PNB 2XE3 Study Guide - Final Guide: Descriptive Statistics, Statistical Inference, Quartile

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour
• Course: PNB 2XE3
• Professor: Brett Beston

Document Summary

1 - introduction: descriptive statistics describe data. Inferential statistics: when there is variability in measured characteristics, we need to use multiple, we often cannot measure the entire population so we sample the population. measurements to ensure our results are generalizable to a population. A sample is a subset of the population. Inferential statistics draws inferences about parameters (characteristics of the population), from the statistics (characteristics of the sample. ) parameters themselves, but to compare parameters between two populations: a variable is any characteristic to be examined in statistics. Independent variable is manipulated: dependent variable is modified as a result of the manipulations. Types of variables: continuous variables: anything measured quantitatively, categorical variables: a non-quantitative value eg. young/old. 2 scales of measurement: a measurement is a number assigned to an object, scales of measurements refer to the type of relationship between a number and its object, the characteristics of this relationship, and what it means.