Lesson 4.2.3.2.2

4.2.3.2.2 Measures of central tendency and dispersion Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 2

20 questions

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Lesson 4.2.3.2.2, Measures of central tendency and dispersion: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Psychology (7182), Unit 2: Psychology in context, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. The mean is calculated by:

    • Adding all the values together and dividing by the number of values
    • Finding the middle value when the data are placed in order from smallest to largest
    • Finding the most frequently occurring value in the set of scores collected
    • Subtracting the lowest value from the highest value to find the spread

  2. The median is:

    • The average of all the scores, found by adding them and dividing by how many there are
    • The middle value when the scores are arranged in order
    • The most frequently occurring score in the set, which can be found by counting
    • The difference between the highest and lowest scores, which shows the overall spread

  3. The mode is:

    • The most frequently occurring value in a data set
    • The average of all the values, found by summing the set and dividing by n
    • The middle value in an ordered set of scores, found by position counting
    • The spread of the data around the mean, measured as a standard deviation

  4. The range is calculated as:

    • The middle value of the ordered data, found by counting from either end
    • The sum of all values divided by the number of values in the set
    • The most common value in the data set, found by counting the frequencies
    • The highest value minus the lowest value

  5. The mean is affected by outliers because:

    • Every value contributes to its calculation, so an extreme value pulls it towards itself
    • Outliers are excluded from the calculation of the mean, so they have no effect on it
    • Outliers change the number of values in the data set, which alters the divisor used
    • The mean is always the same as the median, so the outlier cannot change it at all

  6. The median is preferred to the mean when:

    • The data are skewed or contain outliers that would distort the mean
    • The data are perfectly normally distributed, with the mean and median always matching
    • The data are nominal and have no order, so they cannot be placed in a middle position
    • The researcher wants a value that uses every score in the calculation of the typical value

  7. The mode is most appropriate for which level of measurement?

    • Interval data with a true zero point on the scale used for measurement
    • Continuous data with equal intervals across the whole range of values
    • Nominal data, such as categories of eye colour
    • Ordinal data with a fixed scale of ranks and positions in a race

  8. What is the mean of the scores 2, 4, 4, 6 and 9?

    • 7
    • 6
    • 4
    • 5

  9. What is the median of the scores 10, 3, 8, 15 and 7?

    • 8
    • 7
    • 15
    • 10

  10. What is the mode of the scores 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 and 4?

    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 4

  11. What is the range of the scores 12, 18, 7, 25 and 10?

    • 7
    • 25
    • 18
    • 15

  12. What is the mean of the scores 3, 5, 7, 7, 8, 10 and 12, to two decimal places?

    • 7.43
    • 7.71
    • 7.00
    • 8.00

  13. What is the mean of the scores 12, 15, 18 and 21?

    • 17.75
    • 16.5
    • 18.25
    • 16.25

  14. A researcher has five scores with a mean of 50. Four of the scores sum to 180. What is the fifth score?

    • 80
    • 70
    • 90
    • 50

  15. What is the median of the eight values 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15?

    • 7
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8

  16. A researcher has a data set in which the highest score is replaced by a much larger value. Which measure would change most?

    • The mean
    • The mode
    • The median and the mode equally
    • The median

  17. Two groups have the same mean but very different ranges. What does this tell us?

    • The range is always the same as the mean, so the two measures are interchangeable
    • The two groups must have identical individual scores, so the spread should match too
    • The data are therefore not valid, since groups with different ranges cannot be compared
    • The scores are spread differently, so the mean alone does not describe the data fully

  18. A researcher reports reaction times of several participants, and one time is very slow due to a lapse of attention. Which measure of central tendency is most suitable to report?

    • The mean, because it includes every time equally, so the slow time is fairly weighed
    • The mode, because it is always unaffected by extreme values in the data set
    • The range, because it describes the spread of the reaction times across participants
    • The median, because it is less affected by the extreme slow time

  19. Why can the range be misleading as a measure of spread?

    • It can only be used with nominal data, because the highest and lowest are category labels
    • It uses every score in its calculation, so it reflects all the data that were collected
    • It depends on only two scores, so one extreme value can make the spread look large
    • It is always the same as the standard deviation, so it adds nothing extra to the report

  20. Five scores are 4, 9, 2, 9 and 6. What is the mode?

    • 4
    • 6
    • 2
    • 9

All AQA Psychology quizzes