AP Psychology Vocabulary- Module 3

statistics

using mathematical methods to understand numerical information (data)

descriptive statistics

using statistical methods to provide a simple summary of data

mode

the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

mean

the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores

median

the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it

range

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

standard deviation

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

normal curve

a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean

inferential statistics

using statistical methods to interpret data meaningfully

statistical significance

a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result (such as a difference between samples) occurred by chance, assuming there is no difference between the populations being studied

meta-analysis

a statistical procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion