Statistics Flashcards
Descriptive Statistics
Organizes, summarizes, and communicates a group of numerical observations
Inferential Statistics
Uses a sample data to make general estimates about the larger population
Sample
Set of observations drawn from the population of interest
Population
includes all possible observations about which we’d like to know something
Variable
any observation of physical, attitudinal, or behavioural characteristic that can take on different values
Discrete observation
Can take only specific values; on other values can exist between the numbers; times one woke up early in a week
Continuous observation
can take on a full range of values (numbers out to several decimal places); infinite number of potential values exist; A person might complete a task in 12.839 seconds, etc.
Nominal Variable
variable used in observations that have categories, or names, as their values; 1 for female and 2 for male
Ordinal Variable
A variable used for observations that have rankings as their values; team sports, which team placed first, second, third
Interval Variables
used for observations that have numbers are their values; distance (or interval) between pairs of consecutive numbers assumed to be equal; temperature because the interval from one degree to the next is always the same; cannot be anything but whole numbers, can be personality and attitude measures
Ratio Variables
Variables that meet the criteria for interval variables but also have meaningful zero points; reaction time; time has a meaningful zero
Scale Variable
Variable that meets the criteria for an interval variable or a ratio variable
Level
Discrete value or condition that a variable can take on
Independent Variable
has at least two levels that we either manipulate or observe to determine its effects on the dependent variable; does gender predict one’s attitude about politics; gender with two levels, male and female
Dependent Variable
Outcome variable that we hypothesise to be related to, or caused by, changes in the independent variable;
Confounding Variable
Any variable that systematically varies with the independent variable to that we cannot logically determine which variable is at work; also called a confound; start using a diet drug AND exercise
Reliable measure
One that is consistent, your weight now will be the same as your weight an hour from now, your scale is reliable
Valid measure
One that measures what it was intended to measure; your scale may match your weight when you measure it at the doctor’s office
Hypothesis Testing
process of drawing conclusions about whether a particular relation between variables is supported by evidence
Operational Definition
Specifies the operations or procedures used to measure or manipulate a variable
Correlation
An association between two or more variables
Random assignment
Every participant in the study has an equal chance of being assigned to any of the groups or experimental conditions in a study
Experiment
A study in which participants are randomly assigned to a condition or level of one or more independent variables
Between-Groups Research Design
Participants experience one, and only one, level of the independent variable