STAT 1350, Quiz #4, Summer 2014Name ______________ Essays

STAT 1350, Quiz #4, Summer 2014Name ______________ Essays STAT 1350, Quiz #4, Summer 2014Name _______________________________________ 1. Confounding often defeats attempts to show that one variable causes changes in another variable. Confounding means that A) this was an observational study, so cause and effect conclusions are not possible. B) the effects of several variables are mixed up, so we cannot say which is causing the response. C) we don't know which is the response variable and which is the explanatory variable. D) we would get widely varied results if we repeated the study many times. Ans: B 2. Which of the following are the three principles of experimental design? A) Confound, Randomize, Small Samples B) Confound, Randomize, Large Samples C) Control, Randomize, Small Samples D) Control, Randomize, Large Samples Ans: D 3. The most important advantage of experiments over observational studies is A) experiments are usually easier to carry out. B) a well-designed experiment can give good evidence that the treatments actually cause the response. C) an experiment can compare two or more groups. D) we can use randomization to avoid bias in designing an experiment. E) we can study the relationship between two or more explanatory variables. Ans: B 4. A psychologist recently said that, "For relatively mild medical problems, the placebo effect will produce positive results in roughly two-thirds of patients." The placebo effect is A) the bias due to voluntary response in a sample. B) the effect of a dummy treatment on a patient. C) a violation of comparative experimentation. D) the effect of confounding in an observational study. Ans: B 5. To control for the power of suggestion when a subject takes an experimental drug, use A) a placebo. C) double blinding. B) blocking. D) probability sampling. Ans: A 6. The reason that block designs are sometimes used in experimentation is to A) prevent the placebo effect. B) allow double-blinding. C) reduce sampling variability. D) eliminate sampling variability. Ans: C 7. We say that the design of a study is biased if which of the following is true? A) We suspect racial or sexual prejudice. B) The study assigns subjects at random to a placebo. C) The study systematically favors certain outcomes. D) The study fails to use blocking. E) The study is double-blind. Ans: C 8. The basic ethical requirements for any study of human subjects are A) comparison, randomization, and replication. B) approval by a review board, informed consent, and confidentiality of data. C) subjects are anonymous, subjects are randomly chosen, and subjects cannot be harmed. D) data production, data analysis, and inference. Ans: B 9. The student-run newspaper asks students to visit a web page and respond to questions regarding a proposed tuition increase. Only responses to the questions are recorded. Summary statistics based on the survey responses are used in an article published the following week, and no one outside of the newspaper has access to the individual responses. The newspaper's survey is considered to be A) anonymous. B) confidential. C) both anonymous and confidential. D) neither anonymous nor confidential. Ans: C 10. A psychologist says that scores on a test for "authoritarian personality" can't be trusted because the test counts religious belief as authoritarian. The psychologist is attacking the test's A) validity. B) reliability. C) margin of error. D) confidence level. Ans: A 11. During a visit to the doctor, you are weighed on a very accurate scale. You are weighed five times and the five readings are essentially the same. When being weighed, you are wearing all of your clothes and a pair of hiking boots. As a measure of your weight without clothes, the reading on the scale is A) unbiased and reliable. D) biased and unreliable. B) unbiased and unreliable. E) biased and reliable. C) 95% accurate. Ans: E 12-13. A student's research shows that there were more suicides in 2010 than there were in 1910. He concludes that people were less likely to commit suicide in 1910 than in 2010. 12. Why is it not valid to use these two numbers to compare suicides in these two years? A) People were happier in 2010 than they were in 1910. B) The numbers were compiled by a student instead of by a professional researcher. C) The U.S. population increased substantially from 1910 to 2010. D) One shouldn't compare years that are so far apart. Ans: C 13. What would be a more appropriate or valid measure for this comparison? A) Compare the number of suicides in 1900 and 2000. B) Compare the suicide rates (percentages) for 1910 and 2010. C) Compare the number of suicides in those years, grouped by region. D) Compare the number of people who don't commit suicide

How to Talk About Failure in a Job Interview

How to Talk About Failure in a Job Interview When you’re putting together your resume and getting ready for an interview, you focus on making yourself look as perfect as possible. This is not a process where you want to let self-doubt and self-esteem issues creep in. Yet all that positive thinking and prep can be undone by one or two little questions in an interview. â€Å"Where could you use some improvement?† Or, â€Å"Can you tell me about a time when you failed.† After positioning yourself as kind of an uber-candidate, this can be a tricky navigation. You want to show an appropriate amount of honesty and humility, but who likes reliving past failures, let alone disclosing them to a potential employer? There are ways to do it that can help you get past these spots, without derailing your image as a confident, competent interviewee. Here are some things to consider when you talk about failure in a job interview.DO take it seriously.â€Å"I’m addicted to Mountain Dew† is not the way to go her e. The interviewer is trying to get a sense of your level of self-awareness, and whether or not there are any red flags or major gaps.DON’T use a clichà ©d comeback.â€Å"I care too much.† â€Å"I work too hard.† â€Å"I am too dedicated to my job.† The interviewer isn’t looking for a beauty pageant answer†¦he or she is looking for someone who can be frank about shortcomings, and self-aware enough to try to overcome them. Backdoor bragging that tries to show that you’re just too well-liked or too diligent at work will most likely earn you an eye roll.DO be honest†¦It’s okay to admit you’re not perfect. This is one question in an interview that is 99% about your accomplishments and qualifications, so approach it honestly and candidly. The interviewer will appreciate your candidness.†¦But DON’T treat it like a confession.This is not the time to list all of your drawbacks. (Unless you’re applying for the CIA, in which case you might as well be honest, because they will find out.) Ahead of time, think about one or two areas where you know you need improvement, and make sure they’re not red flag-worthy. For example, if you’re not great with numbers, don’t answer the question with, â€Å"I suck at math.† Basically, anything that makes you seem â€Å"bad† at something is not the right choice here.DO perform the spin-pivot move.Whatever you do go with, make sure you use it to emphasize strengths you do have. With the bad-at-math example, you can emphasize that you prefer creative problem solving to hard-and-fast numbers. Frame it as a choice between A (weakness) and B (strength), and talk about how you’d choose B.DON’T use anything in the basic job description as your weakness.If you despise being around kids, and are applying for an elementary school position, well- what are you doing there? But more importantly, if you’re aske d about an area where you could improve, mention that you’re always looking to improve your ability to relate to students.DO emphasize that you’re a work in progress.Part of what an interviewer is trying to assess is your growth potential. When you talk about any challenges or areas of improvement you have, be sure to say that you’re aware of your limitations in X area, and that you’re constantly seeking to be better/more efficient/stronger.DO avoid using words like â€Å"weakness,† even if the interviewer uses it first.Instead, frame it as a challenge, or avoid using negative nouns altogether.Getting past this moment in an interview can be awkward, but if you do some thinking ahead of time about your challenges and how you plan to turn those into strengths, you should be back in safe, â€Å"I’m awesome† territory in no time.