GRAVETTER_CH01_STATISTICS, SCIENCE, OBSERVATIONS Flashcards
What term refers to a set of mathematical procedures for organizing, summarizing, and interpreting information?
Statistics
What term refers to the set of all the individuals of interest in a particular study?
Population
What is the term for a set of individuals selected from a population, usually intended to represent the population in a research study?
Sample
What is the term for a characteristic or condition that changes or has different values for different individuals?
A variable
What is the term for measurements or observations?
Data
What is the term for a (usually numerical) value that describes a population?
A parameter.
What is the term for a (usually numerical) value that describes a sample?
A statistic
What is the term for statistical procedures used to summarize, organize, and simplify data?
Descriptive statistics
What is the term for a set of techniques that allow us to study samples and then make generalizations about the populations from which they were selected?
Inferential statistics
TRUE OR FALSE: A sample is always expected to give a perfectly accurate picture of the whole population.
FALSE.
Samples are generally representative of their populations, but due to sampling error, it is never expected to give a perfectly accurate generalization.
What is the term for the naturally occurring discrepancy that exists between a sample statistic and the corresponding population parameter?
Sampling error.
THINK! Margins of errors (that also consider unpredictable, unsystematic differences that exist from one sample to another) account for
Sampling errors.
TRUE OR FALSE: One of the purposes of inferential statistics is to determine if there is actually evidence in light of the change in an independent variable, or if the change is just a result of random error.
TRUE.
TRUE OR FALSE: Descriptive statistical techniques are used to determine what conclusions are justified by results in a study or experiment.
FALSE.
That’s inferential statistics!
