maths skills and cognitive random statistical bits

Question 1

what is a distribution

Answer 1

the way data is spread out

Question 2

normal distribution

Answer 2

mean, median and mode are all at the midpoint

Question 3

negatively skewed distribution

Answer 3

• median and mean are lower than the mode

Question 4

how is a negatively skewed distribution caused

Answer 4

some participants score much lower than most students

Question 5

positively skewed distribution

Answer 5

median and mean are higher than the mode

Question 6

how is a positively skewed distribution caused

Answer 6

a few students have scored much higher than most students

Question 7

skewed distribution

Answer 7

caused by an outlier score which doesn’t fit the rest of the results

Question 8

outlier

Answer 8

an extremely low/high score = unusual

Question 9

type 1 error

Answer 9

when researchers think they have found a significant result but they haven’t
- rejects alternative hypothesis

Question 10

type 2 error

Answer 10

when researchers think they have not found a significant result but they have

Question 11

what do correlation studies investigate

Answer 11

whether there are relationships between different co-variables

Question 12

positive correlation

Answer 12

as one co variable increases, the other co variable increases

Question 13

negative correlation

Answer 13

as one co-variable increases, the other co-variable decreases

Question 14

no correlation

Answer 14

there is no definite trend and that the 2 co-variables to not appear to be related to each other

Question 15

what variables are used in correlational research

Answer 15

• co-variables

Question 16

research question

Answer 16

a broad question about the concept being investigated

Question 17

research aim

Answer 17

identifying a more specific concept within the research question which the researcher wants to investigate

Question 18

what do correlations investigate

Answer 18

relationships

Question 19

what kind of data do correlations collect

Answer 19

ordinal
interval

Question 20

ordinal data

Answer 20

rank data from highest to lowest, e.g rating

Question 21

nominal data

Answer 21

counting the number of times something happens

Question 22

interval data

Answer 22

measured in metric units

Question 23

2 tailed correlational hypothesis

Answer 23

where there is a significant relationship between covariables but it doesn’t state whether it will be positive or negative - no direction

Question 24

1 tailed correlational hypothesis

Answer 24

states there will be a significant relationship between the co-variables and the direction of the correlation

Question 25

null correlational hypothesis

Answer 25

there will not be a significant correlation and any relationship will be due to chance factors

Question 26

primary data

Answer 26

data gathered directly from the participant/researcher

Question 27

secondary data

Answer 27

data which has already been gathered by someone other than the researcher

Question 28

how are correlations shown

Answer 28

as scattergraphs

Question 29

issues with scattergraphs

Answer 29

- it wouldn't justify in concluding that co-variable x has had an effect on co-variable Y - can't justify in saying that a particular hypothesis can be retained or rejected - don't confused findings with conclusions

Question 30

findings

Answer 30

raw data

Question 31

conclusions

Answer 31

broad interferences you can make from the raw data

Question 32

correlation co-efficient

Answer 32

a value between -1 and +1 which tells you about the direction/strength of a correlation

Question 33

-1 correlation

Answer 33

perfect negative

Question 34

-0.75 correlation

Answer 34

strong negative

Question 35

-0.5 correlation

Answer 35

moderate negative

Question 36

-0.25

Answer 36

weak negative

Question 37

0

Answer 37

no correlation

Question 38

+0.25

Answer 38

weak positive

Question 39

+0.5

Answer 39

moderate positive

Question 40

+0.75

Answer 40

strong positive

Question 41

+1

Answer 41

perfect positive

Question 42

positives of correlation studies

Answer 42

- tell us something new, if co-variables are related, we learn things from pre-existing data, tells us strength and direction of 2 co-variables - useful technique when either practical or ethical reasons mean variables can't be manipulated - good starting point for research, as once relationships have been established between co-variables more research can be conducted

Question 43

disadvantages about correlations

Answer 43

- cause and effect isn't explained - doesn't state which co-variable is causing what effect - inferential statistical tests won't always pick up on a relationship between 2 co-variables even if there is a genuine pattern - only collects quantitative data

Question 44

academic reports

Answer 44

- psychologists research can't be immediately put into a textbook, it must be put into a report which is published in a psychological journal - and all the reports follow the same structure

Question 45

academic reports structure

Answer 45

abstract introduction method results discussion references appendices

Question 46

abstract

Answer 46

allows readers to understand a study before reading full article - summarises research includes: aim, methods, results, conclusions

Question 47

introduction

Answer 47

considers previous research in the area, links it to the study

Question 48

how does an introduction start

Answer 48

by broadly discussing the area of interest, then finishes by justifying the hypothesis being studied

Question 49

method

Answer 49

includes: sample experimental design materials procedure - helps to make the study as replicable as possible

Question 50

results (AR)

Answer 50

contain raw data, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics and graphs with written explanations of results

Question 51

discussion

Answer 51

- looks at what was found in the study, the implications of findings, and any limitations of the study - future research ideas may be discussed

Question 52

references

Answer 52

- any work from other authors must be clearly referenced - this allows readers to easily find the referenced research

Question 53

appendices

Answer 53

includes any relevant materials used for the study, could be tests, raw data, questionnaires, etc

Question 54

what is a significant result

Answer 54

- if there's 95% of the same result or higher, a real effect is going on

Question 55

measures of central tendency

Answer 55

mean median mode