Question

indicate which of the following statistical tests is best suited for the given research scenario. You do not need to actually carry out the test (and in some cases, you haven’t been given enough information to do so); just tell us which test is the most appropriate. On your answer sheet, simply indicate the letter associated with the appropriate test for each question:

1) We are interested in testing whether there is a difference in the average income between elderly men and women.

(a) One-tail z-test (b) two-tail z-test (c) One-tail t-test (d) two- tail t-test (e) Chi-square (f) Correlation

2) You believe that students attending small liberal arts universities attend more parties per month than postsecondary students nationwide, and you would like to test your hypothesis. It is known that in the population nationally, undergraduate students attend an average of 3.2 parties per month. You will calculate the average number of parties per month from a random sample of students at small liberal arts universities.

(a) One-tail z-test (b) two-tail z-test (c) One-tail t-test (d) two- tail t-test (e) Chi-square (f) Correlation

3) We are interested in whether one’s reported stress level is related to whether or not they own a pet. We measure stress with the following question: “On a scale of 1 to 3 – where 1 equals not stressed at all, 2 equals sometimes stressed, and 3 equals constantly stressed – how stressed do you feel on a daily basis?” In terms of pet ownership, respondents can own only a dog, own only a cat, own some other kind of animal or more than one kind, or have no pets.

(a) One-tail z-test (b) two-tail z-test (c) One-tail t-test (d) two- tail t-test (e) Chi-square (f) Correlation

4) A political scientist is interested in determining whether there is a relationship between age (measured in years) and charitable giving (measured in dollars donated in the past 12 months) among Canadian adults between the ages of 30 and 80.

(a) One-tail z-test (b) two-tail z-test (c) One-tail t-test (d) two- tail t-test (e) Chi-square (f) Correlation

5) A question on the U.S. General Social Survey (GSS) in 2014 asked: “Some people say that being born in the U.S. is important for being truly American. Others say it is not important. How important do you think it is to have been born in America?” We want to test whether the proportion answering that it is “very important” is greater for respondents who were themselves born in the U.S. (native born) than for respondents who were not born in the U.S. (foreign born).

(a) One-tail z-test (b) two-tail z-test (c) One-tail t-test (d) two- tail t-test (e) Chi-square (f) Correlation

6) One of your professors is interested in testing whether a respondent’s sense of responsibility (measured as the average score across a series of 15 questions, on a scale of 0 to 100) differs among two groups: (1) respondents who are the first child in their family or an only child, and (2) respondents who have an older sibling.

(a) One-tail z-test (b) two-tail z-test (c) One-tail t-test (d) two- tail t-test (e) Chi-square (f) Correlation

Answer 1

1) We are interested in testing whether there is a difference in the average income between elderly men and women.

(d) two- tail t-test

2) You believe that students attending small liberal arts universities attend more parties per month than postsecondary students nationwide, and you would like to test your hypothesis. It is known that in the population nationally, undergraduate students attend an average of 3.2 parties per month. You will calculate the average number of parties per month from a random sample of students at small liberal arts universities.

(c) One-tail t-test

3) We are interested in whether one’s reported stress level is related to whether or not they own a pet. We measure stress with the following question: “On a scale of 1 to 3 – where 1 equal not stressed at all, 2 equals sometimes stressed, and 3 equals constantly stressed – how stressed do you feel on a daily basis?” In terms of pet ownership, respondents can own only a dog, own only a cat, own some other kind of animal or more than one kind, or have no pets.

(e) Chi-square

4) A political scientist is interested in determining whether there is a relationship between age (measured in years) and charitable giving (measured in dollars donated in the past 12 months) among Canadian adults between the ages of 30 and 80.

(f) Correlation

5) A question on the U.S. General Social Survey (GSS) in 2014 asked: “Some people say that being born in the U.S. is important for being truly American. Others say it is not important. How important do you think it is to have been born in America?” We want to test whether the proportion answering that it is “very important” is greater for respondents who were themselves born in the U.S. (native born) than for respondents who were not born in the U.S. (foreign born).

(a) One-tail z-test

6) One of your professors is interested in testing whether a respondent’s sense of responsibility (measured as the average score across a series of 15 questions, on a scale of 0 to 100) differs among two groups: (1) respondents who are the first child in their family or an only child, and (2) respondents who have an older sibling.

(d) two- tail t-test