TEST BANK For Statistical Reasoning for Everyday Life, 6th
edition by Jeff Bennett, William Briggs, Mario Triola
What do statistics help us in psychological research? - ANSWER:See and interpret
what the unaided eye might miss in descriptive, correlational, and experimental
research.
What are some examples of off-the-top estimates that have mislead the public? -
ANSWER:Ten percent of people are lesbians or gay men, We ordinary use but 10
percent of our brain, The human brain has 100 billion nerve cells.
What is the point to remember about misleading estimates? - ANSWER:Doubt big,
round, undocumented numbers.
How do we describe data using three measures of central tendency, and what is the
relative usefulness of the two measures of variation? - ANSWER:A measure of central
tendency is a single score that represents a whole set of scores. Three such
measures are the mode (the most frequently occurring score), the mean (the
arithmetic average), and the median (the middle score of a group of data. Measures
of variation tell us how diverse data are. Two measures of variation are the range
(which describes the gap between the highest and lowest scores) and the standard
deviation (which states how much scores vary around the mean, or average, score).
Scores often form a normal (or bell-shaped) curve.
What may researchers use after they have gathered their data to organize? -
ANSWER:Descriptive statistics.
What is the secret to reading statistical graphs such as histograms to have an
accurate idea of the difference size? - ANSWER:How you label the vertical scale (the
y-axis).
What is the point to remember about accurately reading statistical graphs? -
ANSWER:Think smart. When viewing figures in magazines and on television, read the
scale labels and note their range.
What is the next step after organizing the data meaningfully? - ANSWER:To
summarize the data using some measure of central tendency.
What is a measure of central tendency? - ANSWER:A single score that represents a
whole set of scores.
What are some measures of central tendency? - ANSWER:Mode, mean, median
What is the simplest measure of central tendency? - ANSWER:Mode.
, What is the most commonly reported measure of central tendency? -
ANSWER:Mean.
What is the mode, mean, and median scores of a symmetrical, bell-shaped
distribution? - ANSWER:The same or very similar.
What is the purpose of measures of central tendency? - ANSWER:To neatly
summarize data.
What is the mean, mode, and median like in skewed distributions? - ANSWER:The
mode, median, and mean tell very different stories.
Why are mean, mode, and median very different in skewed distributions? -
ANSWER:This happens because the mean is biased by a few extreme scores.
What tells different true stories? - ANSWER:Mean and median
What do most people make in income? - ANSWER:Less than the mean.
The point to remember about measures of central tendencies and their possible
distortions? - ANSWER:Always note which measure of central tendency is reported.
If it is a mean, consider whether a few atypical scores could be distorting it.
What useful information is left out of measures of central tendency. - ANSWER:The
amount of variation in the data-how similar or diverse the scores are.
Which one is more reliable? Averages derived from scores with low variability or
averages based on scores with high variability? - ANSWER:Averages derived from
scores with low variability.
Is range a useful estimation of variation? - ANSWER:No, it is a crude estimate of
variation.
Why is range a poor estimate of variation? - ANSWER:Like mean, range can be
deceptive if outliers are present to bend the data towards them and away from the
majority.
What is a more useful standard for measuring how much scores deviate from one
another? - ANSWER:Standard deviation.
Why is standard deviation a more useful tool for estimating variation? -
ANSWER:Standard deviation better gauges whether scores are packed together or
dispersed, because it uses information from each score.
Which will have a relatively small standard deviation on family income data? A high
school that serves a community where most families have similar incomes or the
edition by Jeff Bennett, William Briggs, Mario Triola
What do statistics help us in psychological research? - ANSWER:See and interpret
what the unaided eye might miss in descriptive, correlational, and experimental
research.
What are some examples of off-the-top estimates that have mislead the public? -
ANSWER:Ten percent of people are lesbians or gay men, We ordinary use but 10
percent of our brain, The human brain has 100 billion nerve cells.
What is the point to remember about misleading estimates? - ANSWER:Doubt big,
round, undocumented numbers.
How do we describe data using three measures of central tendency, and what is the
relative usefulness of the two measures of variation? - ANSWER:A measure of central
tendency is a single score that represents a whole set of scores. Three such
measures are the mode (the most frequently occurring score), the mean (the
arithmetic average), and the median (the middle score of a group of data. Measures
of variation tell us how diverse data are. Two measures of variation are the range
(which describes the gap between the highest and lowest scores) and the standard
deviation (which states how much scores vary around the mean, or average, score).
Scores often form a normal (or bell-shaped) curve.
What may researchers use after they have gathered their data to organize? -
ANSWER:Descriptive statistics.
What is the secret to reading statistical graphs such as histograms to have an
accurate idea of the difference size? - ANSWER:How you label the vertical scale (the
y-axis).
What is the point to remember about accurately reading statistical graphs? -
ANSWER:Think smart. When viewing figures in magazines and on television, read the
scale labels and note their range.
What is the next step after organizing the data meaningfully? - ANSWER:To
summarize the data using some measure of central tendency.
What is a measure of central tendency? - ANSWER:A single score that represents a
whole set of scores.
What are some measures of central tendency? - ANSWER:Mode, mean, median
What is the simplest measure of central tendency? - ANSWER:Mode.
, What is the most commonly reported measure of central tendency? -
ANSWER:Mean.
What is the mode, mean, and median scores of a symmetrical, bell-shaped
distribution? - ANSWER:The same or very similar.
What is the purpose of measures of central tendency? - ANSWER:To neatly
summarize data.
What is the mean, mode, and median like in skewed distributions? - ANSWER:The
mode, median, and mean tell very different stories.
Why are mean, mode, and median very different in skewed distributions? -
ANSWER:This happens because the mean is biased by a few extreme scores.
What tells different true stories? - ANSWER:Mean and median
What do most people make in income? - ANSWER:Less than the mean.
The point to remember about measures of central tendencies and their possible
distortions? - ANSWER:Always note which measure of central tendency is reported.
If it is a mean, consider whether a few atypical scores could be distorting it.
What useful information is left out of measures of central tendency. - ANSWER:The
amount of variation in the data-how similar or diverse the scores are.
Which one is more reliable? Averages derived from scores with low variability or
averages based on scores with high variability? - ANSWER:Averages derived from
scores with low variability.
Is range a useful estimation of variation? - ANSWER:No, it is a crude estimate of
variation.
Why is range a poor estimate of variation? - ANSWER:Like mean, range can be
deceptive if outliers are present to bend the data towards them and away from the
majority.
What is a more useful standard for measuring how much scores deviate from one
another? - ANSWER:Standard deviation.
Why is standard deviation a more useful tool for estimating variation? -
ANSWER:Standard deviation better gauges whether scores are packed together or
dispersed, because it uses information from each score.
Which will have a relatively small standard deviation on family income data? A high
school that serves a community where most families have similar incomes or the
