Data Interpretation Flashcards

A graph shows healthcare spending (in billions) for five countries: A=5, B=12, C=8, D=15, E=10. What is the median spending?

Answer: 10

Ordered values: 5, 8, 10, 12, 15 — the median (middle value) is 10.

A UMAT table shows that a test has a false positive rate of 20%. In a group of 500 healthy patients, approximately how many will incorrectly test positive?

Answer: 100

False positive rate of 20% means 20% of healthy patients test positive: 0.20 × 500 = 100 patients.

A line graph shows two hospitals' patient satisfaction scores over 5 years. Hospital A shows a steady increase while Hospital B fluctuates. The most valid conclusion is:

Answer: Hospital A shows a more consistent improvement trend than Hospital B

A steady increase indicates a consistent trend, while fluctuation shows variability — the graph only supports a statement about observed trends, not future predictions.

In a UMAT data set, the mean is significantly higher than the median. This most likely indicates:

Answer: The data is skewed right with some very high values pulling the mean up

When the mean exceeds the median, the distribution is typically right-skewed, with high outliers pulling the mean upward.

A UMAT question presents a table showing that risk of disease X increases with age. The data shows 2% risk at age 20, 5% at age 40, 12% at age 60. This pattern is best described as:

Answer: Accelerating/non-linear growth with age

The risk increases at an accelerating rate (2% to 5% is +3%, then 5% to 12% is +7%), indicating a non-linear, accelerating pattern rather than steady linear growth.

Two studies report the same effect size. Study 1 has n=50, Study 2 has n=500. Which study's results are more reliable and why?

Answer: Study 2, because larger samples produce more stable and generalizable estimates

Larger sample sizes reduce sampling error and produce more stable statistical estimates that are more likely to reflect the true population effect.