Students will understand the definition of

mean, median, mode and standard deviation

and be able to calculate these functions with
given set of numbers. Also, students will
understand why some measures of central
tendency are more accurate than others.
1. Which non-descriptive research method would be the best way to show how brain damage
affects people’s ability to form new memories?
a. Case study c. Survey
b. Correlation d. Naturalistic observation
2. Jocelyn is interested in a rare form of phobia. She is particularly interested in the factors
associated with the development of this phobia. The research method that would be most
useful for her is
a. Field Study c. Case Study
b. Experiment d. Naturalist observation
3. Harvard Business School is famous for teaching MBA students about business by using the
case study method. If a Harvard MBA tried to apply knowledge from a case study to a new
situation, the MBA should keep in mind that case studies may not be
a. Detailed c. Specific
b. Unique d. Representative
4. The scatterplot to the right is most closely
representative of which correlation coefficient?
a. +.10 c. +.89
b. -.40 d. +.45
 Statistics
• Recording the
results from our
studies.
• Must use a common
language so we all
know what we are
talking about.
Descriptive Statistics
• Just describes sets
of data.
• You might create a
frequency
distribution.
• Bargraphs or
histograms.
Tools for Describing Data
The bar graph is one simple display
method but even this tool can be
manipulated.

Our Our brand

brand of of truck is
truck is not so
better! different…

Why is there a difference in the apparent result?

Frequency distribution and histograms
12
8
Number of times calling out

• The frequency (f) of a particular

10

observation
8
is the number of times the
observation
6
occurs in the data.
• The distribution of a variable is the
4

pattern
2
of frequencies of the observation.
• Frequency
0
7-8 8-9 distributions
9-10 10-11 11-12 are12-1 generally
1-2 2-3 3+
reported in tables or Timehistograms
of day

• Histogram: A graph that consists of a

series of columns, each having a class
interval as its base and frequency of
occurrence as its height.
 Histograms vs. bar graphs
• “Histograms look a lot like bar graphs.”
• Think of histograms as "sorting bins." You
have one variable, and you sort data by
this variable by placing them into "bins."
• Then you count how many pieces of data
are in each bin. The height of the
rectangle you draw on top of each bin is
proportional to the number of pieces in
that bin.
 Bar graph or Histogram? (Both allow you to compare groups.)
We want to compare total revenues of five different companies.
Key question: What is the revenue for each company?
Bar graph

We want to compare heights of ten oak trees in a city park.

Key question: What is the height of each tree?
Bar graph

We have measured revenues of several companies. We want to compare

numbers of companies that make from 0 to 10,000; from 10,000 to 20,000;
from 20,000 to 30,000 and so on.
Key question: How many companies are there in each class of revenues?
Histogram

We have measured several trees in a city park. We want to compare

numbers of trees that are from 0 to 5 meters high; from 5 to 10; from 10
to 15 and so on.
Key question: How many trees are there in each class of heights?
Histogram
 SCENARIO:
- You are trying to decide if you want to
take a class in school based on how the
difficult the class is. You decide to use
the grades of students who have taken
the class previously as a measure of
difficulty.
- What are some ways of looking at the
data to make your decision?
Measures of Central Tendency
Median: The middle score in a rank-ordered
distribution.

If the median score is 85%, would you

consider this an easy class?

What if you found out that the grades were

42, 44, 50, 85, 85, 85, 85?
Is median a great measure of central
tendency?
11
Measures of Central Tendency
Mode: The most frequently occurring
score in a distribution.

If you find a class with a mode of 86

would this be an easy class?
Here are the grades:
14,25,32,45,50,60,86,86.
Is mode a great measure of central
tendency?

12
Measures of Central Tendency
Mean: The arithmetic average of scores
in a distribution obtained by adding the
scores and then dividing by the number
of scores that were added together.

You have found a class with a mean of

85 and have decided that this must be
an easy class.
The grades were: 70,70,100,100.
Would you feel confident that this an
easy class?
13
 Measures of Central Tendency
• It is important to always note which
measure of central tendency is being
reported. If it is a mean, one must
consider whether a few atypical scores
could be distorting it, or causing a skewed
distribution.
• Skewed distribution: When scores don’t
distribute themselves evenly around the
center. There are a few extremely high or
low scores.
Measures of Central Tendency
A Skewed Distribution

15
 Central Tendency
• Mean, Median and Mode.
• Watch out for extreme scores or outliers.
Let’s look at the salaries of the
employees at Dunder Mifflen Paper
in Scranton:
$25,000-Pam
$25,000- Kevin
$25,000- Angela
$75,000- Andy
$75,000- Dwight
$75,000- Jim
$350,000- Michael

Measures of central tendency are

Quick and easy, but outliers may
distort the numbers.
 Normal Distribution
• In a normal
distribution, the
mean, median and
The “Bell Curve”
mode are all the
same.
 Distributions
• Outliers skew
distributions.
• If group has one high
score, the curve has a
positive skew
(contains more low
scores)
• If a group has a low
outlier, the curve has
a negative skew
(contains more high
scores)
 Measures of variation
• Averages from scores with low
variability are more reliable than those
with high variability.
• Range: Difference between the
highest and lowest scores in a
distribution. Like with the mean, high
and low scores could present a
deceptively large range.
 Measures of Variation

Standard Deviation:
A computed measure
of how much scores
vary around the
mean.
Standard Deviation
uses information
from each score, so
it better represents
data.

