Chapter 1 Pt 2

Question 1

Two ways to describe data

Answer 1

1. Graphically
2. Central tendency and variation measurements

Question 2

Statistics

Answer 2

a branch of mathematics used by researchers to organize, summarize, and interpret data

Question 3

what is statistics used for

Answer 3

to describe data and use as a basis for inferring information from data

Question 4

two values of statistics

Answer 4

1. present a more accurate picture of our data
2. help us reach valid conclusions

Question 5

bar graphs cons

Answer 5

misrepresentation which may lead to incorrect conclusions

Question 6

descriptive statistics

Answer 6

measure of central tendency
useful for putting information about a distribution into a more compact form, summarizing the distribution with a single score

Question 7

central tendency measure

Answer 7

a single number that presents information about the “center” of a frequency distribution

Question 8

mode

Answer 8

the most frequently occurring score in the distribution

Question 9

median

Answer 9

the score that divides a frequency distribution exactly in half

Question 10

mean

Answer 10

the sum of a set of scores in a distribution divided by the number of scores (the average)

Question 11

measures of variability

Answer 11

how spread out the scores are

Question 12

range

Answer 12

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Question 13

standard deviation

Answer 13

a calculation of the average distance of scores from the mean
- distributions have the same mean but different variability —> scores are spread out differently

Question 14

Is the difference significant?

Answer 14

asking if the results could have been caused by random chance/variation between groups
- high significance = low chance of occurring by chance

Question 15

is the difference reliable

Answer 15

can the result be used to generalize or predict the future behaviour of the broader population?

Question 16

three ways to achieve reliability

Answer 16

1. nonbiased sampling
2. consistency
3. many data points

Question 17

nonbiased sampling

Answer 17

makes sure the sample studied is a good representation of the population

Question 18

consistency

Answer 18

data is not too widely varied and shows a clear pattern

Question 19

many data points

Answer 19

dont generalize from just a few cases/responses

Question 20

statistical significance

Answer 20

a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance if no real effect exists