Mods 7 and 8

Question 1

how does statistics help us?

Answer 1

they help us see what the unaided eye might miss – intuition creates false sets of info

Question 2

What is descriptive statistics?

Answer 2

numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups

Question 3

What is a histogram?

Answer 3

bar graph depicting a frequency distribution

Question 4

What are the 4 measures of central tendency?

Answer 4

Mode, mean, median and skewed distribution

Question 5

What is mode?

Answer 5

most frequently occurring score in a distribution

Question 6

What is mean?

Answer 6

average of a distribution – add scores and divide by number of scores

Question 7

What is the median?

Answer 7

middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above and half are below

Question 8

What are skewed distributions?

Answer 8

scores that lack symmetry around average values- caused by a few extreme scores

Question 9

What are positive skews?

Answer 9

Skew- scores pull the mean toward the higher end of scores

Question 10

What are negative skews?

Answer 10

scores pull the mean toward the lower end of scores

Question 11

What are the measures of variation?

Answer 11

Variation, range, standard deviation, and normal curve

Question 12

What is variation?

Answer 12

how similar or diverse scores are

Question 13

What is range?

Answer 13

difference between highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Question 14

What is standard deviation?

Answer 14

computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean

Question 15

What is a normal curve?

Answer 15

symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores
fall near the mean (68% within 1 S.D., 95% within 2, 99.9% within 3)

Question 16

What is statistical significance?

Answer 16

statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance. ( no more than 5%)

Question 17

What is a culture?

Answer 17

shared ideas and behaviors from one generation to the next

Question 18

What 4 ethical principles were developed by the APA?

Answer 18

1. Obtain informed consent – told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate
2. Protect them from physical or emotional harm and discomfort
3. Keep information about the individual confidential
4. Debrief- fully explain the research afterward