Lesson 9.1.4

9.1.4 Descriptive statistics Quiz: Pearson Edexcel Psychology, Unit 9

20 questions

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Lesson 9.1.4, Descriptive statistics: 20 multiple choice questions for the Pearson Edexcel Psychology (9PS0), Unit 9: Psychological skills, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which measure of central tendency is the most frequently occurring value in a data set?

    • Mean
    • Mode
    • Range
    • Median

  2. A set of scores is 3, 5, 5, 7, 40. Which measure of central tendency is least affected by the extreme value 40?

    • Median
    • Mean
    • Total
    • Range

  3. Using the scores 3, 5, 5, 7, 40, what is the mean?

    • 40
    • 12
    • 7
    • 5

  4. A frequency table shows that 12 people chose option A, 8 chose B and 4 chose C. How many people responded in total?

    • 12
    • 4
    • 24
    • 8

  5. Which graph is most appropriate for showing the frequency of a categorical variable such as favourite drink?

    • Histogram of continuous data
    • Scatter diagram
    • Bar chart
    • Line of best fit only

  6. Which graph is most appropriate for displaying the relationship between two continuous variables?

    • Frequency table only
    • Bar chart
    • Scatter diagram
    • Pie chart of categories

  7. In a normal distribution, what is true about the mean, median and mode?

    • They are always different values
    • The median is always at the highest point
    • They are all equal and lie at the centre of the distribution
    • The mean is always greater than the mode

  8. A distribution of reaction times has a long tail towards high values. How would you describe this distribution?

    • Normal
    • Bimodal with equal tails
    • Positively skewed
    • Negatively skewed

  9. Which statement describes the relationship between mean and median in a positively skewed distribution?

    • The mean is usually smaller than the median
    • The mean and median are always equal
    • The median is always zero
    • The mean is usually greater than the median

  10. Standard deviation is used to measure what property of a data set?

    • How spread out the scores are around the mean
    • The most common score in the data
    • The difference between the two conditions
    • How many participants were in the study

  11. Two groups have the same mean score of 50. Group A has a standard deviation of 2 and Group B has a standard deviation of 12. Which statement is correct?

    • Group A's scores are more tightly clustered around the mean than Group B's
    • Group B's scores are more tightly clustered around the mean than Group A's
    • The two groups must have the same spread
    • Group B must have fewer participants

  12. A histogram is used to display continuous data. Which feature distinguishes it from a bar chart?

    • The histogram only shows the mode
    • The bars touch each other because the data are continuous and grouped into class intervals
    • The histogram can only display qualitative data
    • The bars are separated by gaps because the data are categorical

  13. Which action is part of sense checking data?

    • Removing all outliers without reason
    • Checking that values fall within a plausible range for the variable being measured
    • Replacing missing values with the mean every time
    • Rounding all values to whole numbers

  14. A researcher finds a scatter diagram with points lying close to a line sloping upwards from left to right. What does this suggest?

    • A strong positive relationship between the two variables
    • A normal distribution of the variables
    • A strong negative relationship between the two variables
    • No relationship at all

  15. Scores for group A have a mean of 14 and group B has a mean of 9. What is the difference between the means?

    • 14
    • 9
    • 5
    • 23

  16. Which statement is the most accurate about comparing means between two groups?

    • Means cannot be compared unless the groups are the same size
    • Means should never be compared in psychology
    • A difference between means should be considered alongside the spread of the data before concluding that groups differ
    • A difference between means always proves that the groups are different

  17. A researcher wants to show how many people fall into each of four age bands in a sample. Which presentation is most appropriate?

    • A correlation coefficient
    • A scatter diagram of age against score
    • A frequency table with age bands and counts
    • A line graph of score across time

  18. The range of a set of test scores is 25. The lowest score is 18. What is the highest score?

    • 18
    • 25
    • 7
    • 43

  19. Which combination of measures would best describe a skewed set of reaction times with a few very slow outliers?

    • Mean and standard deviation only
    • Median and interquartile or range-based measures of spread
    • Mean with no measure of spread
    • Mode only

  20. Why is a mean alone an incomplete description of a data set?

    • It always equals the median
    • It cannot be calculated for any real data
    • It cannot be compared between groups
    • It does not show how the scores are spread out or shaped

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