Report writing and presentation of statistical data MCQs With Answer

Report writing and presentation of statistical data are core competencies for B.Pharm students involved in research, clinical studies and quality assessment. This topic covers structuring scientific reports, selecting and applying descriptive and inferential statistics, and producing clear tables, histograms, boxplots and scatter plots. Learn practical steps for data cleaning, choosing tests (t-test, chi-square, ANOVA, regression), interpreting p-values and confidence intervals, and preparing reproducible, ethically sound results using Excel or SPSS. Emphasis is on accurate captions, axis labels, appropriate rounding and avoiding misleading visuals to support regulatory and academic communication. Now let’s test your knowledge with 30 MCQs on this topic.

Q1. Which element should a concise scientific abstract always include?

• Background, objective, methods, key results and conclusion
• Full literature review and references
• Only the study objective without results
• Complete raw data tables

Correct Answer: Background, objective, methods, key results and conclusion

Q2. Where in a B.Pharm research report should the sample size calculation and sampling method be described?

• Introduction
• Methods section
• Results section
• Appendix only

Correct Answer: Methods section

Q3. For highly skewed continuous data, which measure of central tendency is most appropriate to report?

• Mean
• Median
• Mode
• Geometric mean for all cases

Correct Answer: Median

Q4. Which graphical display is best for showing the frequency distribution of a single continuous variable?

• Scatter plot
• Histogram
• Bar chart for categories
• Pareto chart

Correct Answer: Histogram

Q5. Which statistical test is appropriate to compare the means of two independent normally distributed groups?

• Paired t-test
• Independent (unpaired) t-test
• Chi-square test
• Mann–Whitney U is always preferred

Correct Answer: Independent (unpaired) t-test

Q6. What is the most suitable test to assess association between two categorical variables?

• Pearson correlation
• Chi-square test of independence
• T-test
• Linear regression

Correct Answer: Chi-square test of independence

Q7. When comparing means across three or more independent groups, which test should you use?

• Two-sample t-test repeated
• One-way ANOVA
• Chi-square test
• Wilcoxon signed-rank test

Correct Answer: One-way ANOVA

Q8. Which correlation coefficient is appropriate for ordinal or non-normally distributed variables?

• Pearson correlation
• Spearman rank correlation
• Point-biserial correlation
• Kendall’s tau only for categorical data

Correct Answer: Spearman rank correlation

Q9. Which plot is best for visualizing the relationship between two continuous variables?

• Histogram
• Boxplot
• Scatter plot
• Stacked bar chart

Correct Answer: Scatter plot

Q10. In figures that show group means, what do error bars most commonly represent?

• Sample size
• Measure of variability such as standard error or confidence interval
• Exact p-value
• Median value

Correct Answer: Measure of variability such as standard error or confidence interval

Q11. A 95% confidence interval for a mean indicates:

• There is a 95% probability the population mean lies in the interval for this sample
• If the study is repeated many times, 95% of such intervals will contain the true population mean
• The sample mean is within 95% of the population mean
• The p-value is less than 0.05

Correct Answer: If the study is repeated many times, 95% of such intervals will contain the true population mean

Q12. How should a p-value be interpreted in hypothesis testing?

• Probability that the null hypothesis is true
• Probability of observing the data or more extreme results if the null hypothesis is true
• Probability that the alternative hypothesis is false
• Effect size of the intervention

Correct Answer: Probability of observing the data or more extreme results if the null hypothesis is true

Q13. Which measure of dispersion is least affected by extreme outliers?

• Standard deviation
• Range
• Interquartile range (IQR)
• Variance

Correct Answer: Interquartile range (IQR)

Q14. Which normality test is most reliable for small to moderate sample sizes?

• Kolmogorov–Smirnov test
• Shapiro–Wilk test
• Levene’s test
• Durbin–Watson test

Correct Answer: Shapiro–Wilk test

Q15. Which data-preparation step is essential before analysis and presentation?

• Ignoring missing values without assessment
• Data cleaning to detect duplicates, outliers and coding errors
• Presenting raw data only in figures
• Converting all variables to categorical

Correct Answer: Data cleaning to detect duplicates, outliers and coding errors

Q16. For presenting many precise numerical results (means, SDs, sample sizes) in a manuscript, the best format is:

• Long paragraph in the discussion
• Table with clear headings and units
• Single combined pie chart
• Appendix without captions

Correct Answer: Table with clear headings and units

Q17. When comparing distributions across groups, which plot often provides the most compact comparison?

