to point out the insufficiency
of the rule laid down both by Geoffroy St. Hilaire and Cuvier, for
ascertaining the true number of bones in each species. 644

Final Causes, or Evidences of Design, appear, as we have said,


not merely as contrivances for evident purposes, but as
modifications of a given general Plan for special given ends. If the
general Plan be discovered after the contrivance has been noticed,
the discovery may at first seem to obscure our perception of
Purpose; but it will soon be found that it merely transfers us to a
higher point of view. The adaptation of the Means to the End
remains, though the Means are parts of a more general scheme than
we were aware of. No generalization of the Means can or ought
permanently to shake our conviction of the End; because we must
needs suppose that the Intelligence which contemplates the End is
an intelligence which can see at a glance along a vista of Means,
however long and complex. And on the other hand, no special
contrivance, however clear be its arrangement, can be unconnected
with the general correspondences and harmonies by which all parts
of nature are pervaded and bound together. And thus no luminous
teleological point can be extinguished by homology; nor, on the other
hand, can it be detached from the general expanse of homological
light.
The reference to Final Causes is sometimes spoken of as
unphilosophical, in consequence of Francis Bacon’s comparison of
Final Causes in Physics to Vestal Virgins devoted to God, and
barren. I have repeatedly shown that, in Physiology, almost all the
great discoveries which have been made, have been made by the
assumption of a purpose in animal structures. With reference to
Bacon’s simile, I have elsewhere said that if he had had occasion to
develope its bearings, full of latent meaning as his similes so often
are, he would probably have said that to those Final Causes
barrenness was no reproach, seeing they ought to be not the
Mothers but the Daughters of our Natural Sciences; and that they
were barren, not by imperfection of their nature, but in order that they
might be kept pure and undefiled, and so fit ministers in the temple
of God. I might add that in Physiology, if they are not Mothers, they
are admirable Nurses; skilful and sagacious in perceiving the signs
of pregnancy, and helpful in bringing the Infant Truth into the light of
day.

There is another aspect of the doctrine of the Archetypal Unity of


Composition of Animals, by which it points to an Intelligence from
which the frame of nature proceeds; namely this:—that the
Archetype of the Animal Structure being of the nature of an Idea,
implies a mind in which this Idea existed; and that thus Homology
itself points the way to the Divine Mind. But while we acknowledge
the full 645 value of this view of theological bearing of physiology, we
may venture to say that it is a view quite different from that which is
described by speaking of “Final Causes,” and one much more
difficult to present in a lucid manner to ordinary minds.
BOOK XVIII.

GEOLOGY.
W ITH regard to Geology, as a Palætiological Science, I do not
know that any new light of an important kind has been thrown
upon the general doctrines of the science. Surveys and
examinations of special phenomena and special districts have been
carried on with activity and intelligence; and the animals of which the
remains people the strata, have been reconstructed by the skill and
knowledge of zoologists:—of such reconstructions we have, for
instance, a fine assemblage in the publications of the
Palæontological Society. But the great questions of the manner of
the creation and succession of animal and vegetable species upon
the earth remain, I think, at the point at which they were when I
published the last edition of the History.

I may notice the views propounded by some chemists of certain


bearings of Mineralogy upon Geology. As we have, in mineral
masses, organic remains of former organized beings, so have we
crystalline remains of former crystals; namely, what are commonly
called pseudomorphoses—the shape of one crystal in the substance
of another. M. G. Bischoff 48 considers the study of pseudomorphs as
important in geology, and as frequently the only means of tracing
processes which have taken place and are still going on in the
mineral kingdom.
48 Chemical and Physical Geology.

I may notice also Professor Breithaupt’s researches on the order


of succession of different minerals, by observing the mode in which
they occur and the order in which different crystals have been
deposited, promise to be of great use in following out the geological
changes which the crust of the globe has undergone. (Die
Paragenesis der Mineralien. Freiberg. 1849.)

In conjunction with these may be taken M. de Senarmont’s


experiments on the formation of minerals in veins; and besides
Bischoff’s 647 Chemical Geology, Sartorius von Walterhausen’s
Observations on the occurrence of minerals in Amygdaloid.

As a recent example of speculations concerning Botanical


Palætiology, I may give Dr. Hooker’s views of the probable history of
the Flora of the Pacific.

In speculating upon this question, Dr. Hooker is led to the


discussion of geological doctrines concerning the former continuity of
tracts of land which are now separate, the elevation of low lands into
mountain ranges in the course of ages, and the like. We have
already seen, in the speculations of the late lamented Edward
Forbes, (see Book xviii. chap. vi. of this History,) an example of a
hypothesis propounded to account for the existing Flora of England:
a hypothesis, namely, of a former Connexion of the West of the
British Isles with Portugal, of the Alps of Scotland with those of
Scandinavia, and of the plains of East Anglia with those of Holland.
In like manner Dr. Hooker says (p. xxi.) that he was led to speculate
on the possibility of the plants of the Southern Ocean being the
remains of a Flora that had once spread over a larger and more
continuous tract of land than now exists in the ocean; and that the
peculiar Antarctic genera and species may be the vestiges of a Flora
characterized by the predominance of plants which are now
scattered throughout the Southern islands. He conceives this
hypothesis to be greatly supported by the observations and
reasonings of Mr. Darwin, tending to show that such risings and

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