Stats (Scales of Measurement, Descriptive Statistics)

Question 1

of the four scales of measurement, the ________ scale is the least mathematically complex

Answer 1

nominal

Question 2

when we measure a characteristic with a nominal scale, there is no inherent _______ to the scale categories, and we cannot say that one person has more or less of the characteristic being measured than the other person

Answer 2

order

Question 3

the only quantitative operation that we can perform when data are measured on a nominal scale is to count the _______ of observations in each category

Answer 3

frequency (number)

Question 4

As its name implies, the ordinal scale of measurement had the mathematical property of ______

Answer 4

order

Question 5

when using an ordinal scale, we can say that one person has ______ of the characteristic being measured than another person

Answer 5

more or less

Question 6

The interval scale is more mathematically complex than the ________

Answer 6

ordinal scale

Question 7

the interval scale not only has the property of _______ but also the property of ______ intervals between successive points on the measuring scale. As a results, we can conclude that a score of 100 is _____ between the scores of 90 and 110

Answer 7

order; equal; midway

Question 8

the most mathematically complex measurement scale is the ______ scale.

Answer 8

ratio

Question 9

the ratio scale has the properties of order and equal intervals as well as an ________ zero point. The latter property makes it possible not only to add and subtract scores but also to ______ them and to conclude that a person who receives a score of 150 has ______ times as much of the characteristic being measured as a person who receives a score of 50

Answer 9

absolute; multiply and divide; three

Question 10

A frequency polygon can be described in terms of it’s shape. A normal distribution is symmetrical and _______ shaped

Answer 10

bell

Question 11

distributions can deviate from the normal. When a distribution is more “peaked” than the normal distribution, it is said to be ______. When a distribution is flatter than the normal distribution, it is ____________

Answer 11

leptokurtic; platykurtic

Question 12

distributions can also be asymmetrical. In a ______ distribution, over 50% of the scores fall on one side of the distribution

Answer 12

skewed

Question 13

when scores are concentrated in the positive side of the distribution with only a relatively few scores in the negative side (tail), the distribution is said to be _______ skewed

Answer 13

negatively

Question 14

when scores are concentrated in the negative side of the distribution with only a relatively few scores in the positive side (tail), the distribution is called ______ skewed

Answer 14

positively

Question 15

the mean, median, and mode are measures of ______ tendency that summarize a distributions of data by providing a “typical” score

Answer 15

central

Question 16

the mode is the most _______ occurring score or category in a distribution

Answer 16

frequently

Question 17

the median is the _______ score in and ordered set of data

Answer 17

middle

Question 18

the mean is the arithmetic _______

Answer 18

average

Question 19

the mean can be calculated only when the variable has been measured using a(n) _______ scale

Answer 19

interval or ratio

Question 20

in a normal distribution, the three measures of central tendency are equal to the same value. However, in a _____ skewed distribution, the mean is greater than the median, which is greater than the mode

Answer 20

positively

Question 21

in a ______ skewed distribution, the mean is less than the median, which is less than the mode

Answer 21

negatively

Question 22

measures of variability indicate the degree of _______ in a distribution of scores.

Answer 22

dispersion (heterogeneity)

Question 23

the simplest measure of variability is the _______, which is calculated by subtracting the lowest score in the distribution from the _______ score

Answer 23

range; highest

Question 24

the variance and standard deviation are more thorough measures of variability because their calculation includes ____ of the scores in the distribution

Answer 24

all

Question 25

variance and standard deviation measures indicate, on the average, how much the scores in a distribution vary from the distribution’s ________

Answer 25

mean

Question 26

The standard deviation is equal to the _______ of variance

Answer 26

square root

Question 27

the standard deviation is usually preferred to the variance as a descriptive technique because it expresses a distribution’s variability in the same unit of ______ as the original scores and is easier to interpret

Answer 27

measurement

Question 28

if a distribution of IQ scores has a mean of 100 and a variance of 225, its standard deviation is equal to ____. Assuming that the population distribution is normal, this means that, in the population, about ______ percent of people have IQ scores between 85 and 115; about _______ percent have scores between 70 and 130; and about _____ percent have scores between 55 and 145

Answer 28

15; 68; 95; 99

Question 29

when a constant is ______ each score in a distribution, the measures of central tendency change but the measures of variability stay the same

Answer 29

added to or subtracted from

Question 30

when each score is _____ by a constant, the measures of central tendency are variability all change

Answer 30

multiplied or divided

Question 31

For children with ADHD, an academic achievement test has a mean of 40 and a standard deviation of 8. Assuming that the distribution of scores is normally shaped, you can conclude that 16% of these children obtained scores below a score of:

Answer 31

32

Question 32

In a leptokurtic distribution:

Answer 32

a larger proportion of scores are located in the middle of the distribution than they are in a normal (mesokurtic) distribution.

Question 33

In a negatively skewed distribution of scores:

Answer 33

the median is greater than the mean (In a negatively skewed distribution, most scores are “piled up” in the positive tail while a relatively few scores are in the negative tail. Because the mean is more sensitive to the magnitude of all scores, it is affected more by the low scores in the negative tail and is lower in value than the median or the mode. Therefore, the median is greater than the mean in a negatively skewed distribution.)

Question 34

To be able to conclude that one research participant has twice as much of a characteristic than another participant, your measure of that characteristic must produce scores that represent which scale of measurement?

Answer 34

ratio