Chapter 1:

Introduction to Statistics

PowerPoint Lecture Slides

Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral

Sciences
Tenth Edition

by Frederick J Gravetter, Larry B. Wallnau, and Lori-Ann B. Forzano

 Learning Outcomes

1. Know key statistical terms

2. Know key measurement terms
3. Know key research terms
4. Know the place of statistics in science
5. Understand summation notation
 Math Skills Assessment

• Statistics requires basic math skills

• Inadequate basic math skills puts you at risk in
this course
• Appendix A, Math Skills Assessment, helps you
determine if you need a skills review
• Appendix A, Math Skills Review, provides a quick
refresher course on those areas.
• The final Math Skills Assessment identifies your
basic math skills competence
 1-1 Statistics and Behavioral
Sciences

• Statistics means “statistical procedures”

• Uses of statistics
– Organize and summarize information
– Determine exactly what general conclusions are
justified based on the specific results that were
obtained
• Goals of statistical procedures
– Accurate and meaningful interpretation
– Standardized evaluation procedures
 Populations and Samples

• Population
– The set of all the individuals of interest in a
particular study
– Vary in size; often quite large
• Sample
– A set of individuals selected from a population
– Usually intended to represent the population in a
research study
Figure 1.1 The Relationship between a
Population and a Sample
 Variables and Data

• Variable
– Characteristic or condition that changes or has
different values for different individuals
• Data (plural)
– Measurements or observations of a variable
• Data set
– A collection of measurements or observations
• A datum (singular)
– A single measurement or observation
– Commonly called a score or raw score
 Parameters and Statistics

• Parameter • Statistic
– A value, usually a – A value, usually a
numerical value, numerical value,
that describes a that describes a
population sample
– Derived from – Derived from
measurements of measurements of
the individuals in the individuals in
the population the sample
 Descriptive & Inferential
Statistical Methods (1 of 2)

• Descriptive statistics • Inferential statistics

– Summarize data – Study samples to make
generalizations about
– Organize data
the populations from
– Simplify data which they were
• Familiar examples selected
– Tables – Interpret experimental
data
– Graphs
• Common terminology
– Averages
– “Sampling error”
(“margin of error”)
– “Statistically significant”
 Descriptive & Inferential
Statistical Methods (2 of 2)

• Sample is never identical to the population

• Sampling error
– The discrepancy, or amount of error, that
exists between a sample statistic and the
corresponding population parameter
• Example: Margin of error in polls
– “This poll was taken from a sample of registered
voters and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4
percentage points.”
 Figure 1.3
The Role of Statistics in Research

FIGURE 1.3
The role of statistics in research.
 Learning Check 1 (1 of 2)

• A researcher is interested in the effect of amount of

sleep on high school students’ exam scores. A
group of 75 high school boys agree to participate in
the study. The boys are _____.
A. A statistic
B. A variable
C. A parameter
D. A sample
 Learning Check 1– Answer (1 of 2)

• A researcher is interested in the effect of amount of

sleep on high school students’ exam scores. A
group of 75 high school boys agree to participate in
the study. The boys are _____.
A. A statistic
B. A variable
C. A parameter
D. A sample
 Learning Check 1 (2 of 2)

• Decide if each of the following statements

is True or False.
• T/F
– Most research studies data from samples
• T/F
– When sample differs from the population there is a
systematic difference between groups
 Learning Check 1– Answer (2 of 2)

• True
– Samples used because it is not feasible or possible
to measure all individuals in the population
• False
– Sampling error due to random influence may
produce unsystematic group difference
 1-2 Observations, Measurement, and
Variables

• Science is empirical—it is based on observation

• The scores that make up the data from a research
study are obtained by observing and measuring
variables
• The process of measurement consists of applying
carefully defined measurement procedures for
each variable
 Constructs & Operational Definitions

• Constructs • Operational definition

– Internal attributes or – Identifies the set of
characteristics that operations for
cannot be directly measuring an
observed external (observable)
– Useful for behavior
describing and – Uses the resulting
explaining behavior measurements as
both a definition and
a measurement of a
hypothetical
construct
 Discrete and Continuous
Variables

• Discrete variable
– Has separate, indivisible categories
– No values can exist between two neighboring
categories
• Continuous variable
– Has an infinite number of possible values between
any two observed values
– Is divisible into an infinite number of fractional parts
Figure 1.4
Example: Continuous Measurement
 Real Limits of Continuous
Variables

• Real limits are the boundaries of intervals for

scores that are represented on a continuous
number line
– The real limit separating two adjacent scores is
located exactly halfway between the two scores
– Each score has two real limits
• The upper real limit marks the top of the interval
• The lower real limit marks the bottom of the interval
 Scales of Measurement (1 of 2)

• Measurement assigns individuals or events to

categories
– The categories can be names such as
introvert/extrovert or employed/unemployed
– They can be numerical values such as 68 inches or
175 pounds
• The categories used to measure a variable make
up a scale of measurement
• Relationships between the categories determine
different types of scales
 Scales of Measurement (2 of 2)

Scale Characteristics Examples

Nominal • Label and categorize • Gender
• No quantitative distinctions • Diagnosis
• Experimental or Control
Ordinal • Categorizes observations • Rank in class
• Categories organized by size or • Clothing sizes (S, M, L, XL)
magnitude • Olympic medals
Interval • Ordered categories • Temperature
• Interval between categories • IQ
of equal size • Golf scores (above/below par)
• Arbitrary or absent zero point
Ratio • Ordered categories • Number of correct answers
• Equal interval between categories • Time to complete task
• Absolute zero point • Gain in height and/or weight since last
year
 Learning Check 2 (1 of 2)

