PSYC 3311: Experimental Psychology - Chapter 14: Using Inferential Statistics

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts from Chapter 14 of the course on inferential statistics as discussed by Professor Jacob M. Namias.

Inferential Statistics

Statistics that assess the reliability of findings and allow conclusions about population characteristics based on sample data.

Population Parameters

Statistics that characterize a population, symbolized by Greek letters (e.g., μ for population mean).

Sample Statistics

Statistics that characterize a sample, symbolized by italicized Roman letters (e.g., M for sample mean).

Sampling Error

The difference between the population parameters and sample statistics.

Sampling Distribution of the Mean

The distribution formed by calculating the mean of every possible sample of a given size and plotting those means.

Standard Error (SE)

The standard deviation of a sampling distribution, indicating how much a sample statistic varies from sample to sample.

Degrees of Freedom (df)

The number of scores in a sample that are free to vary around the mean, defined as n−1.

Point Estimate

A single value estimate of a population parameter, such as the sample mean.

Margin of Error (MoE)

The range of values within which a population parameter is likely to fall, usually expressed with a percentage.

Confidence Interval (CI)

The range of values within which the true population parameter is likely to lie with a specified confidence level.

Null Hypothesis (H0)

The hypothesis that there is no effect or difference, which is tested against an alternative hypothesis.

Type 1 Error

Rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true, indicating a false positive.

Type 2 Error

Failing to reject the null hypothesis when it is false, indicating a false negative.

Alpha Level (α)

The threshold probability for making a Type 1 error, commonly set at .05.

Statistical Significance

A determination that an observed effect is unlikely to have occurred due to sampling error alone (e.g., p < .05).

Power

The probability of correctly rejecting a false null hypothesis, indicating the ability to detect an effect.

Chi-Square Test

A nonparametric test used for categorical data to assess how likely it is that any observed difference between the sets arose by chance.

Bayesian Analysis

A statistical method that interprets probability as a degree of belief or certainty rather than frequentist probabilities.

Replicated Findings

The ability to reproduce results from previous studies consistently, confirming reliability.

Preregistration

The practice of publicly registering study protocols, including methods and proposed analyses, before conducting the research.

Open Data

Making the data from research studies publicly accessible for verification and analysis.

Open Access

Publishing research findings in a format accessible to the public free of charge.