BEC1 STUDY GUIDE

INTRODUCTION (CHAPTER 1 – MUNRO E-BOOK) Know the definition of population, sample, parameter, & statistic Be able to identify and/or provide examples of descriptive statistics & inferential statistics Know the properties of & be able to identify or provide examples of quantitative vs. categorical variables BASIC CONCEPTS (CHAPTER 2 – MUNRO E-BOOK) Know the definition of data, individuals, variables, independent variable, dependent variable, random assignment, treatment group, and control group. Know the properties of the 4 levels of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio) Know the properties of discrete and continuous variables Know and understand the properties that distinguish experimental methods from correlational methods DISPLAYING DATA (CHAPTER 2 – MUNRO E-BOOK) Know what a distribution is and why examining a distribution can be helpful/useful Know how to interpret information from: Simple frequency distributions (grouped & ungrouped*) Relative frequency distributions (proportions* & percents*) Cumulative frequency distributions* Histograms Bar graphs* Stem-and-leaf displays You also should know how to construct those with an * beside them Know the definition of percentile rank Be able to identify and/or describe different shapes of distributions: Normal, symmetrical, skewed, unimodal, & bimodal distributions CENTRAL TENDENCY (CHAPTER 2 – MUNRO E-BOOK) Understand conceptually each of the 3 measures of central tendency: Mode, Median & Mean Know how to compute the mean, median, & mode Be sure to know how to find the median when: N is odd N is even Know how to determine the shape of a distribution based on info about central tendency (& vice versa) What is the fundamental difference between the mean & the median? What are the strengths & weaknesses of the Mode, Median, & Mean? Understand the definition of outlier & how outliers can