Chapter 2 Flashcards
an organized tabulation of the number of individuals located in each category on the scale of measurement
frequency distribution
presenting groups of scores rather than individual values
grouped frequency distribution table
other name for the x-axis
abscissa
other name for the y-axis
ordinate
each bar extends to the midpoint between adjacent categories and adjacent bars touch and there are no spaces or gaps between bars
histogram
usually non-numerical values
nominal and ordinal scales
graphs usually involve two special features:
relative frequencies and smooth curves
indicates that you are not connecting a series of dots (real frequencies) but instead are showing the relative changes that occur from one score to the next
smooth curve
although you usually cannot find the absolute frequency for each score in a population, you very often can obtain…
relative frequencies
it is possible to draw a vertical line through the middle so that one side of the distribution is a mirror image of the other
symmetrical distribution
the scores tend to pile up toward one end of the scale and taper off gradually at the other end
skewed distribution
the section where the scores taper off toward one end of a distribution
the tail of the distribution
skewed distribution with the tail on the right-hand side
positively skewed
skewed distribution with the tail on the left-hand side
negatively skewed
misrepresentations generally result from
failing to follow the basic rules for graph construction
