Measurements, Mistakes, and Misunderstandings

A set of practice flashcards focusing on vocabulary and concepts related to measurements, biases, and statistical variables.

Open-ended questions

Questions that allow respondents to answer in their own words.

Closed-ended questions

Questions where respondents are given a list of alternatives to choose from.

Recency effect

A bias in which respondents tend to choose options given later in a list.

Measurement

The process of quantifying an attribute or phenomenon, such as height or happiness.

Categorical variables

Variables that can be categorized into distinct groups, such as gender or opinions.

Continuous measurement variables

Variables that can take any number over an interval, such as height or weight.

Discrete measurement variables

Variables that take only whole number values, such as the number of heads in coin flips.

Validity

The extent to which a measurement accurately reflects the phenomenon being studied.

Reliability

The degree to which a measurement produces consistent results under the same conditions.

Bias in data

Systematic error or skewness in data that leads to inaccurate or misleading results.

Probability measures

Continuous measurement variables that take values between zero and one.

Underemployment

Individuals who are eligible to work but are not actively seeking work or are working less than they wish.

Discouraged workers

Workers who are eligible to work but are not part of the labor force because they are dissatisfied with their job prospects.

Parameters

Characteristics or features of a population.

Statistics

Characteristics or features derived from a sample.