Quantitative Analysis Exercises

1.

In the United States, firms often seek incentives from municipal governments to
expand to those municipalities. A team of political scientists hypothesized that
municipalities are much more likely to respond to firms and offer incentives if
expansions can be announced in time to benefit local elected officials than if they can’t.
The team contacted officials in thousands of municipalities, inquiring about incentives
for a firm looking to expand and indicating that the firm would announce its expansion
on a date either just before or just after the next election.
Which choice best describes data from the graph that weaken the team’s hypothesis?
(A) A large majority of the municipalities that received an inquiry mentioning plans
for an announcement before the next election didn’t respond to the inquiry.
(B) The proportion of municipalities that responded to the inquiry or offered
incentives didn’t substantially differ across the announcement timing conditions.
(C) Only around half the municipalities that responded to inquiries mentioning plans
for an announcement before the next election offered incentives.
(D) Of the municipalities that received an inquiry mentioning plans for an
announcement date after the next election, more than 1,200 didn’t respond and
only around 100 offered incentives.
 2.

In Caddo, a language from what is now the US Southeast, vocabulary pertaining to corn
cultivation resembles equivalent vocabulary in the Totozoquean language family in
Mexico. This resemblance is perhaps attributable to cultural contact: such words could
have entered Caddo through the intermediary of the neighboring but unrelated
Chitimacha language, concurrent with the dissemination of corn itself from Mexico into
the Southeast after 700 CE. That the vocabulary pertaining to domestic crops
accompanies them as they diffuse into new regions is an established phenomenon
globally. Crops may also be decoupled from vocabulary altogether: corn cultivation
became ubiquitous among the Southeastern tribes, yet ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
(A) the origins of vocabulary pertaining to the crop vary across languages in the
region, with the words for corn in Cherokee and the Muskogean languages
showing no demonstrable relationship to Totozoquean vocabulary.
(B) words for corn in the languages of the Muskogean family evolved from a
common root, with the Muscogee word having lost certain consonant sounds
still present in the Chickasaw and Choctaw words.
(C) corn-related vocabulary underwent changes when entering other, unrelated
languages, as can be seen by the divergence of the Caddo word from the
Chitimacha word it originated in.
(D) the region is linguistically diverse, being home not only to Chitimacha and
Caddo, but also to the Muskogean language family (including Chickasaw,
Choctaw, and Muscogee) and to one Iroquoian language (Cherokee).
 3.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics releases an annual traffic data report for U.S.
airlines and foreign airlines serving the U.S. This release includes data on U.S. airlines’
domestic and international flights (including from one foreign point to another foreign
point), as well as on foreign airlines’ flights to and from the U.S. The data show an
increase in the number of passengers on all types of flights in the system in 2019.
However, the increase in passengers on domestic flights was greater than the
increase in passengers on international flights: from 2018 to 2019, ______
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the statement?
(A) there was a 4.3% increase in domestic passengers, but only a 3.8% increase in
passengers on U.S. airlines’ international flights, and only a 1.2% increase in
passengers on foreign airlines’ U.S. flights.
(B) there was a 4.2% increase in passengers on U.S. airlines’ domestic and
international flights, but only a 1.2% increase in passengers on foreign airlines’
U.S. flights.
(C) there was a 3.9% increase in passengers across all flights, but there was a 3.8%
increase in passengers on U.S. airlines’ international flights, and a 1.2% increase
in passengers on foreign airlines’ U.S. flights.
(D) there was a 3.9% increase in passengers across all flights and a 4.2% increase
in passengers on U.S. airlines’ domestic and international flights.
 4. .

