Inferential Statistics
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Ninth Edition
Basic Statistics Tales of Distributions
Chris Spatz Hendrix College
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Basic Statistics: Tales of Distributions, Ninth Edition Chris Spatz
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About the Author
Chris Spatz is at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, where he has
twice served as chair of the Psychology Department. After completing
undergraduate work at Hendrix, Spatz earned a Ph.D. in experimental
psychology from Tulane University in New Orleans. He subsequently
completed postdoctoral fellowships in animal behavior at the University
of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley. Before return-
ing to Hendrix to teach, Spatz held positions at The University of the
South and the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
Spatz has served as a reviewer for the journal Teaching of Psychol-
ogy for more than 20 years, written chapters for edited books, and is a
co-author with Edward P. Kardas of the textbook Research Methods in
Psychology: Ideas, Techniques, and Reports. He was a section editor for
the Encyclopedia of Statistics in Behavioral Science.
Spatz is married to Thea Siria Spatz, and they have three children and seven grand-
children. Aside from writing, Spatz enjoys the outdoors, especially camping and
canoeing. He swims several times a week and is active in the United Methodist Church.
iii
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With love and affection,
this textbook is dedicated to
Thea Siria Spatz, Ed.D., CHES.
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Brief Contents
Preface xv
1 Introduction 1 2 Frequency Distributions and Graphs 24 3 Central Tendency and Variability 40 4 Other Descriptive Statistics 69 5 Correlation and Regression 84 6 Theoretical Distributions Including the Normal Distribution 119 7 Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals 141 8 Hypothesis Testing and Effect Size: One-Sample Designs 167 9 Hypothesis Testing, Effect Size, and Confidence Intervals:
Two-Sample Designs 191
10 Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification 223 11 Analysis of Variance: One-Factor Repeated Measures 250 12 Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design 262 13 Chi Square Tests 294 14 More Nonparametric Tests 317 15 Choosing Tests and Writing Interpretations 344
Appendixes
A Arithmetic and Algebra Review 359 B Grouped Frequency Distributions and Central Tendency 373 C Tables 378 D Glossary of Words 399 E Glossary of Symbols 403 F Glossary of Formulas 405 G Answers to Problems 412
References 465
Index 471
v
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Contents
Preface xv
chapter 1 Introduction 1 What Do You Mean, “Statistics”? 2
clue to the future 4
What’s in It for Me? 4
Some Terminology 5
Problems and Answers 8
Scales of Measurement 9
Statistics and Experimental Design 12
Experimental Design Variables 13
Statistics and Philosophy 15
Statistics: Then and Now 16
Helpful Features of This Book 16
Concluding Thoughts for This Introductory Chapter 19
Additional Help for Chapter 1 21
Key Terms 21
transition passage to descriptive statistics 23
chapter 2 Frequency Distributions and Graphs 24 Simple Frequency Distributions 26
error detection 27 vi
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Grouped Frequency Distributions 28
Graphs of Frequency Distributions 30
Describing Distributions 34
The Line Graph 36
More on Graphics 36
A Moment to Reflect 37
Additional Help for Chapter 2 38
Key Terms 39
chapter 3 Central Tendency and Variability 40 Measures of Central Tendency 41
Finding Central Tendency of Simple Frequency Distributions 44
error detection 46
error detection 47
When to Use the Mean, Median, and Mode 47
Determining Skewness from the Mean and Median 49
The Weighted Mean 50
Variability 52
The Range 53
Interquartile Range 54
The Standard Deviation 55
The Standard Deviation as a Descriptive Index of Variability 56
error detection 57
error detection 59
error detection 61
ŝ as an Estimate of s 61
error detection 64
clue to the future 65
The Variance 65
clue to the future 66
Contents ■ vii
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Estimating Answers 66
Additional Help for Chapter 3 68
Key Terms 68
chapter 4 Other Descriptive Statistics 69 Using z Scores to Describe Individuals 70
clue to the future 72
Boxplots 73
error detection 75
Effect Size Index 76
The Descriptive Statistics Report 79
Additional Help for Chapter 4 82
Key Terms 82
transition passage to bivariate distributions 83
chapter 5 Correlation and Regression 84 Bivariate Distributions 86
Positive Correlation 87
Negative Correlation 89
Zero Correlation 91
clue to the future 91
The Correlation Coefficient 92
error detection 93
clue to the future 96
error detection 96
Scatterplots 97
Interpretations of r 98
Uses of r 100
Strong Relationships but Low Correlations 103
error detection 106
Other Kinds of Correlation Coefficients 106
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Linear Regression 107
Making Predictions from a Linear Equation 107
The Regression Equation—A Line of Best Fit 108
error detection 112
Additional Help for Chapter 5 116
Key Terms 116
What Would You Recommend? Chapters 1–5 116
transition passage to inferential statistics 118
chapter 6 Theoretical Distributions Including the Normal Distribution 119 Probability 120
A Rectangular Distribution 121
clue to the future 122
A Binomial Distribution 122
Comparison of Theoretical and Empirical Distributions 124
The Normal Distribution 125
error detection 132
clue to the future 138
Comparison of Theoretical and Empirical Answers 138
Other Theoretical Distributions 139
Additional Help for Chapter 6 140
Key Terms 140
chapter 7 Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals 141 Random Samples 143
Biased Samples 146
Research Samples 146
Sampling Distributions 147
clue to the future 148
Contents ■ ix
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The Sampling Distribution of the Mean 148
Central Limit Theorem 149
Constructing a Sampling Distribution When s Is Not Available 155
The t Distribution 156
Confidence Interval about a Sample Mean 159
clue to the future 159
error detection 160
Categories of Inferential Statistics 163
Additional Help for Chapter 7 164
Key Terms 165
transition passage to hypothesis testing 166
chapter 8 Hypothesis Testing and Effect Size: One-Sample Designs 167 The Logic of Null Hypothesis Statistical Testing (NHST) 168
clue to the future 171
Using the t Distribution for Null Hypothesis Statistical Testing 172
A Problem and the Accepted Solution 174
The One-Sample t Test 176
An Analysis of Possible Mistakes 178
The Meaning of p in p � .05 180
One-Tailed and Two-Tailed Tests 181
Effect Size Index 184
Other Sampling Distributions 185
Using the t Distribution to Test the Significance of a Correlation Coefficient 186
clue to the future 186
Why .05? 188
Additional Help for Chapter 8 190
Key Terms 190
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chapter 9 Hypothesis Testing, Effect Size, and Confidence Intervals: Two-Sample Designs 191 A Short Lesson on How to Design an Experiment 192
NHST: The Two-Sample Example 194
Degrees of Freedom 196
Paired-Samples Designs and Independent-Samples Designs 197
clue to the future 197
The t Test for Independent-Samples Designs 200
clue to the future 203
The t Test for Paired-Samples Designs 205
error detection 208
Significant Results and Important Results 210
Effect Size Index 211
Establishing a Confidence Interval about a Mean Difference 213
error detection 214
Reaching Correct Conclusions 215
Statistical Power 217
Additional Help for Chapter 9 220
Key Terms 220
What Would You Recommend? Chapters 6–9 221
transition passage to more complex designs 222
chapter 10 Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification 223 Rationale of ANOVA 225
More New Terms 232
clue to the future 232
Sums of Squares 232
Contents ■ xi
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error detection 236
Mean Squares and Degrees of Freedom 237
error detection 238
Calculation and Interpretation of F Values Using the F Distribution 238
Schedules of Reinforcement—A Lesson in Persistence 240
Comparisons among Means 242
Assumptions of the Analysis of Variance 245
Effect Size Index 246
Additional Help for Chapter 10 249
Key Terms 249
chapter 11 Analysis of Variance: One-Factor Repeated Measures 250 A Data Set 251
One-Factor Repeated-Measures ANOVA: The Rationale 252
An Example Problem 252
Tukey HSD Tests 256
Type I and Type II Errors 257
Some Behind-the-Scenes Information about Repeated-Measures ANOVA 258
Additional Help for Chapter 11 261
Key Terms 261
chapter 12 Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design 262 Factorial Design 263
Main Effects and Interaction 267
clue to the future 272
A Simple Example of a Factorial Design 273
error detection 277
error detection 279
error detection 281
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Analysis of a 2 � 3 Design 282
Comparing Levels within a Factor—Tukey HSD Tests 289
Effect Size Indexes for Factorial ANOVA 290
Restrictions and Limitations 291
Additional Help for Chapter 12 292
Key Terms 292
transition passage to nonparametric statistics 293
chapter 13 Chi Square Tests 294 error detection 295
The Chi Square Distribution and the Chi Square Test 296
Chi Square as a Test of Independence 297
error detection 299
Shortcut for Any 2 � 2 Table 300
Effect Size Index for 2 � 2 Chi Square Data 301
Chi Square as a Test for Goodness of Fit 303
Chi Square with More Than One Degree of Freedom 306
Small Expected Frequencies 310
When You May Use Chi Square 313
error detection 313
Additional Help for Chapter 13 316
Key Terms 316
chapter 14 More Nonparametric Tests 317 The Rationale of Nonparametric Tests 318
Comparison of Nonparametric to Parametric Tests 319
clue to the future 320
The Mann–Whitney U Test 321
error detection 322
error detection 323
Contents ■ xiii
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error detection 324
The Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks T Test 327
The Wilcoxon–Wilcox Multiple-Comparisons Test 333
Correlation of Ranked Data 336
error detection 338
My Final Word 339
Additional Help for Chapter 14 341
Key Terms 342
What Would You Recommend? Chapters 10–14 342
chapter 15 Choosing Tests and Writing Interpretations 344 A Review 344
Future Steps 345
Choosing Tests and Writing Interpretations 346
Additional Help for Chapter 15 356
Key Terms 356
Appendixes
A Arithmetic and Algebra Review 359
B Grouped Frequency Distributions and Central Tendency 373
C Tables 378
D Glossary of Words 399
E Glossary of Symbols 403
F Glossary of Formulas 405
G Answers to Problems 412
References 465
Index 471
xiv ■ Contents
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Preface
Even if our statistical appetite is far from keen, we all of us should like to know enough to understand, or to withstand, the statistics that are constantly being thrown at us in print or conversation— much of it pretty bad statistics. The only cure for bad statistics is apparently more and better statistics. All in all, it certainly appears that the rudiments of sound statistical sense are coming to be an essential of a liberal education.
