Chapter 3

 1. Description – using descriptive statistics

 - used for making interpretation of test
results
 Provides a concise description of a
quantitative information

 2. Inference – using inferential statistics

 - provides conclusions regarding a population
based on the observation made on a sample
 Properties of scales:
 A. Magnitude – “moreness”; we suggests that
one is more than the other.
 B. Equal Interval – the difference between
two points at any place has the same
meaning as the difference between two other
points on other places.
 C. Absolute zero – zero suggest absence of
the variable being measured.
 1. Nominal – naming; labeling; one category
does not suggest that the other is higher or
lower. Ex. Gender; religion
 2. Ordinal – observations can be ranked into
order but the degree of difference is
unobtainable. Ex. Position in the company
 3. Interval – there is magnitude and equal
interval; no true zero
 4. Ratio – there is magnitude, equal intervals,
and true zero
Scale of Magnitude Equal interval Absolute zero
Measurement
Nominal No No No
Ordinal Yes No No
Interval Yes Yes No
Ratio Yes Yes Yes
 - most psychological data are ordinal by
nature but are treated as interval.
 Ex. How a person respond to an item (ordinal) and
how the response are treated (summed, interval)
 IQ are initially for classification and not for
measurement (cited by Binet)
 Displays scores on a variable or a measure to
reflect how frequent each value was obtained.

 Graphs – a diagram or chart illustrating data

 Histogram – graphs with vertical lines at the true
limits of each test score; connected bars; used for
continuous data
 Bar Graph – used in describing frequencies;
disconnected bars
 Frequency polygon – points are plotted at the class
mark of each of the intervals; Continuous lines
 Statistics that indicated the average or
midmost score between the extreme scores
in distribution.
 A. Mean – the most appropriate central
tendency for interval and ratio when
distribution is normal.
 B. Median – middle score of the population
 C. Mode – the most frequently occurring
score in a distribution
 Indicates how scattered the score are
distribution; how far one score is from the
other. Measures the dispersion of the scores.
 Range – equal to the difference of HS to LS
 Quartile – points that divide the distribution
into 4 equal parts.
 Interquartile range – difference between Q3
and Q1; represents the middle 50% of the
distribution.
 Semi-interquartile range - (Q3 – Q1)/2
 Approximation of the average deviation
around the mean
 Gives detail of how much above or below a
score to the mean.
 Normal distribution – majority of the test takers are
bulked at the middle of the distribution, very few test
takers are at the extremes
 Mean = median = mode
 Q1 and Q3 have equal distances to the Q2/median
 Positively skewed distribution – more test takers got a low
score
 Mean>median>mode
 (Q3-Q2)>(Q2-Q1)
 Negatively skewed distribution – more test takers got a
high score
 Mode>median>mean
 (Q2-Q1)>(Q3-Q2)
 The steepness of a Distribution
 A. Platykurtic – flat; the difference of the
number of test takers who got high and low
score is not far from the number of test takers
who got a score in equivalent to the mean.
 B. Leptokurtic – Peaked; the difference of the
number of test takers who got high and low
score is far from the number of test takers who
got a score in equivalent to the mean.
 C. Meso kurtic – Middle; the distribution is
deemed normal.
 Points where the distribution is equally
divided into 10 parts.
 D1 – D9
 A raw score that has been converted from
one scale to another scale
 Provide a context of comparing scores on
different tests by converting scores from the
two tests into z-score
 “z scores are golden”
 Mean of 0 ; SD of 1
 Zero plus or minus one scale
 When determined, can be used to translate
one scale to another.
T – Score
 Mean = 50; SD = 10
 Created by McCall in honor of his professor
Thorndike

Stanine
 Mean = 5; SD = 2
 Used by US Airforce Assessment
 Takes whole numbers 1 – 9; no decimals
Deviation IQ
 Mean = 100; SD = 15
 Used for interpreting IQ

Sten
 Standard ten
 Mean = 5.5; SD = 2

GRE or SAT (Graduate Record Exam/ Scholastic Aptitude

Test)
 Mean = 500; SD = 100
 Used for admission for graduate school and college
 Derived formula of the Z-score to transform
one score from a scale to another score.

 NS = SD(Z)+M
 Tells the relative position of a test taker in a group of
100.
 Suggests how many samples fall below a specified
score.
 For example: if person has a score equivalent to
percentile 50, it suggests that 50 percent of the test
takers fall below that specific score.
Pr = Percentile Rank
B = Number of test takers that fall
below a given score
 Pr = B + fx(0.5) fx = frequency of the test takers
who got a given score
N N = Total number of test takers
 1. Enumerate all possible scores; arrange in
increasing order (low scores are at the
bottom of the frequency distribution;
viceversa)
 2. Tally the frequency for each of the scores.
Construct a cumulative frequency for each.
 3. Use the formula for percentiles.
Suppose I have created a psychological test for intelligence using abstract figures, I
have applied all necessary procedures in test construction. After which, I have
administered the newly developed test to a group of people to create a norm for
my test. The data are as follows:

6 7 14 11 13 12 14 10 12 19
11 12 13 14 12 11 18 13 15 11
5 19 14 12 13 12 13 15 16 6
9 12 7 14 8 20 18 12 17 10
12 11 10 15 14 9 10 17 13 11

From the distribution above, determine the following:

