AIOU Solved Assignments 1 & 2 Code 8614

Spring 2019
Course: Introduction to Educational Statistics (8614)
Level: B.Ed (1.5 Years)
Semester: Spring, 2019
ASSIGNMENT No. 1
AIOU Solved Assignments Code 8614
Q.1 Explain different methods of effective presentation of data. List different types of graphs
and write note on each type.
Answer:
Presentation of data is tricky. Not everyone in your audience likes to crunch numbers. Learn 5 ways to
make your audience understand your message in 2 seconds or less.

Numbers are distracting

When you present numbers on your slides, you can expect two types of reactions from your audience.
One set of audience hates numbers and tunes off. Another set loves to crunch numbers and take off on a
tangent. As a presenter you lose either way unless you know how to guide your audience attention by
making your message obvious. You can also present information creatively to make it interesting.

Here are the 5 tips to present your key message in 2 seconds.

1. Use simple 2D charts instead of complex 3D charts
We don’t doubt the fact that 3D charts look cool. But, when you use 3D, you make your audience work
hard. You give them an additional dimension to think about. This delays their understanding.

Let’s do a quick makeover of a 3D chart to convey the key message under 2 seconds:

The slide looks very colorful but complex. The chart says which product performed how well in each
month over the past 6 months. Phew! That’s a lot to grasp at one time. Avoid any Presentation tips that
requires you to use make information complex.

Consider this alternative presentation of the same data:

We used a simple 2D line graph to show the trend over time. The title gives a clear idea of what to look
for in the slide. In 2 seconds your audience ‘gets’ the message of the slide.

To learn 29 creative ways to present data and other components of your presentations creatively, check
the free Creative Presentation Ideas e-course

2. Use labels instead of legends

Take a look at this slide with a pie chart:
 Though it’s a simple chart to grasp, the legends placed off the chart delays understanding. Your audience
needs to refer to the legends each time to make sense of the colors.

Consider this alternative pie chart:

Audience can find all the relevant information in one place instead of having to search around the slide.
The slide title gives the core message. The relevant part of the pie chart is isolated for easy reference.
So, your audience ‘gets’ your message under 2 seconds.

3. Make your key point stand out

Take a look at this slide with data:

Can you tell what the key message of the slide is? Neither can your audience. Slides without a clear
focus take a long time to understand. You can read further tips for data presentation here.
Consider this alternative slide with graph:

The key point almost jumps out of the slide. To make presentation of data effective, we ruthlessly
removed everything that can potentially distract the audience attention. There are no grid lines. Units on
the y axis are replaced by data labels. The key number is made larger than the rest. Naturally, your
audience gets the message under 2 seconds.

Different types of graphs:

There are different types of graphs in mathematics and statistics which are used to represent data in a
pictorial form. Among the various types of charts or graphs, the most common and the most widely
used ones are given and explained below.
Types of Graphs and Charts

 Statistical Graphs (bar graph, pie graph, line graph, etc.)

 Exponential Graphs
 Logarithmic Graphs
 Trigonometric Graphs
 Frequency Distribution Graph
All these graphs are used in various places to represent a certain set of data in a concise way. The
details of each of these graphs (or charts) are explained below in detail which will not only help to know
about these graphs better but will also help to choose the right kind of graph for a particular data set.

Statistical Graphs
A statistical graph or chart is defined as the pictorial representation of statistical data in graphical form.
The statistical graphs are used to represent a set of data to make it easier to understand and interpret
statistical data.

Exponential Graphs
Exponential graphs are the representation of exponential functions using the table of values and plotting
the points on a graph paper. It should be noted that the exponential functions are the inverse of
logarithmic functions. In the case of exponential charts, the graph can be an increasing or decreasing one
 based on the function. An example is given below which will help to understand the concept of graphing
exponential functionin an easy way.
For example, the graph of y = 3x is an increasing one while the graph of y = 3-x is a decreasing one.