• Histogram with one colour for all groups
• Multiple boxplots side-by-side
• Pareto chart
• Pie charts per group

Correct Answer: Multiple boxplots side-by-side

Q18. What is a Type I error in hypothesis testing?

• Failing to detect a real effect (false negative)
• Detecting an effect when none exists (false positive)
• Using the wrong statistical test
• Miscalculating the mean

Correct Answer: Detecting an effect when none exists (false positive)

Q19. Statistical power of a study refers to:

• Probability of making a Type I error
• Probability of correctly rejecting a false null hypothesis (1 − β)
• Sample size divided by effect size
• Alpha level used for significance

Correct Answer: Probability of correctly rejecting a false null hypothesis (1 − β)

Q20. A Likert scale (e.g., strongly disagree to strongly agree) is an example of which measurement level?

• Nominal
• Ordinal
• Interval
• Ratio

Correct Answer: Ordinal

Q21. What is a recommended practice for reporting p-values in a scientific report?

• Always report as p = 0.00 for non-significant results
• Report exact p-values to two or three decimal places and use p < 0.001 for very small values
• Never report exact p-values, only declare significant or not
• Round all p-values to whole numbers

Correct Answer: Report exact p-values to two or three decimal places and use p < 0.001 for very small values

Q22. Which practice improves reproducibility of statistical analyses in reports?

• Describing only final conclusions without methods
• Sharing raw data, analysis code and detailed methods
• Using proprietary software without version info
• Including only screenshots of output

Correct Answer: Sharing raw data, analysis code and detailed methods

Q23. When preparing figures for color and accessibility, which guideline is best?

• Use many contrasting neon colours for emphasis
• Use a colorblind-friendly palette and sufficient contrast
• Rely on colour alone to distinguish groups without patterns or labels
• Use only red and green for all comparisons

Correct Answer: Use a colorblind-friendly palette and sufficient contrast

Q24. When is it appropriate to apply a logarithmic transformation to data before analysis?

• When the data are symmetric around zero
• For right-skewed positive data to stabilize variance and approach normality
• For categorical variables with many levels
• Only for proportions between 0 and 1

Correct Answer: For right-skewed positive data to stabilize variance and approach normality

Q25. Which summary statistic is most appropriate for reporting the frequency of a binary outcome (e.g., adverse event yes/no)?

• Mean and standard deviation
• Proportion or percentage
• Mantel–Haenszel estimate
• Hazard ratio only

Correct Answer: Proportion or percentage

Q26. Cross-tabulation (contingency table) is primarily used to:

• Visualize trends over time
• Display frequencies of two categorical variables and their association
• Calculate means of continuous variables only
• Perform regression diagnostics

Correct Answer: Display frequencies of two categorical variables and their association

Q27. If comparing median values across three independent non-normal groups, which test is appropriate?

• One-way ANOVA
• Kruskal–Wallis test
• Paired t-test
• Chi-square goodness-of-fit

Correct Answer: Kruskal–Wallis test

Q28. What is the purpose of applying a Bonferroni correction in multiple hypothesis testing?

• Increase the chance of Type I errors
• Adjust the significance threshold to control overall Type I error rate
• Convert p-values into confidence intervals
• Eliminate the need for post-hoc tests

Correct Answer: Adjust the significance threshold to control overall Type I error rate

Q29. Which information is essential to include in a figure caption for a scientific report?

• Just the figure number without explanation
• Concise title, description of data, sample size and explanation of abbreviations or symbols
• Raw dataset values in the caption
• Only the software used to create the figure

Correct Answer: Concise title, description of data, sample size and explanation of abbreviations or symbols

Q30. Multivariable regression analysis is used primarily to:

• Compare only two group means without covariates
• Model the relationship between a dependent variable and multiple independent variables, adjusting for confounders
• Test normality of a dataset
• Replace descriptive statistics entirely

Correct Answer: Model the relationship between a dependent variable and multiple independent variables, adjusting for confounders

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