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Variables
Measurement Scales
Statistical Notation
Experimental Methods
Statistics
100
a characteristic (behaviour/trait) that can take on different values for different people.
What is a variable
100
Type of measurement scale that a researcher would use when investigating political affiliation. For instance, how many people vote "Conservative" "Liberal" "NDP" "Green."
What is the nominal scale
100
X
What is a sample score.
100
The variable that the researcher manipulates, typically as a form of "treatment." For instance, if participants were asked to play one hour of a violent video game vs. one hour of a non-violent video game.
What is the independent variable
100
In statistics, we select a small group to test that should be representative of its population.
What is a sample
200
When a researcher sets out to measure some characteristic of an entire population (for example, when the researcher wants to know the mean income of everyone living in Vancouver).
What is a parameter
200
A measurement scale where the intervals between adjacent values are equal and there is a true zero point.
What is a ratio scale
200
∑X
What is the sum of the available scores (in the sample)
200
In this type of study, the researcher has no control over the variable of interest, for example they might be interested in testing the social skills of children with Autism vs. children without Autism.
What is a nonequivalent groups study
200
To organize and summarize information gathered about variables, and to make predictions.
What is the general purpose of statistics
300
A variable where there are an infinite number of possible values falling between two observed values.
What is a continuous variable
300
The ability to multiple and divide values AND having a true zero point.
What are the two things that an interval scale lacks and the ratio scale has.
300
√n
What is the square-root of your sample number.
300
I have run a study where I collect data on a couple of different variables (from each individual) from a single group of people. For example, looking at GPA, hours studied and hours of total sleep, of second year Capilano University students, but I'm not interested in the relationships between those variables.
What is descriptive research or descriptive research strategy.
300
Descriptive statistics
mean, median and mode
400
When the researcher is measuring the scores of people on a test, and sets a score of "80" as including all measured values ranging from 79.5 to 80.5.
What are the real limits
400
I can compute the mode and median for this scale, but not the mean.
What is an ordinal scale
400
∑(X-1)2
What is the sum of all the sample scores with 1 subtracted from them and the result squared.
400
I ran a study where I examined overall income and IQ level, despite them both appearing to be positively related to each other, I can't explicitly state that having a higher IQ leads to better paying jobs.
What is a limitation of the correlational method
400
A type of statistics I'll need to use to be able to make predictions regarding the population from sample data.
what are inferential statistics
500
Discrete variables form these.
What are separate, indivisible categories.
500
The Celsius and Fahrenheit scales are a type of this scale.
What are interval scales
500
∑X/n
What is the mean
500
A recent study reports that infant rats fed a diet of genetically modified grains reached an adult weight that was 10% greater than their litter-mates raised on a regular diet. In this example, the difference in the weights of adult rats was an example of this.
What is a dependent variable.
500
I ran a study where I looked at the average age of Capilano University students. In one instance I randomly drew 10 people from the population and the mean age was 22.6, in another case it came out to be 20.1.
What is a result that's likely due to sampling error.