Logarithmic Graphs
Logarithmic functions are inverse of exponential functions and the method of plotting them are similar. To
plot logarithmic graphs, it is required to make a table of values and then plot the points accordingly on a
graph paper. The graph of any log function will be the inverse of an exponential function. An example is
given below for better understanding.
For example, the inverse graph of y = 3x will be y = log3 {x) which will be as follows:

Trigonometric Graphs
Trigonometry graphs are plotted for the 6 trigonometric functions which include sine function, cosine
function, tangent function, cotangent function, cosec function, and sec function. Visit trigonometry
graphs to learn the graphs of each of the function in detail along with their maximum and minimum values
and solved examples.

Frequency Distribution Graph

A frequency distribution graph is used to show the frequency of the outcomes in a particular sample. For
frequency distribution graphs, the table of values is made by placing the outcomes in one column and the
number of times they appear (i.e. frequency) in the other column. This table is known as the frequency
distribution table. There are two commonly used frequency graphs which include:

 Frequency Polygon
 Cumulative Frequency Distribution Graphs

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AIOU Solved Assignments 1 Code 8614 Spring 2019
AIOU Solved Assignments Code 8614
Q.2 What is normal distribution? Explain the role of normal distribution in decision making for
data analysis. Write a note on skeweness and kurtosis and explain its causes.
Answer:
In probability theory, the normal (or Gaussian) distribution is a very common continuous probability
distribution. Normal distributions are important in statistics and are often used in the natural and social
sciences to represent real-valued random variables whose distributions are not known. A random variable
with a Gaussian distribution is said to be normally distributed and is called a normal deviate.

The normal distribution is useful because of the central limit theorem. In its most general form, under
some conditions (which include finite variance), it states that averages of samples of observations of
random variables independently drawn from independent distributions converge in distribution to the
normal, that is, become normally distributed when the number of observations is sufficiently large.
Physical quantities that are expected to be the sum of many independent processes (such as
measurement errors) often have distributions that are nearly normal. Moreover, many results and
methods (such as propagation of uncertainty and least squares parameter fitting) can be derived
analytically in explicit form when the relevant variables are normally distributed. The normal distribution is
sometimes informally called the bell curve. However, many other distributions are bell-shaped (such as
the Cauchy, Student’s t, and logistic distributions).
 The normal distribution is a widely observed distribution. Furthermore, it frequently can be applied to
situations in which the data is distributed very differently. This extended applicability is possible because
of the central limit theorem, which states that regardless of the distribution of the population, the
distribution of the means of random samples approaches a normal distribution for a large sample size.
Applications to Business Administration
The normal distribution has applications in many areas of business administration. For example:

 Modern portfolio theory commonly assumes that the returns of a diversified asset portfolio follow a
normal distribution.
 In operations management, process variations often are normally distributed.
 In human resource management, employee performance sometimes is considered to be normally
distributed.
The normal distribution often is used to describe random variables, especially those having symmetrical,
unimodal distributions. In many cases however, the normal distribution is only a rough approximation of
the actual distribution. For example, the physical length of a component cannot be negative, but the
normal distribution extends indefinitely in both the positive and negative directions. Nonetheless, the
resulting errors may be negligible or within acceptable limits, allowing one to solve problems with
sufficient accuracy by assuming a normal distribution.

Skeweness and kurtosis

Skewness and kurtosis are two commonly listed values when you run a software’s descriptive statistics
function. Many books say that these two statistics give you insights into the shape of the distribution.

Skewness is a measure of the symmetry in a distribution. A symmetrical dataset will have a skewness
equal to 0. So, a normal distribution will have a skewness of 0. Skewness essentially measures the
relative size of the two tails.

Kurtosis is a measure of the combined sizes of the two tails. It measures the amount of probability in the
tails. The value is often compared to the kurtosis of the normal distribution, which is equal to 3. If the
kurtosis is greater than 3, then the dataset has heavier tails than a normal distribution (more in the
tails). If the kurtosis is less than 3, then the dataset has lighter tails than a normal distribution (less in the
tails). Careful here. Kurtosis is sometimes reported as “excess kurtosis.” Excess kurtosis is determined
by subtracting 3 form the kurtosis. This makes the normal distribution kurtosis equal 0. Kurtosis originally
was thought to measure the peakedness of a distribution. Though you will still see this as part of the
definition in many places, this is a misconception.

