Inferential testing Flashcards
What is probability?
The likelihood of events being determined by chance
Why do psychologists use a 5% level of significance in research?
It strikes a balance between the risk of making the Type I and II errors
What is a type I error?
Reject null when it is true and accept alternative (false positive)
What is a type II error?
Accept null when it is false and reject when it alternative is true (false negative)
What is inferential testing?
Statistical procedures that make predictions about populations from mathematical analysis of data taken from samples
What is the rhyme you use to remember nominal data?
Naughty Children Swear Constantly
Nominal: Chi-squared, Sign test, Chi-squared
What is the rhyme you use to remember ordinal data?
Only Men Want Sausages
Ordinal: Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon, Spearman
What is the rhyme you use to remember interval data testing?
I Usually Rate Pizza
Interval: Unrelated t-test, related t-test, Pearsons
What are the two other names for a type I error?
- Error of optimism
- False positive
What are the two other names for a type II error?
- Error of pessimism
- False negative
Why would researchers use a one-tailed test?
They have previous knowledge indicating results, meaning they have a directional hypothesis
Why is statistical testing used?
To determine the likelihood that results are due to chance factors and to gain meaning from data