—Robert Sessions Woodworth
Basic Statistics: Tales of Distributions, Ninth Edition, is a textbook for a one-term sta- tistics course in the social or behavioral sciences, education, or the allied health/ nursing field. Its focus is conceptualization, understanding, and interpretation, rather than computation. Although designed to be comprehensible and complete for students who take only one statistics course, it includes many elements that prepare students for additional statistics courses. Basic experimental design terms such as independent and dependent variables are explained so that students can be expected to write fairly complete interpretations of their analyses. In many places, the student is invited to stop and think or stop and do an exercise. Some problems simply ask the student to decide which statistical technique is appropriate. In sum, this book’s approach reinforces instructors who emphasize critical thinking in their course.
This textbook has been remarkably successful for more than 30 years, at times being a Wadsworth “best-seller” among statistics texts. Reviewers have praised the book as have students and professors. A common refrain is that the book has a conversational style that is engaging, especially for a statistics text. Other features that distinguish this textbook from others include:
■ Problems are interspersed throughout the chapter rather than grouped at the end
■ Answers to problems are extensive; there are more than 50 pages of detailed answers
■ Examples and problems come from a variety of disciplines and everyday life ■ Most problems are based on actual studies rather than fabricated scenarios
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■ Computer software analyses are illustrated with SPSS printouts ■ Interpretation is emphasized; interpretation headings in the answers are
highlighted ■ Important words and phrases are defined in the margin when they first occur ■ The effect size index is treated as a descriptive statistic and not just an add-on
to hypothesis-testing problems ■ Objectives at the beginning of each chapter serve first as an orientation list
and later as a review list ■ Clues to the Future alert students to concepts that will be repeated ■ Error Detection boxes tell ways to detect or prevent mistakes ■ Transition Passages alert students to changes in focus that are part of the
chapters that follow ■ Comprehensive Problems encompass all (or most) of the techniques in a
chapter ■ What Would You Recommend? problems require choices from among the
techniques in several chapters ■ The Wadsworth website has a variety of student aids for each chapter
New to the Ninth Edition
■ The three ANOVA chapters are reorganized to reflect the way many instructors teach their course. Factorial ANOVA now comes after one-factor repeated-measures ANOVA
■ Nine examples in the text are accompanied by SPSS printouts, reflecting the increasing use of SPSS in psychology and related fields
■ Problems based on contemporary data are all updated, including new height data for Americans
■ Twenty graphs are new or revised ■ New notation for the problems makes the answers easier to find in the
appendix ■ Sections that are heavily revised include:
● Statistical power (now focuses on making correct decisions) ● The relationship between p and d (addressed and made explicit) ● The mean/median relationship in skewed distributions (the old rule of
thumb can be wrong) ● Personal Control scores (replaced with the Satisfaction With Life Scale)
■ Additions to the text include
● An operational definition of outliers as 1.5 � IQR from the 25th and 75th percentiles
● d as an effect size index for ANOVA
■ Deletions include
● J curves ● The explanation of the limits of decimal numbers
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There are several ancillary publications that supplement this textbook. For students, the companion website has multiple-choice questions, flashcards, and links to workshops on many statistical topics. Visit it at www.thomsonedu.com/ psychology/spatz. The Spatz Premium Website has a chapter on power and a study guide that includes chapter summaries, multiple-choice questions, and problems. The Premium Website also has hundreds of multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, matching, and computation problems. Some of the problems use definitional formulas, a technique that improves understanding, and others are paced—correct answers are required at each intermediate step before the program proceeds. Most of the problems ask for an interpretation. Students can log in at www.thomsonedu.com/psychology/ spatz/premium/spatz_9e. For professors, the Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank has teaching suggestions and almost 2000 test items, most of which have been classroom tested. The Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank is also available in electronic form.
Students who engage themselves in this book and in their course can expect to
■ Understand and explain statistical reasoning ■ Choose correct statistical techniques for the data from simple experiments ■ Solve statistical problems ■ Write explanations that are congruent with statistical analyses
A gentle revolution is going on in the practice of statistics. In the past, statistics moved toward more sophisticated ways to test a null hypothesis. Recently, the direction shifted to an emphasis on descriptive statistics and graphs, simpler analyses, and less reliance on null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST). (See the initial report and the follow-up report of the APA Task Force on Statistical Inference at www.apa.org/science/bsaweb-tfsi.html.) This edition reflects many of those changes.
Acknowledgments
I am pleased to acknowledge all the help I received from students, colleagues, and Hendrix College. Roger E. Kirk, my consulting editor for the first six editions, deserves special thanks for identifying errors and teaching me some statistics. Rob Nichols wrote sampling programs, and Bob Eslinger produced accurate graphs of the F, t, x2, and normal distributions. My student assistants were Nicole Loggans, Nick Gowen, and Adrienne Crowell. Anita Wagner copyedited the manuscript, fixing many subtle errors, and Jason Thomas shepherded the manuscript through production. I especially want to acknowledge James O. Johnston, my friend and former co-author, who suggested that we do a statistics book, dreamed up the subtitle, and worked with me on the first three editions.
I also want to acknowledge the help of reviewers for this edition:
Preface ■ xvii
Adansi Amankwaa, Albany State College
Michael Baird, San Jacinto College Daniel Calcagnetti, Fairleigh
Dickinson University Sky Chafin, Palomar College Yong Dai, Louisiana State University
Kathleen Dillon, Western New England College
Jennifer Peszka, Hendrix College Marilyn Pugh, Texas Weslyan
University Francisco Silva, University of
Redlands
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In addition to the reviewers for this edition, I have benefited from the criticism of more than 75 other professors who formally reviewed previous editions of this book, including Evelyn Blanch-Payne, Albany State University; Chris Bloom, University of Southern Indiana; Curtis Brant, Baldwin-Wallace College; Thomas Capo, University of Maryland; Kathleen Dillon, Western New England College; Beverly Dretzke, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire; Alexis Grosofsky, Beloit College; Laura Heinze, University of Kansas; Marcel Satsky Kerr, Tarleton State University–Central Texas; Gerald Lucker, University of Texas, El Paso; Sandra McIntire, Rollins College; Craig Nagoshi, Arizona State University; Jennifer Peszka, Hendrix College; David Schwebel, University of Alabama at Birmingham; Christy Scott, Pepperdine University; Elizabeth Ann Spatz, Hendrix College; Boyd Spencer, Eastern Illinois University; Greg Streib, Georgia State University; Philip Tolin, Central Washington University; and Anthony Walsh, Salve Regina University.
