Statistics for Management

Module 3: Sampling and Sampling Distributions

Multiple Choices
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

____ 1. Parameters are

a. numerical characteristics of a sample b. numerical characteristics of a population c. the averages taken
from a sample d. numerical characteristics of either a sample or a population

____ 2. Sampling distribution of is the

a. probability distribution of the sample mean b. probability distribution of the sample proportion c. mean
of the sample d. mean of the population
____ 3. A simple random sample of 100 observations was taken from a large population. The sample mean and the
standard deviation were determined to be 80 and 12 respectively. The standard error of the mean is
a. 1.20 b. 0.12 c. 8.00 d. 0.80
____ 4. A population has a standard deviation of 16. If a sample of size 64 is selected from this population, what is
the probability that the sample mean will be within 2 of the population mean?
a. 0.6826 b. 0.3413 c. -0.6826 d. Since the mean is not given, there is no answer to this question.

____ 5. The probability distribution of all possible values of the sample proportion is the
a. probability density function of b. sampling distribution of c. same as , since it considers all
possible values of the sample proportion d. sampling distribution of
____ 6. In computing the standard error of the mean, the finite population correction factor is used when
a. N/n > 0.05 b. N/n 0.05 c. n/N > 0.05 d. n/N 30
____ 7. Convenience sampling is an example of
a. probabilistic sampling b. stratified sampling c. nonprobabilistic sampling d. cluster sampling
____ 8. Which of the following is an example of nonprobabilistic sampling?
a. simple random sampling b. stratified simple random sampling c. cluster sampling d. judgment
sampling
____ 9. Stratified random sampling is a method of selecting a sample in which
a. the sample is first divided into strata, and then random samples are taken from each stratum b. various
strata are selected from the sample c. the population is first divided into strata, and then random samples are
drawn from each stratum d. None of these alternatives is correct.
____ 10. The closer the sample mean is to the population mean,
a. the larger the sampling error b. the smaller the sampling error c. the sampling error equals 1 d. None
of these alternatives is correct.
____ 11. Since the sample size is always smaller than the size of the population, the sample mean
a. must always be smaller than the population mean b. must be larger than the population mean c. must
be equal to the population mean d. can be smaller, larger, or equal to the population mean
____ 12. As the sample size increases, the
 a. standard deviation of the population decreases b. population mean increases c. standard error of the
mean decreases d. standard error of the mean increases
____ 13. A simple random sample from an infinite population is a sample selected such that
a. each element is selected independently and from the same population b. each element has a 0.5
probability of being selected c. each element has a probability of at least 0.5 of being selected d. the
probability of being selected changes
____ 14. In point estimation
a. data from the population is used to estimate the population parameter b. data from the sample is used to
estimate the population parameter c. data from the sample is used to estimate the sample statistic d. the
mean of the population equals the mean of the sample
____ 15. The sample statistic s is the point estimator of
a.  b.  c. d.
____ 16. The sample mean is the point estimator of
a.  b.  c. d.
____ 17. If we consider the simple random sampling process as an experiment, the sample mean is
a. always zero b. always smaller than the population mean c. a random variable d. exactly equal to the
population mean
____ 18. The probability distribution of the sample mean is called the
a. central probability distribution b. sampling distribution of the mean c. random variation d. standard
error

____ 19. The expected value of the random variable is

a. the standard error b. the sample size c. the size of the population d. None of these alternatives is
correct.

____ 20. The standard deviation of all possible values is called the
a. standard error of proportion b. standard error of the mean c. mean deviation d. central variation
____ 21. A population has a mean of 75 and a standard deviation of 8. A random sample of 800 is selected. The
expected value of is
a. 8 b. 75 c. 800 d. None of these alternatives is correct.
____ 22. As the sample size becomes larger, the sampling distribution of the sample mean approaches a
a. binomial distribution b. Poisson distribution c. normal distribution d. chi-square distribution

____ 23. Whenever the population has a normal probability distribution, the sampling distribution of is a normal
probability distribution for
a. only large sample sizes b. only small sample sizes c. any sample size d. only samples of size thirty
or greater
____ 24. The sampling error is the
a. same as the standard error of the mean b. difference between the value of the sample mean and the value
of the population mean c. error caused by selecting a bad sample d. standard deviation multiplied by the
sample size
____ 25. The standard deviation of a sample of 100 elements taken from a very large population is determined to be 60.
The variance of the population
a. can not be larger than 60 b. can not be larger than 3600 c. must be at least 100 d. can be any value
____ 26. From a population of 200 elements, a sample of 49 elements is selected. It is determined that the sample mean
is 56 and the sample standard deviation is 14. The standard error of the mean is
a. 3 b. 2 c. greater than 2 d. less than 2

