Example MCQ's

Question 1

In SPSS what option can be used to show data frequency and distribution?

Answer 1

Histogram

Question 2

What are the functions of the Data View interface in SPSS?

Answer 2

To calculate and analyse data and display results with graphs

Question 3

Is the median exactly the same as the mean in normal distribution?

Answer 3

No (never say exactly in statistics)

The median is almost the same as the mean

Question 4

What can be shown using an error bar in SPSS?

Answer 4

Mean and Mean +/- 2 SEM

Question 5

If 2 sets of samples have different means are their global means significantly different?

Answer 5

Don’t know

Need to do test of hypothesis

Question 6

When would 2 sets of data be considered as significantly different?

Answer 6

If p < 0.05 and p <0.01

Question 7

If patients are measure pre and post op which statistical method can be used to compare their means?

Answer 7

Paired sample t-test

Question 8

What is the difference between paired and independent t-tests?

Answer 8

Paired - suitable for comparing two sets of data from the same group of subjects
Independent - suitable for comparing two sets of data from different subjects

Question 9

What effect does increasing the number of samples and SD have on the SEM?

Answer 9

As SD increases SEM increases

As n increases SEM decreases

Question 10

What does ANOVA stand for?

Answer 10

Analysis of Variance

Question 11

When estimating the mean in a range of 95% confidence interval what are the approximately upper and lower bounds of the expected mean?

Answer 11

Mean +/- 2 SEM

Question 12

When should users apply Post Hoc test?

Answer 12

After an ANOVA

Question 13

How do you apply linear regression to non-linear situations?

Answer 13

Replace the non-linear variable with a linear one

Question 14

What principle is applied in Chi square analysis when theoretically expected vales are used to compare practical data?

Answer 14

All items occur at the same probability

Question 15

For what data would you use non-parametric test methods?

Answer 15

Data is ordinal and rank

Question 16

For non-parametric tests what information from data can be used to assess differences between sample groups?

Answer 16

Sign and rank

Question 17

If two variables have linear correlation what would be the expected p value?

Answer 17

p <0.05 or p<0.01

Question 18

In a linear regression equation what coefficient will be calculated or estimated?

Answer 18

The coefficient in front of a variable and a constant

Question 19

In linear regression what is the best quality result in terms of correlation?

Answer 19

Closer to 1 or -1 = stronger correlation

Question 20

In what situation is the null hypothesis accepted?

Answer 20

p >0.05

Question 21

In normal distribution how much data is roughly included in the ranges of mean +/- 1, 2 and 3 SD?

Answer 21

Mean +/- 1 SD = 68%
Mean +/- 2 SD = 95%
Mean +/- 3 SD = 99%

Question 22

What formats can be inputted into SPSS?

Answer 22

Text
Excel
Direct Input

Question 23

What are the requirements for using t-test?

Answer 23

Numerical data
Normal distribution
Small sample size

Question 24

Under what condition are 2 sets of data said to be significantly different?

Answer 24

p <0.05 or *

Question 25

What is required for meta analysis to work?

Answer 25

Collect data from multiple sources but with same format

Question 26

What is required for applying survival analysis in practice?

Answer 26

The data used usually covers a long time period with a large sample size for each year

Question 27

If a bell curve is drawn of data and the answer lies in the main middle bit what is the p value and are they significantly different?

Answer 27

p > 0.05

They are significantly different