Skewness and kurtosis involve the tails of the distribution. These are presented in more detail below.

SKEWNESS

Skewness is usually described as a measure of a dataset’s symmetry – or lack of symmetry. A perfectly

symmetrical data set will have a skewness of 0. The normal distribution has a skewness of 0.

The skewness is defined as (Advanced Topics in Statistical Process Control, Dr. Donald
Wheeler, www.spcpress.com):

where n is the sample size, Xi is the ith X value, X is the average and s is the sample standard
deviation. Note the exponent in the summation. It is “3”. The skewness is referred to as the “third
standardized central moment for the probability model.”
Most software packages use a formula for the skewness that takes into account sample size:
 This sample size formula is used here. It is also what Microsoft Excel uses. The difference between the
two formula results becomes very small as the sample size increases.

Figure 1 is a symmetrical data set. It was created by generating a set of data from 65 to 135 in steps of 5
with the number of each value as shown in Figure 1. For example, there are 3 65’s, 6 65’s, etc..

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AIOU Solved Assignments 2 Code 8614 Spring 2019
AIOU Solved Assignments Code 8614
Q.3 Explain the measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion. How these two
concepts are related? How these two concepts are related? Suggest one measure of dispersion
for each measure of central tendency with logical reasons
Answer:
Collecting data can be easy and fun. But sometimes it can be hard to tell other people about what you
have found. That’s why we use statistics. Two kinds of statistics are frequently used to describe data.
They are measures of central tendency and dispersion. These are often called descriptive
statistics because they can help you describe your data.
Mean, median and mode
These are all measures of central tendency. They help summarize a bunch of scores with a single
number. Suppose you want to describe a bunch of data that you collected to a friend for a particular
variable like height of students in your class. One way would be to read each height you recorded to your
friend. Your friend would listen to all of the heights and then come to a conclusion about how tall students
generally are in your class But this would take too much time. Especially if you are in a class of 200 or
300 students! Another way to communicate with your friend would be to use measures of central
tendency like the mean, median and mode. They help you summarize bunches of numbers with one or
just a few numbers. They make telling people about your data easy.

Range, variance and standard deviation

These are all measures of dispersion. These help you to know the spread of scores within a bunch of
scores. Are the scores really close together or are they really far apart? For example, if you were
describing the heights of students in your class to a friend, they might want to know how much the heights
vary. Are all the men about 5 feet 11 inches within a few centimeters or so? Or is there a lot of variation
where some men are 5 feet and others are 6 foot 5 inches? Measures of dispersion like the range,
variance and standard deviation tell you about the spread of scores in a data set. Like central tendency,
they help you summarize a bunch of numbers with one or just a few numbers.

How these two concepts are related? Suggest one measure of dispersion for each measure of
central tendency with logical reasons.
In many ways, measures of central tendency are less useful in statistical analysis than measures
of dispersion of values around the central tendency. The dispersion of values within variables is
especially important in social and political research because:
 Dispersion or “variation” in observations is what we seek to explain.
 Researchers want to know WHY some cases lie above average and others below average for a given
variable:
 TURNOUT in voting: why do some states show higher rates than others?
 CRIMES in cities: why are there differences in crime rates?
 CIVIL STRIFE among countries: what accounts for differing amounts?
 Much of statistical explanation aims at explaining DIFFERENCES in observations — also known as
  VARIATION, or the more technical term, VARIANCE.
The SPSS Guide contains only the briefest discussion of measures of dispersion on pages 23-24.
 It mentions the minimum and maximum values as the extremes, and
 it refers to the standard deviation as the “most commonly used” measure of dispersion.
This is not enough, and we’ll discuss several statistics used to measure variation, which differ in their
importance.

 We’ll proceed from the less important to the more important, and
 we’ll relate the various measures to measurement theory.
Easy-to-Understand Measures of dispersion for NOMINAL and ORDINAL variables
In the great scheme of things, measuring dispersion among norminal or oridinal variables is not very
important.

