Quiz 7

directional and a nondirectional hypothesis

- A directional hypothesis predicts the "direction" of the difference between two groups on the dependent variable. For example: The experimental group will lower their systolic blood pressure more than the control group. (one tail test) - A nondirectional hypothesis predicts that the two groups will have different values on the dependent variable: For example: The experimental group and control group will achieve different systolic blood pressure reductions. (two tail test)

40. Discussion: What are the two main purposes of a discussion section?

- evaluate the experiment - interprets the results

Introduction: What major components are included in an introduction?

- hypothesis - evidence as to why your research is important - literature review

What tense is it written in?

3rd person Conditional tense

47. What tense is the method section written in?

3rd person or conditional tense

Explain the differences between a Type I error and a Type II error (or beta error).

A Type 1 error (a) is rejecting the null hypothesis when it is correct. The experimenter determines the risk of a Type 1 error by selecting the alpha level. A Type 2 error (b) is accepting the null hypothesis when it is false.

Descriptive Title

A good title gives readers a description of what the report is about.

a one-tailed test and a two-tailed test.

A one-tailed test has a critical region at one tail of the distribution. We use a one-tailed test with a directional hypothesis. A two-tailed test has two critical regions, found at opposite ends of the distribution. We use a two-tailed test with a nondirectional hypothesis.

43. References: What format is used?

APA 6th edition

How are Psychological Abstracts useful, and what does a typical abstract contain?

It should contain a statement of the problem studied, participants involved, the method, the results, and the major conclusions.

What ingredients are included in the abstract?

It should contain a statement of the problem studied, participants involved, the method, the results, and the major conclusions. Results should include significance levels and effect sizes

Define and be able to calculate measures of central tendency: mean, median, mode, and range.

Mean: average Median: middle Mode: most Range: difference between the lowest and the highest values

What measurement system should be used?

Metric

Abstract: What is it?

The Abstract is a summary of the report and is usually between

39. Should all raw data and computations be included?

No raw data

37. Results: How should the results be summarized

The Results section describes the statistical procedures you used to evaluate data and all obtained statistical values: df, significance levels

Define and be able to calculate variance and standard deviation.

The Standard Deviation is a measure of how spread out numbers are. The formula is easy: it is the square root of the Variance. Variance is the average of the squared differences from the Mean. Work out the Mean (the simple average of the numbers) Then for each number: subtract the Mean and square the result (the squared difference). Then work out the average of those squared differences.

Explain how one chooses an alpha level (or level of significance).

The alpha level or the level of significance, is probability value that is used to define the concept of " very unlikely" in a hypothesis test. The alpha level is a small probability that is used to identify the low probability samples. .05=5 % chance, .01=1% chance.

Compare and contrast parametric and nonparametric tests. Which tests are more powerful?

Parametric: based on specific assumptions about the distribution of populations; use sample statistics such as the mean, standard deviation, and variance to estimate differences between population parameters Nonparametric: use rank or frequency information to draw conclusions about differences between populations, not based on specific assumptions about the distributions of populations (parametric are often more powerful and preferred)

What format (and edition) should be used for the report?

Psychological reports are expected to follow APA formatting. Current standard: Sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010).

Statistics

Quantitative measurements of samples

55. What is the proper format for a book reference? For a journal reference?

Reference, tables then figures

48. Why is the null hypothesis unstated?

Science can not prove only disprove if we can reject the null hyp. That gives us more evidence to support our alternative hypothesis.

Distinguish a normal distribution from a skewed distribution, and plot mean, median and mode in each.

Skewed distribution is a statistical term that measures "asymmetry" (lack of similarity) in a "bell curve" (the bell-shaped graph that occurs when plotting data based on normal meaured traits). In "normal distribution" there should be a roughly equal number of occurrences of a measured trait on both sides of the mid-point of the bell curve. The "skewness" (percent of difference) statistic measures how great a change there is in the number of trait occurrences on either side of the mid-point of the curve.

Define critical regions and critical values.

The critical region of the sampling distribution of a statistic is also known as the α region. It is the area, or areas, of the sampling distribution of a statistic that will lead to the rejection of the hypothesis tested when that hypothesis is true. The critical value is a factor used to compute the margin of error *Margin of error = Critical value x Standard deviation of the statistic *Margin of error = Critical value x Standard error of the statistic a critical value is a point on the test distribution that is compared to the test statistic to determine whether to reject the null hypothesis

41. How should the discussion section begin?

explain and qualify your findings

Subjects: What characteristics of the sample should be listed?

gender age number of subjects

What is the purpose of the Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms?

help with narrower terms or broader terms

52. What appears on page 3, the first page of the body of the paper?

introduction

36. Design: When should a design subsection be included?

method section

53. Do the different sections of the report each begin on a new page?

no

54. What is the correct order for the references, figures and tables pages?

references tables figures

Statistical significance

refers to the likelihood, or probability, that a statistic derived from a sample represents some genuine phenomenon in the population from which the sample was selected

51. Besides the abstract, what else appears on page 2?

running head

56. What is the difference between a figure and a table?

tables have numbers figures are drawings

Apparatus (or Materials)

the technical equipment or machinery needed for a particular activity or purpose

50. Preparing Your Manuscript: Procedural Details: What information appears on the title page? What is a "running head"?

title, name, school name

38. What statistics should be included in the results section?

Include all group means, measures of variability, estimated effect sizes, and confidence intervals.

What parts of the experiment are listed in the title

Include both the independent and dependent variables and their relationship in the title.

Major Sections: What are the major components?

Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion

Why is a standard format necessary

It is necessary to follow common formatting rules due to the large amount of data published today. The use of common formatting facilitates reading and understanding.

What is the recommended maximum length for the title?

Be concise: 12 words or fewer.

Distinguish descriptive from inferential statistics.

Distinguish: Statistical procedures that are used to summarize, organize, and simplify data. Inferential: statistics Techniques that allow us to study samples and then make generalizations about the populations from which the samples were selected.

What is a common mistake of inexperienced writers?

Do not show bias of any kind. (sexist, agest, racist) Use generally accepted ethnicity terms. Use ambiguous gender references unless your research needs otherwise. Do not use the contraction "s/he" or "he/she."Instead, use the plural "they" whenever possible. Make sure that your writing will not be offensive to any group in any way. they do not write in the scientific method

Variability

For a set of dependent variable measurements, there is variability when the scores are different. Variability "spreads out" a sample of scores drawn from a population. we want low variablilty

Statistical Inference

The methods for drawing conclusions about the value of a population parameter from sample data.

What are the primary purposes of a written report?

The primary purpose is communication of research findings.

What is the purpose of a null hypothesis? Explain its relationship to the alternative (also called scientific or research) hypothesis.

a hypothesis which the researcher tries to disprove. Many describe it as an "educated guess," based on prior knowledge and observation. While this is true, the definition can be expanded

What is a literature review, and what is its purpose?

a literature review, including citations to background experiments from which you obtained ideas

What types of research equipment are listed?

anything used

Where should the hypothesis (-ses) be placed?

at the end of the introduction section

How long should the abstract be?

between 150 and 250 words and includes a concise synopsis of the experiment. should be in the past tense and sometimes the conditional tense

35. Procedure: How should the procedure be described?

you used to evaluate data and all obtained statistical values: df, significance levels.