RM PT3

what are descriptive statistics?

various ways of summarising & analysing data to draw meaningful conclusions

what are the 2 types of descriptive statistics?

central tendency and dispersion

what is central tendency?

“averages” which give us the most typical values

what are the tyoes of central tendency?

mean, mode and median

what is measures of dispersion?

Based on how spread out data is

what are the measures of dispersion?

Range and standard deviation

What is the mean and how do u calculate it?

It is the average and you add up all the numbers and divide by the number of numbers

What is a strength and weakness of the mean?

Strength- makes use of all the numbers in the data set, and so is a sensitive measure

Weakness- is affected by extreme values (too low or high) and can misrepresent the numbers as a result

What is the mode and how do you calculate it?

It is the most common number and you calculate it by putting similar scores together, and counting which one occurs the most frequently

What is the median and how do you calculate it?

The central value and it is calculated by arranging scores in order and finding the mid point

what is a strength and weakness of the median?

Strength- it is not affected by extreme values so not easily distorted

Weakness- not as sensitive as the mean, so not all values are reflected

What is the range and how do you calculate it?

The range is the measure of the spread of a set of scores, shown by the difference between the highest and lowest values

what js a strength and weakness of the range?

Strength- easy to calculate and shows extreme values

Weakness- affected by extreme values, does not take into account the number of observations in the data set

Weakness- does not give information on whether the scores are clustered around the mean or spread out

What is standard deviation?

The measure of the spread of data around the mean, higher value = more variation in scores

What is a strength and weakness of standard deviation?

Strength- gives more precise and sensitive measure of dispersion than the range, as all values are taken into account

Weakness- more complicated than range

Weakness- can also be distorted by a single extreme feature

What are the three types of data analysis graphs?

Bar charts, histograms, and scatter grams

Describe a bar chart.

Represents discrete data (unrelated-categories), placed on x axis

Mean/frequency is on the y axis

The coulombs do not touch and have equal space and width

Describe a histogram.

They represent continuous data (related- eg shoe size), instead of discrete

Columns touch bus each one forms a single interval on a related scale, eg time

Intervals are placed on x axis

Height of column shows frequency of values

If 0 frequency, then no bar for that interval

Describe a scatter graph.

They measure the re,auto ship/association between 2 variables

Data from 1 variable is presented in x axis and other is presented on y axis

Plot ‘x’ on graph

Pattern of plotted graph reveals correlation (eg +ve, -ve, no correlation)

What is the purpose of a graph?

To summarise quantitative data

Act as a visual and allows us to see patterns/differences

Define peer review.

The assessment of scientific work by others who are specialists in the same field to ensure that any research intended for publication is of high quality

Who are peers?

Experts of the same field

What is the most common way in which psychological research is published?

Journals

What are the three aims of peer review?

To allocate research funding

to validate the quality and relevance of research

to suggest amendments or improvements

What does ‘to allocate research funding’ mean?

It takes place in governments and private sectors. It means to invest in research that is the most promising.

What does ‘to validate the quality and relevance of research’ mean?

All elements are assessed with quality and accuracy in order to uphold the image of psychology

What is content analysis?

It is the indirect method of studying human behaviour through materials they produce

What is a coding unit?

It is a tally with categories and then you draw patterns and conclusions from it

What are the steps of content analysis? (hint:there are six)

1. identify the research question number

2. select the sample of materials

3. review the materials

4. make a coding system- categorise what you are analysing the material for use your coding units

5. carry out the analysis- tally every time one comes up

6. make a conclusion draw pattern related to the research question

What is a strength and a weakness of content analysis?

strength- has a few ethical issues

weakness- subjective, everyone does not see the same thing and the categories are all biased or subjective. They are all based on opinion.

How can you assess the reliability in content analysis?

By inter-rater reliability

What is a case study?

It is an in-depth investigation of an individual, group, event, or institution

What is a strength and weakness of case studies?

Weakness- you cannot generalise it to the wide population because the findings from case studies are only representative of one individual

Strength- case studies provide rich in-depth theatre the research can gain an insight into a unique experience of the participant- very high and ecological validity