Chapter 3- A Statistics Refresher • Frequency Distribution - all scores are listed alongside
the number of times each score occurred.
Scales of Measurement
• Continuous scales – theoretically possible to divide any
of the values of the scale. Typically having a wide range
of possible values (e.g., height or a depression scale).
• Discrete scales – categorical values (e.g., male or
female)
• Nominal Scales - involve classification or categorization
based on one or more distinguishing characteristics; all
things measured must be placed into mutually exclusive
and exhaustive categories (e.g. apples and oranges,
DSM-IV diagnoses, etc.).
• Interval Scales - contain equal intervals between
numbers. Each unit on the scale is exactly equal to any Frequency distributions may be in tabular form as in the
other unit on the scale (e.g. IQ scores and most other example above. It is a simple frequency distribution (scores
psychological measures). have not been grouped).
• Ratio Scales – Interval scales with a true zero point (e.g. Grouped frequency distributions have class intervals rather
height or reaction time). than actual test scores.
Psychological Measurement – Most psychological measures
are truly ordinal but are treated as interval measures for
statistical purposes.
Describing Data
• Distributions - a set of test scores arrayed for recording
or study.
• Raw Score - a straightforward, unmodified accounting
of performance that is usually numerical.
• frequency polygon - test scores or class intervals (as
indicated on the X -axis) meet frequencies (as indicated
• A histogram is a graph with vertical lines drawn at the
on the Y -axis).
true limits of each test score (or class interval), forming
a series of contiguous rectangles.
Types of Distributions
- Normal: bell shaped curved
• Bar graph - numbers indicative of frequency appear on
- Bimodal distribution: 2 bell-shaped curved
the Y -axis, and reference to some categorization (e.g.,
- Positively skewed.
yes/ no/ maybe, male/female) appears on the X -axis.
- Negatively skewed.
- J-shaped curved
- Rectangular shaped distribution
Measures of Central Tendency
• Central tendency - a statistic that indicates the average
or midmost score between the extreme scores in a
distribution.
• Variability is an indication of the degree to which scores
are scattered or dispersed in a distribution.
Measures of variability are statistics that describe the amount
of variation in a distribution.
• Range - difference between the highest and the lowest The normal curve is a bell-shaped, smooth, mathematically
scores. defined curve that is highest at its center. Perfectly
• Interquartile range – difference between the third and symmetrical.
first quartiles of a distribution.
Area Under the Normal Curve
• Semi-interquartile range – the interquartile range
divided by 2. The normal curve can be conveniently divided into areas
• Average deviation – the average deviation of scores in defined by units of standard deviations.
a distribution from the mean. Standard Scores
• Variance - the arithmetic means of the squares of the
differences between the scores in a distribution and A standard score is a raw score that has been converted from
their mean one scale to another scale, where the latter scale has some
• Standard deviation – the square root of the average arbitrarily set mean and standard deviation.
squared deviations about the mean. It is the square root Correlation and Inference
of the variance. Typical distance of scores from the
mean. • A coefficient of correlation (or correlation coefficient) is
• Skewness - the nature and extent to which symmetry is a number that provides us with an index of the strength
absent in a distribution. of the relationship between two things.
• Positive skew - relatively few of the scores fall at the • Correlation coefficients vary in magnitude between -1
high end of the distribution. and +1. A correlation of 0 indicates no relationship
• Negative skew – relatively few of the scores fall at the between two variables.
low end of the distribution.
• Kurtosis – the steepness of a distribution in its center. • Positive correlations indicate that as one variable
increase or decreases, the other variable follows suit.
• Platykurtic – relatively flat.
• Leptokurtic – relatively peaked. • Negative correlations indicate that as one variable
• Mesokurtic – somewhere in the middle. increases the other decreases.
• The Normal Curve
• Correlation between variables does not imply causation
but it does aid in prediction.
• Pearson r: A method of computing correlation when
both variables are linearly related and continuous.
Once a correlation coefficient is obtained, it needs to be
checked for statistical significance (typically a probability level
below .05).
By squaring r, one is able to obtain a coefficient of
determination, or the variance that the variables share with
one another.
Spearman Rho: A method for computing correlation, used
primarily when sample sizes are small, or the variables are
ordinal in nature.
- Scatterplots of strong correlations feature points tightly
clustered together in a diagonal line. For positive
correlations the line goes from bottom left to top right.
- Strong negative correlations form a tightly clustered
diagonal line from top left to bottom right.
Outlier – an extremely atypical point (case), lying relatively far
away from the other points in a scatterplot.
- Restriction of range leads to weaker correlations
