Summary
Contents
Subject index
Understanding and Using Statistics in Psychology takes the fear out of psychological statistics to help students understand why statistics are carried out, how to choose the best test, how to carry out the tests, and then perform the analysis in SPSS. Emphasizing the place of statistical analysis in the process of conducting research, from design to report writing, this accessible and straightforward guide takes a non-technical approach, encouraging the reader to understand why a particular test is being used and what the results mean in the context of a psychological study. The focus is on meaning and understanding rather than numerical calculation.
Samples, Populations and the Normal Distribution
Samples, Populations and the Normal Distribution
What's in This Chapter?
- Samples and populations
- The normal distribution (continued)
- z-scores
- The standard error
- Using SPSS
Key Terms
central limit theorem
descriptive statistics
generalisations
histogram
inferential statistics
infinity
normal distribution
parameters
population
probability
random sample
representative
sample
sampling distribution of the mean
standard error
uncertainty
variation
volunteer sample
z-score
Introduction
This chapter is about the tricky task of selecting a sample and making sense of the data you get from it. We often take for granted that the results from one group of people will be similar to those of another group, but why should we? If we carried out our opinion poll in the middle of a shopping centre we might get very different results from those we would get in the Tap Room of the Dog and Partridge. And then there is the matter of the normal ...
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