1. Frequency Distribution
2. Mean, Median, Mode
3. Range, Standard Deviation
4. Percentile for each of the scores
Raw scores are meaningless
 Performance by defined groups on a particular
test.
 Transformation of raw scores in making
meaningful interpretations of scores on a test
 Norming – process of creating norms
 Normative samples – group of people whose
performance on a particular test is analyzed and
referred
 Race norming – norming based on race/ culture
 User norms – norms provided by the test manuals.
 Norman – the person who constructs a norm
 Criterion Reference Testing – interpretation of
test is based on a certain standards.
 Method of evaluation and a way of deriving meaning
form test scores evaluating an individual’s score with
reference to a set of standard.
 Also called as Content-referenced or Domain-
referenced
 Criterion –a standard on which a judgement or
decision is based.
 Norms Reference Testing – Score is interpreted
based on the performance of a standardized
group.
Developmental norms
 indicates how far along the normal
developmental path an individual has
progressed.
Within group norms
 The individual’s performance is evaluated in
terms of the performance of the most nearly
comparable standardization group.
National Norms
 norms on large scale samples
Age norms
 A child’s score on a test corresponds to the highest year
level or age level that he can successfully complete.

Grade norms
 Assigns achievement on a test or battery of tests
according to grade norms.

Ordinal Scale
 Are designed to identify the stage reached by the child in
the development of specific behavior functions.
Percentiles
 are expressed in terms of the percentage of persons in
the standardization sample who fall below a given RS. It
indicates the individual’s relative position in the
standardization sample.
Standard scores
 are derived scores which uses as its unit the SD of the
population upon which the test was standardized.
Deviation IQ
 is a standard score on an intelligence test with a mean of
100 and an SD that approximates the SD of the
Stanford-Binet IQ distribution.
 National representativeness
 Subgroup norms – a normative sample
segmented by any of the criteria initially used
in selecting samples
 Local norms – provide normative information
with respect to the local population’s
performance on a test.
 The tendency to stay at the same level of
characteristics as compared to the norm.
 Process applied to children when parents
want to know if the child is growing normally.
 Statistical tools for testing the relationship between
variables.
 Covariance – How much two scores vary together
 Correlation coefficient – mathematical index that
describes the direction and magnitude of a
relationship.
 Ranges from -1.00 to +1.00
 The nearer to 1; the stronger the relationship
 The nearer to 0; the weaker the relationship
 The symbol suggests the type of relationship (negative =
indirect relationship; positive = direct relationship)
 Pearson Product Moment Correlation
 Correlates 2 variables in interval/ratio scale format
 Devised by Karl Pearson

 Spearman Rho
 Also called as rank-ordered correlation or
Spearman Correlation
 Correlates 2 variables in ordinal scale
 Biserial Correlation
 Correlates one continuous and one artificial
dichotomous data
 Score in a test (continuous/interval) and being highly
aggressive (artificial dichotomy)
 Point Biserial Correlation
 Correlates one continuous and one true dichotomous
data.
 Score in the test (continuous/interval) and correctness
in an item within the test (true dichotomous)
 True dichotomy – dichotomy in which there are
only two possible categories.
▪ Ex. Sex (male – female)

 Artificial Dichotomy – dichotomy in which there

are other possibilities in a certain category
▪ Ex. Pass or Fail (both pass and fail constitutes a certain
range of score)
 Phi Coefficient
 Correlates two dichotomous data; at least one
true dichotomy
 Ex. Gender and passing or failing a test

 Tetrachoric Correlation
 Correlates two dichotomous data; both are
artificial dichotomy
 Ex. Passing or failing a test and being highly
aggressive or not.
 Coefficient of Alienation – measure of non association
between two variables
 √(1 – r2)

 Coefficient of Determination (r2)– tells the proportion

of the total variation in scores on Y that we know as a
function of information about X
 Suggests the percentage shared by two variables. The
effect of one variable to another.
 Square of r
 r = 0.75; r2 is = 0.56 or 56.25%
  Predictor (X) - serves as the independent variable;
causes changes to the other variable
 Predicted (Y) – serves as the dependent variable;
changes as the value of the predictor changes.
 Linear Regression – used in predicting one
variable from another.
 Ŷ = a + bX
 Intercept (a) – the point at which the
regression line crosses the Y axis
 Regression Coefficient (b) – the slope of the
regression line.

Regression line – best fitting straight line

through a set of points in a scatter plot
 Standard Error of Estimate – measure the
accuracy of prediction
 SEE = √∑(Y- Ŷ)2/ n
 Multiple Regression – statistical technique in
predicting one variable from a series of
predictors
 Ŷ = a + bX1 + bX2 + bX3 + … + bXn
 Used to find linear combinations of three or
more variables.
 Complicated statistical tool used for making
factor analysis.
 Applicable only when the data are all
continuous.
 Also called as beta weights
 Tells how much a variable from a given list of
variables predict a single variable.
 Used to study the interrelationships among
set of variables.
 Factors – variables; Also called as principal
components
 Factor Loading – the correlations between
the original and the factors; depicted through
beta weights.
X1

.65

.85
X2 Y

.05

x3
 Family of techniques used to statistically
combine information across studies to
produce single estimates of the data under
study.

 Effect size – the estimate of the strength of

relationship or size of differences
 Evaluated through correlation coefficient