EAP Interpreting Academic Data 5

Question 1

An academic article presents a funnel plot in a meta-analysis. What is the primary purpose of this type of plot?

Accepted Answer

To detect potential publication bias by checking for asymmetry

Answer

Funnel plots are used in meta-analyses to detect publication bias; a symmetric funnel suggests unbiased reporting, while asymmetry may indicate bias.

Question 2

A table shows data with asterisks (*) next to certain values, and a footnote reads '* p < 0.05.' What does the asterisk indicate?

Accepted Answer

The result for that value is statistically significant

Answer

Asterisks in academic tables conventionally flag statistically significant results, with footnotes specifying the significance threshold used.

Question 3

When comparing two box plots, the interquartile range (IQR) of Group A is much larger than Group B's. What does this suggest?

Accepted Answer

Group A's middle 50% of scores are more spread out

Answer

The IQR spans the middle 50% of data values, so a larger IQR indicates greater spread or variability within that central portion of the distribution.

Question 4

A researcher notes that two variables have a correlation of r = -0.89. How should this be interpreted?

Accepted Answer

There is a strong negative relationship — as one variable increases, the other decreases

Answer

An r value of -0.89 is close to -1, indicating a strong negative (inverse) correlation between the two variables.

Question 5

In an academic figure caption, you read: 'Data are expressed as mean ± SEM, n=30 per group.' What does SEM stand for?

Accepted Answer

Standard Error of the Mean

Answer

SEM stands for Standard Error of the Mean, which estimates how much the sample mean is likely to differ from the true population mean.

EAP - English For Academic Purposes Practice Test