 There is inconsistency in methods to measure dispersion for these variables, especially for nominal
variables.
 Measures suitable for nominal variables (discrete, non-orderable) would also apply to discrete
orderable or continuous variables, orderable, but better alternatives are available.
 Whenever possible, researchers try to reconceptualize nominal and ordinal variables and
operationalize (measure) them with an interval scale.
Variation Ratio, VR
 VR = l – (proportion of cases in the mode)
 The value of VR reflects the following logic:
 The larger the proportion of cases in the mode of a nominal variable, the less the variation among
the cases of that variable.
 By subtracting the proportion of cases from 1, VR reports the dispersion among cases.
 This measure has an absolute lower value of 0, indicating NO variation in the data (occurs when
all the cases fall into one category; hence no variation).
 Its maximum value approaches one as the proportion of cases inside the mode decreases.
 Unfortunately, this measure is a “terminal statistic”:
 VR does not figure prominently in any subsequent procedures for statistical analysis.
 Nevertheless, you should learn it, for it illustrates
 that even nominal variables can demonstrate variation
 that the variation can be measured, even if somewhat awkwardly.
Easy-to-understand measures of variation for CONTINUOUS variables.
RANGE: the distance between the highest and lowest values in a distribution
 Uses information on only the extreme values.
 Highly unstable as a result.
SEMI-INTERQUARTILE RANGE: distance between scores at the 25th and the 75th percentiles.
 Also uses information on only two values, but not ones at the extremes.
 More stable than the range but of limited utility.
AVERAGE DEVIATION:

where = absolute value of the differences

Absolute values of the differences are summed, rather than the differences themselves, for summing the
positive and negative values of differences in a distribution calculating from its mean always yields 0.
 The average deviation is simple to calculate and easily understood.
 But it is of limited value in statistics, for it does not figure in subsequent statistical analysis.
 For mathematical reasons, statistical procedures are based on measures of dispersion that use
SQUARED deviations from the mean rather than absolute deviations.

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AIOU Solved Assignments Code 8614 Spring 2019
AIOU Solved Assignments Code 8614
Q.4 Explain the following terms with examples. (20)
a) Continuous Variable
Answer:
A variable is a quantity that has a changing value; the value can vary from one example to the next. A
continuous variable is a variable that has an infinite number of possible values. In other words, any
value is possible for the variable. A continuous variable is the opposite of a discrete variable, which can
only take on a certain number of values. A continuous variable doesn’t have to have every possible
number (like -infinity to +infinity), it can also be continuous between two numbers, like 1 and 2. For
example, discrete variables could be 1,2 while the continuous variables could be 1,2 and everything in
between: 1.00, 1.01, 1.001, 1.0001…
What is a Continuous Variable? Examples of Continuous Data

A few examples of continuous variables / data:

 Time it takes a computer to complete a task. You might think you can count it, but time is often
rounded up to convenient intervals, like seconds or milliseconds. Time is actually a continuum: it could
take 1.3 seconds or it could take 1.333333333333333… seconds.
 A person’s weight. Someone could weigh 180 pounds, they could weigh 180.10 pounds or they could
weigh 180.1110 pounds. The number of possibilities for weight are limitless.
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b) Categorical Variable
Answer:
In statistics, a categorical variable is a variable that can take on one of a limited, and usually fixed,
number of possible values, assigning each individual or other unit of observation to a particular group or
nominal category on the basis of some qualitative property.[1] In computer science and some branches of
mathematics, categorical variables are referred to as enumerations or enumerated types. Commonly
(though not in this article), each of the possible values of a categorical variable is referred to as a level.
The probability distribution associated with a random categorical variable is called a categorical
distribution.

Categorical data is the statistical data type consisting of categorical variables or of data that has been
converted into that form, for example as grouped data. More specifically, categorical data may derive
from observations made of qualitative data that are summarised as counts or cross tabulations, or from
observations of quantitative data grouped within given intervals. Often, purely categorical data are
summarised in the form of a contingency table. However, particularly when considering data analysis, it is
common to use the term “categorical data” to apply to data sets that, while containing some categorical
variables, may also contain non-categorical variables.

