statistics Flashcards
What is meant by the term quantitative data? [2 Marks] + strength
- expressed numerically (1).
- can be gained from individual scores in experiments eg, scores on test
- more simple to analyse, allows comparison between groups
- easier to make conclusions about behaviour
-whereas qual is wordy more difficult to summarise statistically
What is meant by the term qualitative data? [2 Marks] + strength
- expressed in words/ is descriptive data (1) -such as a diary entry or answers from open questions in a questionnaire (1).
- provides rich detail and depth allows ppts to develop thoughts and feelings on subject
- greater understanding of behaviour being studied (contextualise)
- whereas quan lacks depth
Describe nominal data
- data in form of categories
- eg; hair colour, favourite team
describe ordinal level data
- data ordered/ranked in some way
- does not have fixed intervals
- subjective opinions are an example of ordinal level data
eg; items recalled in memory test, ratings
Describe interval level data
- data is standardised/ universal
- data is factual measures, eg; time (seconds)
- based on numerical scales
what is meant by the term primary data
(2 marks)
- gathered directly from the ppts and is specific to the aim of the study, data collected by questionnaires
str - collected 1st hand for the aim, increases overall internal val
wkn - involves time and effort to get data
what is meant by the term secondary data
(2 marks)
- collected by a third party, not specifically for the aim of the study and then used by the researcher
str - easily accessed and requires minimal effort
wkn - poor quality or have inaccuracies
what is meant by the term meta analysis
(2 marks)
- uses secondary data gains data from a large number of studies which have investigated the same research questions and method of research
- combines info from all studies to make conclusions about behaviour
What does a high SD and low SD tell us
- High = more spread so more variation, less consistent, more individual differences
- Low = less spread, less variation in score, more consistent and less individual differences
Structure of drawing a graph question
- Correctly identifying which graph you should be drawing
- Plot the correct data
- Give the graph a title
- Label the axis appropriately (OPERATIONALISE THEM)
- Have an appropriate scale on the y axis
When are bar charts used
- Used to display NOMINAL/ORDINAL (DISCRETE) data.
- Used to compare conditions.
- THE BARS NEVER TOUCH.
When are histograms used
- Used to display INTERVAL (CONTINUOUS) data.
- Shows data within conditions
- THE BAR SHOULD ALWAYS BE TOUCHING
When are scatter graphs used
- Used to display a RELATIONSHIP between two co-variables
- You plot correlations on these
- Remember – each X represents a ppt.
When you are interpreting statistical tests there are six statements you have to work through to decide
whether your results are significant. These are:
- One or two tailed research hypothesis?
- Number of participants (N=) in a chi-square it is degrees of freedom (df)
- Level of significance (if it doesn’t state the p-value assume it is less than 5%)
- Identify the observed/calculated value (in the text)
- Identify the critical value (in the table)
- Interpret the findings using the statement under the critical value table
Define what is meant by a Type I Error [2 Marks]
- researcher has used a lenient P value.
- researcher thinks the results are significant when actually due to chance/error.
- So they wrongly accept alt hypothesis and wrongly reject the null.
- known as a false positive
Define what is meant by a Type II Error [2 Marks]
- researcher has used a stringent p value.
- think their results are not significant (due to chance/error) when could be significant.
- wrongly accept the null hypothesis and wrongly reject the alternate/experimental.
- known as a false negative
What is meant by the term peer review? (2 marks)
Peer review is the process by which psychological research papers, before publication, are subjected to independent scrutiny by other psychologists working in a similar field who consider the research in terms of its validity, significance and originality.
3 problems with peer reviews
Fraud - facing fraudalent cases before publish
Bias - Institution bias – the tendency to favour research which comes from prestigious universities. Gender bias –
the tendency to favour male researchers and bias towards positive findings
Values - it is generally accepted that it is impossible to separate from your personal, cultural or political views
a positively skewed graph looks like ?
most of the data is concentrated on the left hand side of the graph, the tail is on the right side of the peak of data
what does a negatively skewed graph look like ?
most of the data is concentrated on the right hand side of the graph, the tail is on the left hand side of the the graph
what is content analysis? (2 marks)
- analysing qualitative data changing large amounts of qualitative data into quantitative (1 mark).
- done by identifying meaningful codes that can be counted enabling us to present the data in a graph (2nd mark for elaboration).
how is content analysis carried out/ explain how you would analyse qualitative data (4 marks)
- Read video or transcript (link to whatever qualitative data it refers to in the scenario) (1)
- Identify/create coding (categories) provide an example of a relevant category (1)
- Re-read the questionnaire or repeatedly listen to sections of the recording (choose appropriate one in relation to the scenario) and tally every time each code appears (1)
- Present the quantitative data in a graph/table (1)
what is thematic analysis 2 marks
- analysing qualitative data by identifying emergent (keep cropping up) themes enabling us to present the data in a qualitative format.
E.g. Interview recordings, presentation
what r the 5 sections of a scientific report
(AIMDR)
1-Abstract
2-introduction
3-method results
4-discussion
5-referencing
what is the purpose + what goes in an abstract?
purpose- gain an overview of the study and helps them to decide if they want to read on
what goes in it- a summary of the study including the aims, hypothesis ,methods, results and conclusions
ao3 for features of science(reductionism ao3
- limitation - reductionism
- simplifies behaviour down to simple basics units
- EG: simplifying OCD to simple units such as the mutated sert gene which has been identified by objective methods like gene mapping
- neglects holistic approach take into account socioeconomic background + culture context
- therefore when conducting objective research we fail to gain full understanding of human behaviour in context
ao3 for features of science (practical app)
how is content analysis carried out/ explain how you would analyse qualitative data (2-4 marks)
- If the data in the scenario is not already a transcript: watch the video or listen to recordings to create a transcript of (contextualise e.g. refer to specific data in scenario such as interview about aggressive behaviour) *(1)
- Read & re-read transcript (familiarisation)
- Identify coding (categories) – looking for words which cropped up repeatedly. (1)
- Combine these codes to reduce the number of codes into three or four themes that are linked to (contextualise e.g. what is the topic being studied?/ Provide an example of a potential theme) (1)
- Present the data in qualitative format not quantitative. (1)
describe test re-test as a way to assess reliability of content analysis
- The researcher completes the content analysis by creating a series of coding categories, (provide an example)
- repeats content analysis on the same qualitative data
- Compare the results
- correlate results from each content analysis using stats test.
- A strong positive correlation of above +0.8 shows high reliability
describe inter-RATER reliability as a way to assess reliability of content analysis
- The two raters read through qualitative data create coding categories together. INCLUDE EXAMPLE OF CATEGORY HERE
- Two raters read the same content (contextualise)
- tally the occurrences separately.
- compare the tallies from both raters
- then correlated using appropriate stats test.
5.A strong positive correlation shows high reliability (+0.8).
how do you reference a book
- author name
- date
- title of book
- place of publication
- publisher
how do you reference an article
- author name
- date
- title of article
- journey title
- volume
- issue number
- page numbers
