PSYC 258: Chapter 1

Terminology &
Scales of Measurement

Preview

Terminology

Scales of Measurement

Notation & Math Basics

Learning Objectives

By the end of this class you should be able to

1. Apply terminology relevant to the field of

Statistics

2. Compare the different scales of measurement

and give examples of each

3. Explain why scales of measurement matter

4. Properly use symbols and basic math rules

Terminology

What is Statistics?

What are the two branches?

What types of questions can

Statistics answer?

Terminology

What is a Hypothesis?

Hypothesis an educated guess

Hypothesis a testable prediction

(based on prior evidence)

Terminology

Null Hypothesis everything that

does not support what the researcher
wants to find; what is already
assumed

Research Hypothesis what the

researcher wants to find evidence to
support

Terminology

We are interested in creativity. We believe people

that are awake at night (and sleep during the
day) are more creative than those that are awake
during the day (and sleep at night). We collect a
sample of 30 people from across the country, 15
of those people are awake at night, and 15 of
those people are awake during the day.

What is the research hypothesis?

What is the null hypothesis?

Terminology

Something that is the same for everyone is C_______

Something that can take-on one or more values is a V_______

2X + 8, X is a _______

Person As height is a _______

Person As gender is a _______

Person As name is a _______

Is 4 a variable?

Is male a variable?

Terminology

What is the difference between an

Independent Variable and a Dependent
Variable?

Independent Variable (IV) a variable that

can be manipulated

Dependent Variable (DV) a variable that is

expected to be influenced by the manipulated
variable, measured but not manipulated

Terminology

We are interested in creativity. We believe people

that are awake at night (and sleep during the
day) are more creative than those that are awake
during the day (and sleep at night). We collect a
sample of 30 people from across the country, 15
of those people are awake at night, and 15 of
those people are awake during the day.

What is the IV?

What is the DV?

Terminology

Extraneous Variables other variables

that may influence the dependent
variable but are not manipulated, stuff we
are not interested in (nuisance variables)

Want to control extraneous variables

(Related to chance)

Terminology

We are interested in creativity. We believe

people that are awake at night (and sleep
during the day) are more creative than
those that are awake during the day (and
sleep at night). We collect a sample of 30
people from across the country, 15 of
those people are awake at night, and 15
of those people are awake during the day.

What could be an extraneous variable?

Terminology

What is the difference between a

Population and a Sample?

Population everyone (or thing) of

interest

Sample part of the population

Terminology

We are interested in creativity. We believe people

that are awake at night (and sleep during the
day) are more creative than those that are awake
during the day (and sleep at night). We collect a
sample of 30 people from across the country, 15
of those people are awake at night, and 15 of
those people are awake during the day.

What is the population?

What is the sample?

Terminology

What is the difference between a

Statistic and a Parameter?

Statistic a value describing a sample

Parameter a value describing the

population

Terminology

Sample - Statistic
Population - Parameter
Estimate statistics used to
approximate parameters

Scales of Measurement

Scales of measurement different

classes of variables

Nominal groups (gender,

ethnicity, etc.)

Scales of Measurement

Ordinal groups, but there is an

order (class level)

Interval numbers with an equal

distance between each value
(Likert scale)

Scales of Measurement

Ratio numbers with an equal

distance between each value AND
zero means absence (height,
salary, age, etc.)

Scales of Measurement

Which are rankings (1st 2nd 3rd )? Why?

Which is temperature Fahrenheit?

Which is temperature Celsius?

Which is temperature Kelvin?

Are negative numbers allowed for ratio variables?

Which is your net worth?

What is required to be ratio?

Scales of Measurement

Why do these scales matter?

To say twice as much Ratio

To say 5 points more Interval (or Ratio)
To say more Ordinal (or Interval or
Ratio)
Can only say different with Nominal

Scales of Measurement

Ratio holds the most info and we can

always downgrade ratio into any of the
other types

Also influences the statistics we can

calculate (mean, standard deviation) and
tests we can perform (t, regression,
ANOVA, Chi-Square)

Scales of Measurement

Nominal and ordinal are collectively

called categorical or qualitative

Interval and ratio are collectively

called continuous or quantitative

Symbols & Math

Symbols

What is PEMDAS?

How should we round 2.48276?

257.469?

13.795218?

4?

*Critical values and probabilities*

Review

What is a hypothesis?

Give an example of a null and

research hypothesis

Review

What is an independent variable?

What is a dependent variable?

What is an extraneous variable?

Review

What is the relationship between

populations, samples, statistics
and parameters?

What is an estimate?

Review

Give an example of a variable measured

on a nominal scale

An ordinal scale

An interval scale

A ratio scale

Preview

Today we talked about Statistics in

general and defined some key
terms

Next time we will talk about

graphing and organizing data