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1 Chapter 3
A Statistics Refresher
2 Scales of Measurement
Continuous scales – theoretically possible to divide any of the
values of the scale. Typically having a wide range of possible
values (e.g. height or a depression scale).
Discrete scales – categorical values (e.g. male or female)
Error – the collective influence of all of the factors on a test
score beyond those specifically measured by the test
3 Scales of Measurement (cont’d.)
Nominal Scales - involve classification or categorization based
on one or more distinguishing characteristics; all things
measured must be placed into mutually exclusive and
exhaustive categories (e.g. apples and oranges, DSM-IV
diagnoses, etc.).
4 Scales of Measurement (cont’d.)
Interval Scales - contain equal intervals between numbers.
Each unit on the scale is exactly equal to any other unit on the
scale (e.g. IQ scores and most other psychological
measures).
Ratio Scales – Interval scales with a true zero point (e.g.
height or reaction time).
Psychological Measurement – Most psychological measures
are truly ordinal but are treated as interval measures for
statistical purposes.
5 Describing Data
Distributions - a set of test scores arrayed for recording or
study.
Raw Score - a straightforward, unmodified accounting of
performance that is usually numerical.
Frequency Distribution - all scores are listed alongside the
number of times each score occurred
6 Describing Data
Frequency distributions may be in tabular form as in the 1
example above. It is a simple frequency distribution (scores
have not been grouped).
study.
Raw Score - a straightforward, unmodified accounting of
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performance that is usually numerical.
Frequency Distribution - all scores are listed alongside the
number of times each score occurred
6 Describing Data
Frequency distributions may be in tabular form as in the
example above. It is a simple frequency distribution (scores
have not been grouped).
7 Describing Data
Grouped frequency distributions have class intervals rather than
actual test scores
8 Describing Data
A histogram is a graph with vertical lines drawn at the true limits
of each test score (or class interval), forming a series of
contiguous rectangles
9 Describing Data
Bar graph - numbers indicative of frequency appear on the Y -
axis, and reference to some categorization (e.g., yes/ no/
maybe, male/female) appears on the X -axis.
10 Describing Data
frequency polygon - test scores or class intervals (as indicated
on the X -axis) meet frequencies (as indicated on the Y -axis).
11
12 Measures of Central Tendency
Central tendency - a statistic that indicates the average or
midmost score between the extreme scores in a distribution.
13 Measures of Variability
Variability is an indication of the degree to which scores are
scattered or dispersed in a distribution.
14 Measures of Variability
Measures of variability are statistics that describe the amount of
variation in a distribution.
Range - difference between the highest and the lowest scores.
Interquartile range – difference between the third and first
quartiles of a distribution.
Semi-interquartile range – the interquartile range divided by 2
Average deviation – the average deviation of scores in a
distribution from the mean. 2
Variance - the arithmetic mean of the squares of the differences
between the scores in a distribution and their mean
14 Measures of Variability
Measures of variability are statistics that describe the amount of
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variation in a distribution.
Range - difference between the highest and the lowest scores.
Interquartile range – difference between the third and first
quartiles of a distribution.
Semi-interquartile range – the interquartile range divided by 2
Average deviation – the average deviation of scores in a
distribution from the mean.
Variance - the arithmetic mean of the squares of the differences
between the scores in a distribution and their mean
Standard deviation – the square root of the average squared
deviations about the mean. It is the square root of the variance.
Typical distance of scores from the mean.
15 Measures of Variability
Skewness - the nature and extent to which symmetry is
absent in a distribution.
• Positive skew - relatively few of the scores fall at the high end
of the distribution.
• Negative skew – relatively few of the scores fall at the low end
of the distribution.
Kurtosis – the steepness of a distribution in its center.
• Platykurtic – relatively flat.
• Leptokurtic – relatively peaked.
• Mesokurtic – somewhere in the middle.
16 The Normal Curve
The normal curve is a bell-shaped, smooth, mathematically
defined curve that is highest at its center. Perfectly symmetrical.
17 Standard Scores
A standard score is a raw score that has been converted from
one scale to another scale, where the latter scale has some
arbitrarily set mean and standard deviation.
18 Correlation and Inference
• A coefficient of correlation (or correlation coefficient) is a
number that provides us with an index of the strength of the
relationship between two things.
• Correlation coefficients vary in magnitude between -1 and +1.
A correlation of 0 indicates no relationship between two
variables. 3
• Positive correlations indicate that as one variable increases or
decreases, the other variable follows suit.
A standard score is a raw score that has been converted from
one scale to another scale, where the latter scale has some
arbitrarily set mean and standard deviation.
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18 Correlation and Inference
• A coefficient of correlation (or correlation coefficient) is a
number that provides us with an index of the strength of the
relationship between two things.
• Correlation coefficients vary in magnitude between -1 and +1.
A correlation of 0 indicates no relationship between two
variables.
• Positive correlations indicate that as one variable increases or
decreases, the other variable follows suit.
• Negative correlations indicate that as one variable increases
the other decreases.
• Correlation between variables does not imply causation but it
does aid in prediction.
19 Correlation and Inference
Pearson r: A method of computing correlation when both
variables are linearly related and continuous.
Once a correlation coefficient is obtained, it needs to be
checked for statistical significance (typically a probability level
below .05).
By squaring r, one is able to obtain a coefficient of
determination, or the variance that the variables share with one
another.
Spearman Rho: A method for computing correlation, used
primarily when sample sizes are small or the variables are
ordinal in nature.
20 Correlation and Inference
21 Correlation and Inference
Scatterplots of strong correlations feature points tightly
clustered together in a diagonal line. For positive correlations
the line goes from bottom left to top right.
22 Correlation and Inference
Strong negative correlations form a tightly clustered diagonal
line from top left to bottom right.
23 Correlation and Inference
Outlier – an extremely atypical point (case), lying relatively far
away from the other points in a scatterplot
24 Correlation and Inference
Restriction of range leads to weaker correlations
25 Meta-Analysis 4
• Meta-analysis allows researchers to look at the relationship
between variables across many separate studies.
Strong negative correlations form a tightly clustered diagonal
line from top left to bottom right.
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23 Correlation and Inference
Outlier – an extremely atypical point (case), lying relatively far
away from the other points in a scatterplot
24 Correlation and Inference
Restriction of range leads to weaker correlations
25 Meta-Analysis
• Meta-analysis allows researchers to look at the relationship
between variables across many separate studies.
• Meta-analysis- a family of techniques to statistically combine
information across studies to produce single estimates of the
data under study.
• The estimates are in the form of effect size, which is often
expressed as a correlation coefficient.