Terminology

Question 1

Descriptive Statistics

Answer 1

-Statistical procedures use to summarize, organize, and simplify data

Question 2

Inferential Statistics

Answer 2

-statistical techniques that allows us to study samples and then make generalizations about the population from which they came

Question 3

Variable

Answer 3

-a characteristic or condition that changes or has different values for different individuals

Question 4

Parameter

Answer 4

-value that describes a population

Question 5

statistic

Answer 5

-value that describes a sample

Question 6

Sampling Error

Answer 6

• the naturally occurring discrepancy(error) that exists between a sample and the population that it came from
• due to chance alone

Question 7

Construct

Answer 7

-internal attributes or characteristics that cannot be directly observed but are useful for describing and explaining behavior

Question 8

Operational Definition

Answer 8

• an external behavior that “stands in” for the construct we are interested in
• we cannot measure a construct so we define a behavior that we believe corresponds to the construct

Question 9

Discrete Variable

Answer 9

• separate, indivisible categories

- no values can exist between two neighboring categories

Question 10

Continuous Variable

Answer 10

-there exists an infinite number of possible values that fall between any two observe value

Question 11

Nominal Scale

Answer 11

-items on a nominal scale belong to different categories, but the categories cannot be ordered in a meaningful way

Question 12

Ordinal Scale

Answer 12

• items on an ordinal scale are organized in an ordered sequence
• measurements on an ordinal scale are ranked in terms of size or magnitude
• there is a meaningful order, however intervals not known

Question 13

Interval Scale

Answer 13

• series of ordered categories where the categories where the categories form intervals of the same size
• 0 is just an arbitrary point

Question 14

Ratio Scale

Answer 14

-0 means the absence of the quality being measured

Question 15

Correlational Research Method

Answer 15

-two variables that occur naturally are observed to determine whether there is a relationship between them

Question 16

Spurious Relationship

Answer 16

-when an observed mathematical relationship exists between two variables but there is not a direct casual relationship

Question 17

Experimental Research Method

Answer 17

-one variable is manipulated while another variable is observed and measured

Question 18

Characteristics of a True Experiment

Answer 18

• manipulation; the experimenter has manipulated some independent variable to see the effect it has on the dependent variable
• control; extraneous variables are held constant across conditions
• random assignment; chance alone dictates what treatment each individual receives

Question 19

Extraneous Variable

Answer 19

-Variables that have some relationship to the dependent variable but are not of direct interest in the experiment

Question 20

Confounding Variables

Answer 20

-an extraneous variable that correlates with both the dependent variable and the independent variable