Ch. 7: Descriptive Statistics

Question 1

Code (in quantitative Analysis)

Answer 1

A unique value assigned to each discrete category in a variable

Question 2

Codebook

Answer 2

A List of codes and their meaning for each variable in a dataset

Question 3

Data

Answer 3

Information

Question 4

Dataset

Answer 4

A spreadsheet containing quantitative data

Question 5

Descriptive Statistics

Answer 5

Information that is provided about each variable individually - for example, how values are distributed within a variable in a dataset

Question 6

Frequency Distribution

Answer 6

Descriptive statistics that list the percentages for each doe or value contained in a variable, relative to the total number of observations in the dataset; usually the variable is one that has nominal measurement or has ordinal measurement with fewer than 5 categories

Question 7

Maximum value

Answer 7

The highest number represented in a variable in a datset

Question 8

Mean

Answer 8

Another word for average, which is the sum of all values of a variable divided by the # of observations

Question 9

Minimum Value

Answer 9

The lowest number represented in a variable in a dataset

Question 10

Mode

Answer 10

The value or specific code in the dataset that appears the most often relative to the other codes for the variable

Question 11

Normally Distributed

Answer 11

A special type of distribution for a variable, in which 68% of the observations for the variable should fall within one standard deviation on either side of the variables mean (roughly 95% for two standard deviations and about 99% for 3 SD); this particular distribution is often referred to as the bell curve

Question 12

Raw Data

Answer 12

Unaltered data in a spread sheet, it is often necessary to have codebook to understand what each numerical value in the dataset means

Question 13

Skewed

Answer 13

A property in which a large number of observations disproportionately fall on one side of a given distribution of values so that the distribution is no longer symmetrical

Question 14

Standard Deviation

Answer 14

A statistic that demonstrates the degree to which values in a variable are disperse around a variables mean

Question 15

Summary Statistics

Answer 15

Descriptive Statistics in which specific information concerning a variable’s minium value, maximum value, mean, and the standard deviation is provided for variables with ordinal measurement when the number of categories in the variable is equal to or greater than five for variables with interval and ratio measurement