stats ch 1
The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.
dependent variable
are procedures used to summarize, organize, and make sense of scores or observations.
descriptive statistics
number of students in a statistics class. Continuous or discrete?
discrete
the SAT score among college students. continuous or discrete?
discrete-
a researcher tests whether dosage level of some drug (low, high) causes significant difference in health
experiment
Qualitative variables can be continuous or discrete true or false
false
what human behavior trait or characteristic can you think of that is distributed normally?
height and weight; intelligence and problem solving skills
This explores the question "how do I know that the test, scale, instrument, etc. works every time I use it?"
reliability
sage pub Chap. 3 (# 1 - 4, 6 - 8) Which of the following is one way to represent the standard deviation?
s
are rules for how the properties of numbers can change with different uses
scales of measurement
is the study of phenomena through the strict observation, evaluation, interpretation, and theoretical explanation.
science
sage pub Chap. 3 (# 1 - 4, 6 - 8) What is the square root of the variance?
standard deviation
describe characteristics in a sample
statistics
what are the characteristics of the normal curve?
the mean, median, mode are all equal to one another; the curve is symmertrical about the mean; and the tails are asymptotic.
to compute a standard score, what 3 bits of info do u need?
the raw score, the mean, and the standard deviation.
What value is most often used to represent an entire group of scores?
MEAN
sagepub Chap. 8 (# 1 - 4) Which of the following is a characteristic of the normal curve?
Mean, median, and mode are the same
Qualitative or Quantitative? A researcher distributed open-ended questions to participants asking how they feel when they are in love
Qualitative
Qualitative or Quantitative? A witness to a crime gives a description of the suspect to the police
Qualitative
Reliability and validity specifically relate to the...
Quality of the data themselves
Qualitative or Quantitative? A psychologist interested in drug addiction injects rats with an attention-inducing drug and then measures the rate of lever pressing
Quantitative
Qualitative or Quantitative? A researcher records the blood pressure of participants during a task meant to induce stress
Quantitative
Only this level of measurement has a true zero.
RATIO
This is the level of measurement where outcomes are based on some underlying continuum that also contains a true or absolute zero.
RATIO
This is the most precise level of measurement.
RATIO
Why is a z score a standard score, and why can standard scores be used to compare scores from different distributions with one another?
a z score is a standard score (comparable to others of the same type of score) because it is based on the degree of variability within its respective distribution of scores.
A researcher tests whether cocaine use increases impulsive behavior in a sample of cocaine dependent and cocaine inexperienced mice a) identify the independent variable b) identify the dependent variable
a) cocaine use b) impulsive behavior
standard scores, such as z scores, allow us to make comparisons across different samples. Why?
cause they all use the same metric-the standard deviation- and we can compare scores in units of standard deviations.
Which variable is measured in each group
dependent v
A researcher demonstrates that eating breakfast in the morning causes increased alertness throughout the day. What research design must the researcher have used in this example? Explain.
-Experimental research method, this is because the researcher has found (cause) which is that breakfast in the morning increases alertness throughout the day
Describe Infer Summarize
1: Descriptive Statistics 2: Inferential Statistics 3: Inferential Statistics
sage pub Chap. 3 (# 1 - 4, 6 - 8) What is the range for the following set of scores: 29, 48, 22, 37, 55?
33
sagepub Chap. 8 (# 1 - 4) Under the normal curve, approximately what percent of scores fall between and -1 to +1 standard deviations around the mean?
68%
sage pub Chap. 3 (# 1 - 4, 6 - 8) What is the range for the following set of scores: 10, 15, 12, 18, 19, 16, 12?
9
How is a sample related to a population?
A sample is a subset of a population.
A researcher measures the height and income of participants and finds that taller men tend to earn more than shorter men. what type of research method did the researcher use in this example? Explain
Correlational because the taller person is getting a higher income and the shorter person is getting lower income.
