Sample, Range, Standard Deviation

Measures of Dispersion

descriptive statistical techniques conducted to identify the individual difference of the scores in a sample

Range

is the difference between the highest and lowest values in a dataset, indicating the spread of data. Calculated by subtracting the lowest score from the highest

Standard deviation

average number of points by which the scores of a distribution vary from the mean. Square root of the variance 

What is mean a measure of?

central tendency when data distribution is symmetrical and normally distributed

What is standard deviation a measure for?

measure of dispersion

Sample characteristics

description of participants who comprise the study sample

Descriptive statistics

calculated to generate sample characteristics and the type of statistic conducted depends on level of measurement of the demographic variables in a study

Demographic variable

variables that are gathered in demographic research include age, sex, income level, race, employment, location, etc.

Clinical variables

selective physical, emotional, and cognitive variables collected and analyzed to describe specific clinical characteristics of the study sample