I am grateful to the Longman Group UK Ltd., on behalf of the Literary Executor of the late Sir Ronald A. Fisher, F.R.S., and Dr. Frank Yates, F.R.S., for permission to reproduce Tables III, IV, and VII from their book Statistical Tables for Biological, Agricultural, and Medical Research, Sixth Edition (1974).
My most important acknowledgment goes to my wife and family, who helped and supported me in many ways over the life of this project. Words are not adequate here.
I’ve always had a touch of the teacher in me—first as an older sibling, then as a parent and professor, and now as a grandfather. Education is a first-class task, in my opinion. I hope this book conveys my enthusiasm for teaching and also my philosophy of teaching. (By the way, if you are a student who is so thorough as to read the whole preface, you should know that I included phrases and examples in a number of places that reward your kind of diligence.)
If you find errors in this book, please report them to me at spatz@hendrix.edu. I will post corrections at www.hendrix.edu/statistics9thED.
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chapter 1 Introduction
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 1
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Distinguish between descriptive and inferential statistics
2. Define the words population, sample, parameter, statistic, and variable as these terms are used in statistics
3. Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative variables
4. Identify the lower and upper limits of a quantitative measurement
5. Identify four scales of measurement and distinguish among them
6. Distinguish between statistics and experimental design
7. Define some experimental-design terms—independent variable, dependent variable, and extraneous variable—and identify these variables in the description of an experiment
8. Describe the relationship of statistics to epistemology
9. Identify a few events in the history of statistics
THIS IS A book about statistics that is written for people who do not plan to become statisticians. In fact, I was not trained as a statistician myself; my field in graduate school was psychology. At that time, I studied statistics so I could analyze, understand, and explain quantitative data from my experiments (and also because the courses were required). Afterward, I realized that statistical techniques and reasoning are valuable in many other arenas.
Many disciplines use quantitative data. In all of these disciplines, understanding statistics is at least helpful and may even be necessary. Lawyers, for example, sometimes have cases in which statistics can help establish more convincing evidence for their clients. I have assisted lawyers at times, occasionally testifying in court about the proper interpretation of data. (You will analyze and interpret some of these data in later chapters.) Statistics is a powerful method for getting answers from data, and it is sometimes the best way to persuade others that the conclusions are correct.
1
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Whatever your current thoughts about your future as a statistician, I believe you will benefit from this course. When a statistics course is successful, students learn to identify the questions that a set of data can answer, determine the statistical procedures that will provide the answers, carry out the procedures, and then, using plain English and graphs, tell the story the data reveal. (Also, they find statistics helpful in other arenas of their lives.)
The best way for you to acquire all these skills (especially the part about telling the story) is to engage statistics. Engaged students are easily recognized; they are prepared for exams, not easily distracted while studying, and generally finish assignments on time. Becoming an engaged student may not be so easy, but many have achieved it. Here are my recommendations. Read with the goal of understanding. Attend class. Do all the assignments (on time). Write down questions. Ask for explanations. Expect to understand. (Disclaimer: I’m not suggesting that you marry statistics, but just engage for this one course.)
Are you uncertain about your arithmetic and algebra skills? Appendix A in the back of this book may help. It consists of a pretest (to see if you need to refresh your memory) and a review (to provide that refresher).
What Do You Mean, “Statistics”?
The Oxford English Dictionary says that the word statistics came into use more than 200 years ago. At that time, statistics referred to a country’s quantifiable political characteristics—characteristics such as population, taxes, and area. Statistics meant “state numbers.” Tables and charts of those numbers turned out to be a very satisfactory way to compare different countries and to make projections about the future. Later, the techniques of using tables and charts proved helpful to people studying trade (economics) and natural phenomena (science). Statistics was spreading.
Today two different techniques are called statistics. One technique, descriptive statistics,1 produces a number or a figure that summarizes or describes a set of data. You are already familiar with some descriptive statistics. For example, you know about the arithmetic average, called the mean.You have probably known how to compute a mean since elementary school—just add up the numbers and divide the total by the number of entries. As you already know, the mean describes the central tendency of a set of numbers. The basic idea is simple: A descriptive statistic summarizes a set of data with one number or graph. This book will cover about a dozen descriptive statistics.
The other statistical technique is inferential statistics. With inferential statistics, you use measurements from a sample to reach conclusions about a larger, unmeasured population. To reach a conclusion,
researchers typically establish two hypotheses about the population. If the sample data allow them to discount one of the hypotheses, their conclusion favors the other hypothesis (null hypothesis statistical testing). There is, of course, a problem with samples. Samples always depend partly on the luck of the draw; chance influences what particular measurements you get. If you have the measurements for the entire population,
2 ■ Chapter 1
1 Boldface words and phrases are defined in the margin and also in Appendix D, Glossary of Words.
descriptive statistic A number that conveys a particular characteristic of a set of data.
mean Arithmetic average; sum of scores divided by number of scores.
inferential statistics Method that uses sample evidence and probability to reach conclusions about unmeasurable populations.
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chance doesn’t play a part—all the variation in the numbers is “true” variation. But with samples, some of the variation is the true variation in the population and some is just the chance ups and downs that go with a sample. Inferential statistics was developed as a way to account for and reduce the effects of chance that come with sampling. This book will cover about a dozen and a half inferential statistics.
Here is a textbook definition: Inferential statistics is a method that takes chance factors into account when samples are used to reach conclusions about populations. Like most textbook definitions, this one condenses many elements into a short sentence. Because the idea of using samples to understand populations is perhaps the most important concept in this course, please pay careful attention when elements of inferential statistics are explained.
Inferential statistics has proved to be a very useful method in scientific disciplines. Many other fields use inferential statistics, too, so I selected examples and problems from a variety of disciplines for this text, and its auxiliary materials such as the website, thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz.
Here is an example of inferential statistics in psychology. Today there is a lot of evidence that people remember the tasks they fail to complete better than the tasks they complete. This is known as the Zeigarnik effect. Bluma Zeigarnik asked the participants in her experiment to do about 20 tasks, such as work a puzzle, make a clay figure, and construct a box from cardboard.2 For each participant, half the tasks were interrupted before completion. Later, when the participants were asked to recall the tasks they worked on, they listed more of the interrupted tasks (about seven) than the completed tasks (about four).
So, should you conclude that interruption improves memory? Not yet. It might be that interruption actually has no effect but that several chance factors happened to favor the interrupted tasks in Zeigarnik’s particular experiment. One way to meet this objection is to conduct the experiment again. Similar results would lend support to the conclusion that interruption improves memory. A less expensive way to meet the objection is to use an inferential statistics test.
An inferential statistics test begins with the actual data from the experiment. It ends with a probability—the probability of obtaining data like those actually obtained if it is true that interruption does not affect memory. If the probability is very small, then you can conclude that interruption does affect memory.3
A conclusion based on inferential statistics might be a statement such as: The difference in the recall of the two groups that were treated differently is most likely due to interruption and because chance by itself would rarely produce two samples this different. Probability, as you can see, is an important element of inferential statistics.
Statistics: A Dynamic Discipline
Many people continue to think of statistics as a collection of techniques that were developed long ago, that have not changed, and that will be the same in the future. This view is mistaken. Statistics is a dynamic discipline characterized by more than a
Introduction ■ 3
2 A summary of this study can be found in Ellis (1938). The complete reference and all others in the text are listed in the References section at the back of the book. 3 If it really is the case that interruption doesn’t affect memory, then differences between the samples are the result of chance.
