Topic 3 Part B - Data

Question 1

Define frequency distribution.

Answer 1

a method of organising the data to show how frequently participants received each of the many possible scores. It represents the way scores were distributed across the sample.

Question 2

What are the 3 measures of central tendency?

Answer 2

Mean: average of scores
- Can be influenced by extremes

Median: the score in the middle of all scores
- allows us to ignore extremes

Mode: the most frequent score

Question 3

Define SD

Answer 3

the amount the average participant deviates from the mean of the sample

Question 4

What is normal distribution?

Answer 4

the scores of most participants fall in the middle of the bell shaped distribution, and progressively fewer participants have scores at either extreme.

68% of the scores fall within 1 SD from the mean.

Question 5

What is statistical significance?

Answer 5

helps determine whether the results of a study are likely to have occurred simply by chance or whether they reflect true properties of the population.

Question 6

What is inferential stats?

Answer 6

The methods used to determine something about a population on the basis of a sample. Help sort out whether or not the findings of a study really show anything

Question 7

What is the p-value ?

Answer 7

represents the probability that any positive findings obtained with the sample (such as differences between two experimental conditions) were just a matter of chance.

<0.5 = significant

Question 8

What is a t test?

Answer 8

used when comparing the mean scores of two groups