Types of data, measures of central tendency and dispersion, graphs, distributions and percentages (RM IV)

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  • Created by: asusre
  • Created on: 14-04-21 12:45
What is quantitative data?
Quantitative data is numerical and can be counted.
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What is qualitative data?
Qualitative data is non-numerical and is expressed in words.
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What is an advantage of qualitative data?
Qualitative data is rich in detail and thus is high in external validity.
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What is a disadvantage of qualitative data?
Qualitative data is difficult to analyse and it is hard to identify patterns in the data.
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What is an advantage of quantitative data?
Quantitative data is easily analysed and it is easy to make comparisons between groups.
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What is a disadvantage of quantitative data?
Quantitative data is narrower in scope and less detailed, thus is low in external validity.
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What is meta-analysis?
Meta-analysis combines the findings from many studies on a particular topic to produce an over statistical conclusion (the effect size).
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What is primary data?
Primary data is original data that has been collected first-hand by the researcher from the participants themselves, specifically for the purpose of the investigation.
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What is secondary data?
Secondary data is collected by someone other than the researcher and thus pre-dates the current research project. It has already been subjected to statistical testing so the significance is known.
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What is a strength of primary data?
Primary data is valid because it is designed to specifically target the information requires.
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What is a limitation of primary data?
Primary data requires time and effort to collect.
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What is a strength of secondary data?
Secondary data is inexpensive and easily accessed requiring minimal effort.
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What is a limitation of secondary data?
Secondary data may be low in validity and may not exactly meet the researcher's needs. It may be incomplete or outdated.
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What are measures of central tendency?
Measures of central tendency are averages which tell us the most typical values in a set of data.
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What is the mean?
The mean is the arithmetic average calculated by adding up all the values in a set of data and dividing by the number of values.
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What is the advantage of the mean?
The mean is representative of the whole data set as it uses all the data in its calculation. It is the most powerful measure of central tendency.
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What is the disadvantage of the mean?
The mean is easily distorted by outliers.
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What is the median?
The median is the central value in a set of data when values are arranged from lowest to highest. If there are two middle values, add them together and divide by two.
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What is the advantage of the median?
The advantage of the median is that it is not affected by outliers.
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What are the disadvantages of the median?
The disadvantages are that the median does not work well with small sets of data and is less sensitive than the mean, as it ignores the actual values of lower and higher numbers.
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What is the mode?
The mode is the most frequently occuring value in a set of data.
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What is the advantage of the mode?
The advantage of the mode is that it is very easy to calculate and is suitable for non-numerical data.
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What are the disadvantages of the mode?
The disadvantages are that it cannot be used if there is less or more than just one mode, and small changes can radically affect the mode in a small data set.
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What are measures of dispersion?
Measures of dispersion tell us the spread or variation in a set of values. These are range and standard deviation.
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What is range?
Range is a simple calculation of the dispersion in a set of scores which is calculated by subtracting the lowest score from the highest score and adding 1 as a mathematical correction. This means that it is affected by outliers.
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What does the range indicate?
The higher the range, the greater the variation between the scores in that condition, which indicates a lack of consistency.
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What is standard deviation?
Standard deviation is a sophisticated measure of dispersion in a set of scores. It tells us how much, on average, each score deviates from the mean.
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What does the standard deviation indicate?
The standard deviation tells us the consistency of which the independent variable impacted on the dependant variable. A large standard deviation suggests that individual differences between participants had a large impact on the results. A low standard de
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What is an advantage of standard deviation?
An advantage of standard deviation is that it is a more precise measure of dispersion than the range as it includes all the values in its calculation.
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What is a disadvantage of standard deviation?
Standard deviation is easily distorted by outliers.
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What is a bar chart?
Bar charts represent the frequency of each variable by the height of the bars. Bar charts are used for nominal data (in categories). Each bar is separated from the others.
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What is a histogram?
Histograms show frequency using the area of the bars. The x-axis must start at a true zero and the scale is continuous, which means that the bars must touch.
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What other graphs can be used as alternatives to histograms?
Line graphs or frequency polygons (uses bars and midpoints are joined) are used as an alternative to histograms, usually to compare multiple conditions of an experiment at the same time.
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What are scattergrams?
Scattergrams represent the strength and direction of the relationship between co-variables in a correlational analysis. Unlike other graphs, they do not depict differences, but associations. Each point on the graph corresponds to the x and y position of t
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What is the distribution?
Distribution is the overall pattern of a large set of data.
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What is normal distribution?
Normal distribution is a symmetrical spread of frequency data that forms a bell-shaped pattern. Most people are located in the middle of the curve and few people at the extreme ends.
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What are the characteristics of normal distribution?
The mean, median and mode are all located at the peak, at the exact mid-point.
The distribution is symmetrical around the mid-point.
The dispersion of scores either side of the mid-point is consistent and can be expressed as standard deviations.
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What is skewed distribution?
Skewed distribution is a spread of frequency data that is not symmetrical, where the data clusters to one end.
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What are the characteristics of skewed distribution?
Scores are not distributed equally around the mean. The mean, median and mode are at different points in the distribution.
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What is positively skewed distribution?
Positive skew is a type of frequency distribution in which the long tail is on the positive (right) side of the peak and most of the distribution is concentrated on the left, with most scores on the lower end.
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What is negatively skewed distribution?
Negative skew is a type of frequency distribution in which the long tail is on the negative (left) side of the peak and most of the distribution is concentrated on the right, with most scores on the higher end.
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How can you use your hands to remember skewed distribution?
If you picture your left hand as a negative skew and your right hand as a positive skew, then your middle finger is the mode, your ring finger is the median and your pinkie finger is the mean.
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How do you calculate percentages?
number/total x 100 = %
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