PSYC 210 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Level Of Measurement, Central Tendency

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 210
• Professor: Cathy Mc Farland

Document Summary

Measures of central tendency numerical values that refer to the center of the distribution. Mode (mo) the most commonly occurring score if two nonadjacent values occur with equal (or near equal) frequency, we say that the distribution is bimodal and would report both modes. Advantages: represents the largest number of people having the same score, applicable to nominal data, not sensitive to outliers. Disadvantages: may not be particularly representative of the entire collection of numbers. Median (mdn) the score corresponding to the point having 50% of the observations below it when the observations are arranged in numerical order. Advantages: unaffected by extreme scores, useful in studies in which extreme numbers occasionally occur but have no particular significance, does not require any assumptions about the interval properties of the scale. Disadvantage: does not enter readily into equations, not as stable from sample to sample. Mean (x) the sum of the scores divided by the number of scores equation = x =