STATS quiz #1 Flashcards
What is a variable?
A variable is a single factor that has more than one category
Units of Analysis
What or who is being studied
Ecological Fallacy
Mistakenly making inferences about individuals on the basis of characteristics of groups to which they belong
Validity
The extent to which variables measure what they claim to measure
Reliability
The extent to which responses are consistent and unaffected by the measurement process
Ratio-level variable
Numerical values (rankable but, but numerical), 0 can be a true value
Interval-level variable
Numerical value, 0 is not a true value. All cases are expressed in the same units (like age for example)
Ordinal-level variables
who has more or less than a certain quality. “Not all conservative, more conservative, etc”
Commutative Property
Variables that can be measured at the interval-ratio level of measurement can also be measured at the ordinal and nominal level
Categorical variables
A variable that tells us what group or category an individual belongs to. Nominal-level variables can also be categorical variables
Quantitative Variables
Tells us the amount or degree of something. Contains numerical value
Discrete
variable that has a minimum-sized unit of measurement that cannot be subdivided (the number of children per family)
Independent variable
The variable that is causing the changes.
Dependent variable
This is the variable that is being changed.
Statistical control
Accounts for alternative causal explanations by using statistical techniques.
