Data analysis and interpretation
Practice Flashcards
What does data analysis do?
Track your progress — Sign up free to save your progress and get smart review reminders based on spaced repetition.
All Flashcards in Topic 4.4
Below are all 19 flashcards for this topic. Sign up free to track your progress and get personalized review schedules.
4.4.119 cards
What does data analysis do?
Turns raw data into meaningful, interpretable evidence.
What does a bar chart show?
A comparison between groups or categories.
What does a box-and-whisker plot show?
The spread and median of a data set.
What does a scatter plot show?
The relationship (correlation) between two variables.
Central tendency vs spread?
Central tendency = mean/median/mode; spread = range/standard deviation.
What does the standard deviation show?
How spread out the data are around the mean.
Does 'significant' mean 'large'?
No — it means unlikely to be due to chance; the effect can still be small.
What is thematic analysis?
Identifying recurring themes in qualitative data to capture meaning.
Why report spread as well as the mean?
Two groups can share a mean yet differ hugely in variation.
Which concept does data analysis link to?
Measurement — analysis turns raw data into meaning.
What is the null hypothesis?
The prediction that there is no difference or relationship; any pattern is due to chance.
What does p < 0.05 mean?
Less than a 5% probability of a result this strong if the null hypothesis were true: statistically significant.
Which test: two independent groups, interval data?
Unrelated (independent) t-test; Mann-Whitney U if the data are ordinal or skewed.
Which test: repeated measures, interval data?
Related (paired) t-test; Wilcoxon signed-rank if ordinal or skewed.
When is chi-square used?
For nominal data: counts of people in categories, testing a difference or association.
Type I vs Type II error?
Type I = false positive (reject a true null); Type II = false negative (miss a real effect).
What is effect size?
How big a difference or relationship is (e.g. Cohen's d 0.2 small, 0.5 medium, 0.8 large), separate from significance.
Positive skew: which average?
Use the median: a few very high scores pull the mean above it.
Semi-interquartile range?
Half the distance between the first and third quartiles: the spread of the middle 50%, not affected by outliers.
Topic 4.4 study notes
Full notes & explanations for Data analysis and interpretation
Psychology exam skills
Paper structures, command terms & tips
Want smart review reminders?
Sign up free to track your progress. Our spaced repetition algorithm will tell you exactly which cards to review and when.
Start Free