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little controversy. New techniques in both descriptive and inferential statistics have been developed in recent years. As for controversy, a number of statisticians recently made a strong case for banning the use of a very popular inferential statistics technique (null hypothesis significance tests). Other statisticians disagreed, although they acknowledged that the tests are sometimes misused and that other techniques yield more information. For fairly nontechnical summaries of this issue see Dillon (1999) or Spatz (2000). For a more technical summary, see Nickerson (2000) or go to www .apa.org/science/bsaweb-tfsi.html for a report from the American Psychological Association.
Today, we find statistics used in a wide variety of fields. Researchers start with a phenomenon, event, or process that they want to understand better. They make measurements that produce numbers. The numbers are manipulated according to the rules and conventions of statistics. Based on the outcome of the statistical analysis, researchers draw conclusions and then write the story of their new understanding of the phenomenon, event, or process. Statistics is just one tool that researchers use, but it is often an essential tool.
clue to the future The first part of this book is devoted to descriptive statistics (Chapters 2–5) and the second part to inferential statistics (Chapters 6–14). The two parts are not independent, though, because to understand and explain inferential statistics you must first understand descriptive statistics.
What’s in It for Me?
What’s in it for me? is a reasonable question. Decide which of the following answers apply to you and then pencil in others that are true for you.
One thing that is in it for you is that, when you have successfully completed this course, you will understand how statistical analyses are used to make decisions.You will understand both the elegant beauty and the ugly warts of the process. H. G. Wells, a novelist who wrote about the future, said, “Statistical thinking will one day be as necessary for efficient citizenship as the ability to read and write.” So chalk this course up under the heading “general education about decision making, to be used throughout life.”
Another result of successfully completing this course is that you will be able to use a tool employed in many disciplines, including psychology, education, medicine, politics, sociology, biology, forestry, economics, and others. Although people involved in these disciplines are interested in different phenomena, they all use statistics. As examples, statistics has been used to determine the effect of reducing cigarette taxes on smoking among teenagers, the safety of a new surgical anesthetic, and the memory of young school-age children for pictures (which is as good as that of college students). Statistics show what diseases have an inheritance factor, how to improve short-term weather forecasts, and why giving intentional walks in baseball is a poor strategy. All these examples come from Statistics: A Guide to the Unknown, a book edited by Judith M. Tanur and others (1989). This book, written for those “without special knowledge of statistics,” has 29 essays on many specific uses of statistics.
Statistics is used in places that might surprise you. In American history, for example, the authorship of 12 of The Federalist papers was disputed for a number of years. (The
4 ■ Chapter 1
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Federalist papers were 85 short essays written under the pseudonym “Publius” and published in New York City newspapers in 1787 and 1788. Written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, the essays were designed to persuade the people of the state of New York to ratify the Constitution of the United States.) To determine authorship of the 12 disputed papers, each was graded with a quantitative value analysis in which the importance of such values as national security, a comfortable life, justice, and equality was assessed. The value analysis scores were compared with value analyses of papers known to have been written by Madison and Hamilton (Rokeach, Homant, and Penner, 1970). Another study, by Mosteller and Wallace, analyzed The Federalist papers using the frequency of words such as by and to (reported in Tanur et al., 1989). Both studies concluded that Madison wrote all 12 essays.
Here is an example from law. Rodrigo Partida was convicted of burglary in Hidalgo County, a border county in southern Texas. A grand jury rejected his motion for a new trial. Partida’s attorney filed suit, claiming that the grand jury selection process discriminated against Mexican-Americans. In the end (Castaneda v. Partida, 430 U.S. 482 [1976]), Justice Harry Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court wrote, regarding the number of Mexican-Americans on the grand jury, “If the difference between the expected and the observed number is greater than two or three standard deviations, then the hypothesis that the jury drawing was random (is) suspect.” In Partida’s case the difference was approximately 12 standard deviations, and the Supreme Court ruled that Partida’s attorney had presented prima facie evidence. (Prima facie evidence is so good that one side wins the case unless the other side rebuts the evidence, which in this case did not happen.) Statistics: A Guide to the Unknown includes two essays on the use of statistics by lawyers.
I hope that this course will encourage you or even teach you to ask questions about the statistics you hear and read. Consider the questions, one good and one better, asked of a restaurateur in Paris who served delicious rabbit pie. He served rabbit pie even when other restaurateurs could not obtain rabbits. A suspicious customer asked this restaurateur if he was stretching the rabbit supply by adding horse meat.
“Yes, a little,” he replied. “How much horse meat?” “Oh, it’s about 50–50,” the restaurateur replied. The suspicious customer, satisfied, began eating his pie. Another customer, who
had learned to be more thorough in asking questions about statistics, said, “50–50? What does that mean?”
“One rabbit and one horse” was the reply. This section began with a question from you: What’s in it for me? My answer
is that when you learn the basics of statistics, you will understand data better. You will be able to communicate with others who use statistics, and you’ll be better able to persuade others. But what about your answer? What do you expect of yourself and of this course? (Writing your answers in the margin is an example of engagement.)
Some Terminology
Like most courses, statistics introduces you to many new words. In statistics, most of the terms are used over and over again. Your best move, when introduced to a new term, is to stop, read the definition carefully, and memorize it. As the term continues
Introduction ■ 5
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to be used, you will become more and more comfortable with it. Making notes is helpful.
Populations and Samples
A population consists of all the scores of some specified group. A sample is a subset of a population. The population is the thing of interest, is defined by the investigator, and includes all cases. The following are some populations:
Family incomes of college students in the fall of 2005
Weights of crackers eaten by obese male students
Depression scores of Alaskans
Errors in maze running by rats with brain damage
Gestation times for human beings
Memory scores of human beings4
Investigators are always interested in populations. However, as you can determine from these examples, populations can be so large that not all the members can be studied. The investigator must often resort to measuring a sample that is small enough to be manageable. A sample taken from the population of incomes of families of college students might include only 40 students. From the last population on the list, Zeigarnik used a sample of 164.
Most authors of research articles carefully explain the characteristics of the samples they use. Often, however, they do not identify the population, leaving that task to the reader. For example, consider a study of a drug therapy program for a sample of 14 men who are acute schizophrenics at Hospital A. Suppose the report of the study doesn’t identify the population. What is the population? Among the possibilities are: all male acute schizophrenics at Hospital A, all male acute schizophrenics, all acute schizophrenics, and all schizophrenics. The answer to the question, What is the population? depends on the specifics of a research area, but many researchers generalize generously. For example, for some topics it is reasonable to generalize from the results of a study on rats to “all mammals.” In all cases, the reason for gathering data from a sample is to generalize the results to a larger population even though sampling introduces some uncertainty into the conclusions.
Parameters and Statistics
A parameter is some numerical (number) or nominal (name) characteristic of a population. An example is the mean reading readiness score of all first-grade pupils in the United States. A statistic is some numerical or nominal characteristic of a sample. The mean reading readiness score of 50 first-graders is a statistic and so is the observation that 45 percent are girls.
6 ■ Chapter 1
population All measurements of a specified group.
sample A subset of a population; it may or may not be representative.
4 I didn’t pull these populations out of thin air; they are all populations that researchers have studied. Studies of these populations will be described in this book.
parameter Numerical or nominal characteristic of a population.
statistic A numerical or nominal characteristic of a sample.
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A parameter is constant; it does not change unless the population itself changes. The mean of a population is exactly one number. Unfortunately, the parameter often cannot be computed because the population is unmeasurable. So, a statistic is used as an estimate of the parameter, although, as suggested before, statistics tend to differ from one sample to another. If you have five samples from the same population, you will probably have five different sample means. In sum, parameters are constant; statistics are variable.
Variables
A variable is something that exists in more than one amount or in more than one form. Height and gender are both variables. The variable height is measured using a standard scale of feet and inches. For example, the notation 5�7� is a numerical way to identify a group of persons who are similar in height. Of course, there are many other groups, each with an identifying number. Gender is also a variable. With gender, there are (usually) only two groups of people. Again, we may identify each group by assigning a number to it. All participants represented by 0 have the same gender. I will often refer to numbers like 5�7� and 0 as scores or test scores. A score is simply the result of a measurement.
