Inferential Testing

Question 1

What are descriptive statistics

Answer 1

measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion that summarise the raw data collected from a sample

Question 2

What is probability

Answer 2

researchers test the data they collect from the sample to assess the probability that the results are due to chance

Question 3

What are statistical tests

Answer 3

mathematical tools used to determine if the results are significant

Question 4

How do you work out the degrees of freedom

Answer 4

(number of rows -1) X (number of columns -1 )

Question 5

How do you use the sign test

Answer 5

1) subtract the scores from condition A and B, making note of the sign of each result (+/-)
2) Work out ‘N’ which is the total number of signs (+/-) not including 0
3) Work out ‘S’ which is the number of least frequent signs
4) use the critical values table and read across from ‘N’ which is calculated in step 3 and read down from the required level of significance
5) Compare the critical value to ‘S’ and if S is equal to or less than the critical value then results are significant