0.6 statistical analysis

statistics

large amounts of data from research studies

descriptive statistics

numerical data summarizing a dataset (graphs, charts..); only looks at what the data is

inferential statistics

analyses of the graphs and charts

measures of central tendency

statistical tools to describe data sets (mean, mode, range, median..)

mean

the average value of a data set

median

the middle value of a data set when values are in order from lowest to highest

mode

the value most reoccurring in a data set

range

difference between the highest and the lowest values (highest - lowest)

normal/bell curve

visualizes a data set through a bell shaped curve; showing the mean in the middle

regression to the mean

variables much higher or lower than the mean are often much closer to the mean when measured a second time

positive skew

due to unusually high values, the majority of data is on the left, leaving a tail on the right

negative skew

due to unusually low values the majority of data is on the right, leaving a tail on the left

standard deviation

measures how spread out numbers are in a group/data set

percentile rank

measure indicating the percentage of values in a distribution that are equal to or below a particular value

bimodal distribution

something is causing two significant groups/two modes in a data set

statistical significance

observed results in a study are due to the independent variable, and not due to pure chance (measured with p value)

statistically significant difference

p-value < 0.05

no statically significant difference

p-value >0.05

effect sizes

seeing if the IV has any actual effect on the DV

meta analysis

analysis of multiple research studies on the same topic