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c) Independent Variable
Answer:
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE DEFINITION
An independent variable is defines as the variable that is changed or controlled in a scientific experiment.
It represents the cause or reason for an outcome. Independent variables are the variables that the
 experimenter changes to test their dependent variable. A change in the independent variable directly
causes a change in the dependent variable. The effect on the dependent variable is measured and
recorded.

Common Misspellings: independant variable

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE EXAMPLES
 A scientist is testing the effect of light and dark on the behavior of moths by turning a light on and off.
The independent variable is the amount of light and the moth’s reaction is the dependent variable.
 In a study to determine the effect of temperature on plant pigmentation, the independent variable
(cause) is the temperature, while the amount of pigment or color is the dependent variable (the effect).
GRAPHING THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
When graphing data for an experiment, the independent variable is plotted on the x-axis, while the
dependent variable is recorded on the y-axis. An easy way to keep the two variables straight is to use the
acronym DRY MIX, which stands for:

 Dependent variable that Responds to change goes on the Y axis

 Manipulated or Independent variable goes on the X axis
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d) Dependent Variable
Answer:
The two main variables in an experiment are the independent and dependent variable.

An independent variable is the variable that is changed or controlled in a scientific experiment to test the
effects on the dependent variable. A dependent variable is the variable being tested and measured in a
scientific experiment. The dependent variable is ‘dependent’ on the independent variable. As the
experimenter changes the independent variable, the effect on the dependent variable is observed and
recorded.
For example, a scientist wants to see if the brightness of light has any effect on a moth being attracted to
the light. The brightness of the light is controlled by the scientist. This would be the independent variable.
How the moth reacts to the different light levels (distance to light source) would be the dependent
variable.

The independent and dependent variables may be viewed in terms of cause and effect. If the
independent variable is changed, then an effect is seen in the dependent variable. Remember, the values
of both variables may change in an experiment and are recorded. The difference is that the value of the
independent variable is controlled by the experimenter, while the value of the dependent variable only
changes in response to the independent variable.

When results are plotted in graphs, the convention is to use the independent variable as the x-axis and
the dependent variable as the y-axis.

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e) Co-Variation
Answer:
When explaining other people’s behaviors, we look for similarities (covariation) across a range of
situations to help us narrow down specific attributions. There are three particular types of information we
look for to help us decide, each of which can be high or low:

 Consensus: how similarly other people act, given the same stimulus, as the person in question.
 Distinctiveness: how similarly the person acts in different situations, towards other stimuli.
 Consistency: how often the same stimulus and response in the same situation are perceived.
People tend to make internal attributions when consensus and distinctiveness are low but consistency is
high. They will make external attributions when consensus and distinctiveness are both high and
consistency is still high. When consistency is low, they will make situational attributions.
People are often less sensitive to consensus information.

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AIOU Solved Assignments 1 & 2 Spring 2019 Code
8614
AIOU Solved Assignments Code 8614
Q.5 What are levels of measurement? Explain each level so that reader can understand the
description of level and differentiate each level from other levels. Write down 10 examples for
each level and further explain one example from level
Answer:
Data Levels of Measurement
A variable has one of four different levels of measurement: Nominal, Ordinal, Interval, or Ratio. (Interval
and Ratio levels of measurement are sometimes called Continuous or Scale). It is important for the
researcher to understand the different levels of measurement, as these levels of measurement, together
with how the research question is phrased, dictate what statistical analysis is appropriate. In fact, the
Free download below conveniently ties a variable’s levels to different statistical analyses.
In descending order of precision, the four different levels of measurement are:

 Nominal–Latin for name only (Republican, Democrat, Green, Libertarian)

