*Measures Of Central Tendency And Dispersion Flashcards
What are measures of central tendency?
Measures of averages that provide information about the most typical values in a data set
Includes mean, median, and mode.
What is the mean?
The average calculated by adding all scores and dividing by the total number of scores
Most sensitive measure as it includes all data points.
How can the mean be affected?
Easily distorted by extreme values
This means it may not represent the data as a whole accurately.
What is the median?
The middle value in a data set when scores are arranged from lowest to highest
In an even number of scores, it is the average of the two middle scores.
How is the median affected by extreme values?
Extreme scores don’t affect it
Less sensitive than the mean, as it ignores actual values of lower and higher numbers.
What is the mode?
The most frequently occurring value within the data
There can be bi-modal (two modes) or no mode if all scores differ.
What are the limitations of the mode?
A crude measure that may not be representative of the whole data set
If there are several modes, it may not provide significant information.
What is the range in measures of dispersion?
The difference between the highest and lowest values in a data set
Calculated by taking the lowest value from the highest value and adding 1.
What are the limitations of the range?
May be unrepresentative of the data and influenced by outliers
Does not indicate the clustering of scores around the mean.
What is standard deviation?
A measure of dispersion that indicates how far scores deviate from the mean
A larger SD indicates a greater spread within the data set.
How does standard deviation reflect data clustering?
A low SD indicates data is tightly clustered around the mean
Suggests participants responded similarly.
What is a key advantage of standard deviation over range?
Much more precise as it includes all values within the final calculation
Can be distorted by a single extreme value, but reveals more about the data distribution.