Quantitative Variables
Many of the variables you will work with in this text are quantitative variables. When a quantitative variable is measured, the scores tell you something about the amount or degree of the variable. At the very least, a larger score indicates more of the variable than a smaller score does.
Take a closer look at an example of a quantitative variable, IQ. IQ scores come in whole numbers such as 94 and 103. However, it is reasonable to think that of two persons who scored 103, one just barely made it and the other scored almost 104. Picture the variable IQ as the straight line in Figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1 shows that a score of 103 is used for a range of possible values: the range from 102.5 to 103.5. The number 102.5 is the lower limit and 103.5 is the upper limit of the score 103. The idea is that IQ can be any value between 102.5 and 103.5 but that all IQ values in that range are expressed as 103. In a similar way, a score of 12 seconds stands for all the values between 11.5 and 12.5 seconds; 11.5 seconds is the lower limit and 12.5 is the upper limit of a score of 12 seconds.
Sometimes scores are expressed in tenths, hundredths, or thousandths. Like integers, these scores have lower and upper limits that extend halfway to the next value on the quantitative scale.
Introduction ■ 7
102 103 104
104.5103.5102.5101.5Lower and upper limits
IQ scores
F I G U R E 1 . 1 The lower and upper limits of IQ scores of 102, 103, and 104
variable Something that exists in more than one amount or in more than one form.
quantitative variable Variable whose levels indicate different amounts.
lower limit Bottom of the range of possible values that a measurement on a quantitative variable can have.
upper limit The top of the range of possible values that a measurement on a quantitative variable can have.
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Qualitative Variables
Qualitative variables do not have the continuous nature that quantitative variables have. For example, gender is a qualitative variable. The two measurements on this variable, female and male, are different in a qualitative way. Using a 0 and a 1 instead of names doesn’t change this fact. Another example of a qualitative variable is political affiliation,
which has measurements such as Democrat, Republican, Independent, and Other. Some qualitative variables have the characteristic of order. College year
classification is a qualitative variable with ordered measurements of senior, junior, sophomore, and freshman. Another qualitative variable is military rank, which has measurements such as sergeant, corporal, and private.
Problems and Answers
At the beginning of this chapter, I urged you to engage statistics. Have you? For example, did you read the footnotes? Have you looked up any words you weren’t sure of? (How near are you to dictionary definitions when you study?) Have you read a paragraph a second time, wrinkled your brow in concentration, made notes in the book margin, or promised yourself to ask your instructor or another student about something you aren’t sure of? Engagement shows up as activity. Best of all, the activity at times is a nod to yourself and a satisfied, “Now, I understand.”
From time to time, I will use my best engagement tactic: I’ll give you a set of problems so that you can practice what you have just been reading about. Working these problems correctly is additional evidence of engagement. You will find the answers at the end of the book in Appendix G. Here are some suggestions for efficient learning.
1. Buy yourself a notebook for statistics. Work all the problems for this course in it because I sometimes refer back to a problem you worked previously. When you make an error, don’t erase it—put anµthrough it and work the problem correctly below. Seeing your error later serves as a reminder of what not to do on a test. If you find that I have made an error, write to me with a reminder of what not to do in the next edition.
2. Never, never look at an answer before you have worked the problem (or at least tried twice to work the problem).
3. For each set of problems, work the first one and then immediately check your answer against the answer in the book. If you make an error, find out why you made it—faulty understanding, arithmetic error, or whatever.
4. Don’t be satisfied with just doing the math. If a problem asks for an interpretation, write out your interpretation.
5. When you finish a chapter, go back over the problems immediately, reminding yourself of the various techniques you have learned.
6. Use any blank spaces near the end of the book for your special notes and insights.
Now, here is an opportunity to see how actively you have been reading.
8 ■ Chapter 1
qualitative variable Variable whose levels are different kinds, not different amounts.
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P R O B L E M S
1.1. For the quantitative variables that follow, give the lower and upper limits. For the qualitative variables, write “qualitative.” a. Seconds required to work puzzle—65 b. Identification number for mild mental retardation in the American
Psychiatric Association manual—317 c. Category of daffodils in a flower show—5 d. Advanced Placement Examination score—4 e. Milligrams of aspirin—81
1.2. Write a paragraph that gives the definitions of population, sample, parameter, and statistic and the relationships among them.
1.3. Classify each statement as being descriptive or inferential statistics. a. Based on a sample, the pollster predicted Demosthenes would be
elected. b. The population of the American colonies in 1776 was 2 million. c. Demosthenes received 54.3 percent of the votes cast. d. An engagement approach to learning works; the 29 students who
generated summaries and inferences performed 20 percent better than those who just memorized (Wittrock, 1991).
Scales of Measurement
Numbers mean different things in different situations. Consider three answers that appear to be identical but are not:
What number were you wearing in the race? “5”
What place did you finish in? “5”
How many minutes did it take you to finish? “5”
The three 5s all look the same. However, the three variables (identification number, finish place, and time) are quite different. Because of the differences, each 5 has a different interpretation.
To illustrate this difference, consider another person whose answers to the same three questions were 10, 10, and 10. If you take the first question by itself and know that the two people had scores of 5 and 10, what can you say? You can say that the first runner was different from the second, but that is all. (Think about this until you agree.) On the second question, with scores of 5 and 10, what can you say? You can say that the first runner was faster than the second and, of course, that they are different. Comparing the 5 and 10 on the third question, you can say that the first runner was twice as fast as the second runner (and, of course, was faster and different).
The point of this discussion is to draw the distinction between the thing you are interested in and the number that stands for the thing. Much of your experience with numbers has been with pure numbers or with measurements such as time, length, and amount. “Four is twice as much as two” is true for the pure numbers themselves and for time, length, and amount, but it is not true for finish places in a race. Fourth place
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is not twice anything in relation to second place—not twice as slow or twice as far behind the second runner.
S. S. Stevens’s 1946 article is probably the most widely referenced effort to focus attention on these distinctions. He identified four different scales of measurement, each of which carries a different set of information. Each scale uses numbers, but the information that can be inferred from the numbers differs. The four scales are nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
The information in the nominal scale is quite simple. In the nominal scale, numbers are used simply as names and have no real quantitative value. Numerals on sports uniforms are an example. Thus, 45 is different from 32, but that is all you can say. The person represented by 45 is not “more than” the person represented by 32, and certainly it would be meaningless to calculate a mean from the two scores. Examples of
nominal variables include psychological diagnoses, personality types, and political parties. Psychological diagnoses, like other nominal variables, consist of a set of categories. People are assessed and then classified into one of the categories. The categories have both a name (such as posttraumatic stress disorder or autistic disorder) and a number (309.81 and 299.00, respectively). On a nominal scale, the numbers mean only that the categories are different. In fact, for a nominal scale variable, the numbers could be assigned to categories at random. Of course, all things that are alike must have the same number.
A second kind of scale, the ordinal scale, has the characteristic of the nominal scale (different numbers mean different things) plus the characteristic of indicating greater than or less than. In the ordinal scale, the object with the number 3 has less or more of something than the object with the number 5. Finish places in a race are an example of an ordinal scale. The runners finish in rank order, with 1 assigned to the winner, 2 to the runner-up, and so on. Here, 1 means less time than 2. Judgments
about anxiety, quality, and recovery often correspond to an ordinal scale. “Much improved,” “improved,” “no change,” and “worse” are levels of an ordinal recovery variable. Ordinal scales are characterized by rank order.
The third kind of scale is the interval scale, which has the properties of both the nominal and ordinal scales plus the additional property that intervals between the numbers are equal. “Equal interval” means that the distance between the things represented by 2 and 3 is the same as the distance between the things represented by 3 and 4. Temperature is measured on an interval scale. The difference in temperature between 10°C and 20°C is the same as the difference between 40°C and 50°C. The Celsius thermometer, like all interval scales, has an arbitrary zero
point. On the Celsius thermometer, this zero point is the freezing point of water at sea level. Zero degrees on this scale does not mean the complete absence of heat; it is simply a convenient starting point. With interval data, there is one restriction: You may not make simple ratio statements. You may not say that 100° is twice as hot as 50° or that a person with an IQ of 60 is half as intelligent as a person with an IQ of 120.5
10 ■ Chapter 1
nominal scale Measurement scale in which numbers serve only as labels and do not indicate any quantitative relationship.
ordinal scale Measurement scale in which numbers are ranks; equal differences between numbers do not represent equal differences between the things measured.
interval scale Measurement scale in which equal differences between numbers represent equal differences in the thing measured. The zero point is arbitrarily defined.
