Behavioral Statistics Exam 1

state whether each of the following is continuous or discrete and whether they are quantitative or qualitative: 1) delay (in seconds) it takes drivers to make a left-hand turn when a light turns green 2) number of questions that participants ask during a research study 3) type of drug use (none, infrequent, moderate, or frequent) 4) season of birth (spring, summer, fall, or winter)

1) continuous, quantitative 2) discrete, quantitative 3) discrete, qualitative 4) discrete, qualitative

true or false: qualitative variable can be continuous or discrete

false

________________ are rules for how the properties of numbers can change with different uses.

scales of measurement

_____________________ is the study of phenomena through strict observation, evaluation, interpretation, and theoretical explanation

science

state whether each of the following describes an experiment, a quasi-experiment or a correlational method: 1) a researcher tests whether the dosage level of some drug (low, high) causes significant differences in health 2) a researcher tests whether citizens of differing political affiliations (Republican, Democrat) will show differences in attitudes toward morality 3) a researcher measures the relationship between annual income and life satisfaction

1) experiment 2) quasi-experiment 3) correlational method

_________ describe(s) characteristics in a population, whereas _________ describe(s) characteristics in a sample

1) parameters 2) statistics

_________ are producers used to summarize, organize, and make sense of a set of scores called data

Descriptive statistics

A psychologist wants to study a small population of 40 student in a local private school. If the researcher was interested in selecting the entire population of students for this study, then how many students must the psychologist include?

all 40 students, because all students constitute the population

a researcher measures four variables: age (in days), speed (in seconds), height (in inches), and movie ratings (from 1 to 4 stars). which of these variables is not an example of a variable measured on a ratio scale?

movie ratings (from 1 to 4 stars)

in 2010, fortune magazine ranked apple as the most admired company in the world. this ranking is on a(n) ___________ scale of measurement

ordinal

a researcher is interested in the effects of stuttering on social behavior with children. he records the number of peers a child speaks to during a typical school day. In this example, would the data be qualitative or quantitative?

quantitative

True or false: A ratio scale variable 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

True or false: inferential statistics are used to help the researcher infer the unknown parameters in a given population.

true

What are two characteristics of rating scales that allow researchers to use these values on an interval scale of measurement?

values on an interval scale are assumed to be equidistant but do not have a true zero