21
 Standard Deviation
• SCORES • Score-Mean (Score-Mean)²
18 -6 36
134
20 -4 16
5
0
24 0
1
25 1 81 26.8
33 9 134
MEAN: 24 𝟐𝟔. 𝟖
➢ 26.8 is the “variance”
➢ Standard deviation is
Variance: Gauges a spread the “square root of the
of scores within a sample variance.” (SD=5.17)
 Normal Curve

68%
0.15
0.15 95% 2.35
2.35
99.7%
13.5 34 34 13.5
-3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3
-Each mark represents one deviation away from the mean.
-Numbers in red are the percentage of people whose
score falls within each standard deviation.
-68% of people will fall within 1 standard deviation from
the mean.
-95% of people will fall within 2 standard deviations from
the mean.
 Normal Curve

68%

95% 2.35
2.35
.15 .15
13.5 34 99.7% 34 13.5
9 14 19 24 29 34 39

-Using our numbers from our standard deviation

exercise, the normal curve would look like this.
68% would have scored within one standard deviation of
the mean, or would have scored between 19 and 29.
95% would have scored within two standard deviations,
or between 14 and 34.
 9/28/16
1. Create the Normal Curve template with data.
2. A shop foreman found it took 40 minutes to complete a task
with a standard deviation of 5, and the times for completing
the task are normally distributed. What percentage of
workers will take 50 minutes or more to complete the task?
3. The scores from the AP Physics exam had an average of 82,
with a standard deviation of 3. People who scored within 2
standard deviations of the mean had a score between ____
and _____
 ESTIMATING VARIANCE

The three curves below represent standard deviations of 1, 2 and 3.

Which curve below would represent a standard deviation of 1? How do you

know?

Which curve would represent a standard deviation of 3? How do you know?

A B C

THE GREATER THE VARIANCE IN RESULTS, THE GREATER THE STANDARD DEVIATION.
Standard deviation, the normal curve and baseball.
 Weighing the odds…
• 2 High School punters
– Kicker A:
• mean distance: 40.0 yds
• Standard deviation: + 16 yds.
– Kicker B:
• mean distance: 34.5 yds.
• Standard deviation: + 4 yds.
• Which player do you play?
• Kicker B – team will know
what to expect
 Applying the concepts
Try, with the help of this rough drawing below, to describe
intelligence test scores at a high school and at a college
using the concepts of range and standard deviation.

Intelligence test
scores at a high
school
Intelligence test
scores at a college
100
 Want to take that class?
• So, if you were told that the mean average
in a class was 85%, with a standard
deviation of 5, would you feel confident
that you would get a “B”?
• The smaller the standard deviation, the
more closely the scores are packed near
the mean, and the steeper the curve
would appear.
• What percentage of students got a B or
A? 84%
• What would the standard deviation be if
every score was the mean score? 0
 Z-scores
• Sometimes being able to compare scores
from different distributions is important.
• Z-scores measure distance of a score from
the mean in units of standard deviation.
• Scores below the mean have negative z-
scores, and those above have positive z-
scores.
• FOR EXAMPLE: Test: Mean = 80 & SD = 8
Phineas got a 72%: z-score of -1
Ferb got a 84%: z-score of +0.5
 Direction of a Z-score
• The sign of any Z-score indicates the
direction of a score: whether that
observation fell above the mean (the
positive direction) or below the mean
(the negative direction)
– If a raw score is below the mean, the z-
score will be negative, and vice versa
 Comparing variables with very different
observed units of measure
• Example of comparing an SAT score to
an ACT score
– Mary’s ACT score is 26. Jason’s SAT score
is 900. Who did better?
– The mean SAT score is 1000 with a
standard deviation of 100 SAT points. The
mean ACT score is 22 with a standard
deviation of 2 ACT points.
 Let’s find the z-scores
Z = Score-mean
SD
Jason: Zx = 900-1000 = -1
100
Mary:
Zx = 26-22 = +2
2
• From these findings, we gather that Jason’s score
is 1 standard deviation below the mean SAT score
and Mary’s score is 2 standard deviations above
the mean ACT score.
• Therefore, Mary’s score is relatively better.
 Interpreting the graph
• For any normally distributed variable:
– 50% of the scores fall above the mean and
50% fall below.
– Approximately 68% of the scores fall
within plus and minus 1 Z-score from the
mean.
– Approximately 95% of the scores fall
within plus and minus 2 Z-scores from the
mean.
– 99.7% of the scores fall within plus and
minus 3 Z-scores from the mean.
 Z – Score Conclusions
• Z-score is defined as the number of standard
deviations from the mean.
• Z-score is useful in comparing variables with very
different observed units of measure.
(Like measures of central tendency and
variation – z-scores can describe.)
- HOWEVER -
• Z-scores allow for precise predictions to be
made of how many of a population’s scores fall
within a score range in a normal distribution.
(So they are also inferential, because they
can infer what might happen in the future.)
 Types of statistics
• Descriptive statistics are used to reveal
patterns through the analysis of numeric
data.
• Measures of Central tendency
• Measures of variation
• Z-scores

• Inferential statistics are used to draw

conclusions and make predictions based on
the analysis of numeric data.
• Z-scores
• t-tests
– These types of stats help us determine if chance played
a role in our findings.
 Inferential Statistics
When is a Difference •The purpose is to discover
Significant? whether the finding can be
applied to the larger
p-values population from which the
Statistically Significant: sample was collected.
a result is called
statistically significant if
it is unlikely to have
occurred by chance.
“Magic number” is p ≤.05
This means you are 95%
sure the results did not
occur by chance.
37
 Making Inferences
When is an Observed Difference Reliable?

1. Large, representative samples are better

than biased samples.
2. Observations with low variability are more reliable
than those with high variability.
3. Many cases that support your data are better than
fewer cases.

POINT TO REMEMBER: Don’t be overly impressed by a few

anecdotes. Generalizations based on a few unrepresentative
cases are unreliable.

38