Chapter 1:

Introduction to
Psychological Statistics

Why study statistics?

To understand published empirical
research
To understand the process of
drawing inferences from samples
to populations
To conduct and report your own
research

Populations vs. samples

Populations are summarized by
parameters
Samples are summarized by
statistics
Random samples are preferred to
samples of convenience

Chapter 1

For Explaining Psychological

Statistics, 4th ed. by B. Cohen

Scales of measurement

Nominal (categorical or qualitative)

Ex.) Breeds of dogs or cats; political

parties; religious affiliations

Ordinal

Ex.) Class rankings; rating a teacher

as excellent, good, fair, or poor

Interval

Ex.) Temperature in degrees on the

Fahrenheit or Celsius scales

Ratio

Ex.) Weight measured on pounds;

height measured in inches

Independent Variables (IVs) and

Dependent Variables (DVs)

Chapter 1

True IVs involve conditions that are

created by the researcher.
DVs are measured by the researcher, and
are often expected to be affected by an IV.

For Explaining Psychological

Statistics, 4th ed. by B. Cohen

 Summation notation
N

X
i 1

Ex.) X: 3, 2, 5

X 10
Y

Y: 4, 1, 6

2
X
38

11

53

100

121

Rule 1:

( X Y ) X Y 10 11 21
Rule 2:
( X Y ) X Y 10 11 1
Chapter 1

For Explaining Psychological

Statistics, 4th ed. by B. Cohen

Rule 3:

( XY ) ( X )( Y )

( XY ) 44 ( X )( Y ) 110
Rule 4:

Rule 5:

38 X 100
2

k Nk

If N = 3 and k = 8, then:

k Nk

Chapter 1

3 * 8 24

For Explaining Psychological

Statistics, 4th ed. by B. Cohen

Rule 6:

X k X k
X ,therefore:
Nk

X 8 10 24 34
Rule 7:

X k X Nk
so, X 8 10 24 14
Rule 8:
so,

Chapter 1

kX

k X

8X 8 *10 80
For Explaining Psychological
Statistics, 4th ed. by B. Cohen