5 Convert 100°C and 50°C to Fahrenheit (F � 1.8C � 32) and suddenly the “twice as much” relationship disappears.
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The fourth kind of scale, the ratio scale, has all the characteristics of the nominal, ordinal, and interval scales plus one other: It has a true zero point, which indicates a complete absence of the thing measured. On a ratio scale, zero means “none.” Height, weight, and time are measured with ratio scales. Zero height, zero weight, and zero time mean that no amount of these variables is present. With a true zero point, you can make ratio statements such as 16 kilograms is four times heavier than 4 kilograms.6
Table 1.1 summarizes the major differences among the four scales of measurement. Knowing the distinctions among the four scales of measurement will help you in
two tasks in this course. The kind of descriptive statistics you can compute from numbers depends, in part, on the scale of measurement the numbers represent. For example, it is senseless to compute a mean of numbers on a nominal scale. Calculating a mean Social Security number, a mean telephone number, or a mean psychological diagnosis is either a joke or evidence of misunderstanding numbers.
Understanding scales of measurement is sometimes important in choosing the kind of inferential statistic that is appropriate for a set of data. If the dependent variable (see next section) is a nominal variable, then a chi square analysis is appropriate (Chapter 13). If the dependent variable is a set of ranks (ordinal data), then a nonparametric statistic is required (Chapter 14). Most of the data analyzed with the techniques described in Chapters 7–12 are interval and ratio scale data.
The topic of scales of measurement is controversial among statisticians. Part of the controversy involves viewpoints about the underlying thing you are interested in and the number that represents the thing (Wuensch, 2005). In addition, it is sometimes difficult to classify some of the variables used in the social and behavioral sciences. Often they appear to fall between the ordinal scale and the interval scale. For example, a score may provide more information than simply rank, but equal intervals cannot be proved. Examples include aptitude and ability tests, personality measures, and intelligence tests. In such cases, researchers generally treat the scores as if they were interval scale data.
Introduction ■ 11
ratio scale Measurement scale with characteristics of interval scale; also, zero means that none of the things measured is present.
6 Convert 16 kilograms and 4 kilograms to pounds (1 kg � 2.2 pounds) and the “four times heavier” relationship is maintained.
TABLE 1.1 Characteristics of the four scales of measurement
Scale characteristics
Different numbers Numbers convey Equal differences Zero means none of
Scale of for different greater than mean equal what was measured measurement things and less than amounts was detected
Nominal Yes No No No Ordinal Yes Yes No No Interval Yes Yes Yes No Ratio Yes Yes Yes Yes
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Statistics and Experimental Design
Here is a story that will help you distinguish between statistics (applying straight logic) and experimental design (observing what actually happens). This is an excerpt from a delightful book by E. B. White, The Trumpet of the Swan (1970, pp. 63–64).
The fifth-graders were having a lesson in arithmetic, and their teacher, Miss Annie Snug, greeted Sam with a question.
“Sam, if a man can walk three miles in one hour, how many miles can he walk in four hours?”
“It would depend on how tired he got after the first hour,” replied Sam. The other pupils roared. Miss Snug rapped for order.
“Sam is quite right,” she said. “I never looked at the problem that way before. I always supposed that man could walk twelve miles in four hours, but Sam may be right: that man may not feel so spunky after the first hour. He may drag his feet. He may slow up.”
Albert Bigelow raised his hand. “My father knew a man who tried to walk twelve miles, and he died of heart failure,” said Albert.
“Goodness!” said the teacher. “I suppose that could happen, too.” “Anything can happen in four hours,” said Sam. “A man might develop a blister on his
heel. Or he might find some berries growing along the road and stop to pick them. That would slow him up even if he wasn’t tired or didn’t have a blister.”
“It would indeed,” agreed the teacher. “Well, children, I think we have all learned a great deal about arithmetic this morning, thanks to Sam Beaver.”
Everyone had learned how careful you have to be when dealing with figures.
Statistics involves the manipulation of numbers and the conclusions based on those manipulations (Miss Snug). Experimental design deals with all the things that influence the numbers you get (Sam and Albert). Figure 1.2 illustrates these two approaches to getting an answer. This text could have been a “pure” statistics book, from which you would learn to analyze numbers without knowing where they came from or what they referred to. You would learn about statistics, but such a book would be dull, dull, dull. On the other hand, to describe procedures for collecting numbers is to teach experimental design—and this book is for a statistics course. My solution to this
12 ■ Chapter 1
Experimental design v
Start (mile 0)
Statistical viewpoint
12 miles 3 mph
� 4 hours
Finish (mile 12)
or
e
F I G U R E 1 . 2 Travel time from an experimental design viewpoint and a statistical viewpoint
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conflict is generally to side with Miss Snug but to include some aspects of experimental design throughout the book. Knowing experimental design issues is especially important when it comes time to interpret a statistical analysis. Here’s a start on experimental design.
Experimental Design Variables
The overall task of an experimenter is to discover relationships among variables. Variables are things that vary, and researchers have studied personality, health, gender, anger, caffeine, memory, beliefs, age, skill. (I’m sure you get the picture—almost anything can be a variable.)
Independent and Dependent Variables
A simple experiment has two major variables, the independent variable and the dependent variable. In the simplest experiment, the researcher selects two values of the independent variable for investigation. Values of the independent variable are usually called levels and sometimes called treatments.
The basic idea is that the researcher finds or creates two groups of participants that are similar except for the independent variable. These individuals are measured on the dependent variable. The question is whether the data will allow the experimenter to claim that the values on the dependent variable depend on the level of the independent variable.
The values of the dependent variable are found by measuring or observing the participants in the investigation. The dependent variable might be scores on a personality test, the number of items remembered, or whether or not a passerby offered assistance. For the independent variable, the two groups might have been selected because they were already different—in age, gender, personality, and so forth. Alternatively, the experimenter might have produced the difference in the two groups by an experimental manipulation such as creating different amounts of anxiety or providing different levels of practice.
An example might help. Suppose for a moment that as a budding gourmet cook you want to improve your spaghetti sauce. One of your buddies suggests adding marjoram. To investigate, you serve spaghetti sauce at two different gatherings. For one group the sauce is spiced with marjoram; for the other it is not. At both gatherings you count the number of favorable comments about the spaghetti sauce. Stop reading; identify the independent and the dependent variables.7
The dependent variable is the number of favorable comments, which is a measure of the taste of the sauce. The independent variable is marjoram, which has two levels: present and absent.
Introduction ■ 13
independent variable Variable controlled by the researcher; changes in this variable may produce changes in the dependent variable.
dependent variable The observed variable that is expected to change as a result of changes in the independent variable in an experiment.
level One value of the independent variable.
treatment One value (or level) of the independent variable.
7 One strategy is first to identify the dependent variable; you don’t know values for the dependent variable until data are gathered. Next, identify the independent variable; you can tell what the values of the independent variable are just from the description of the design.
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Extraneous Variables
One of the pitfalls of experiments is that every situation has other variables besides the independent variable that might possibly be responsible for the changes in the
dependent variable. These other variables are called extraneous variables. In the story of walking 12 miles, Sam and Albert noted several extraneous variables that could influence the distance traveled.
Are there any extraneous variables in the spaghetti sauce example? Oh yes, there are many, and just one is enough to raise a suspicion about
a conclusion that relates spaghetti sauce taste to marjoram. Extraneous variables include the amount and quality of the other ingredients in the sauce, the spaghetti itself, the “party moods” of the two groups, and how hungry everybody was. If any of these extraneous variables was actually operating, it weakens the claim that a difference in the comments about the sauce is the result of the presence or absence of marjoram.
