Define the following terms:

Descriptive statistics is the term to describe the main or basic features of a research study.
Scales of measurement is the term to describe the four scales of measurements: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, and Ratio.
Measures of central tendency is the term to describe the mean, median, and mode.
Frequency distributions is the term to describe the process in dividing the groups in the research.
Correlation coefficient is the term to describe the Pearson’s r (strength of the relationship between two things).
Effect size is the term to describe the strength of an event.
Multiple regression is the term to describe the process of the prediction of one value, based on two or more other values.

How are group means, percentages, and correlations used to describe research results?

Group means is used to take the responses of two or more groups, and find the “middle ground” between them. Utilizing group percentages means that the researcher takes the number of participants and turns that into a percentage for descriptive purposes. Individual correlations are utilized when the researcher compares the individual based on two variables in the study. (Cozby, 2009)

How can graphs be used to describe and summarize data?

The researcher can put the gathered information together a graph, making it easier for the reader to understand the outcome of the study, visually.

A researcher is studying reading rates in milliseconds per syllable. What scale of measurement—nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio—is time in milliseconds? Explain your response. This would be ratio scaling, due to the use of milliseconds/numbers. Milliseconds can zero out to the minimum and then be compared to the response time.

Under what circumstances is the median or mode a better measure of central tendency than the mean? Explain your response.