Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

L- Psychology A2 Research Methods > Descriptive statistics > Flashcards

Descriptive statistics Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards AP® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

What are descriptive statistics?

A

Techniques for describing patterns in data without statistically analysing the patterns to see if they have significance.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What are the measures of central tendency?

A

Mean, median, mode

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

How is the mean calculated?

A

Adding up all the individual values and diving the total by the number of values in the data set

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

How is the mode calculated?

A

The most frequently occurring value in the data set

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

How is the median calculated?

A

Arranging the values in order from lowest to highest and finding the middle value

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What measure of central tendency is most sensitive?

A

Mean

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What measure of central tendency is the least sensitive?

A

Mode

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What do measures of dispersion show?

A

How ‘spread out’ the values are in a set of data

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What are the measures of dispersion?

A

Standard deviation and the range

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is the range?

A

The difference between the highest and the lowest value in the data set

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

How do you work out the range?

A

Subtract the lowest value from the highest value then add 1

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is the standard deviation?

A

The average distance each value in the data set is from the mean

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What are the strengths and limitations of the mean?

A

STRENGTH: Most sensitive measure of central tendency as it uses all of the data - more representative of the data as a whole

LIMITATIONS: Can be distorted by extreme values

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What are the strengths and limitations of the median?

A

Strength: not affected by extreme values
Easy to calculate

Limitations: less sensitive than the mean, not all scores are included

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What are the strengths and limitations of the mode?

A

Strength: easy to calculate

Limitation: Not usually representative of the data as a whole

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What are the strengths and limitations of the range?

A

Strengths: easy to calculate

Limitations: Can be distorted by outliers

May not be representative of the data as a whole (only takes into account the two extreme values)

17
Q

What are the strengths and limitations of standard deviations?

A

Strengths: Takes into account all of the data and uses the mean in its calculation
Gives us useful information that takes us beyond the mean

Limitations: The standard deviation may be distorted if the mean has been skewed by outliers

L- Psychology A2 Research Methods (11 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions