Chapter 6 - Results Section Flashcards
(32 cards)
What does the research findings consist of?
All the data..
- Collected
- Organized
- Analyzed
What should we avoid including in the results section?
subjective bias/interpretation
… (AKA Investigator influence)
What does numerical measures describe?
observations objectively and analyzed statistically
What must the organization of data include?
- Must process raw data.
- Need to be organized for interpretation AND provide “coherent picture” of results to readers
- Analysis techniques – statistical tools
- Techniques used for either experimental or descriptive data
What is distribution?
The frequency count of attributes or objects that fall into different categories.
What is Nominal Data?
- A set of data is said to be nominal if the values/observations belonging to it can be assigned a code in the form of a number where the numbers are simply labels.
- You can count (but not order or measure!) nominal data.
- For example, in a data set males could be coded as 0, females as 1; marital status of an individual could be coded as Y if married, N if single.
What is Ordinal Data?
- A set of data is said to be ordinal if the values/observations belonging to it can be ranked (put in order) or have a rating scale attached.
- You can count and order, but not measure, ordinal data.
- Must have a natural categorical order
What is Interval Data?
- An interval scale is a scale of measurement where the distance between any two adjacent units of measurement (or ‘intervals’) is the same but the zero point is arbitrary.
- Scores on an interval scale can be added and subtracted but can not be meaningfully multiplied or divided.
What is Ratio Data?
- interval data with a natural zero point.
Examples of ratio level data include distance and area (e.g., acreage)
- A weight of 4 grams is twice a weight of 2 grams, because weight is a ratio variable. A temperature of 100 degrees C is not twice as hot as 50 degrees C, because temperature C is not a ratio variable. A pH of 3 is not twice as acidic as a pH of 6, because pH is not a ratio variable.
- Physical measures will represent ratio data (for example, height and weight). If one is measuring the length of a piece of wood in centimeters, there is quantity, equal units, and that measure cannot go below zero centimeters.
What is Descriptive Statistics ?
– summary statistics
What do we do within the Descriptive Statistics section?
Describe characteristics of the data
What are questions to ask during the Descriptive Statistics section?
- “what is the average or typical value in the distribution?”
- “how much variety or dispersion is there in the values represented
by the distribution?”
RE: Descriptive Statistics, In many articles why are different conditions or groups of subjects are compared?
so that statistics are used to describe central tendency
and variability of the data for each condition or group.
What are the measures of central tendency?
Mean
Median
Mode
What are the measures of variability?
Range
Variance
Standard Deviation (SD)
What are the measures of skewness?
lack of symmetry
What are the measures of kurtosis?
form of concentration of scores around the central distribution
What is the Mean?
**ON EXAM
The averageof the numbers.
It is easy to calculate:add upall the numbers, thendivide by how manynumbers there are.
What is the Mode?
**ON EXAM
The mode is simply the number which appearsmost often.
What is the Median
**ON EXAM
The Middle number.
Place the numbers invalue orderand find themiddle number.
What is the mean of 6, 11, 7?
8
What is the median of 12, 3, &5?
5
What is the median 3, 13, 7, 5, 21, 23, 39, 23, 40, 23, 14, 12, 56, 23, 29?
23
What is the mode of 3, 13, 7, 5, 21, 23, 39, 23, 40, 23, 14, 12, 56, 23, 29?
23
