RESIT research & statistics Flashcards
(179 cards)
inference
making decisions and predictions based on the data for answering the statistical question
inferential statistics
methods of making decisions or predictions about a population, based on data obtained from a sample of that population
parameter
numerical summary of the population
categorical variable
if each observation belongs to one of a set of categories
quantitative
if observations on it take numerical values that represent different magnitudes of the variable
discrete quantitative variable
0,1,2,3,4, if its possible values form a set of separate numbers
continuous quantitative variable
if its possible values form an interval
modal category
category with the highest frequency (for a categorical variable)
mode
(for quantitative variable), the numerical value that occurs most frequently
unimodal
data has single mount
bimodal
data has two distinct mounds
median
middle value of the observations when the observations are ordered from smallest to the largest(or other way around)
resistent
if extreme observations have little if any influence on its value
deviation
of an observation x from the mean , the difference between the observation and the sample mean
variance
average of the squared deviations
pth percentile
value such that p percent of the observations fall below or at that value
z-score
for an observation is the number of standard deviations that it falls from the mean. positive z score indicates the observation is above the mean, negative below the mean
empiricism
involves using evidence from the senses or from instruments that assist the senses as the basis for conclusions.
parsimony
theories are supposed to be simple. mid two theories explain the at a equally well, most scientists will opt for the ampler more parsimonious theory
applied research
conducting in real world context
probabilistic
behaviour research findings are not expected to explain all cases all of the time.
availabiliity heuristic
things pop up easily in our mind and to guide our thinking
present bias
name for our failure to consider appropriate comparison groups
confirmation bias
tendency to look only at info that agrees with what we already believe