____ 27. The probability distribution of all possible values of the sample mean is
a. the probability density function of b. the sampling distribution of c. the grand mean, since it
considers all possible values of the sample mean d. one, since it considers all possible values of the sample
mean
____ 28. Which of the following sampling methods does not lead to probability samples?
a. stratified sampling b. cluster sampling c. systematic sampling d. convenience sampling
____ 29. A probability distribution for all possible values of a sample statistic is known as
a. a sample statistic b. a parameter c. simple random sampling d. a sampling distribution
____ 30. A population characteristic, such as a population mean, is called
a. a statistic b. a parameter c. a sample d. the mean deviation
____ 31. A population has a mean of 300 and a standard deviation of 18. A sample of 144 observations will be taken.
The probability that the sample mean will be between 297 to 303 is
a. 0.4332 b. 0.8664 c. 0.9332 d. 0.0668
____ 32. A sample statistic, such as a sample mean, is known as
a. a statistic b. a parameter c. the mean deviation d. the central limit theorem
____ 33. The standard deviation of a point estimator is called the
a. standard deviation b. standard error c. point estimator d. variance of estimation
____ 34. A single numerical value used as an estimate of a population parameter is known as
a. a parameter b. a population parameter c. a mean estimator d. a point estimate

____ 35. The sample statistic, such as , s, or , that provides the point estimate of the population parameter is known
as
a. a point estimator b. a parameter c. a population parameter d. a population statistic
____ 36. A theorem that allows us to use the normal probability distribution to approximate the sampling distribution
of sample means and sample proportions whenever the sample size is large is known as the
a. approximation theorem b. normal probability theorem c. central limit theorem d. central normality
theorem
____ 37. The purpose of statistical inference is to provide information about the
a. sample based upon information contained in the population b. population based upon information
contained in the sample c. population based upon information contained in the population d. mean of the
sample based upon the mean of the population
____ 38. Random samples of size 81 are taken from an infinite population whose mean and standard deviation are 200
and 18, respectively. The distribution of the population is unknown. The mean and the standard error of the
mean are
a. 200 and 18 b. 81 and 18 c. 9 and 2 d. 200 and 2
____ 39. A population has a mean of 80 and a standard deviation of 7. A sample of 49 observations will be taken. The
probability that the sample mean will be larger than 82 is
a. 0.5228 b. 0.9772 c. 0.4772 d. 0.0228
____ 40. Random samples of size 525 are taken from an infinite population whose population proportion is 0.3. The
standard deviation of the sample proportions (i.e., the standard error of the proportion) is
 a. 0.0004 b. 0.2100 c. 0.3000 d. 0.0200
____ 41. A sample of 400 observations will be taken from an infinite population. The population proportion equals 0.8.
The probability that the sample proportion will be greater than 0.83 is
a. 0.4332 b. 0.9332 c. 0.0668 d. 0.5668
____ 42. A simple random sample of size n from an infinite population of size N is to be selected. Each possible
sample should have
a. the same probability of being selected b. a probability of 1/n of being selected c. a probability of 1/N
of being selected d. a probability of N/n of being selected
____ 43. A simple random sample of 28 observations was taken from a large population. The sample mean equaled 50.
Fifty is a
a. population parameter b. biased estimate of the population mean c. sample parameter d. point
estimate
____ 44. A simple random sample of 5 observations from a population containing 400 elements was taken, and the
following values were obtained.

