Data Analysis: Descriptive Statistics Flashcards

1
Q

What is central tendency?

A

Calculating the mean, median or mode

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2
Q

What is the mean?

A

Arithmetic average

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3
Q

Strength of the mean:

A

Sensitive, includes all the data giving an overall impression

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4
Q

Limitation of the mean:

A

Unrepresentative = very large or small can distort figure more easily than median or mode

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5
Q

What is the median?

A

Middle value

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6
Q

How do you calculate the mean?

A

Add up all the scores and divide by the number of scores

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7
Q

How do you calculate the median?

A

Place scores in ascending order and select middle value. (Two value in the middle, take the mean of these is calculated)

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8
Q

Strength of the median:

A

Unaffected by extreme scores = more representative

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9
Q

Limitation of the median:

A

Less sensitive, exclude extreme values which may be important

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10
Q

What is the mode?

A

Most frequent value, used with categorical or nominal data

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11
Q

How do you calculate the mean?

A

Count the most frequent values

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12
Q

Strengths of the mean:

A

Relevant to categorical data = discrete data

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13
Q

Limitations of the mean:

A

Overly simple measure = not useful at describing data

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14
Q

What is the measures of dispersion?

A

Range and standard deviation

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15
Q

What is a range?

A

The difference between highest and lowest value

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16
Q

Strength of range:

A

Easy to calculate = easier than standard deviation

17
Q

Limitation of range:

A

Does not account for the distribution of scores

18
Q

What is standard deviation?

A

Measure of the average spread wound the mean

19
Q

The larger the standard deviation…

A

the more spread out the data

20
Q

Strength of standard deviation:

A

More precise than range = more accurate overall distribution of data set

21
Q

Limitation of standard deviation:

A

Misleading = may ‘hide’ characteristics (extreme values may not be shown)