• A study assesses the optimal size (number of other

members) for study groups. The variable size of
group is _____.
A. Discrete
B. Continuous
C. Nominal
D. Ordinal
 Learning Check 2 – Answer (1 of 2)

• A study assesses the optimal size (number of other

members) for study groups. The variable size of
group is _____.
A. Discrete
B. Continuous
C. Nominal
D. Ordinal
 Learning Check 2 (2 of 2)

• Decide if each of the following statements

is True or False.
• T/F
– Variables that cannot be measured directly cannot
be studied scientifically
• T/F
– Research measurements are made using specific
procedures that define constructs
 Learning Check 2 – Answer (2 of 2)

• False
– Constructs (interval states) can only be observed
indirectly, but can be operationally measured
• True
– Operational definitions assure consistent
measurement and provide construct definitions
 1-3 Three Data Structures, Research
Methods, and Statistics

• Data structure 1: descriptive research (individual

variables)
– One (or more) variables measured per individual
– Statistics describe the observed variable
– May use category and/or numerical variables
– Not concerned with relationships between variables
 Relationships between Variables
(1 of 3)

• Relationships between variables

– Two (or more) variables are observed and
measured in order to determine a relationship
– The resulting measurements can be classified into
two distinct data structures that are used to
determine what type of relationship exists
 Relationships between Variables
(2 of 3)

• Data structure 2: the correlational method

– One group of participants
– Measurement of two variables for each participant
– The goal is to describe type and magnitude of the
relationship
– Patterns in the data reveal relationships
– Nonexperimental method of study
Figure 1.5 Data Structure 2: One Group with Two
Variables Measured for Each Individual. The
Correlational Method
 Limitations of the Correlational
Method

• Can demonstrate the existence of a relationship

between two variables
• Does not provide an explanation for the
relationship
• Most importantly, does not demonstrate a
cause-and-effect relationship between the two
variables
 Relationships between Variables
(3 of 3)

• Data structure 3: experimental and

nonexperimental methods
– Comparing two (or more) groups of scores
– One variable defines the groups
– Scores are measured on the second variable
– Both experimental and nonexperimental studies
use this structure
Figure 1.6 Data Structure 3: Comparing Two (or
More) Groups of Scores. Experimental and
Nonexperimental Methods
 The Experimental Method

• The goal of an experimental method

– To demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship
between two variables
• Manipulation
– The level of one variable is determined by the
experimenter
• Control rules out influence of other variables
(so-called extraneous variables)
– Participant variables
– Environmental variables
 Terminology in the Experimental
Method

• Independent variable: the variable that is

manipulated by the researcher
– Independent because no other variable in the study
influences its value; is manipulated prior to
observing the dependent variable
• Dependent variable: the one that is observed to
assess the effect of treatment
– Dependent because its value is thought to depend
on the value of the independent variable
 Control Conditions in an
Experiment

• Methods of control
– Random assignment of subjects
– Matching of subjects
– Holding the level of some potentially influential variables
constant
• Control condition
– Individuals do not receive the experimental treatment
– They either receive no treatment or they receive a neutral,
placebo treatment
– Purpose: to provide a baseline for comparison with the
experimental condition
• Experimental condition
– Individuals do receive the experimental treatment
 Nonexperimental Methods: Nonequivalent
Groups and Pre-Post Studies

• Nonequivalent groups
– Researcher compares groups of scores
– Researcher cannot control who goes into which
group
• Pre-test/post-test
– Individuals measured at two points in time
– Researcher cannot control the influence of the
passage of time
• Independent variable is quasi-independent
Figure 1.7 Two Examples of
Nonexperimental Studies (1 of 2)
Figure 1.7 Two Examples of
Nonexperimental Studies (2 of 2)
 Learning Check 3 (1 of 2)

• Researchers observed that students’ exam scores

were higher the more sleep they had the night
before. This study is _____.
A. Descriptive
B. Experimental comparison of groups
C. Non-experimental group comparison
D. Correlational
 Learning Check 3 – Answer (1 of 2)

• Researchers observed that students’ exam scores

were higher the more sleep they had the night
before. This study is _____.
A. Descriptive
B. Experimental comparison of groups
C. Non-experimental group comparison
D. Correlational
 1-4 Statistical Notation

• Statistics uses operations and notations you have

already learned
– Appendix A has a Mathematical Review
• Statistics also uses some specific notation
– Scores are referred to as X (and Y)
– N is the number of scores in a population
– n is the number of scores in a sample
 Summation Notation

• Many statistical procedures involve summing

(adding up) a set of scores
• The summation sign Σ stands for summation
– The Σ is always followed by a symbol or equation
that defines what is to be summed
– Summation is done after operations in
parentheses, squaring, and multiplication or
division
– Summation is done before other addition or
subtraction
 Learning Check 4 (1 of 2)

• ∑X2 + 47 instructs you to _____.

A. Square each score and add 47 to it, then sum
those numbers
B. Square each score add up the squared scores,
then add 47 to that sum
C. Add 47 to each score, square the result, and
sum those numbers
D. Add up the scores, square that sum, and add
47 to it
 Learning Check 4 – Answer (1 of 2)

• ∑X2 + 47 instructs you to _____.

A. Square each score and add 47 to it, then sum
those numbers
B. Square each score add up the squared
scores, then add 47 to that sum
C. Add 47 to each score, square the result, and
sum those numbers
D. Add up the scores, square that sum, and add
47 to it
 Learning Check 4 (2 of 2)

• Decide if each of the following equations

is True or False
T/F ∑X2 = (∑X)2
T/F (∑X) • (∑X) = (∑X)2
 Learning Check 4 – Answer (2 of 2)

• False
– When the operations are performed in a different
order, the results will be different
• True
– This is the definition of (∑X)2
Clear Your Doubts, Ask Questions