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ANTHRO 309, Semester 2, 2016
Example Mid-Term In-Class Test
Calculators are permitted. No mobile phones, laptops, or any internet-enabled devices are allowed.
Answer questions as thoroughly as possible in the space provided and give all information requested
for full credit.
1) Indicate the scale of the following variables:
Type of decorative motif on a Lapita pottery sherd
Calendar years in which total solar eclipses have been visible from London
Ranked abundance of fish taxa per excavation layer at Wairau Bar
Projectile points divided into length categories of small, medium and large
Projectile point lengths in centimetres
Bicameral breadths of Polish males from housing classified as ‘Bad’
Blood type of individuals using the ABO (e.g. A-, B+) system
2) What are all the possible measures of central tendency for the following variable scales?:
Ratio
Nominal
Interval
Ordinal
3) Use the following graphic to answer the questions below:
What is the modal pathology?
What scale of data is displayed in the graphic
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ANTHRO 309, Semester 2, 2016
Example Mid-Term In-Class Test
4) Use the following graphic to answer the questions below
What scale of data is displayed in the graphic
What is the median number of Grave Good Types in this data set
What is the modal number of Grave Good Types in this data set
5) Use the following table to answer the questions below:
Abundance Rank
Taxon
Stratum IV
Stratum V
Lepus sp.
1
1
Sylvilagus sp.
2
2
Marmota flaviventris
4
6
Dipodomys spp.
5
4
Neotoma lepida
6
5
Neotoma cinerea
3
3
Microtus sp.
7
7
What scale of data is displayed in the table
What is the median ranked taxon in Stratum IV
6) Name the statistics generated by these formulae:
∑
(𝑥𝑖 −𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛)2
𝑛−1
∑ 𝑥𝑖
𝑛
standard deviation⁄
√𝑛
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ANTHRO 309, Semester 2, 2016
Example Mid-Term In-Class Test
7) The following data are average annual salaries for various positions in a top UK university. Use
these data to answer the following questions (blank space for calculations if you need it):
£42,069
£12,371
£15,710
£22,008
£12,041
£31,368
£38,739
£155,235
£52,462
£50,869
What is the mean salary based on these data
What is the 50th percentile based on these data
What is the 1st quartile based on these data
What is the 3rd quartile based on these data
What salaries are within the midspread
Is the mean or median a better measure of central tendency of these data AND WHY?
8) Use the following graphic to answer the question below (from Zanolli et al. 2011 Human Bio.):
Assuming all data are shown in the box & whisker plots, which delivery mode leads to the largest
range of NL widths
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ANTHRO 309, Semester 2, 2016
Example Mid-Term In-Class Test
9) Use the graphic and accompanying data to answer the questions below
You will conduct archaeological survey across a sample of 300 one-acre plots throughout Mexico and
your research requires a stratified random sample of survey areas over three broad ecological zones
shown above. Cool Tropical Highlands comprise 24% of Mexico, Warm Tropical lowlands comprise
35% of, and Extra-Tropical Drylands comprise 41% of. How many one-acre plots within each region
will you survey?
Cool Tropical Highlands
Warm Tropical Lowlands
Extra-tropical drylands
10) Why might a systematic sampling regime not generate a representative sample of a statistical
population?
11) What form of sampling describes the following procedure: a random number generator used
to draw numbered ceramic sherds from an assemblage
12) What is the sample element for these data: the frequency distribution of femur lengths of
Polynesian rats (Rattus exulans) recovered from excavated sediment at the Shag River Mouth site
after passing the sediment through screens of 25 mm mesh size.
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ANTHRO 309, Semester 2, 2016
Example Mid-Term In-Class Test
13) Why might the data in 12 (above) not represent the statistical population of Rattus exulans at
the site
14) Are the following variables reasonably assumed to be dependent or independent:
The mean arm lengths of two equatorial populations, one in central Africa and one in northern Brazil
Distribution of maximum (i.e., systolic) blood pressure measurements in a sample of Auckland
university students and a sample of Otago university students
The lengths (cm) & weights (g) of Clovis projectile points from Missouri
Highest educational degree earned and mean lifetime salary for pensioners in Sydney
The x- and y-axis variables in the graphic below
15) Describe one method used to determine if a distribution of variates resembles a normal
distribution:
16) Given a sufficiently normal distribution, what proportion of variates is within two standard
deviations (positive or negative) of the mean:
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ANTHRO 309, Semester 2, 2016
Example Mid-Term In-Class Test
17) In plain English, what does it mean to evaluate the results of your statistical test using a
significance level (of 0.05
18) Indicate the appropriate inferential test statistic for the problems below:
In an archaeological ceramic assemblage is the number of decorative motif categories on a pottery
sherd independent of the surface area of the sherd. Surface area is measured by three categories:
small, medium, and large
Is there a significant difference in the mean basal horn perimeter (cm) of pre-domesticated cattle
(Bos primigenius) from a large palaeontological assemblage and the mean basal horn perimeter of a
large archaeological assemblage of early domesticated cattle (Bos taurus)
Among a sufficiently large sample of individuals, is there a significant difference in cholesterol
measured (in millimoles per litre, mmol/L) before and after a homeopathic regimen
Give the following data, are archaeological sites randomly distributed across environmental zones
Zone
Highlands
Alluvial Flats
Coastal Flats
Total
N of Sites
19
12
7
38
km2
3.9
8.3
1.4
13.6
% of Total Sites
50.0
31.6
18.4
100.0
Area Surveyed (km2)
% of Total
28.7
61.0
10.3
100.0
19) You are analysing a cemetery with three different grave types, jar burials, wooden chambers
and stone chambers and you suspect that there may be a relationship between burial type and the
age of individuals at death. A cross-tabulation of age a death in three categories and burial type is
shown below. Use these data to answer the following questions.
Age at Death
Burial Type
Jar Burial observed
expected
Wood Chamber observed
expected
Stone Chamber observed
expected
< 21 years
21-40 years
> 40 years
23
17.54
12
13.90
10
13.57
19
20.26
17
16.06
16
15.70
11
15.20
13
12.04
15
11.80
What scale are the data in the cross-tabulation
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ANTHRO 309, Semester 2, 2016
Example Mid-Term In-Class Test
A simple rule of thumb regarding sample size for data such as these is that expected frequencies in
all cells should be greater or equal to what
Using the formula for Chi-squared, ∑
(𝑂𝑖 −𝐸𝑖 )2
𝐸𝑖
, compute the chi-squared value of the shaded cell
only
What are the degrees of freedom for this x2 test using the formula v = (r-1)(i-1)
If x2 = 0.27 for these data and the x2 critical value is 9.49 at  = 0.05, and at the appropriate degrees
of freedom, what is our conclusion regarding the relationship between burial type and the age of
individuals at death
20) Is the 2.5 m2 difference in mean house floor area between Formative and Classic Period Maya
houses statistically significant? Use the data below to answer the following questions
Formative
n
Classic
32 floors
52 floors
median
24.3
26.3
̅
𝒙
23.8
26.3
standard deviation (s)
3.4
4.5
standard error (se)
0.60
0.63
What is the appropriate form of t-test to answer the question above
Should we calculate one-sided or two-sided probabilities for the statistic
t
Using the formula as a guide,
x1  x2
SE x1  x2 
, describe in plain English what t calculates
Completing the formula for t results in (23.8-26.3)/0.93 = -2.69 and with degrees of freedom (df) =
82. The appropriate p-value for this t and df is 0.008. What is the appropriate interpretation of the
test statistic
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