A new cream was developed to reduce the irritation caused by poison ivy. To test the effectiveness, researchers placed an ad online asking for volunteers to participate in the study. One hundred subjects replied and were informed that one group would receive the new cream and the other group would receive a cream with no active ingredient. All 100 subjects were exposed to poison ivy. Fifty were then randomly assigned to the group with the new cream, and 50 were randomly assigned to the group with the cream with no active ingredient. After three days, the subjects’ level of irritation was measured.
An article in a psychology journal claims that young students who play a musical instrument tend to have higher test scores on state math exams. To assess the claim, a government official considers two methods to collect data.Method 1: Contact many city schools and ask them to provide summary data on state math exam performance and students who participate in music lessons.Method 2: Choose two city schools and provide free music lessons to students who register. At the end of the year, compare state math exam scores for students who participated in the music lessons with the scores for those who did not.
Which of the following is not true about cluster sampling?
A biology student wants to determine if using a fertilizer would help promote growth of new babies in spider plants. The student chooses 100 baby spider plants to be used in the study. They all are potted in the same amount and type of soil, given the same amount of water, and exposed to the same amount of light. Fifty of the plants will be given the fertilizer treatment and the other 50 plants will not receive any fertilizer. After one year, the shoots will be counted for each plant.
Many movie theaters show advertisements before feature films to increase concession sales. However, many customers complain about the length the advertisements add to their time at the theater. To understand the effect of advertising, a movie theater manager chooses random days during the month when the concession advertisements are not shown. On the remaining days, the concession advertisements are shown as usual. The manager then records the concession sales for each day.
A company that manufactures golf balls produces a new type of ball that is supposed to travel significantly farther than the company’s previous golf ball. To determine this, 40 new-style golf balls and 40 original-style golf balls are randomly selected from the company’s production line on a specific day. A golf pro takes the balls to the driving range and hits the 40 new-style golf balls first and then the 40 original-style golf balls. The distance each ball travels is recorded. At the end of the session, the mean distance traveled for the new type of golf ball was found to be significantly greater than the mean distance for the original-style golf ball.
A therapist wants to study the effects of yoga and meditation on stress relief. She has 60 volunteers who experience varying levels of stress. Half of the participants will be assigned to practice yoga for one month and the other half will practice meditation. Before the experiment begins, all of the participants will be asked to rate their stress levels on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 representing "no stress” and 10 representing "highest level of stress.” At the end of one month, the participants will be asked to rate their stress levels again. The differences in stress levels will be compared.
A doctor wants to determine if a new medication for cholesterol is more effective than the previous medication. The doctor asks her patients if they would like to take part in a study for a new medication, and 30 patients currently taking medication for cholesterol volunteer to participate. Which of the following would be an appropriate procedure for this experiment?
A farmer sows 100 seeds of a new type of corn and wants to quickly determine the yield, or total number of ears of corn, for the crop when it has matured. He decides to take a simple random sample of the crop by using a random digit table. What is the fewest number of digits that should be used, given that there are 100 plants in total?
An observational study of suburban towns reveals that towns with more dedicated park land tend to have higher median home prices. A real estate agent suggests that a town’s crime rate is a more accurate predictor of median home price.
What proportion of families own as opposed to rent their home? To find out, an urban planner selected a random sample of 400 families in a large city to participate in a survey about homeownership. Of the 362 families that responded to the survey, 42% reported that they own their home. Which of the following statements about the survey results is true?
A trade school would like to measure the long-term success of their graduates after they leave the school. The school emails a survey requesting information from graduates about their work experience. One question asks graduates to share their annual salary, and the results of the question will be shared in a brochure for incoming students. Is it likely that the survey results will provide an accurate estimate of mean annual salary for all of the school’s graduates?
Which of the following statements is true about systematic random sampling?
A researcher is comparing the effectiveness of three devices designed to help people who snore. There are 60 people who snore participating in the experiment who are labeled 01–60. Using a table of random digits, the researcher will randomly place the participants into three equally sized treatment groups suitable for comparison. Carry out the random assignment using the given selection from a table of random digits, starting with the first row and first column.

A tire company wants to determine if tires made with a new type of tread will last longer than tires made with the original type of tread. The company has access to 20 different vehicles and wants to use a randomized block design for the experiment.Which of the following variables would be the best to block the experimental units?
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