Describing single variables

- The distribution of a variable can be represented using a frequency table where the data is
usually presented in a highest to lowest order.
- This data can be graphically showed using histograms.
- In the histogram, we can see the distribution having a shape of a bell. This is the bell curve
of the distribution that is either symmetrical, positive, or negative.
o Normal: where all mean, median, and mode are at the mid-point.
o Positively skewed: the long tail is towards the positive side.
o Negatively skewed: the long tail is towards the negative side.
- Outlier: this is an extreme score that is much higher or lower than the rest of the scores in
the distribution.
- Unimodal: it has one distinct peak; mode.
- Bimodal: it has two distinct peaks; modes.
- Central tendency: it’s the area in a distribution where the scores are more clustered;
average.
o Mean: sum of the scores divided by the number of scores
o Median: the middle score in the sense that half the scores in the distribution are less
than it and half are greater than it. Reorder scores from highest to lowest. Odd data
gives us the median easily. In the case of even data, take the two middle scores and
find their average.
o Mode: most frequent score
- In a distribution that is both unimodal and symmetrical, the mean, median, and mode will be
very close to each other at the peak of the distribution.
- In a bimodal and asymmetrical distribution, the mean, median, and mode can be quite
different with the mean and median more between the peaks, while the mode will be at the
tallest peak.
- Variability: the extent to which the scores vary around their central tendency.
o Range: difference between the highest and lowest scores in the distribution.
o Standard deviation: the average distance between the scores and the mean.

- Percentile rank: the percentage of scores in the distribution that are lower than that score.
- Z score: the difference between that individual’s score and the mean of the distribution,
divided by the standard deviation of the distribution.

Describing statistical relationships

- Differences between groups or conditions are typically described in terms of the means and
standard deviations of the groups or conditions or in terms of Cohen’s d and are presented
in bar graphs.
- Cohen’s d is a measure of relationship strength (or effect size) for differences between two
groups or conditions means. It is the difference of the means divided by the standard
deviation.
- Cohen’s d values near 0.20 are considered small, values near 0.50 are considered medium,
and values near 0.80 are considered large.
- Linear relationships: the points are reasonably well fit by a single straight line.
- Non-linear relationships: the points are better fit by a curved line (bell curve).
- Pearson’s r is a statistic to measure the strength of a correlation between quantitative
variables. The possible range is from -1.00 to =+1.00. a value of 0 means there is no
relationship between the two variables.
- Values near ±0.10 are considered small, values near ±0.30 are considered medium, and
values near ±0.50 are considered large.
- The closest to ±1.00, the stronger the relationship. it just depends on the sign whether it is
positively strong or negatively strong.