Norms and Basic Statistics For Testing
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nylana marceNorms and Basic Statistics For Testing
Uploaded by
nylana marceNorms and Basic Statistics for
Testing
Why we need Statistics
Scales of Measurement
Frequency Distributions
Percentile and Percentile Ranks
Why we need statistics?
› First, statistics are used for purposes of description.
Numbers provide convenient summaries and allow us to
evaluate some observations relative to others.
› Second, we can use statistics to make inferences, which
are logical deductions about events that cannot be
observed directly.
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› Descriptive statistics are methods used to
provide a concise description of a collection of
quantitative information.
› Inferential statistics are methods used to make
inferences from observations of a small group
of people known as a sample to a larger group
of individuals known as a population.
› We should understand and use both!!!
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Inferential statistics
› Testing hypothesis
› Can clean water access
decrease infant mortality
rate?
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Scales of measurement
› Measurement is the application of rules for assigning
numbers to objects.
› There are numerous systems by which we assign numbers
in psychology.
› Three important properties make scales of measurement
different from one another: magnitude, equal intervals, and
an absolute 0
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› Magnitude is the property of “moreness.“
› Equal intervals exist if the difference between
two points at any place on the scale has the
same meaning as the difference between two
other points that differ by the same number of
scale units.
› An absolute 0 is obtained when nothing of the
property being measured exists.
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Types of scales
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Nominal scale
This is basically a way of categorizing or
grouping behavior, where the actual numbers are
simply labels or identifiers.
› male=1, female=2, not specified=3
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Ordinal scale
Ordinal scales, more precise than nominal scales,
are basically sets of rankings.
› High school class rankings.
› Social economic class (low, middle, high)
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Interval scale
Intervals between the points are assumed to be equal.
› IQ Scores. (The difference between an IQ of 92 and 98 is the
same as the difference between 130 and 136. Using 100 as the
average is arbitrary.)
› Thermometer readings on a Fahrenheit scale. (The difference
between 98.6 and 99.6 is the same as the difference between
101.8 and 102.8 -- 1 degree. The value of zero doesn't mean
"the absence of heat." )
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Indicate your agreement with the following statement: I am satisfied with psychology as my major.
1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree
Most of Likert-type scales in psychology are considered as
the interval scale
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Ratio scale
The most precise and powerful of scales. The zero point is
meaningful and means the absence of whatever it is you're
measuring. Thus, you cannot have a negative data point
using a ratio scale.
•A speedometer.
•Walking speed
•Really, any time or length measurement would be on a ratio
scale.
•The cost of a cup of coffee
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Frequency distribution
A single test score means more if one relates it to other test scores.
A distribution of scores summarizes the scores for a group of
individuals. There are many ways to record a distribution of scores.
The frequency distribution displays scores on a variable or a
measure to reflect how frequently each value was obtained.
With a frequency distribution , one defines all the possible scores
and determines how many people obtained each of those scores.
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Frequency distribution approximating a normal
distribution
Test scores of 1000 people
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Percentile rank
Percentile ranks replace
simple ranks when we want
to adjust for the number of
scores in a group. A
percentile rank answers the
question, “What percent of
the scores fall below a
particular score (X;)?"
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