Chapter 2 & 3 Flashcards
Raw scores
data points that have yet to be transformed or analyzed
Frequency distribution
describes the pattern of a set of numbers by displaying a count or proportion for each possible value of a variable
Frequency table
visual depiction of data that shows how often each value occurred
Outlier
an extreme score that is either very high or very low in comparison with the rest of the scores in the sample
Grouped frequency table
visual depiction of data that reports the frequencies within a given interval rather than the frequencies for a specific value
When to use grouped frequency table
when data can go to many decimal places or when data can cover a wider range
Histogram
a graph that looks like a bar graph but depicts just 1 variable, usually based on scale data, with its values on the x-axis and frequencies on the y-axis
Bar graph vs. histogram
bar graphs provide scores for nominal data relative to a scale variable while histograms provide frequencies for a scale variable
Normal distribution
a specific frequency distribution that is a bell-shaped, symmetric, unimodal curve
Skewed distributions
distributions in which one of the tails of the distribution is pulled away from the center
Positively skewed
tail of the distribution extends to the right, in a positive direction; sometimes occurs when there is a floor effect
Floor effect
situation in which a constraint prevents a variable from taking on values below a certain point
Ceiling effect
situation in which a constraint prevents a variable from taking on values above a given number
Scatterplot
a graph that depicts the relationship between 2 scale variables
3 stories told by a scatterplot
no relation, linear relation (positive or negative), and nonlinear relation
Line graph
graph used to illustrate the relation between 2 scale variables; line of best fit can be constructed from a scatterplot, representing the predicted y score for each x value; can also show changes in the y-axis values over time
Time plot or time series plot
graph that plots a scale variable on the y-axis as it changes over an increment of time on the x-axis
Bar graph
IV is nominal or ordinal and the DV is scale with the height of each bar representing the average value of the DV for each category
Pareto chart
type of bar graph in which the categories along the x-axis are ordered from highest bar on the left to lowest bar on the right
Cut marks
double slashes on axes that indicate they don’t go down to 0
Dot plot
graph that displays each data point in a sample, with the range of scores along the x-axis and a dot for each data point above the appropriate value; no y-axis
Pictorial graph
typically used for an IV with very few levels, each represented by a picture or symbol, and a scale DV
Pie chart
graph in the shape of a circle where the size of each slice represents the proportion of each level/category of the IV
Chartjunk
any unnecessary information or feature in a graph that detracts from a viewer’s ability to understand data
3 forms of chartjunk
moiré vibrations, a grid, and ducks
Moiré vibrations
any visual patterns that create a distracting impression of vibration and movement; recommended to use shades of gray instead
Grid
a background pattern on which the data representations are superimposed; should only be used for hand-drawn drafts or be lightly visible
Ducks
features of the data that have been dressed up to be something other than the data; data in costume
Computer defaults
options that the software designer has preselected; built-in decisions that the software automatically implements unless you instruct it otherwise
Geographic information systems (GIS)
software that enables computer programmers to link internet-based data to internet-based maps
Word clouds
type of graph that provides information on the most popular words used in a specific text, with size representing their frequencies
Violin plots
an innovative type of graph shaped like a violin that includes information about a distribution’s middle score and overall variability
