Frequency Distribution A table in which all of the scores are listed

along with the frequency with which each occurs.

class interval frequency distribution A table in which the scores are

grouped into intervals and listed along with the frequency of scores in each interval.

qualitative variable a categorical variable for which each value represents a

discrete variable.

Bar Graph A graphical representation of a frequency distribution in which

vertical bars are centered above each category along the x-axis and are separated from
each other by a space, indicating that the levels of the variable represent distinct,
unrelated categories.

Quantitative Variable A variable for which the scores represent a change in

quantity

histogram a graphical representation of a frequency distribution in which

vertical bars centered above scores on the x-axis touch each other to indicate that the
scores on the variable represent related, increasing values.

Frequency Polygon A line graph of the frequencies of individual

scores.

Descriptive Statistics Numerical measures that describe a distribution

by providing information on the central tendency of the distribution, and the shape of the
distribution.

Measure of Central Tendency A number that characterizes the

"middleness" of a an entire distribution.

Mean A measure of central tendency; the arithmetic average of a

distribution. Only used with interval and ratio data.

Median A measure of central tendency; the middle score in a distribution after

the scores have been arranged from highest to lowest or lowest to highest. Only used with
Ordinal, interval, and ratio data.

Mode A measure of central tendency; the score in a distribution that

occurs with the greatest frequency. Used with Nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio data.

Range A measure of variation; the difference between the lowest and

highest scores in a distribution.
Standard Deviation A measure of variation; the average difference between the
scores in the distribution and the mean or central point of the distribution, or more
precisely, the square root of the average squared deviation from the mean.

Average Deviation An alternative measure of variation that, like the standard

deviation, indicates the average difference between the scores in a distribution and the
mean of the distribution.

Variance The standard deviation squared.

Normal Curve A symmetrical, bell-shaped frequency polygon

representing a normal distribution.

Normal Distribution A theoretical frequency distribution that has certain special

characteristics. (1) it's bell shaped and symmetrical - the right half is a mirror image of
the left half. (2) the mean, median, and mode are located at the center of the distribution.
(3) unimodal (4) most observations are clustered around the center of distribution with
fewer observations at the ends or "tails" of the distribution.

Kurtosis how flat or peaked a normal distribution is

Mesokurtic curves that have peaks of medium height, and the distributions are
moderate in breadth.

Leptokurtic Cure that are tall and thin, with only a few scores in the middle of
the distribution having a high frequency.

Platykurtic Curves that are short and more dispersed

Positively Skewed Distribution A distribution in which the peak is to

the left of the center point, and the tail extends toward the right, or in the positive
direction.

Negatively Skewed Distribution A distribution in which the peak is to the right

of the center point, and the tail extends toward the left, or in the negative direction.

Z-score A number that indicates how many deviation units a raw score
is from the mean of a distribution.

Standard Normal Distribution A normal distribution with a mean of 0 and a

standard deviation of 1.

Probability The expected relative frequency of a particular outcome.

Percentile Rank A score that indicates the percentage of people who scored at or
below a given raw score.