research methods - graphs n distributions. Flashcards
What is meant by “data”?
Observations or measurements, usually quantified and obtained in the course of research.
What is meant by “scatter graph”?
Looks at association without depicting the differences.
What is meant by “bar chart”?
Graph where bars are equal width and equal width apart from other bars.
What is meant by “histograms”?
Displays the shape of a distribution.
What is meant by “line graphs”?
A series of points which are then joined using straight lines.
What is meant by “distributions”?
The relation between values that a variable may take and the relative number of cases taking on each value.
What are the reasons for the need for graphs?
- data can be represented.
- enables us to present quantitative information visually in order to summarise results.
- should be easy to understand and interpret.
- able to display the information as accurately as possible.
What makes a good graph?
- title of the graph.
- appropriate scales.
- both axes clearly labelled.
- data plotted correctly.
When are bar charts used?
When we have discrete data.
How is data plotted on a bar chart?
- frequency plotted on the vertical y axis
- height of the bar.
- categories are plotted on the horizontal x axis.
When are line graphs used?
- used to show trends/patterns over time
↳ e.g. temperature over a seven day period.
[use continuous data]
How is data plotted on a line graph?
- IV plotted on the x axis.
- DV plotted on the y axis.
How is data plotted on a scatter graph?
- co-variables wither occupy the x axis or y axis
- does not matter which way round.
When are scatter graphs used?
To demonstrate the relationship between two co-variables.
How is data plotted on a histogram?
- bars touch each other as data is continuous.
- x axis has equal sized intervals.
- y axis shows the frequency.
