Describing data

Question 1

Advantages and disadvantages of using the mode

Answer 1

+ Easily calculated
- can have multiple modes and is not often representative

Question 2

Advantages and disadvantages of the mean

Answer 2

+ More representative as it includes all data. It is resistant to sampling differences
- Influenced by anomalies and extreme score.

Question 3

Advantages and disadvantages of the median

Answer 3

+ Not affected by outlying scores
- Less useful in complex statistics
Fluctuates across samples

Question 4

What is standard deviations

Answer 4

Deviation from the mean valueO

Question 5

How to calculate the standard deviation

Answer 5

Calculate each value from the mean
Then square these as some may be negative
Add together
Divide the total number by the number of scores - 1 (or not - 1 if whole population) - Gives the variance
Take the square root of this.

Question 6

What are the 2 types of variability

Answer 6

1- Experimental: due to experimental manipulation and researcher trying to see difference between different conditions
2- Random variance: Due to measurement errors, individual differences and confounding variables.
Makes findings less likely to be significant.