The simplest way to remove an extraneous variable is to be sure that all participants are equal on that variable. For example, you can ensure that the sauces are the same except for marjoram by mixing up one pot of ingredients, dividing it into two batches, adding marjoram to one batch but not the other, and then cooking. The “party moods” variable can be controlled (equalized) by conducting the taste test in a laboratory. Controlling extraneous variables is a complex topic that is covered in courses that focus on research and experiments.
In many experiments it is impossible or impractical to control all the extraneous variables. Sometimes researchers think they have controlled them all, only to find that they did not. The effect of an uncontrolled extraneous variable is to prevent a simple cause-and-effect conclusion. Even so, if the dependent variable changes when the independent variable changes, something is going on. In this case, researchers can say that the two variables are related but that other variables may play a part, too.
At this point you can test your understanding by engaging yourself with these questions: What were the independent and dependent variables in the Zeigarnik experiment? How many levels of the independent variable were there? Now consider how you could confirm your answers.
For the question of how well Zeigarnik controlled extraneous variables, I can give a partial answer. In her experiment, each participant was tested at both levels of the independent variable. One advantage of this technique is that it naturally controls many extraneous variables. Thus, extraneous variables such as age and motivation were exactly the same for tasks that were interrupted as for tasks that were not because the same people contributed scores to both levels.
At various places in the following chapters, I will explain experiments and the statistical analyses using the terms independent and dependent variables. These explanations usually assume that all extraneous variables were controlled; that is, you may assume that the experimenter knew how to design the experiment so that changes in the dependent variable could be attributed correctly to changes in the independent variable. However, I present a few investigations (like the spaghetti sauce example) that I hope you recognize as being so poorly designed that conclusions cannot be drawn about the relationship between the independent variable and dependent variable. Be alert.
Here’s my summary of the relationship between statistics and experimental design. Researchers suspect that there is a relationship between two variables. They design and conduct an experiment; that is, they choose the levels of the independent variable
14 ■ Chapter 1
extraneous variable Variable other than the independent variable that may affect the dependent variable.
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(treatments), control the extraneous variables, and then measure the participants on the dependent variable. The measurements (data) are analyzed using statistical procedures. Finally, the researcher tells a story that is consistent with the results obtained and the procedures used.
Statistics and Philosophy
The two previous sections directed your attention to the relationship between statistics and experimental design; this section will direct your thoughts to the place of statistics in the grand scheme of things.
Explaining the grand scheme of things is the task of philosophy and, as you know, many schemes have been advanced. For a scheme to be considered a grand one, it has to propose answers to questions of epistemology—that is, answers to questions about the nature of knowledge.
One of the big questions in epistemology is: How do we acquire knowledge? Answers such as reason and experience have gotten a lot of attention.8 For those who emphasize the importance of reason, mathematics has been a continuing source of inspiration. Classical mathematics starts with a set of axioms that are assumed to be true. Theorems are thought up and are then proved by giving axioms as reasons. Once a theorem is proved, it can be used as a reason in a proof of other theorems.
Statistics has its foundations in mathematics. Statistics, therefore, is based on reason. As you go about the task of memorizing definitions of terms such as , s, and �X, calculating their values from data, and telling the story of what they mean, know deep down that you are using a technique in logical reasoning. Logical reasoning is rationalism, which is one approach to questions of epistemology. (Experimental design is more complex; it includes experience and observation as well as reasoning.)
During the 20th century, statistical methods of analyzing data revolutionized the philosophy of science. The 19th century was characterized by observation and description. The underlying philosophy was that natural phenomena had an objective reality and the variation that always accompanied a set of observations was the result of imprecise observing or imprecise instruments. In the 20th century, science used a newly developed set of techniques called statistics to analyze the variation that was always present. The result was that particular amounts of variation could be associated with particular causes. Many philosophers of science adopted the belief that the variation was the underlying reality rather than some static, Platonic ideal (Salsburg, 2001).
Let’s move from these formal descriptions of philosophy to a more informal one. A very common task of most human beings can be described as trying to understand. Statistics has helped many in their search for better understanding, and it is such people who have recommended (or demanded) that statistics be taught in school. A reasonable expectation is that you, too, will find statistics useful in your future efforts to understand and persuade.
Speaking of persuasion, you have probably heard it said, “You can prove anything with statistics.” The message conveyed is that a conclusion based on statistics is suspect
X�
Introduction ■ 15
epistemology The study or theory of the nature of knowledge.
8 In philosophy, those who emphasize reason are rationalists and those who emphasize experience are empiricists.
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because statistical methods are unreliable. Well, it just isn’t true that statistical methods are unreliable, but it is true that people can misuse statistics (just as any tool can be misused). One of the great advantages of studying statistics is that you get better at recognizing statistics that are used improperly.
Statistics: Then and Now
Statistics began with counting. The beginning of counting, of course, was prehistory. The origin of the mean is almost as obscure. That statistic was in use by the early 1700s, but no one is credited with its discovery. Graphs, however, began when J. H. Lambert, a Swiss-German scientist and mathematician, and William Playfair, an English political economist, invented and improved graphs in the period 1765 to 1800 (Tufte, 2001).
In 1834 the Royal Statistical Society was formed in London. Just 5 years later, on November 27, 1839, at 15 Cornhill in Boston, a group of Americans founded the American Statistical Society. Less than 3 months later, for a reason that you can probably figure out, the group changed its name to the American Statistical Association, which continues today (www.amstat.org).
According to Walker (1929), the first university course in statistics in the United States was probably “Social Science and Statistics,” taught at Columbia University in 1880. The professor was a political scientist, and the course was offered in the economics department. In 1887, at the University of Pennsylvania, separate courses in statistics were offered by the departments of psychology and economics. By 1891, Clark University, the University of Michigan, and Yale had been added to the list of schools that taught statistics, and anthropology had been added to the list of departments. Biology was added in 1899 (Harvard) and education in 1900 (Columbia).
You might be interested in when statistics was first taught at your school and in what department. College catalogs are probably your most accessible source of information.
This course provides you with the opportunity to improve your ability to understand and use statistics. Kirk (1999) identifies four levels of statistical sophistication:
Category 1—those who understand statistical presentations
Category 2—those who understand, select, and apply statistical procedures
Category 3—applied statisticians who help others use statistics
Category 4—mathematical statisticians who develop new statistical techniques and discover new characteristics of old techniques
I hope that by the end of your statistics course, you will be well along the path to becoming a category 2 statistician.
Helpful Features of This Book
At various points in the chapter, I have encouraged your engagement in statistics. Your active participation is necessary if you are to learn statistics. I worked to organize and write this book in a way that encourages active participation. Here are some of the features you should find helpful.
16 ■ Chapter 1
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Objectives
Each chapter begins with a list of skills the chapter is designed to help you acquire. Read this list of objectives first to find out what you are to learn to do. Then thumb through the chapter and read the headings. Next, study the chapter, working all the problems as you come to them. Finally, reread the objectives. Can you meet each one? If so, put a check mark beside that objective.
Problems and Answers
The problems in this text are in small groups within the chapter rather than clumped together at the end. This encourages you to read a little and work problems, followed by more reading and problems. Psychologists call this pattern spaced practice. Spaced practice patterns lead to better performance than massed practice patterns.
Because working problems and writing answers are necessary to learn statistics, I have used interesting problems and have sometimes written interesting answers for the problems; in some cases, I even put new information in the answers. Answers to problems are in Appendix G. The problems come from a variety of disciplines.
Many of the problems are conceptual questions that do not require any arithmetic. Think these through and write your answers. Being able to calculate a statistic is almost worthless if you cannot explain in English what it means. Writing reveals how thoroughly you understand. To emphasize the importance of explanation, I’ve highlighted the portion of each answer in Appendix G.
On several occasions, problems or data sets are used more than once, either later in the chapter or even in another chapter. If you do not work the problem when it is first presented, you are likely to be frustrated when it appears again. To alert you, I have put an asterisk (*) beside problems that are used again.
At the end of many chapters, comprehensive problems are marked with a . Working these problems requires knowing most of the material in the chapter. For most students, it is best to work all the problems, but be sure you can work those marked with a .