Mean ± SE survival (h) of Apis mellifera under different temperature and relative
humidity treatments. The lowercase letters indicate significant differences between A.
mellifera under different temperatures with constant humidity and the numbers
indicate significant differences under different humidity levels with constant
temperatures.
To better understand the effects of changing climates on bee survival, Researchers
Xinyu Li, Weihua Ma, et. al. conducted a study on the effects of different temperatures
and humidity levels on the survival of bees from the species Apis mellifera. Worker
bees were placed in temperature- and humidity-controlled boxes. Temperatures of
35°C, 40°C, and 45°C at constant relative humidity (RH), and RH levels of 50%, 60%, and
70% at constant temperature were tested. The bee survival time for each box was
calculated as the total number of hours at which all bees had died. Based on their
findings, the researchers claim that at a constant temperature, increasing humidity
tended to decrease the bees’ survival time.
Which choice best describes data from the graph that support the researchers’ claim?
(A) At 35°C, the survival time of A. mellifera bees at 60% RH and 70% RH was
significantly lower than at 50% RH.
(B) At 40°C, the differences in the survival times among the 50% RH, 60% RH, and
70% RH groups were not significant.
(C) At 70% RH, the survival time of A. mellifera was significantly lower at 45°C than
at 35°C and 40°C.
(D) At 50% RH, the survival time of A. mellifera was significantly lower at 40°C and
45°C than at 35°C.
 5.

Employing high-performance liquid chromatography—a process that uses pressurized

water to separate material into its component molecules—astrochemist Yashiro Oba
and colleagues analyzed two samples of the Murchison meteorite that landed in
Australia as well as soil from the landing zone of the meteorite to determine the
concentrations of various organic molecules. By comparing the relative concentrations
of types of molecules known as nucleobases in the Murchison meteorite with those in
the soil, the team concluded that there is evidence that the nucleobases in the
Murchison meteorite formed in space and are not the result of contamination on Earth.
Which choice best describes data from the table that support the team’s conclusion?
(A) Adenine and xanthine were detected in both of the meteorite samples and in the
soil sample.
(B) Isoguanine and hypoxanthine were detected in the Murchison meteorite sample
1 but not in sample 2.
(C) Isoguanine and purine were detected in both meteorite samples but not in the
soil sample.
(D) Hypoxanthine and purine were detected in both the Murchison meteorite sample
2 and in the soil sample.
 6.

To assess the impact of invasive species on ecosystems in Africa, Benis N. Egoh and
colleagues reviewed government reports from those nations about how invasive
species are undermining ecosystem services (aspects of the ecosystem on which
residents depend). The services were sorted into three categories: provisioning
(material resources from the ecosystem), regulating (natural processes such as
cleaning the air or water), and cultural (nonmaterial benefits of ecosystems). Egoh and
her team assert that countries in each region reported effects on provisioning services
and that provisioning services represent the majority of the reported services.
Which choice best describes data from the table that support Egoh and colleagues’
assertion?
(A) Provisioning services represent 73% of the services reported for the West
region and 33% of those for the Central region, but they represent 75% of the
services reported overall.
(B) None of the percentages shown for provisioning services are lower than 33%,
and the overall percentage shown for provisioning services is 75%.
(C) Provisioning services are shown for each region, while no cultural services are
shown for some regions.
(D) The greatest percentage shown for provisioning services is 88% for the North
region, and the least shown for provisioning services is 33% for the Central
region.
 7.

A sociology student is reading an essay on the median age of first marriage in Western
countries throughout the twentieth century. The author of the essay cites factors
common to these countries that the author believes caused an increase in the median
age of first marriage, such as new technologies that shortened the time needed for
domestic chores, making two-person households less necessary and living alone
more viable. The student asserts that beyond these factors there must be additional
ones specific to particular Western countries that influenced the increase of age at
first marriage.
Which choice most effectively uses data from the graph that support the student’s
assertion?
(A) Between 1970 and 2000, the median age of first marriage rose more sharply for
men in England and Wales than it did for men in the United States.
(B) Between 1900 and 2000, the median age of first marriage for women in England
and Wales was consistently higher than for women in the United States, as was
the case for men.
(C) The median age of first marriage for men in England and Wales was lower in
1970 than in 1950 or 1990.
(D) In England and Wales, the median age of first marriage was consistently higher
for men than for women between 1900 and 2000, but this was not always the
case in the United States.