12 18 19 20 21

A point estimate of the mean is

a. 400 b. 18 c. 20 d. 10

____ 45. A sample of 24 observations is taken from a population that has 150 elements. The sampling distribution of
is
a. approximately normal because is always approximately normally distributed b. approximately normal
because the sample size is large in comparison to the population size c. approximately normal because of
the central limit theorem d. normal if the population is normally distributed

____ 46. A sample of 92 observations is taken from an infinite population. The sampling distribution of is
approximately
a. normal because is always approximately normally distributed b. normal because the sample size is
small in comparison to the population size c. normal because of the central limit theorem d. None of
these alternatives is correct.
____ 47. A population has a mean of 84 and a standard deviation of 12. A sample of 36 observations will be taken. The
probability that the sample mean will be between 80.54 and 88.9 is
a. 0.0347 b. 0.7200 c. 0.9511 d. 8.3600

____ 48. A sample of 25 observations is taken from an infinite population. The sampling distribution of is
a. not normal since n < 30 b. approximately normal because is always normally distributed
c. approximately normal if np 5 and n(1-P) 5 d. approximately normal if np > 30 and n(1-P) > 30
____ 49. A sample of 66 observations will be taken from an infinite population. The population proportion equals 0.12.
The probability that the sample proportion will be less than 0.1768 is
a. 0.0568 b. 0.0778 c. 0.4222 d. 0.9222
____ 50. A subset of a population selected to represent the population is
a. a subset b. a sample c. a small population d. a parameter
____ 51. A finite population correction factor is needed in computing the standard deviation of the sampling
distribution of sample means
 a. whenever the population is infinite b. whenever the sample size is more than 5% of the population size
c. whenever the sample size is less than 5% of the population size d. The correction factor is not necessary
if the population has a normal distribution
____ 52. The fact that the sampling distribution of sample means can be approximated by a normal probability
distribution whenever the sample size is large is based on the
a. central limit theorem b. fact that we have tables of areas for the normal distribution c. assumption that
the population has a normal distribution d. None of these alternatives is correct.
____ 53. As the sample size increases, the variability among the sample means
a. increases b. decreases c. remains the same d. depends upon the specific population being sampled
____ 54. Random samples of size 17 are taken from a population that has 200 elements, a mean of 36, and a standard
deviation of 8. The mean and the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the sample means are
a. 8.7 and 1.94 b. 36 and 1.94 c. 36 and 1.86 d. 36 and 8
____ 55. Cluster sampling is
a. a nonprobability sampling method b. the same as convenience sampling c. a probability sampling
method d. None of these alternatives is correct.
____ 56. The following data was collected from a simple random sample of a population.

13 15 14 16 12

The point estimate of the population standard deviation is

a. 2.500 b. 1.581 c. 2.000 d. 1.414
____ 57. Four hundred people were asked whether gun laws should be more stringent. Three hundred said "yes," and
100 said "no." The point estimate of the proportion in the population who will respond "yes" is
a. 300 b. approximately 300 c. 0.75 d. 0.25
____ 58. The following information was collected from a simple random sample of a population.

