UGC NET - Descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and dispersion, correlation, index numbers. Online Test (MCQ Quiz)

1. Which measure of central tendency is most affected by extreme values (outliers)?

A) Median B) Mode C) Mean D) Geometric Mean

2. What does the median represent in a dataset?

A) The most frequently occurring value B) The average of all values C) The middle value when the data is ordered D) The range of the data

3. Which measure of dispersion is calculated as the difference between the highest and lowest values in a dataset?

A) Variance B) Standard Deviation C) Interquartile Range D) Range

4. What does a standard deviation of zero indicate about a dataset?

A) The data has a wide spread B) All values in the dataset are identical C) The data is normally distributed D) The mean is equal to the median

5. Which of the following is NOT a measure of central tendency?

A) Mean B) Median C) Mode D) Variance

6. For a perfectly symmetrical distribution, which of the following is true?

A) Mean > Median > Mode B) Mode > Median > Mean C) Mean = Median = Mode D) Mean < Median < Mode

7. Which measure of dispersion is less affected by outliers than the range?

A) Variance B) Standard Deviation C) Interquartile Range D) Mean Absolute Deviation

8. What is the primary purpose of calculating measures of dispersion?

A) To find the average value B) To determine the most frequent value C) To understand the spread or variability of the data D) To identify the middle value

9. Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) measures the strength and direction of the linear relationship between:

A) One independent variable and one dependent variable B) Two independent variables C) Two ordinal variables D) Two nominal variables

10. A correlation coefficient of +1 indicates:

A) No linear relationship B) A perfect positive linear relationship C) A perfect negative linear relationship D) A weak positive linear relationship

11. What does a correlation coefficient of 0 signify?

A) A perfect positive linear relationship B) A perfect negative linear relationship C) No linear relationship between the variables D) A strong positive linear relationship

12. Which type of correlation is measured by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient?

A) Linear relationship between interval/ratio variables B) Monotonic relationship between ordinal variables C) Linear relationship between nominal variables D) Non-linear relationship between interval/ratio variables

13. If the correlation coefficient between study hours and exam scores is 0.8, what can be concluded?

A) More study hours cause higher exam scores B) There is a strong positive linear association between study hours and exam scores C) There is a strong negative linear association between study hours and exam scores D) Exam scores have no linear relationship with study hours

14. The coefficient of determination (R-squared) represents:

A) The correlation between two variables B) The proportion of the variance in the dependent variable that is predictable from the independent variable(s) C) The slope of the regression line D) The standard error of the estimate

15. What is the range of possible values for Pearson's correlation coefficient?

A) 0 to 1 B) -1 to 0 C) -1 to +1 D) 0 to infinity

16. Which index number measures the change in the price of a basket of goods and services over time?

A) Wholesale Price Index (WPI) B) Consumer Price Index (CPI) C) Index of Industrial Production (IIP) D) Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Deflator

17. Laspeyres index formula uses weights from which period?

A) Current period B) Base period C) Average of base and current periods D) Future period

18. Paasche index formula uses weights from which period?

A) Base period B) Current period C) Average of base and current periods D) Previous period

19. What is a common issue with the Laspeyres index formula?

A) It tends to overstate inflation due to substitution bias B) It tends to understate inflation due to substitution bias C) It accurately reflects changes in the cost of living D) It uses current period quantities as weights

20. Which index number is typically used to measure inflation experienced by consumers?

A) Producer Price Index (PPI) B) Consumer Price Index (CPI) C) Wholesale Price Index (WPI) D) GDP Deflator

21. What does a base year in index numbers represent?

A) The year with the highest prices B) The year with the lowest prices C) A reference year against which other years are compared D) The most recent year

22. The Fisher index is considered ideal because it is the geometric mean of:

A) Laspeyres and Paasche price indices B) Laspeyres and Paasche quantity indices C) Wholesale Price Index and Consumer Price Index D) Current year prices and base year prices

23. If the mean of a dataset is 50 and the median is 45, what does this suggest about the distribution?

A) It is perfectly symmetrical B) It is negatively skewed C) It is positively skewed D) It is bimodal

