Statistics Independent Study

AP-Style Free-Response Practice, Part 2

Answers

Page 1 of 3

1.
A.
Answer:
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

7
2
1
4
2
1
3

3
1
x
3
4

9
458
699
6

B.
Answer:

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

C.
Answer:
An outlier is any value that lies more than 1.5 IQRs below the lower quartile or more
than 1.5 IQRs above the upper quartile (here, we are only interested in values above the
upper quartile). The IQR is 54.5 31 = 23.5. Thus we get 1.5 23.5 = 35.25. We then
find that 1.5 (IQR) + (upper quartile) = 35.25 + 54.5 = 89.75. So any value above
89.75 would be considered an outlier. Thus 89 is the largest possible value that would
not be an outlier.
2.
A.
Answer:
It was an observational study. The groups were not randomized, nor was any treatment
imposed by the researchers. The behavior of two different groups was observed and
results were recorded.
B.
Answer:
The groups may have been self-selected. It's possible that the group that chose to take
the training was composed of students who were better at math, on average, than those
who chose not to take the training. That is, the discrepancy in the final exam scores
could be the result of differences in the math ability of the two groups.
C.
Answer:
A Type II error occurs when you mistakenly accept a false hypothesis. If something
besides the training (such as bias through self-selection) caused the differences in
scores, then the administration is operating under a false hypothesis. Thus, in this
scenario, one risk of a Type II error is the allocation of resources to a program that may
not result in any improvements. Another risk of a Type II error is that there may be no
further research into finding an effective way to increase girls' math scores.

Statistics Independent Study

AP-Style Free-Response Practice, Part 2
Answers

Page 2 of 3

3.
A.
Answer:
You would use a t procedure. You do not know the population standard deviation, so a zprocedure is not an option. Since the sample size is not large, you cannot apply the
Central Limit Theorem to the sampling distribution of the sample mean. Thus you must
assume that the population from which the sample was drawn is normally distributed.
B.
Answer:
2.160
C.
Answer:
This statement means we are using a procedure that gives us an interval that will
contain the population value 95% of the time. This interval may contain the population
value or it may notall we know is that 95% of intervals generated using this procedure
will contain the population value. It does not mean that the probability is .95 that the
population value is in the interval.
D.
Answer:
The interval does contain 85 (though only barely), so the statement is reasonable. The
sample mean 80.3 is a likely sample value if the true population value is 85 at the 95%
level of confidence.
4.
A.
Answer:
S
2
p
1/36

3
2/36

4
3/36

5
4/36

6
5/36

7
6/36

8
5/36

9
4/36

10
3/36

11
2/36

12
1/36

B.
Answer:
The mean sum of two dice is 7. Multiply the value of each possible total by its probability
of being rolled and sum the results:
2(1/36) + 3(2/36) + 4(3/36) + 5(4/36) + 6(5/36) + 7(6/36)
+8(5/36) + 9(4/36) + 10(3/36) + 11(2/36) + 12(1/36)
=252/36 = 7.

Statistics Independent Study

AP-Style Free-Response Practice, Part 2
Answers

Page 3 of 3

C.
Answer:
There are 36 possible outcomes, 30 of which have a sum that is at least 5. Of these,
there are 11 outcomes that consist of at least one 4. Thus P(at least one die shows a 4 |
the sum of the dice is at least 5) = 11/30.
Alternate method: Let A = "at least one die shows a 4," and let B = "the sum of the two
dice is at least 5." We want P(A | B), which equals P(A and B)/P(B). P(A and B) = 11/36,
and P(B) = 30/36. Thus, P(A | B) = (11/36)/(30/36) = 11/30.
5.
A.
Answer:
H0 : 1999 1997 = 0 (The mean scores in 1997 and in 1999 are the same.)
H0 : 1999 > 1997 (The mean score in 1999 was greater than the mean score in 1997.)

We can assume that the two groups are independent samples from distinct populations.
We do not have the data we need to justify this, but, because the sample sizes are quite
large, and because distributions of scores such as these are usually normally distributed,
we can assume that the populations from which these samples were drawn are normally
distributed. Thus we are justified in using the t test for the difference between two
independent means in this case:

t =

2.97 2.78
1.332
1.302
+
7646 25240

(If pooled, t =

= 11.0

P =0

2.97 2.78
(7645)(1.332 ) + (25239)(1.30 2 )
1
1
+
7646 + 25240 2
7646 25240

= 11.1 .)

A P-value this low indicates that it is highly unlikely we would have gotten a difference
this large by chance if, in fact, there was no difference between the scores. We have
very strong evidence that there was a real decline in scores on the AP exam between
1997 and 1999.
B.
Answer:
It is not unusual to see a decline in the average score on a test as the number of people
taking the test increases. The number of qualified test-takers does not increase as fast
as the number of test takers.

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