Chapter 3: A Statistics Refresher Flashcards
Statistical Tools
Used to describe, make inferences from, and draw conclusions about numbers
Measurement
Act of assigning numbers or symbols to characteristics of things (people, events, etc) according to rules
Rules Used to Assign Numbers
Guidelines for representing the magnitude (or some other characteristic) of the object being measured
Scale
Set of numbers (or other symbols) whose properties model empirical properties of the objects to which the numbers are assigned
Ways to Categorize Scales
Continuous Scale
Discrete Scale
Continuous Scale
A scale used to measure a continuous variable; exists when it is theoretically possible to divide any of the values of the scale
Discrete Scale
A scale used to measure a discrete variable; example, male or female
Units into which a continuous scale will be divided
Depends on factors such as the purpose of the measurement and practicality
Error
Refers to the collective influence of all of the factors on a test score or measurement beoynd those specifically measured by the test or measurement
Sources of Error
A distracting thunderstorm
Particular selection of test items the instructor chose to use for the test
Measuring Scale
Continuous if used for psychological and educational assessment and therefore can be expected to contain this sort of error
Four levels or Scales of Measurement
Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio Scales; Within these, different levels or scales of measurement, assigned numbers convey different kinds of information;
Statistical Manipulation
May or may not be appropriate, depending upon the leel or scale of measurement
Nominal Scales
These scales involve classification or categorization based on one or more distinguishing characteristics, where all things measured must be placed into mutually exclusive and exhaustive categories
Arithmetic Operations
That can be performed with norminal data include counting for the purpose of determining how many cases fall into each category and a resulting determination of proportion or percentages
Ordinal Scales
Permits classification rank ordering on some characteristic is also permissible with ordinal scales; have no absolute zero point; notes how much greater one ranking is than another; limited statistical analysis
Alfred Binet
Developer of the intelligence test that bears his name, believed strongly that the data derived from an intelligence test are ordinal in nature; Emphasized that what he tried to do in the test was not to measure people but merely to classify (and rank) people on the basis of their performance on the tasks.
Rokeach Value Survey
Uses ordinal form of measurement
Zero in a Survey
Without meaning in such a test because the number of units that separate one testtaker’s score from another’s is simply not known
Interval Scales
Contain equal intervals between numbers; each unit on the scale is exactly equal to any other unit on the scale; contain no absolute zero point; it is possible to average a set of measure ments and obtain a meaningful result
Ratio Scales
Has a true zero point; all mathematical operations can meaningfully be performed because there exist equal intervals between the numbers on the scale as well as a true or absolute zero point
Ratio-Level Measurement
Employed in some types of tests and test items, especially those involving assessment of neurological functioning; Test of hand grip, timed test of perceptual-motor ability (completion of a puzzle); no testtaker can ever obtain a score of zero on an assembly task
Measurement used in Psychology
Ordinal level of measurement; intelligence, aptitude, and personality tests are basically and strictly speaking, ordinal; these tests indicate with more or less accuracy not the amount of intelligence, aptitude, and personality traits of individuals, but rather the rank-order positions of individuals
Distribution
Defined as a set of test scores arrayed for recording or study
Raw Score
Straighforward, unmodified accounting of performance that is usually numberical; may reflect a simple tally, as in the number of items responded to correctly on an achievement test
Frequency Distribution
All scores are listed alongside the number of times each score occurred; scores may be listed the frequency of occurrence of each score in one column and the score itself in the other column
Simple Frequency Distribution
What a frequency distribution is referred to, to indicate that individual scores have been used and the data have not been grouped
Grouped Frequency Distribution
Test-score intervals replace the actual test scores
Class Intervals
Test-score intervals
Graph
A diagram or chart composed of lines, points, bars, or other symbols that describe and illustrate data
Good Graph
The place of a single score in relation to a distribution of test scores can be understood easily
Types of Graphs
Histogram
Bar Graph
Frequency Polygon
Histogram
Graph with vertical lines drawn at the true limits of each test score (or class interval), forming a series of contiguous rectangles; customary for the test scores to be placed along the graph’s horizontal axis (x) and for numbers indicative of the frequency of occurrence to be placed along the graph’s vertical axis
Abcissa
X axis, the graph’s horizontal axis; where test scores should be placed
Ordinate
Y axis, the graph’s vertical axis; where numbers indicative of the frequency of occurrence should be placed