Chapter 4 Terms Flashcards
Define median
The middle score of all the scores in a sample when the scores are arranged in ascending order.
Define mode
The most common score
In what situations is the mode typically used?
The mode is typically used in three situations:
(1) when one
score dominates the distribution,
(2) to describe bimodal or
multimodal distributions, and
(3) when nominal data are
summarized.
Are the mean and median affected by outliers?
The mean is affected by outliers because the numeric value of
the outlier is used in the computation of the mean. The median typically is not affected by outliers because its computation is based on the data in the middle of the distribution, and outliers lie at the extremes of the distribution.
Why is the standard deviation typically reported rather than the variance?
The standard deviation is a measure of variability in terms of the values of the measure used to assess the variable, whereas the variance is squared values. Squared values simply don’t make sense to us, so we take the square root of the variance and report this value, the standard deviation.
How do you calculate variance?
How do you calculate standard deviation?
Would the age of patients at a hospital maternity ward be more likely to be unimodal or bimodal?
Bimodal. There would be newborn infants and mothers of
childbearing age.
Would the Depression scores on a Beck Depression Inventory be more likely to be unimodal or bimodal?
Unimodal. Most people would fall in the middle, with some exhibiting no depression and others reporting to be very depressed.
Would the GRE scores of applicants to sociology graduate programs be more likely to be unimodal or bimodal?
Unimodal. Most people would score around 500, with some scoring down toward 200 and others up toward 800.
Would the cost of an AIDS drug that is sold in developed countries in Europe, as well as in developing coun- tries in Africa be unimodal or bimodal?
Bimodal. The developed countries would charge much more for the drug than the developing countries.
