Data Flashcards
NOMINAL?
Simplest and least descriptive ind of numerical data.
EXAMPLES OF NOMINAL?
Categories.
APPROPRIATE MEASURE OF NOMINAL?
Mode- most common.
ORDINAL?
Numerical value is used but is based on ranks or ratings.
EXAMPLES OF ORDINAL?
May be asked to rank by preferences.
APPROPRIATE MEASURE OF ORDINAL?
Median- middle number.
INTERVAL?
Concerns fixed + publicly agreed measurements.
EXAMPLES OF INTERVAL?
Weight, temperature and speed.
APPROPRIATE MEASURE OF INTERVAL?
Mean- add up and divide by how many there is.
QUANTATIVE DATA?
Focuses on numbers and frequencies rather than meaning and experience.
STRENGTH OF QUANT?
Easy to replicate and compare and consistency can be checked.
WEAKNESS OF QUANT?
Lac ecological validity especially close questions ps may feel they need to respond in a particular way.
QUALITATIVE DATA?
Methods are ways of collecting data which are concerned with describing meaning rather than drawing statistical inferences.
STRENGTH OF QUAL?
More valid than quant because its more detailed and ps aren’t forced to act in a particular way.
WEAKNESS OF QUAL?
May lac validity because its open to interpretation which could result in experiment bias.
PRIMARY DATA?
Researcher collects data directly from ps.
SECONDARY DATA?
When the researcher uses data that has already been conducted by someone else.
HOW TO CALCULATE MEAN?
Add up all the numbers and divide by how many there is.
STRENGTHS OF MEAN?
Represents all the data in the set.
WEAKNESS OF MEAN?
It may not represent best the general trend in a set of scores.
HOW TO CALCULATE MEDIAN?
Put numbers in order and count to the middle number.
STRENGTHS OF MEDIAN?
Unaffected by outliers.
WEAKNESSES OF MEDIAN?
Doesn’t take every score into account so less sensitive than the mean.
HOW TO CALCULATE THE MODE?
Most common number.
STRENGTHS OF MODE?
Shows what ps most scored.
WEAKNESSES OF MODE?
If theres more than one mode it won’t let you summarise the results very well.
HOW TO CALCULATE THE RANGE?
Biggest number subtract the smallest number.
STRENGTH OF RANGE?
Easy to calculate
WEAKNESS OF RANGE?
Only uses highest and lowest score, ignores the rest.
HOW TO CALCULATE VARIANCE?
Standard deviation but don’t square root it.
STRENGTHS OF VARIANCE?
Uses all scores more sensitive than range.
WEAKNESSES OF VARIANCE?
Hard to draw comparisons as the final is squared.
HOW TO CALCULATE STANDARD DEVIATION?
Work out the mean, subtract the mean from all the numbers, square your answers and the add them up, take the number of scores and minus one and the divide your previous number by the number of scores - 1.