24. Which measure of central tendency is appropriate for categorical data?

A) Mean B) Median C) Mode D) Standard Deviation

25. The sum of deviations from the mean for any dataset is always:

A) Equal to the standard deviation B) Equal to the range C) Zero D) Undefined

26. Which measure of dispersion is calculated as the square root of the variance?

A) Mean Absolute Deviation B) Range C) Interquartile Range D) Standard Deviation

27. What is the formula for calculating the range of a dataset?

A) Highest value - Median B) Mean - Lowest value C) Highest value - Lowest value D) Median - Mode

28. If a dataset has a median of 60 and an interquartile range of 20, what does this imply?

A) The middle 50% of the data falls within a range of 20 values around 60 B) The entire dataset spans 20 values C) The average deviation from the median is 20 D) The mode is 20

29. Which of the following is a measure of relative dispersion?

A) Standard Deviation B) Variance C) Range D) Coefficient of Variation

30. What does a negative correlation coefficient (e.g., -0.7) suggest?

A) As one variable increases, the other variable tends to increase B) As one variable increases, the other variable tends to decrease C) There is no linear relationship between the variables D) The variables are identical

31. If the correlation between income and expenditure is very high and positive, it implies:

A) Higher income is associated with lower expenditure B) Higher income is associated with higher expenditure C) Income and expenditure are unrelated D) Expenditure causes income

32. Which statistical tool is used to estimate the relationship between a dependent variable and one or more independent variables?

A) Correlation analysis B) Regression analysis C) Descriptive statistics D) Index numbers

33. In a scatter plot, if the points tend to cluster around an upward-sloping line, it indicates:

A) Negative correlation B) Positive correlation C) No correlation D) Curvilinear relationship

34. What is the primary difference between correlation and regression?

A) Correlation measures the strength of association, while regression predicts one variable from another B) Regression measures the strength of association, while correlation predicts one variable from another C) Correlation applies to only two variables, while regression can apply to many D) Regression is always positive, while correlation can be negative

35. Which index number construction method involves chain-linking?

A) Fixed-base method B) Chain-base method C) Average-base method D) Moving average method

36. The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) typically measures price changes at which stage?

A) Retail level B) Consumer level C) Wholesale or producer level D) Import/export level

37. When constructing an index number, if the weights are allowed to change over time, which formula is typically used?

A) Laspeyres B) Paasche C) Fisher D) Simple Average

38. The GDP deflator is a measure of the price level of all new, domestically produced, final goods and services in an economy. It is calculated as:

A) (Nominal GDP / Real GDP) * 100 B) (Real GDP / Nominal GDP) * 100 C) (Total Revenue / Total Cost) * 100 D) (Inflation Rate / Base Rate) * 100

39. Which of the following is a disadvantage of using the mean as a measure of central tendency?

A) It is easy to calculate B) It is sensitive to outliers C) It can be used for ordinal data D) It uses all values in the dataset

40. The mode of a distribution can be found by identifying the:

A) Middle value B) Average value C) Most frequent value D) Value with the largest deviation

41. Which measure of dispersion is expressed in the same units as the original data?

A) Variance B) Standard Deviation C) Coefficient of Variation D) Interquartile Range

42. If the variance of a dataset is 25, what is the standard deviation?

A) 5 B) 50 C) 625 D) 2.5

43. Which type of relationship is NOT measured by Pearson's correlation coefficient?

A) Linear B) Positive C) Negative D) Curvilinear

44. What does a p-value less than 0.05 typically indicate in hypothesis testing for correlation?

A) There is no statistically significant linear relationship B) There is a statistically significant linear relationship C) The correlation is perfect D) The variables are causally linked

45. The Paasche index tends to ____ inflation compared to the Laspeyres index due to its use of current period weights.

A) Overstate B) Understate C) Accurately measure D) Ignore

46. Which of the following is a limitation of index numbers?

A) They provide a single figure to summarize complex changes B) They are always accurate representations of price changes C) They are unaffected by changes in quality D) They can easily account for new products

47. The calculation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) involves:

A) A fixed basket of goods and services B) A changing basket of goods and services C) Wholesale prices of goods D) Industrial production output

48. Which measure of central tendency is also known as the average?

A) Median B) Mode C) Mean D) Mid-range

49. The interquartile range (IQR) is the difference between:

A) The maximum and minimum values B) The first and third quartiles C) The mean and the median D) The mode and the median

Descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and dispersion, correlation, index numbers. - Online Test

Test Results