Season of birth (spring, summer, fall, or winter)
DISCRETE
number of questions that participants ask during a research study
DISCRETE
What is the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics?
Descriptive statistics is taking a group and numerically representing their data; while inferential statistics makes guesses/hypothesizes about the general population based off of the group researched.
What is the formula for computing the mean?
Ex/n
T/F : graphs, tables, and summary statistics all illustrate the application of inferential statistics
FALSE. the answer is descriptive statistics
T/F: descriptive statistics can be used to describe populations and samples of data
FALSE. the answer is inferential
The treatment variable in an analysis is called the...
IV
is this independent or quasi independent? (only answer quasi independent for variables that cant be randomized) environment of research setting
Independent
Which variable is manipulated to create the groups?
Independent Variable
this is the least precise level of measurement.
NOMINAL
A researcher measured behavior among all individuals in some small population. are inferential statistics necessary to draw conclusions concerning this population? Explain.
No. because it is measuring a behavior NOT anything numerical
sagepub Chap. 8 (# 1 - 4) When we want to infer from a sample to the population, what assumption must be met?
Population is normally distributed
If a distribution is significantly distorted, what is this called?
SKEW
To determine whether a new sleeping pill was effective, adult insomniacs received a pill (either real or fake), and their sleeping times were subsequently measured (in minutes) during an overnight observation period.(a) Identify the independent variable in this study.
Sleeping pill (real or fake)
What should be used to determine central tendency?
THE AVERAGE
T/F: inferential statistics are procedures used to make inferences about a population, given only a limited amount of data
TRUE
Which of the following symbols represents the individual score?
X
What is another term for the mean?
arithmetic average
Reliability and validity should be considered...
before you start analyzing data
delay in seconds it takes drivers to make a left-hand turn when a light turns green
continuous
time in seconds to memorize a list of words. Continuous or discrete?
continuous
the weight in pounds of newborn infants. continuous or discrete?
continuous-
a researcher measures the relationship between annual income and life satisfaction
correlation
is this independent or quasi independent? (only answer quasi independent for variables that cant be randomized) type of feedback
independent
are used to help the researcher infer the unknown parameters in a given population
inferential statistics
sagepub: Which of the following are among the things to remember when creating figures?
maintain the scale in the graph
sagepub: A good rule of thumb when creating an illustration is:
make sure your graph communicates only 1 idea
What is the most common average computed?
mean
sagepub: A distribution of scores in which almost the entire class scored very high, but a few students scored fairly low, would be:
negatively skewed
rank the scales of measurement in order from least informative to most informative
nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio ( NOIR)
in 2010, Fortune magazine ranked Apple as the most admired company in the world. This ranking is an ________ scale of measurement
ordinal
describes characteristics in a population
parameters
sagepub Chap. 8 (# 1 - 4) What is the basis for the normal curve?
probability
is this independent or quasi independent? (only answer quasi independent for variables that can't be randomized) years in education
quasi independent
is this independent or quasi independent? (only answer quasi independent for variables that cant be randomized) -marital status
quasi independent
a researcher tests whether citizens differing political affiliations (republican, democrat) will show differences in attitudes towards morality.
quasi-experiment
sage pub Chap. 3 (# 1 - 4, 6 - 8) Which measure of variability is easiest to calculate?
range
To determine whether a new sleeping pill was effective, adult insomniacs received a pill (either real or fake), and their sleeping times were subsequently measured (in minutes) during an overnight observation period.(b) Identify the dependent variable in this study.
time spent sleeping
true or false a ratio scale can be continuous or discrete
true
true or false an experiment is the only method that can demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships between variables
true
sage pub Chap. 3 (# 1 - 4, 6 - 8) Which of the following measures how scores differ from each other?
variability
sage pub Chap. 3 (# 1 - 4, 6 - 8) When reporting descriptive data such as the Mean, what additional information should also be reported that expresses how different the scores are in the distribution?
variability