AP®StatisticsCollege BoardExam QuestionsUnit 3: Collecting DataExperimental Design

Experimental Design (College Board AP® Statistics)

Exam Questions

5 mins5 questions
1
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How is a randomized experiment different to an observational study?

  • A randomized experiment uses a control group, whereas an observational study does not use a control group.

  • A randomized experiment uses a random sample selected from the population, whereas an observational study always uses volunteers.

  • A randomized experiment always uses volunteers, whereas an observational study uses a random sample selected from the population.

  • A randomized experiment can only be single-blind as the experimenter assigns each treatment, whereas an observational study can be single- or double-blind.

  • A randomized experiment assigns treatments, whereas an observational study does not assign treatments.

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2
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A new restaurant chain is trialing two different marketing strategies to attract customers: offering a free appetizer or offering a discount on the total bill. The chain chooses 100 restaurants and randomly assigns 50 of them to offer a free appetizer and the other 50 to offer a discount on the total bill. After a month, the chain records the total revenue generated by each restaurant. They find a significant difference between the total revenue for the two marketing strategies. Which of the following is the best conclusion based on the results?

  • It is reasonable to conclude that the difference in total revenue generated by each restaurant was caused by the different marketing strategies because the sample size used was large.

  • It is reasonable to conclude that the difference in total revenue generated by each restaurant was caused by the different marketing strategies because the marketing strategies were randomly assigned to the restaurants.

  • It is not reasonable to conclude that the difference in total revenue generated by each restaurant was caused by the different marketing strategies because this was not an experiment.

  • It is not reasonable to conclude that the difference in total revenue generated by each restaurant was caused by the different marketing strategies because there was no control group for comparison.

  • It is not reasonable to conclude that the difference in total revenue generated by each restaurant was caused by the different marketing strategies because the 100 restaurants were not randomly chosen.

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3
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Which of the following are characteristics of a well-designed experiment?

straight I colon Treatments are randomly assigned to experimental units

II colon There are at least two treatment groups or a control group

III colon There is replication

  • straight I, II, and III

  • straight I and II only

  • straight I and III only

  • II and III only

  • II only

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4
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A study is being conducted to compare the effectiveness of two different teaching methods for teaching reading to elementary school students. Students who volunteer for the study will be randomly assigned to either a traditional reading instruction method or a new computer-based method. Because the students' socioeconomic status may affect the outcome, there will be blocking by socioeconomic status. After the intervention, the students will be given a reading comprehension test. Why will it be impossible to conduct a double-blind experiment in this situation?

  • The person who grades the reading comprehension test will know the socioeconomic status of the student.

  • The person who grades the reading comprehension test will know whether the student is studying with a traditional reading instruction method or a new computer-based method.

  • The experiment designer will know the socioeconomic status of the student and whether they are studying with a traditional reading instruction method or a new computer-based method.

  • The student will know whether they are studying with a traditional reading instruction method or a new computer-based method.

  • The student may know their socioeconomic status.

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5
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A randomized block design will be used in an experiment to compare the effects of two types of fertilizer on the crop yields of different plots of land. How should the blocks be formed?

  • Plots within each block should be as different as possible with respect to soil quality.

  • Plots within each block should be as similar as possible with respect to soil quality.

  • Plots in the same block should receive the same fertilizer.

  • Plots should be randomly assigned to the blocks.

  • Each plot should be made into a block.

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