Practice Multiple Choice Questions for Exam 2

Prof. Alex Angelus

Sept. 20, 2014

Question 1
2.
Which of the following regarding the mean and variance of
a portfolio of two stocks is false?

a. .
b. .

c.
d. .
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Question 2
2.
Which of the following are required conditions for the
distribution of a discrete random variable X that can assume
values xi?
a. 0 p(xi) 1

for all xi

b.
c. Both a) and b) are required conditions
d. Neither a) nor b) are required conditions
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Question 3
3.

Which of the following cannot have a Poisson distribution?

a.
b.

The length of a movie.

The number of telephone calls received by a switchboard in
a specified time period.
The number of customers arriving at a gas station in
Christmas day.
The number of bacteria found in a cubic yard of soil.

c.
d.

Question 4
4.
The Sutton police department must write, on average, 6
tickets a day to keep department revenues at budgeted levels. Suppose
the number of tickets written per day follows a Poisson distribution
with a mean of 6.5 tickets per day. Interpret the value of the mean.?
a.
b.
c.
d.

The mean has no interpretation.

The expected number of tickets written would be 6.5 per day.
Half of the days have less than 6.5 tickets written and half of the
days have more than 6.5 tickets written.
The number of tickets that is written most often is 6.5 tickets per
day.

Question 5
5. Suppose f(x) = 0.25. What range of possible values can X
take on and still have the density function be legitimate?
a. [0, 4]
b. [4, 8]

c. [-2, +2]
d. All of these choices are true.

Question 6
6. If the random variable X has a uniform distribution
between 40 and 50, then P(35 X 45) is:

a.
b.
c.
d.

1.0
0.5
0.1
undefined.

Question 7
7. If X has a normal distribution with mean 60 and
standard deviation 6, which value of X corresponds with
the value z = 1.96?
a.
b.
c.
d.

x = 71.76
x = 67.96
x = 61.96
x = 48.24

Question 8
8. If two random samples of sizes n1 and n2 are selected
independently from two populations with variances
and
, then the standard error of the sampling distribution
of the sample mean difference,
, equals
a. .
b.
.
c.

d. .
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Question 9
9. Random samples of size 49 are taken from an infinite
population whose mean is 300 and standard deviation is 21.
The mean and standard error of the sample mean,
respectively, are:
a.
b.
c.
d.

300 and 21
300 and 3
300 and 0.43
None of these choices.

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Question 10
10. If all possible samples of size n are drawn from an infinite
population with a mean of and a standard deviation of ,
then the standard error of the sample mean is inversely
proportional to:

a.
b.
c. n
d. n

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Question 11
11.
Suppose that 100 items are drawn from a population of
manufactured products and the weight, X, of each item is
recorded. Prior experience has shown that the weight has a nonnormal probability distribution with = 8 ounces and = 3
ounces. Which of the following is true about the sampling of the
sample mean?
a.
b.
c.
d.

Its mean is 8 ounces.

Its standard error is 0.3 ounces.
Its shape is approximately normal.
All of these choices are true.
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Question 12
12. If two random samples of sizes n1 and n2 are selected
independently from two non-normally distributed populations,
then the sampling distribution of the sample mean difference is
a. Always non-normal
b. Approximately normal if one of the samples sizes is larger than
or equal to 30.
c. Approximately normal only if n1 and n2 are both larger than or
equal to 30
d. Approximately normal regardless of n1 and n2
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Question 13

13. If there are two unbiased estimators of a population parameter

available, the one that has the smallest variance is said to be:
a.
b.
c.
d.

a biased estimator.
relatively efficient.
consistent.
relatively unbiased.

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Question 14

14.

The letter in the formula for constructing a confidence

interval estimate of the population mean is:

a. the level of confidence.

b. the probability that a particular confidence interval will
contain the population mean.
c. the area in the lower tail of the sampling distribution of the
sample mean.
d. None of these choices.
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Question 15

15.

In developing an interval estimate for a population mean,

the population standard deviation was assumed to be 10. The
interval estimate was 50.92 2.14. Had the population
standard deviation equalled 20, the interval estimate would
have been

a.
b.
c.
d.

60.92 2.14
50.92 12.14
101.84 4.28
50.92 4.28
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Question 16

16.

Which of the following statements is false regarding the

sample size needed to estimate a population mean?

a. It is directly proportional to the population variance.

b. It is directly proportional to the square of z+
c. It is directly proportional to the square of the maximum
allowable error B.
d. None of these choices.

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Question 17
17.

Researchers claim that 40 tissues is the average number of

tissues a person uses during the course of a cold. The
company who makes Puffs brand tissues thinks that fewer of
their tissues are needed. What are their null and alternative
hypotheses?
a. H0: m = 40 vs. H1: m > 40

c. H0: = 40 vs. H1: < 40

b. H0: m = 40 vs. H1: m < 40

d. H0: m < 40 vs. H1: m = 40

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Question 18
18. The owner of a local Jazz Club has recently surveyed a
random sample of n = 200 customers of the club. She would
now like to determine whether or not the mean age of her
customers is over 30. If so, she plans to alter the entertainment
to appeal to an older crowd. If not, no entertainment changes
will be made. The appropriate hypotheses to test are:

a. H0: m = 30 vs. H1: m < 30.

c. H0: = 30 vs. H1:

b. H0: m = 30 vs. H1: m > 30.

d. H0: = 30 vs. H1: > 30.

< 30.

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Question 19

19. In a two-tail test for the population mean, the null hypothesis
will be rejected at a level of significance if the value of the
standardized test statistic z is such that:
a. z > za
b. z < -za
c. -za < z < za
d. | z | > za / 2

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Question 20

20. If the value of the sample mean is close enough to the

hypothesized value 0 of the population mean , then:
a. the value of m0 is definitely correct.
b. the value of m0 is definitely wrong.
c. we reject the null hypothesis.
d. we cannot reject the null hypothesis.

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