A Vocabulary

Question 1

how close to the true value your measurements or estimates are (ex. shots spread around bullseye)

Answer 1

Accuracy

Question 2

typically discrete

Answer 2

Character

Question 3

variable that can take on any value in a range (not necessarily whole numbers) (ex. mass)

Answer 3

Continuous variable

Question 4

control variable you can measure but not control

Answer 4

Covariate

Question 5

a collection of observations of the same variable

Answer 5

Data

Question 6

an individual observation of a variable

Answer 6

Datum

Question 7

variable that experiment seeks to explain

Answer 7

Dependent variable

Question 8

describes data

Answer 8

Descriptive statistics

Question 9

nominal variables that only have two categories (ex. dead or alive)

Answer 9

Dichotomous variable

Question 10

measured in whole numbers (ex. eggs in a nest)

Answer 10

Discrete variable

Question 11

variable thought to influence/ control dependent variable

Answer 11

Independent variable

Question 12

statements about data

Answer 12

Inferential statistics

Question 13

consistent scale of measure, negative values possible (meaningLESS 0), such degrees Fahrenheit, Celsius, IQ

Answer 13

Interval

Question 14

the process of systematically assigning numbers (or other descriptors) to objects or their properties (ex. occupied or not, colors, etc.)

Answer 14

Measurement

Question 15

a sample that does not accurately represent the population (ex. measuring fish lengths but net holes are large so smaller fish are lost)

Answer 15

Measurement bias

Question 16

variable scale including names, colors, sex, species, etc.

Answer 16

Nominal

Question 17

when you have two competing theories theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one

Answer 17

Occam’s Razor

Question 18

variable scale including ranks, such as tallest, heaviest, etc.

Answer 18

Ordinal

Question 19

the true value of some aspect of a variable for a population

Answer 19

Parameter

Question 20

the simplest explanation (hypothesis) consistent with the data

Answer 20

Parsimony

Question 21

all of the possible observations for the variable of interest

Answer 21

Population

Question 22

how repeatable your measurements or estimates are

Answer 22

Precision

Question 23

measured categorically

Answer 23

Qualitative variable

Question 24

measured numerically

Answer 24

Quantitative variable

Question 25

every measurement in the population has an equal chance of being in the sample

Answer 25

Random

Question 26

consistent scale of measure, negative values not possible (meaningFULL 0), such as Kelvin, lengths, mass, etc.

Answer 26

Ratio

Question 27

a subset of the population used to represent the population

Answer 27

Sample

Question 28

an estimate of a parameter derived from a sample

Answer 28

Statistic

Question 29

a statistical that consistently overestimates or underestimates a parameter

Answer 29

Statistical bias

Question 30

the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data

Answer 30

Statistics

Question 31

the property being measured or of interest

Answer 31

Variable

Question 32

the process of specifying how a concept will be defined and measured

Answer 32

Operationalization

Question 33

a variable used to represent another variable that might be difficult/ expensive to measure (ex. BAC)

Answer 33

proxy variable

Question 34

may be independent or dependent

Answer 34

factor