UNIT 1 - INTRO DATA ANALYSIS

Descriptive statistics

organize, summarize, and communicate a group of numerical observations (sample) (graph, summary)

Inferential statistics

uses the sample data to make a estimate about the large population (population)

Sample

a set of observations drawn from the population of interest

Population

who are you interested in studying

Variables

are observations of physical, attitudinal, and behavioural characteristics that can take on different values (abstract and concrete) (things you are trying to measure)

Discrete observations

can take on only specific values (whole numbers) 1,2,3,4

Continuous observations

can take on a full range of values (whole numbers and decimal places) 1, 1.25, 1.50, 1.75, 2....

Nominal variables

are used for observations that have categories or names as their value (people who drink coffee and people who do not)(no meaningful difference) (discrete)

Ordinal variables

are used for observations that have ranking (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th) (there is a meaningful difference)(discrete)

Interval variables

are used for observations that have numbers as their values (zero does not mean nothing) distance & temperature (continuous but can be discrete)

Ratio variables

variables that meet the criteria for intervals but zero does mean nothing (grades)(continuous but can be discrete)

scale variables

a varialbe that meets criteria for an interval and ratio variable (weight and age)

Levels

are the discrete values or conditions that variables can take on (coffee vs non coffee drinker)

predictor variable

has a least two levels that we manipulate of observe to see it's effects on the outcome variable

Outcome variable

is the variable that we hypothesize to be related to or cause by changes in the predictor variable

confounding variable

is any variable that conflicts with the predictor variable so that we cant reallt determine which variable is at work (the one we don't know)

reliable

is the measure consistent across multiple test (scale)

valid

is the tool measuring what is was intended to measure

Hypothesis testing

the process of drawing conclusions abotu 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 research

is an association between two or more variables

independent variable

is a type of (predictor variable) in which the researcher manipulates the levels of that variable

dependent variable

is a type of (outcome variable) in which the researcher measures the response to the manipulation of the (independent variable)

Random assignment

every participant in the study has an equal chance of being assigned to any of the groups of experiment conditions

Experimental research

is a study where participants are randomly assigned to a condition or level of one or more independent variables

experimental group

a (independent variable) that receives the treatment or intervention of interest in an experiment

control group

a (independent variable) that does not receive the treatment in the study but is designed to match the experiment group in all ways but the treatment itself

between-groups research design

is an experiment in which participants experience one and only one level of the independent variable

within-groups research design

is an experiment in which all particpants in the study experience all the different levels of the independent variable

data ethics

a set of principles related to all stages of working with data- (a set of rules??)

open science

is an approach to research that encourages collaboration, sharing research methodology, data and analysis to allow others ot question and recreate the findings (sharing is caring)

Replication

is the duplication of results, ideally in a different context or with a sample that has different characterisitcs (recreating with different people)

serve testing

subjecting a hypothesis to rigorous statistical scruntiny aimed at uncovering any flaws in that hypothesis (trying to find flaws???)

Preregistration

is where researchers outline their research design and analysis plan before performing the study

HARKing

is an unethical practice in which researcher change their hypothesis to match their findings (change is good)

Raw scores

data that have not yet been transformed or analyzed

frequency distribution

describes the pattern of a set of numbers by displaying a count or proportion for each possible value of a variable

frequency table

is a visual depiction of data that shows how often each value occurred, how many scores were at each value

outlier

is an extreme score that is either very high or very low in comparison with the rest of the scores in the sample

grouped frequency table

allows researchers to depict data visually by reporting the frequencies within a given interval rather than the frequencies for a specific value

histogram

is a graph that appears like a bar graph but depicts just one variable, usually based on continuous data, within the values of the variable on the x-axis and the frequencies on the y-axis

normal distributions

is a specific frequency distribution that is bell shaped, symmetric, unimodal curve

skewed distributions

are distributions in which one of the tails of the distribution is pulled away from the centre

positively skewed

the tail of the distribution extends to the right, in a positive direction

floor effect

a situation in which a constraint prevents a variable from taking values BELOW a certain point

negatively skewed

have a distribution with a tail that extends to the left, in a negative direction

ceiliing effect

a situation in which a constraint prevents a variable from taking on variables ABOVE a given number

dot plot

a graph that displays each data point in a sample, with the range of scoes along the x-axis and a dot for each data point above the appropriate value