16 19 18 17 20 18

The point estimate of the mean of the population is

a. 18.0 b. 19.6 c. 108 d. sixteen, since 16 is the smallest value in the sample
____ 59. How many different samples of size 3 can be taken from a finite population of size 10?
a. 30 b. 1,000 c. 720 d. 120
____ 60. The absolute value of the difference between the point estimate and the population parameter it estimates is
a. the standard error b. the sampling error c. precision d. the error of confidence
____ 61. When s is used to estimate , the margin of error is computed by using
a. normal distribution b. t distribution c. the mean of the sample d. the mean of the population
____ 62. From a population with a variance of 900, a sample of 225 items is selected. At 95% confidence, the margin
of error is
a. 15 b. 2 c. 3.92 d. 4
____ 63. In order to determine an interval for the mean of a population with unknown standard deviation a sample of
61 items is selected. The mean of the sample is determined to be 23. The number of degrees of freedom for
reading the t value is
a. 22 b. 23 c. 60 d. 61
____ 64. If we want to provide a 95% confidence interval for the mean of a population, the confidence coefficient is
a. 0.485 b. 1.96 c. 0.95 d. 1.645
____ 65. As the number of degrees of freedom for a t distribution increases, the difference between the t distribution
and the standard normal distribution
a. becomes larger b. becomes smaller c. stays the same d. None of these alternatives is correct.
____ 66. For the interval estimation of  when  is known and the sample is large, the proper distribution to use is
a. the normal distribution b. the t distribution with n degrees of freedom c. the t distribution with n + 1
degrees of freedom d. the t distribution with n + 2 degrees of freedom
____ 67. An estimate of a population parameter that provides an interval of values believed to contain the value of the
parameter is known as the
a. confidence level b. interval estimate c. parameter value d. population estimate
____ 68. The value added and subtracted from a point estimate in order to develop an interval estimate of the
population parameter is known as the
a. confidence level b. margin of error c. parameter estimate d. interval estimate
____ 69. If an interval estimate is said to be constructed at the 90% confidence level, the confidence coefficient would
be
a. 0.1 b. 0.95 c. 0.9 d. 0.05
____ 70. Whenever the population standard deviation is unknown and the population has a normal or near-normal
distribution, which distribution is used in developing an interval estimation?
a. standard distribution b. z distribution c. alpha distribution d. t distribution
____ 71. In developing an interval estimate, if the population standard deviation is unknown
a. it is impossible to develop an interval estimate b. the standard deviation is arrived at using the range
c. the sample standard deviation can be used d. it is assumed that the population standard deviation is 1
____ 72. In order to use the normal distribution for interval estimation of  when  is known and the sample is very
small, the population
a. must be very large b. must have a normal distribution c. can have any distribution d. must have a
mean of at least 1
____ 73. From a population that is not normally distributed and whose standard deviation is not known, a sample of 6
items is selected to develop an interval estimate for the mean of the population ().
a. The normal distribution can be used. b. The t distribution with 5 degrees of freedom must be used.
c. The t distribution with 6 degrees of freedom must be used. d. The sample size must be increased.
____ 74. From a population that is normally distributed, a sample of 25 elements is selected and the standard deviation
of the sample is computed. For the interval estimation of , the proper distribution to use is the
a. normal distribution b. t distribution with 25 degrees of freedom c. t distribution with 26 degrees of
freedom d. t distribution with 24 degrees of freedom
____ 75. The z value for a 97.8% confidence interval estimation is
a. 2.02 b. 1.96 c. 2.00 d. 2.29
____ 76. The t value for a 95% confidence interval estimation with 24 degrees of freedom is
a. 1.711 b. 2.064 c. 2.492 d. 2.069
____ 77. As the sample size increases, the margin of error
a. increases b. decreases c. stays the same d. increases or decreases depending on the size of the mean
____ 78. For which of the following values of P is the value of P(1 - P) maximized?
 a. P = 0.99 b. P = 0.90 c. P = 0.01 d. P = 0.50
____ 79. A 95% confidence interval for a population mean is determined to be 100 to 120. If the confidence coefficient
is reduced to 0.90, the interval for 
a. becomes narrower b. becomes wider c. does not change d. becomes 0.1
____ 80. The ability of an interval estimate to contain the value of the population parameter is described by the
a. confidence level b. degrees of freedom c. precise value of the population mean  d. degrees of
freedom minus 1
____ 81. After computing a confidence interval, the user believes the results are meaningless because the width of the
interval is too large. Which one of the following is the best recommendation?
a. Increase the level of confidence for the interval. b. Decrease the sample size. c. Increase the sample
size. d. Reduce the population variance.
____ 82. An interval estimate is a range of values used to estimate
a. the shape of the population's distribution b. the sampling distribution c. a sample statistic d. a
population parameter
____ 83. Whenever using the t distribution for interval estimation (when the sample size is very small), we must
assume that
a. the sample has a mean of at least 30 b. the sampling distribution is not normal c. the population is
approximately normal d. the finite population correction factor is necessary
____ 84. A sample of 20 items from a population with an unknown  is selected in order to develop an interval
estimate of . Which of the following is not necessary?
a. We must assume the population has a normal distribution. b. We must use a t distribution. c. Sample
standard deviation must be used to estimate . d. The sample must have a normal distribution.
____ 85. A sample of 225 elements from a population with a standard deviation of 75 is selected. The sample mean is
180. The 95% confidence interval for  is
a. 105.0 to 225.0 b. 175.0 to 185.0 c. 100.0 to 200.0 d. 170.2 to 189.8
____ 86. It is known that the variance of a population equals 1,936. A random sample of 121 has been taken from the
population. There is a .95 probability that the sample mean will provide a margin of error of
a. 7.84 b. 31.36 c. 344.96 d. 1,936
____ 87. A random sample of 144 observations has a mean of 20, a median of 21, and a mode of 22. The population
standard deviation is known to equal 4.8. The 95.44% confidence interval for the population mean is
a. 15.2 to 24.8 b. 19.200 to 20.800 c. 19.216 to 20.784 d. 21.2 to 22.8
____ 88. When the level of confidence decreases, the margin of error
a. stays the same b. becomes smaller c. becomes larger d. becomes smaller or larger, depending on the
sample size
____ 89. A random sample of 64 students at a university showed an average age of 25 years and a sample standard
deviation of 2 years. The 98% confidence interval for the true average age of all students in the university is
a. 20.5 to 26.5 b. 24.4 to 25.6 c. 23.0 to 27.0 d. 20.0 to 30.0
____ 90. A random sample of 49 statistics examinations was taken. The average score, in the sample, was 84 with a
variance of 12.25. The 95% confidence interval for the average examination score of the population of the
examinations is
a. 76.00 to 84.00 b. 77.40 to 86.60 c. 83.00 to 85.00 d. 68.00 to 100.00
____ 91. When constructing a confidence interval for the population mean and the standard deviation of the sample is
used, the degrees of freedom for the t distribution equals
 a. n-1 b. n c. 29 d. 30
____ 92. The following random sample from a population whose values were normally distributed was collected.

