Examples of Questions from Old Finals

Part A (Closed Book)

• Using statistical notation, write the null hypothesis tested by case-control studies.
• What is the function of a code book?
• You are performing an ANOVA comparing three independent groups. Write the null and alternative hypotheses for this test.
• The Kruskal-Wallis is said to be more robust than ANOVA. What exactly does this mean?
• When is Fisher's test used instead of a chi-squared test?
• What is the distinguishing feature of an experiment?
• How does a case-control study differ from a cohort study?
• What does "homoscedasticity" mean?
• Why is homoscedasticity important in ANOVA?
• Provide a synonym for "variance within groups."
• How many degrees of freedom are in the numerator of an ANOVA F statistic?
• Define "simple random sample."
• Define "double blinding."
• For standard ANOVA to be used, three assumptions must be met. Name these.
• How many degrees of freedom are there between groups when the ANOVA has 4 groups?
• What summary statistics comprise a 5-point summary?

Part B (Lab Notebook)

A social psychologist develops a scale that he calls the "sense of coherence" scale. This scale measures a general orientation that sees life as meaningful and manageable. The psychologist theorizes that one's sense of cohorence fosters coping and health, and therefore deserves additional study. To study his theory, sense of cohorence (SOC) is measured among three groups. Group 1 comprises concentration camp survivors, group 2 comprises concentration camp guards, and group 3 comprises a sample of the general population. Data are:

Group 1: 131, 167, 113, 134, 178
Group 2: 105, 52, 71, 56, 85
Group 3: 236, 168, 208, 175, 113

• Report summary statistics by group.
• On a separate piece of graph paper, draw a side-by-side boxplots of the data. Interpret your findings.
• Conduct an ANOVA on these data. Report all hypothesis testing steps and interpret your results.
• Conduct post hoc comparisons using Bonferroni's method. Interpret your results.