Royal Statistical Society professional awards (Data Analyst, GradStat, CStat)

United Kingdom · Royal Statistical Society · professional

66practice questions written to this syllabus
4subjects

Format

Recognition by application against qualifications and work-based experience; CStat requires professional training and experience. Not a written exam (the RSS's own graduate examinations were discontinued in the 2010s, as Laisha knows; not stated on the page read).

Sections

Over the years

Read on the RSS professional-development page. The RSS also accredits university degrees.

Official source: https://rss.org.uk/membership/professional-development/

Subjects this exam draws on

Programming for Statistics & Data (R and Python)21 questionsStatistical Computing: Simulation, Resampling & Algorithms10 questionsData Analysis with Statistical Software & Reproducible Research16 questionsStatistical Consulting, Research Methodology & Scientific Communication19 questions

Five practice questions, worked

Original questions written to this exam's published syllabus and pattern. Not past papers.

1. In R, what does c(1, 2, 3, 4) + c(10, 20) return?

  1. 11 22 13 24
  2. 11 22 3 4
  3. 11 22
  4. An error
Answer and working

A. 11 22 13 24

The shorter vector is recycled: 10, 20, 10, 20.

Programming for Statistics & Data (R and Python) · R: vectors, data frames, factors and lists

2. In parallel simulations, giving each worker a consecutive seed of a simple generator risks:

  1. Faster convergence
  2. Correlated random streams
  3. Identical results to serial runs
  4. Fewer random numbers
Answer and working

B. Correlated random streams

Generators with designed independent streams or jump-ahead should be used.

Statistical Computing: Simulation, Resampling & Algorithms · Pseudo-random number generation and tests of randomness

3. A key reproducibility weakness of spreadsheet menu analyses is that:

  1. They cannot compute means
  2. They always give wrong answers
  3. The steps taken are not recorded
  4. They cannot draw charts
Answer and working

C. The steps taken are not recorded

Output is static and the procedure must be repeated by hand.

Data Analysis with Statistical Software & Reproducible Research · Spreadsheets: statistical functions and data-analysis tools

4. A scientist asks for 'a t-test on my data'. The consultant's first step should be to:

  1. Run the t-test exactly as requested, without further questions
  2. Ask what question the study is meant to answer
  3. Recommend a more advanced method straight away
  4. Ask only for the data file and the deadline
Answer and working

B. Ask what question the study is meant to answer

The statistical request often hides a different scientific need.

Statistical Consulting, Research Methodology & Scientific Communication · The consulting interview: from scientific question to statistical question

5. In pandas, df.groupby("variety")["yield"].mean() returns:

  1. The overall mean yield
  2. The variety with the highest yield
  3. The number of plots per variety
  4. The mean yield for each variety
Answer and working

D. The mean yield for each variety

groupby splits by variety, then applies the mean to each group.

Programming for Statistics & Data (R and Python) · Python: core types, NumPy arrays and pandas data frames

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