Definitions
A number value that measures the spread of a dataset
Standard Deviation
Mean = 25, SD = 5
What is the range of scores that fall within 1 standard deviation of the mean?
20-30
In a negative correlation, one variable decreases as the other variable?
This logical fallacy states that causation does not mean correlation
False Cause
A strong correlation exists between chocolate cravings and days leading up to menstruation, is it appropriate to say menstruation causes chocolate cravings?
No
The ability to generalize results of a study to and across other situations, people, stimuli, and times
External Validity
Anita is taking Pathology. The class average is 85 with a standard deviation of 10. Her score is 80, what is her z-score?
-0.5
Going from a small to a large sample size will do this to the standard error
Decrease it
IQ, height, weight and, and blood pressure all fall along this frequency distribution
The normal distribution
A pilot study was conducted, investigating the effectiveness of meditation on weight loss, what would you look for to see if you can apply these results to your clinical practice?
Sample size, who’s in the sample, part of the world the study was conducted, the definition of meditation, the definition of weight loss, methods, etc...
A value that represents the number of standard deviations an individual score falls from the mean
Z-score
John conducted an experiment, with 16 people. His results are as follows;
mean = 20, SD = 4, SE = 1.
Construct a 95% confidence interval.
18-22
A result is considered statistically significant if it has a p-value of this and lower
0.05
The correlation coefficient (r) measures this and the strength of a correlation.
Direction
When would a nutritionist turn to scientific research (journal articles) to improve their practice?
Evidence-based protocol, blog/writing of any kind, fact-checking, personal knowledge, etc...
Represented by a letter in the alphabet, this value tells us if our results are statistically significant
P-value
Mandy just took her final exams for Anatomy and Herbal Medicine.
Results are as follows;
Anatomy: mean = 80, SD = 6, her score = 86.
Herbal Medicine = 75, SD = 8, her score = 87.
According to her z-scores, which class did she do better in?
Herbal Medicine
This standardized value allows us to compare scores from different datasets
This percent of the population falls between 2 and 3 standard deviations above the mean?
2.35
There’s lots of conflicting information on the internet, what resources can a nutritionist use to clarify all this information?
Academic journals, course-notes, mentors, peers in the field, their own experience
The value that measures the variability between a sample mean and the true population mean
Standard Error
Jane is getting a 79 in Psychology and has a z-score of 1.5. The class average is 70, what is the standard deviation?
6
A 95% confidence interval tells us this
The range we’re 95% confident the true population mean falls within
This logical fallacy is described as refuting an opponents argument by distorting that argument and then disproving the distortion.
The straw man
Your client comes to you and insists all saturated fats are bad for them, and hands over a compelling stack of academic journals backing their claim - what do you do?
Check the journals! date, affiliations, authors, journals, draw on your own knowledge, turn to academic literature, draw info from clinical experience with alternative diets, suggest a logical alternative explanation (those with diets high in saturated fat are correlated with high sugar and processed foods), etc...