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Using Statistics to Describe DaTA

AP Psychology September 2014. Using Statistics to Describe DaTA. What is “Statistics”?. A common language for describing, organizing, and interpreting data Aspects: Distribution Central Tendencies Variation. DISTRIBUTION. Frequency of the occurrence of scores in a data set.

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Using Statistics to Describe DaTA

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  1. AP Psychology September 2014 Using Statistics to Describe DaTA

  2. What is “Statistics”? • A common language for describing, organizing, and interpreting data • Aspects: • Distribution • Central Tendencies • Variation

  3. DISTRIBUTION • Frequency of the occurrence of scores in a data set

  4. CENTRAL TENDENCIES • A typical or representative value for a data set • Measured using … • Mean • Mathematical average • Sum of all scores divided by total number of scores • Median • Midpoint , or 50th percentile of scores • Half of scores are above it, and half are below • Mode • Most frequently occurring scores

  5. Caveats for Using Central Tendencies • A few atypical scores can distort the mean. • A skewed (lopsided) distribution can lead to misleading use of data

  6. Normal Distribution • Symmetrical and bell-shaped when graphed • Mean, median, and mode are all the same

  7. Skewed Distributions • POSITIVELY SKEWED • One or just a few HIGH scores • Data set contains more LOW scores • NEGATIVELY SKEWED • One or just a few LOW scores • Data set contains more HIGH scores

  8. Skewed Distributions

  9. VARIANCE • How similar or diverse the scores are in a data set • Aspects • Range • Gap between lowest and highest scores • Standard Deviation • COMPUTED measure of how much scores vary around the mean

  10. Standard Deviation

  11. Inferential Statistics • How do we … • make generalizations from samples? • decide if differences are significant • infer that an observed difference accurately estimates the true difference?

  12. Inferential Statistics

  13. Which of the data sets is more statistically significant? Case A Case B • The four-year science course grades of 300 graduating LPHS seniors are recorded in a study of science performance among CPS high school students. • The four-year science course grades of 3,000 graduating seniors from various CPS schools in different neighborhoods are recorded in a study of science performance among CPS high school students.

  14. Which of the data sets is more statistically significant? Case A Case B • The average science course grades of LPHS graduating seniors is higher for females than for males. Specifically, the average course grade for females was 83%, and for males it was 70%. • The average science course grades of LPHS graduating seniors is higher for females than for males. Specifically, the average course grade for females was 83%, and for males it was 81%.

  15. Which of the data sets is more statistically significant? Case A Case B • The average science course grades of LPHS graduating seniors is higher for females than for males. The data also show that the majority of grades for females declined from year to year throughout their four years of high school. • The average science course grades of LPHS graduating seniors is higher for females than for males. The data also show that the majority of students individually earned the same grade for all science courses they had taken.

  16. Which of the data sets is more statistically significant? Case A Case B • A high school senior goes on a one-day college visit and has the opportunity to attend two different classes while he is there. He finds both of the instructors to be engaging and dynamic. He tells his friends that the school has “awesome teachers.” • A high school senior goes on a two-week college visit and has the opportunity to attend three different classes every day, for a total of 15 different classes. He finds 10 of the instructors to be engaging and dynamic. He tells his friends that the school has “awesome teachers.”

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