10 8 11 11

The 95% confidence interval for  is

a. 8.52 to 10.98 b. 7.75 to 11.75 c. 9.75 to 10.75 d. 8.00 to 10.00
____ 93. The following random sample from a population whose values were normally distributed was collected.

10 12 18 16

The 80% confidence interval for  is

a. 12.054 to 15.946 b. 10.108 to 17.892 c. 10.321 to 17.679 d. 11.009 to 16.991
____ 94. Which of the following best describes the form of the sampling distribution of the sample proportion?
a. When standardized, it is exactly the standard normal distribution. b. When standardized, it is the t
distribution. c. It is approximately normal as long as n 30. d. It is approximately normal as long as np
5 and n(1-p) 5.

____ 95. In a random sample of 144 observations, = 0.6. The 95% confidence interval for P is
a. 0.52 to 0.68 b. 0.144 to 0.200 c. 0.60 to 0.70 d. 0.50 to 0.70

____ 96. In a random sample of 100 observations, = 0.2. The 95.44% confidence interval for P is
a. 0.122 to 0.278 b. 0.164 to 0.236 c. 0.134 to 0.266 d. 0.120 to 0.280
____ 97. A random sample of 1000 people was taken. Four hundred fifty of the people in the sample favored Candidate
A. The 95% confidence interval for the true proportion of people who favors Candidate A is
a. 0.419 to 0.481 b. 0.40 to 0.50 c. 0.45 to 0.55 d. 1.645 to 1.96
____ 98. A machine that produces a major part for an airplane engine is monitored closely. In the past, 10% of the parts
produced would be defective. With a .95 probability, the sample size that needs to be taken if the desired
margin of error is .04 or less is
a. 110 b. 111 c. 216 d. 217
____ 99. We are interested in conducting a study in order to determine what percentage of voters of a state would vote
for the incumbent governor. What is the minimum size sample needed to estimate the population proportion
with a margin of error of 0.05 or less at 95% confidence?
a. 200 b. 100 c. 58 d. 196
____ 100. In a sample of 400 voters, 360 indicated they favor the incumbent governor. The 95% confidence interval of
voters not favoring the incumbent is
a. 0.871 to 0.929 b. 0.120 to 0.280 c. 0.765 to 0.835 d. 0.071 to 0.129
Module 3: Sampling and Sampling Distributions
Answer Section

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. B
2. A
3. A
4. A
5. D
6. C
7. C
8. D
9. C
10. B
11. D
12. C
13. A
14. B
15. B
16. A
17. C
18. B
19. D
20. B
21. B
22. C
23. C
24. B
25. D
26. D
27. B
28. D
29. D
30. B
31. B
32. A
33. B
34. D
35. A
36. C
37. B
38. D
39. D
40. D
41. C
42. A
43. D
44. B
45. D
46. C
47. C
48. C
49. D
50. B
51. B
52. A
53. B
54. C
55. C
56. B
57. C
58. A
59. D
60. B
61. B
62. C
63. C
64. C
65. B
66. A
67. B
68. B
69. C
70. D
71. C
72. B
73. D
74. D
75. D
76. B
77. B
78. D
79. A
80. A
81. C
82. D
83. C
84. D
85. D
86. A
87. B
 88. B
89. B
90. C
91. A
92. B
93. D
94. D
95. A
96. D
97. A
98. D
99. D
100. D