Data analysis : Flashcards
measures of central tendency :
- measure of the average value in a set of data
- mean, median and mode
median
- less sensitive as not all scores included
- not affected by extreme scores
mean
- distorted by extreme scores as all scores included
mode
Most occurring , bi modal = two most occurring
measures of dispersion
- spread of scores
- range and standard deviation
range strengths and weaknesses
+ easy to calculate
- only takes into account two most extreme scores and this may not be representative of data set as a whole
standard deviation
- how far scores deviate from the mean
how can descriptive statistics be displayed ?
graphs, tables etc
two types of distribution graphs
normal and skewed
positive skew
peak is pointing left and long tail to right
- most distribution is to right
- eg: hard test and most pupils do bad
negative skew
peak is pointing to right and long tail to left
- most distribution to left
- eg: easy test so pupils do well
bar charts
discrete data
scattergrams
shows correlations between co variables
normal distribution graph
most people lie in the middle with few on extreme sides, mean, mode and median all occupy same mid point of graph.
inferential statistics
- inferential statistics uses statistical tests which tell the psychologists whether the differences and relationships found are significant or not.
- this helps us decide whether to accept or reject null hypothesis