Week 1: The Descriptive Stats of Outcomes - How is the Data Distributed and How can we Assess the Distribution Flashcards
*
What distribution is needed for parametric tests?
A normal distribution
The normal distribution curve is also referred as the
bell curve
Normal distribution is symmetrical meaning
This means that the distribution curve can be divided in the middle to produce two equal halves
The bell curve can be described using two parameters called (2)
- Mean (central tendency)
- Standard deviation (dispersion)
μ is
mean
σ is
standard deviation
Diagram shows:
e.g., If we move 1σ to the right then it contains 34.1% of the valeues
Many statistical tests (parametric) cannot be used if the data are not
normally distributed
The mean is the sum of
scores divided by the number of scores
Mean is a good measure of
central tendency for roughly symmetric distributions
The mean can be a misleading measure of central tendency in skewed distributions as
it can be greatly influenced by scores in tail e.g., extreme values
Aside from the mean, what are the 2 other measured of central tendency? - (2)
- Median
- Mode
The median is where (2)
the middle score when scores are ordered.
the middle of a distribution: half the scores are above the median and half are below the median.
The median is relatively unaffected by … and can be used with… (2)
- extreme scores or skewed distribution
- can be used with ordinal, interval and ratio data.
The mode is the most
frequently occurring score in a distribution, a score that actually occurred
The mode is the only measure of central tendency that can be used with
with nominal data
The mode is greatly subject to
sample fluctuations and is therefore not recommended to be used as the only measure of central tendency
Many distributions have more than one
mode
The mean, median and mode are identical in
symmetric distribtions
For positive skewed distribution, the
mean is greater than the median, which is greater than the mode
For negative skewed distribution
usually the mode is greater than the median, which is greater than the mean
Kurtosis in greek means
bulge or bend in greek
What is central tendency?
the tendency for the values of a random variable to cluster round its mean, mode, or median.
Diagram of normal kurotsis, positive excess kurotsis (leptokurtic) and negative excess kurotsis (platykurtic)
What does lepto mean?
prefix meaning thin
What is platy
a prefix meaning flat or wide (think Plateau)
Tests of normality (2)
Kolmogorov-Smirnov test
Shapiro-Wilks test
Tests of normality is dependent on
sample size
If you got a massive sample size then you will find these normality tests often come out as …. even when your data visually can look - (2)
significant
normally disttibuted
If you got a small sample size, then the normality tests may look non-siginificant, even when data is normally distributed, due to
lack of power in the test to detect a significant effect
There is no hard or fast rule for
determining whether data is normally distributed or not
Plot your data because this helps inform on what decisions you want to make with respect to
normality
Even if normality test is sig and data looks visually normally distributed then still do
parametric tests
A frequency distribution or a histogram is a plot of how many times
each score occurs
2 main ways a distribution can deviate from the normal - (2)
- Lack of symmetry (called skew)
- Pointyness (called kurotsis)
In a normal distribution the values of skew and kurtosis are 0 meaning…
tails of the distribution are as they should be
Is age nominal or continous?
Continous
Is gender continous or nominal?
Nominal
Is height continous or nominal?
Continous
Which of the following best describes a confounding variable?
A. A variable that affects the outcome beingmeasured as well as, or instead of, theindependent variable
B. A variable that is manipulated by theexperimenter
C. A variable that has been measured using an unreliable scale
D.A variable that is made up only of categories
A
If a test is valid , what does it mean?
A.The test measures what it claims to measure.
B. The test will give consistent results. (Reliability)
C.The test has internal consistency (measure for correlations between different items on same test = see if it measures same construct)
D. Test measures a useful construct or variable = test can measure something useful but not valid
A