 Ordinal–Think ordered levels or ranks (small–8oz, medium–12oz, large–32oz)
 Interval–Equal intervals among levels (1 dollar to 2 dollars is the same interval as 88 dollars to 89
dollars)
 Ratio–Let the “o” in ratio remind you of a zero in the scale (Day 0, day 1, day 2, day 3, …)
The first level of measurement is nominal level of measurement. In this level of measurement, the
numbers in the variable are used only to classify the data. In this level of measurement, words, letters,
and alpha-numeric symbols can be used. Suppose there are data about people belonging to three
different gender categories. In this case, the person belonging to the female gender could be classified as
F, the person belonging to the male gender could be classified as M, and transgendered classified as
T. This type of assigning classification is nominal level of measurement.
The second level of measurement is the ordinal level of measurement. This level of
measurement depicts some ordered relationship among the variable’s observations. Suppose a student
scores the highest grade of 100 in the class. In this case, he would be assigned the first rank. Then,
another classmate scores the second highest grade of an 92; she would be assigned the second rank. A
third student scores a 81 and he would be assigned the third rank, and so on. The ordinal level of
measurement indicates an ordering of the measurements.
The third level of measurement is the interval level of measurement. The interval level of measurement
not only classifies and orders the measurements, but it also specifies that the distances between each
interval on the scale are equivalent along the scale from low interval to high interval. For example, an
interval level of measurement could be the measurement of anxiety in a student between the score of 10
and 11, this interval is the same as that of a student who scores between 40 and 41. A popular example
of this level of measurement is temperature in centigrade, where, for example, the distance between 940C
and 960C is the same as the distance between 1000C and 1020C.
The fourth level of measurement is the ratio level of measurement. In this level of measurement, the
observations, in addition to having equal intervals, can have a value of zero as well. The zero in the scale
makes this type of measurement unlike the other types of measurement, although the properties are
similar to that of the interval level of measurement. In the ratio level of measurement, the divisions
between the points on the scale have an equivalent distance between them.
The researcher should note that among these levels of measurement, the nominal level is simply used to
classify data, whereas the levels of measurement described by the interval level and the ratio level are
much more exact.

What level of measurement is used for psychological variables?

Rating scales are used frequently in psychological research. For example, experimental subjects may be
asked to rate their level of pain, how much they like a consumer product, their attitudes about capital
punishment, their confidence in an answer to a test question. Typically these ratings are made on a 5-
point or a 7-point scale. These scales are ordinal scales since there is no assurance that a given
difference represents the same thing across the range of the scale. For example, there is no way to be
sure that a treatment that reduces pain from a rated pain level of 3 to a rated pain level of 2 represents
the same level of relief as a treatment that reduces pain from a rated pain level of 7 to a rated pain level
of 6.

In memory experiments, the dependent variable is often the number of items correctly recalled. What
scale of measurement is this? You could reasonably argue that it is a ratio scale. First, there is a true zero
point: some subjects may get no items correct at all. Moreover, a difference of one represents a
difference of one item recalled across the entire scale. It is certainly valid to say that someone who
recalled 12 items recalled twice as many items as someone who recalled only 6 items.

But number-of-items recalled is a more complicated case than it appears at first. Consider the following
example in which subjects are asked to remember as many items as possible from a list of 10. Assume
that (a) there are 5 easy items and 5 difficult items, (b) half of the subjects are able to recall all the easy
items and different numbers of difficult items, while (c) the other half of the subjects are unable to recall
any of the difficult items but they do remember different numbers of easy items. Some sample data are
shown below.

Easy Difficult Scor

Subject
Items Items e

A 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2

B 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3

C 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 7

D 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 8

Let’s compare (1) the difference between Subject A’s score of 2 and Subject B’s score of 3 with (2) the
difference between Subject C’s score of 7 and Subject D’s score of 8. The former difference is a
difference of one easy item; the latter difference is a difference of one difficult item. Do these two
differences necessarily signify the same difference in memory? We are inclined to respond “No” to this
question since only a little more memory may be needed to retain the additional easy item whereas a lot
more memory may be needed to retain the additional hard item. The general point is that it is often
inappropriate to consider psychological measurement scales as either interval or ratio.

Consequences of level of measurement

Why are we so interested in the type of scale that measures a dependent variable? The crux of the matter
is the relationship between the variable’s level of measurement and the statistics that can be meaningfully
computed with that variable. For example, consider a hypothetical study in which 5 children are asked to
choose their favorite color from blue, red, yellow, green, and purple. The researcher codes the results as
follows:

Color Code

Blue 1
Red 2
Yellow 3
Green 4
Purple 5