AP®StatisticsCollege BoardExam QuestionsUnit 1: Exploring One-Variable Data and Collecting DataStatistical Studies

Statistical Studies (College Board AP® Statistics): Exam Questions

12 mins12 questions
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1
1 point

A city parks department wants to know the average number of hours per week that residents of the city spend in public parks. The department randomly selects 400 residents of the city and asks each one how many hours they spent in public parks last week.

Which of the following describes the population and the sample for the department's study?

  • The population is the 400 residents who were selected, and the sample is all residents of the city.

  • The population is all residents of the city, and the sample is the 400 residents who were selected.

  • The population is all public parks in the city, and the sample is the parks visited by the 400 residents.

  • The population is all residents of the city who visit public parks, and the sample is the 400 residents who were selected.

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2
1 point

A school librarian records the following information for each book returned during one week: the genre of the book, the reading level of the book (beginner, intermediate, or advanced), the ZIP code of the borrower's home address, and the number of days the book was borrowed.

Which of the following variables is quantitative?

  • Genre of the book

  • Reading level of the book

  • ZIP code of the borrower's home address

  • Number of days the book was borrowed

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3
1 point

Which of the following is a continuous quantitative variable?

  • The time, in seconds, that a runner takes to complete a 400-meter race

  • The number of goals scored by a soccer team in a season

  • The number of students absent from a school on a given day

  • The color of a runner's team jersey

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4
1 point

The owner of a coffee shop wants to know the proportion of all transactions at the shop that include a dairy-free milk alternative. The owner randomly selects 150 transactions from the past month and finds that 18% of the selected transactions included a dairy-free milk alternative.

Which of the following describes the value 18%?

  • It is a parameter because it describes all transactions at the shop.

  • It is a parameter because it describes the 150 selected transactions.

  • It is a statistic because it describes the 150 selected transactions.

  • It is a statistic because it describes all transactions at the shop.

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1
1 point

A volunteer at a zoo visits each of the 24 animal enclosures. For each enclosure, the volunteer records the number of animals in the enclosure and whether the enclosure is indoors or outdoors.

Which of the following identifies the observational units and the variables in the volunteer's study?

  • The observational units are the enclosures, and the variables are the number of animals in an enclosure and whether the enclosure is indoors or outdoors.

  • The observational units are the animals, and the variables are the number of animals in an enclosure and whether the enclosure is indoors or outdoors.

  • The observational units are the enclosures, and the variables are the total number of enclosures and whether the enclosure is indoors or outdoors.

  • The observational units are the animals, and the variables are the type of animal and the number of enclosures at the zoo.

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2
1 point

The manager of a bakery believes that more than 30% of the bakery's customers buy a drink with their purchase. The manager plans to select a random sample of customers to test this belief. An investigative question will be formulated before the data are collected.

Which of the following would be the appropriate components of the manager's investigative question?

  • The parameter is the proportion of sampled customers who buy a drink, and the direction of the alternative hypothesis is greater than 0.30.

  • The parameter is the proportion of all the bakery's customers who buy a drink, and the direction of the alternative hypothesis is not equal to 0.30.

  • The parameter is the number of the bakery's customers who buy a drink, and the direction of the alternative hypothesis is greater than 0.30.

  • The parameter is the proportion of all the bakery's customers who buy a drink, and the direction of the alternative hypothesis is greater than 0.30.

Choose your answer

3
1 point

A transportation researcher wants to estimate the mean daily commute time, in minutes, for all adults who work in a certain state. The researcher plans to select a random sample of these adults.

Which of the following is the most appropriate investigative question for the researcher's study?

  • Is the mean daily commute time for all adults who work in the state greater than 30 minutes?

  • What is the mean daily commute time for the adults in the researcher's sample?

  • What is an interval of plausible values for the mean daily commute time, in minutes, for all adults who work in the state?

  • How many minutes did each adult in the researcher's sample spend commuting yesterday?

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4
1 point

A small design company has 18 employees. The office manager records the one-way commute distance, in miles, of every employee and calculates the mean commute distance for the company's employees.

Which of the following statements is correct?

  • The manager conducted a statistical study, so the mean is a statistic.

  • The manager conducted a census, so the mean is a parameter.

  • The manager conducted a census, so the mean is a statistic.

  • The manager conducted an experiment, so the mean is a parameter.

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5
1 point

Priya plans to investigate whether the mean amount of time that students at her school spend on homework each night is greater than 2 hours. After collecting data from a random sample of students at the school, she finds that the sample mean is 1.6 hours. She then changes her investigative question to ask whether the mean amount of time is less than 2 hours.

Which of the following best describes the problem with Priya's approach?

  • An investigative question should not be changed based on the results of the data analysis.

  • An investigative question about a mean must use a direction of not equal to.

  • The sample mean should have been equal to 2 hours if the original investigative question was correct.

  • Priya should have collected data from every student at her school before writing an investigative question.

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1
1 point

A gardener has 40 tomato plants in her greenhouse. She randomly assigns 20 of the plants to receive a new liquid fertilizer and the other 20 plants to receive the usual fertilizer. At the end of the season, she records the total weight, in kilograms, of tomatoes produced by each plant.

Which of the following investigative questions indicates the appropriate type of conclusion for the gardener's study?

  • Does the new fertilizer cause a greater mean weight of tomatoes than the usual fertilizer for all tomato plants grown in greenhouses?

  • Does the new fertilizer cause a greater mean weight of tomatoes than the usual fertilizer for tomato plants like those in the gardener's greenhouse?

  • Is there an association, but not a cause-and-effect relationship, between fertilizer type and the mean weight of tomatoes for tomato plants like those in the gardener's greenhouse?

  • Was the mean weight of tomatoes greater for the 20 plants that received the new fertilizer than for the 20 plants that received the usual fertilizer?

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2
1 point

A transit agency selects a random sample of 250 bus trips from last year. For each trip, the agency records whether the bus arrived on time and the number of passengers on board when the bus left its first stop. Of the sampled trips, 82% arrived on time, and the mean number of passengers was 31.4.

Which of the following statements is correct?

  • The value 82% is a parameter that summarizes a categorical variable, and the value 31.4 is a parameter that summarizes a discrete quantitative variable.

  • The value 82% is a statistic that summarizes a quantitative variable, and the value 31.4 is a statistic that summarizes a discrete quantitative variable.

  • The value 82% is a statistic that summarizes a categorical variable, and the value 31.4 is a statistic that summarizes a discrete quantitative variable.

  • The value 82% is a statistic that summarizes a categorical variable, and the value 31.4 is a statistic that summarizes a continuous quantitative variable.

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3
1 point

A city planner believes that the proportion of households in her city that own an electric vehicle is different from the national proportion of 0.08. She plans to select a random sample of households in the city and record whether each household owns an electric vehicle.

Which of the following is a valid investigative question for the planner's study?

  • Is the proportion of households in the planner's sample that own an electric vehicle different from 0.08?

  • Is the proportion of all households in the city that own an electric vehicle greater than 0.08?

  • Does living in the city cause households to own electric vehicles at a rate different from 0.08?

  • Is the proportion of all households in the city that own an electric vehicle different from 0.08?

Choose your answer