Measures of Central Tendency - Averages Flashcards Preview

Psychology A2 - Research Methods > Measures of Central Tendency - Averages > Flashcards

Flashcards in Measures of Central Tendency - Averages Deck (15)
Loading flashcards...
1
Q

How do you do a mean average?

A

Add all data and divide by number of data

2
Q

Strength of a mean average

A

It uses all of the data points so provides a good estimate for the central score of a data set (wholly representative)

3
Q

2 weaknesses of a mean average

A
  1. The mean is easily skewed by extreme values -anomalies

2. It cannot be used if the dataset is split into categories (non-numerical)

4
Q

What is a median average?

A

Middle value when data is in numerical order

5
Q

Strength of Median

A

Not affected by extreme values (weakness of mean)

6
Q

Weakness of median

A

Not all values are used to calculate it, so the median may misrepresent data (strength of the mean)

7
Q

What is the Modal Average?

A

Frequently occurring score

  • there can be more than one mode if they occur frequently but generally a maximum of 2
  • If every number appears equally (or 3+) there is no mode at all
8
Q

Strength of the mode

A

It is the only measure of central tendency that can be used on nominal* data

*non-numerical

9
Q

2 Weaknesses of the mode

A
  1. It can be unrepresentative - doesn’t always mean you can interpret your results
  2. It is of limited value when there are several or no modes
10
Q

What is the scientific phrasing of the range?

A

Measure of dispersion

11
Q

What does the range do?

A

Show how data is spread out

12
Q

What are the two types of dispersion?

A

range and standard deviation

13
Q

What is the significance of the range?

A

It gives us an indication of reliability:

Small range = consistent data set = increased reliability of data

14
Q

What is standard deviation?

A

Shows the average distance of the mean of all data points, it is a measurement of variation

15
Q

3 Strengths of standard deviation

A

Not distorted by anomalies
More accurate than a range
Allows us to see reliability of a data set (smaller standard deviation, more reliable the result)