Basic Terms and Definitions Flashcards

1
Q

Descriptive statistics

A

summarize, understand, and describe a group of numbers from a research study

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2
Q

What are examples of descriptive stats

A
  1. measure of central tendency (mean, median, mode)

2. variability (range, varience, sd)

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3
Q

Inferential statistics

A
  1. draw conclusions and make inferences based on numbers from a research study, but go beyond these numbers
  2. if there is a difference between groups
  3. how sure we are about our conclusions
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4
Q

Variable

A

condition or characteristic that can have different (varying) values (ex. male/female, …22,23,24…,

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5
Q

Score

A

the value of a particular person’s answer (ex. male, 25yrs old, 15 sexual partners)

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6
Q

Variability

A

how much change there is in a group of scores

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7
Q

Variance

A

a specific measure of variability

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8
Q

Correlational Research Designs

A

examines if there is a relationship between variables

  • “what does knowledge of x tell us about y”
  • naturally occurring variables
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9
Q

Experimental Research Designs

A

goal is to determine why something happens

  • “what causes X?”
  • control and manipulation of variables
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10
Q

Independent variable

A

variable that the researcher manipulates/changes

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11
Q

Dependent variable

A

variable that changes because of IV

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12
Q

Components of an experiment

A
  1. Must have more than one level of IV
  2. several, stable/reliable DVs
  3. control variables
  4. random assignment
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13
Q

Control variables

A

keeping everything else constant

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14
Q

Random assignment

A

purpose of random assignment is to create equivalent groups

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15
Q

Population

A

set of all cases of interest, generally a theoretical concept (not always measurable)

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16
Q

Sample

A

subset of population that is being studied; something to be concerned about is biased samples

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17
Q

Biased Samples

A

sample that systematically underselects or overselects from certain groups in the population

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18
Q

Parameter

A

Some characteristic of population

19
Q

Statistic

A

some characteristic of sample

20
Q

Scales of measurement

A
  1. Nominal
  2. Ordinal
  3. Interval
  4. Ratio
21
Q

Nominal

A

mutually exclusive categories (yes or no)

22
Q

Ordinal

A

placing variables in a “ranked” order (no, somewhat, yes)

23
Q

Interval

A

equal distances between points on the scale (temp., on scale from 1-10 how helpful)

24
Q

Ratio

A

exactly like interval scale, but has a true zero (#oof cigs smoked today)

25
IV measurement
often at a nominal level
26
DV measurement
Data analysis is limited when using nominal or ordinal data | - interval data is desirable
27
Unimodal data
only one very high area (mode)
28
Bimodal data
two very high areas
29
Multimodal data
many very high areas
30
Rectangular data
all values have about the same frequency
31
Symmetrical data
many psychological variables (height, weight, attitudes, work productivity); distribution looks the same on both sides if you split it down the middle
32
Skewed data
majority of responses are at low or high ends of the scale
33
Central tendency
a measure that refers to the typical score in a distribution | - "center of data," "best representation"
34
Measures of central tendency
mean, median, mode
35
mean
average - interval/ratio data
36
median
middle score - ordinal data (very skewed interval/ratio data)
37
mode
most frequent - nominal data - bimodal distribution
38
Properties of the mean
1. the value is the value around which all observed values are balanced 2. the point at which the sum of the squared deviations is minimized 3. influenced by extreme values (main disadvantage)
39
Variability
the spread of scores in a distribution
40
Types of variability
range, variance, standard deviation
41
Range
the distance between the larges and smallest scores (only reflects two most extreme scores
42
Variance
the sum of the squared deviations from the mean, divided by N-1
43
Steps for calculating the varience
1. subtract the mean from each of the scores to get deviations 2. square each deviation 3. add all squared deviations 4. divide by the total number of scores minus 1
44
Standard deviation
the most widely used measure of variability (square root of variance)