PSYC 2260 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Histogram, Kurtosis, Heavy-Tailed Distribution
26 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
PSYC 2260 Introduction to Research Methods in Psychology
Chapter 1 Displaying Order
2 Branches of Statistics:
1. Descriptive: to summarize and describe order, pattern, or structure in a group of number
2. Inferential: drawing conclusion based on the numbers but used to infer beyond the number
Basic terms and concepts:
Variable Value score
Self-esteem Value of 1 to 10 His score is 6
1. Nominal (categorical)
- Number represent discrete qualitative categories (1= female; 2=male)
2. Numeric (quantitative)
-Rank-order (ordinal): 1=strongly disagree…..5=strongly agree; place finished in a race
-Equal-interval: number represents equal amounts of what is being measured. E.g. height in
inches; speed in km/h
-Ratio scale: an equal-interval variable; has an absolute zero point
-Discrete variable: variable that has specific values and that cannot have values between
these specific values
-Continuous variables: “underling continuity” when an infinite number of possible value
exists between any 2 measured value:
E.g. self-esteem 1 2 3 4 5 ; You can have 1.1, 1.2, 1.3….
True scales(ratio scale) are not used that much in psychology, most psychological variables are
in nominal; rank-ordered, equal-interval
Note: a variable can have several different characteristics
- E.g. Gender: both nominal and discrete
Age: is continuous, equal-interval, and a ratio scale
Stress: on a scale of 1-7 is discretely measured, but could also be continuous
Frequency of values:
How many times a value occurs in a variables
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
2 branches of statistics: descriptive: to summarize and describe order, pattern, or structure in a group of number. Inferential: drawing conclusion based on the numbers but used to infer beyond the number. Number represent discrete qualitative categories (1= female; 2=male: numeric (quantitative) Rank-order (ordinal): 1=strongly disagree 5=strongly agree; place finished in a race. Equal-interval: number represents equal amounts of what is being measured. Ratio scale: an equal-interval variable; has an absolute zero point. Discrete variable: variable that has specific values and that cannot have values between these specific values. Continuous variables: underling continuity when an infinite number of possible value exists between any 2 measured value: E. g. self-esteem 1 2 3 4 5 ; you can have 1. 1, 1. 2, 1. 3 . True scales(ratio scale) are not used that much in psychology, most psychological variables are in nominal; rank-ordered, equal-interval. Note: a variable can have several different characteristics. Age: is continuous, equal-interval, and a ratio scale.
