Risk Quiz: Correct Answers - Harding Center for Risk Literacy

Have you already participated in our risk quiz?

Here, we present you the correct answers to all the questions - highlighted in green:

(numbers in brackets indicate how many participants have chosen the respective answer)

Question 1:
You want to travel from New York to South Carolina and consider flying or traveling by car. What distance can you drive before the probability of being killed in an accident is as high as for the flight from New York to South Carolina?

12 miles (chosen by 418 participants)
120 miles (chosen by 135 participants)
1 200 miles (chosen by 92 participants)
Once around the globe (chosen by 347 participants)

Question 2:
Different methods are available for making predictions and analyses, e.g., for making medical diagnoses or for identifying delinquents in court. Which of the following methods provides 100% certain results?

HIV test (chosen by 28 participants)

DNA test (chosen by 120 participants)

Expert horoscope (chosen by 8 participants)

None of the above (chosen by 819 participants)

Question 3:
A friend of yours just turned 50 and received an invitation for mammography screening. Although she had no symptoms, she decided to attend the screening. Her result is positive (suspicious). What is your friend's probability of actually having breast cancer?

Cancer is absolutely certain. (chosen by 11 participants)
9 out of 10 positively tested women actually have breast cancer. (chosen by 22 participants)
1 out of 10 positively tested women actually have breast cancer. (chosen by 526 participants)
1 out of 100 positively tested women actually have breast cancer. (chosen by 295 participants)

Question 4:
Imagine that 1 000 50-year old men attend PSA tests for early detection of prostate cancer every two years. After 10 years the test's benefit is evaluated. How many fewer men in this group will die from prostate cancer compared to a group of 1 000 non-tested men?

0–1 out of 1 000 (chosen by 657 participants)
50 out of 1 000 (chosen by 172 participants)
100 out of 1 000 (chosen by 72 participants)
250 out of 1 000 (chosen by 55 participants)

Question 5:
Your physician tells you that 1 in 1 000 people react allergically to a particular drug. What is your probability of having an allergic reaction after taking the drug?

0.1% (chosen by 866 participants)
1% (chosen by 29 participants)
10% (chosen by 19 participants)
11% (chosen by 6 participants)

Question 6:
You are watching the weather forecast and the meteorologist says: "There is a 30% chance of rain tomorrow". Which of the following statements is correct?

It will rain 30% of the time tomorrow. (chosen by 99 participants)
It will rain in 30% of the region tomorrow. (chosen by 57 participants)
It will rain on 30% of the days like tomorrow. (chosen by 624 participants)
3 of 10 meteorologists believe that it will rain tomorrow. (chosen by 138 participants)

Question 7:
Fifty-five out of 1 000 55-year old female non-smokers will die within the next 10 years. Out of 1 000 female smokers in the same age group, how many will die within the same time frame?

55 out of 1 000 (chosen by 210 participants)
75 out of 1 000 (chosen by 290 participants)
110 out of 1 000 (chosen by 293 participants)
240 out of 1 000 (chosen by 124 participants)

Question 8:
Which of the following statements is correct? Early detection of breast cancer with mammography...

...prevents breast cancer. (chosen by 7 participants)
...reduces the chance of getting breast cancer. (chosen by 101 participants)
...does not reduce the chance of getting breast cancer. (chosen by 797 participants)
...reduces the chance of getting cancer in general. (chosen by 7 participants)

Do you want to check if your knowledge has improved? Participate once again here!