PS296 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Caffeine, Random Assignment
The Role of Measurement Scales:
-molecular activity continues to increase as temperature increases
-however comfort at first rises as the temperature rises, levels off briefly, and then starts to
fall
-forms an interted U relationship
-the problem comes when it is time to interpret the results and we must ask if they bear any
meaningful relationship to the objects or events in question
-hense we no longer deal with a statistical issue, but a methodological one
Variables:
-properties of objects or events that can take on different values are referred to as variables
Examples:
-hair colour
-height
-length
-speed
-bib numbers
-position in the race)
Document Summary
Molecular activity continues to increase as temperature increases. However comfort at first rises as the temperature rises, levels off briefly, and then starts to fall. The problem comes when it is time to interpret the results and we must ask if they bear any meaningful relationship to the objects or events in question. Hense we no longer deal with a statistical issue, but a methodological one. Properties of objects or events that can take on different values are referred to as variables. Variable can take on only a relatively few possible values. Variable could assume any value between the lowest and highest points on the scale. Ex speed, paw lick latency, amount of milk produced by a cow. What the study is all about is the independent variable, and the results of the study (the data) are measures of the dependent variable.