Sometimes you may find a minor difference between your answer and mine (in the last decimal place, for example). This discrepancy will probably be the result of rounding errors and does not deserve further attention.
clues to the future Often a concept is presented that will be used again in later chapters. These ideas are separated from the rest of the text in a box labeled “Clue to the Future.” You have already seen one of these “Clues” in this chapter. Attention to these concepts will pay dividends later in the course.
error detection I have boxed in, at various points in the book, ways to detect errors. Some of these “Error Detection” tips will also help you better understand the concept. Because many of these checks can be made early, they can prevent the frustrating experience of getting an impossible answer when the error could have been caught in step 2.
Interpretation
Introduction ■ 17
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Figure and Table References
Sometimes the words Figure and Table are in boldface print. This means that you should examine the figure or table at that point. Afterward, it will be easy for you to return to your place in the text—just find the word in boldface type.
The Wadsworth Website
The Wadsworth website, which is found at thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz, has direct links to this text. The Student Companion Site is a link to multiple-choice questions, flashcards, and workshops. In addition, there is a link to the Premium Website, where you can enter or purchase a code that leads to an online study guide, hundreds of different kinds of tutorial questions, an additional chapter (Power), and more websites.
Transition Passages
At six places in this book, there are major differences between the material you just finished and the material in the next section. “Transition Passages,” which describe the differences, separate these sections.
Glossaries
This book has three separate glossaries of words, symbols, and formulas.
1. Words. Word definitions are printed in two places. When an important word is first used, it appears in boldface type accompanied by a definition in the margin. In later chapters, the word may be boldfaced again, but margin definitions are not repeated. The complete glossary of words is Appendix D (page 399). I suggest you mark this appendix.
2. Symbols. Statistical symbols are defined in Appendix E (page 403). Mark it too. 3. Formulas. Formulas for all the statistical techniques used in the text are
printed in Appendix F (page 405), in alphabetical order according to the name of the technique.
Computers, Calculators, and Pencils
Computer programs, calculators, and pencils (and erasers) are all tools used at one time or another by statisticians. Any or all of these devices may be part of the course you are taking. Regardless of the calculating aids that you use, however, your task is the same:
■ Read a problem. ■ Decide what statistical procedure to use. ■ Apply that procedure using the tools available to you. ■ Write an interpretation of the results.
In addition, you should be able to detect gross errors by comparing the raw data, descriptive statistics, and inferential statistics.
18 ■ Chapter 1
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Pencils, calculators, and computers represent, in ascending order, tools that are more and more error-free. People who do statistics routinely use computers. You may or may not use one at this point. Remember, though, whether you are using computer programs or not, your principal task is to understand and describe.
For many of the worked examples in this book, I included the output of a popular statistical software program, SPSS.9 If your course includes SPSS, these tables should help familiarize you with the program. VassarStats, a user-friendly program maintained by Richard Lowry, is available free on the web at http://faculty.vassar.edu/lowry/ VassarStats.html.
Concluding Thoughts for This Introductory Chapter
Most students find that this book works well for them as a textbook in their statistics course. Those who keep this book after the course is over often find it a very useful reference book. In later courses and after leaving school, they find themselves looking up a definition or reviewing a procedure.10 I hope that you not only learn from this book but also join those students who keep the book as part of their personal library.
This book is a fairly complete introduction to elementary statistics. There is more to the study of statistics—lots, lots more—but there is a limit to what you can do in one term. Some of you, however, will learn the material in this book and want to know more. If you are such a student, I suggest that you “forage for yourself.” Encyclopedias, both general and specialized, are good places to forage. Try the International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences (2001) or the Encyclopedia of Statistics in Behavioral Science (2005).
I also recommend that when you finish this course (but before any final examination), you study and work the problems in Chapter 15, the last chapter in the book. It is designed to be an overview/integrative chapter.
For me, studying statistics and using them to understand the world around me has been both helpful and satisfying. I hope you will find statistics worthwhile, too.
P R O B L E M S
1.4. Name the four scales of measurement identified by S. S. Stevens. 1.5. Give the properties of each of the scales of measurement. 1.6. Identify the scale of measurement in each of the following cases.
a. Geologists have a “hardness scale” for identifying different rocks, called Mohs’ scale. The hardest rock (diamond) has a value of 10 and will scratch all others. The second hardest will scratch all but the diamond, and so on. Talc, with a value of 1, can be scratched by every other rock. (A fingernail, a truly handy field-test instrument, has a value between 2 and 3.)
b. The volumes of three different cubes are 40, 64, and 65 cubic inches. c. Three different highways are identified by their numbers: 40, 64, and 65.
Introduction ■ 19
9 The original name of the program was Statistical Package for Social Sciences. 10 This text’s index is unusually extensive. If you make margin notes, they will help, too.
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d. Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and Others are identified on the voters’ list with the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively.
e. The winner of the Miss America contest was Miss California; the three runners-up were Miss Ohio, Miss Illinois, and Miss Pennsylvania.11
f. The prices of the three items are $3.00, $10.00, and $12.00. g. She earned three degrees: B.A., M.S., and Ph.D.
1.7. Undergraduate students conducted the three studies that follow. For each study identify the dependent variable, the independent variable, the number of levels of the independent variable, and the names of the levels of the independent variable. a. Becca had students in a statistics class rate a resume, telling them that
the person had applied for a position that included teaching statistics at their college. The students rated the resume on a scale of 1 (not quali- fied) to 10 (extremely qualified). All the students received identical resumes, except that the candidate’s first name was Jane on half the resumes and John on the other half.
b. Michael’s participants filled out the Selfism scale, which measures narcissism. (Narcissism is neurotic self-love.) In addition, students were classified as first-born, second-born, and later-born.
c. Johanna had participants read a description of a crime and “Mr. Anderson,” the person convicted of the crime. For some participants, Mr. Anderson was described as a janitor. For others, he was described as a vice president of a large corporation. For still others, no occupation was given. After reading the description, participants recommended a jail sentence (in months) for Mr. Anderson.
1.8. Researchers who are now well known conducted the three classic studies that follow. For each study, identify the dependent variable, the indepen- dent variable, and the number and names of the levels of the independent variable. Complete items i and ii. a. Theodore Barber hypnotized 25 different people, giving each a series of
suggestions. The suggestions included arm rigidity, hallucinations, color blindness, and enhanced memory. Barber counted the number of sug- gestions that the hypnotized participants complied with (the mean was 4.8). For another 25 people, he simply asked them to achieve the best score they could (but no hypnosis was used). This second group was given the same suggestions, and the number complied with was counted (the mean was 5.1). (See Barber, 1976.) i. Identify a nominal variable and a statistic.
ii. In a sentence, describe what Barber’s study shows. b. Elizabeth Loftus (1979) had participants view a film clip of a car acci-
dent. Afterward, some were asked, How fast was the car going? and others were asked, How fast was the car going when it passed the barn? (There was no barn in the film.) A week later, Loftus asked the partici-
20 ■ Chapter 1
11 Contest winners have come most frequently from these states, which have had six, six, five, and five winners, respectively.
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pants, Did you see a barn? If the barn had been mentioned earlier, 17 percent said yes; if it had not been mentioned, 3 percent said yes. i. Identify a population and a parameter.
ii. In a sentence, describe what Loftus’s study shows. c. Stanley Schachter and Larry Gross (1968) gathered data from obese
male students for about an hour in the afternoon. At the end of this time, a clock on the wall was correct (5:30 P.M.) for 20 participants, slow (5:00 P.M.) for 20 others, and fast (6:00 P.M.) for 20 more. The actual time, 5:30, was the usual dinnertime for these students. While participants filled out a final questionnaire, Wheat Thins® were freely available. The weight of the crackers each student consumed was measured. The means were: 5:00 group—20 grams; 5:30 group— 30 grams; 6:00 group—40 grams. i. Identify a ratio scale variable.
ii. In a sentence, describe what this study shows. 1.9. There are uncontrolled extraneous variables in the study described here.
Name as many as you can. Begin by identifying the dependent and independent variables. An investigator concluded that statistics Textbook A was better than Textbook B, by comparing two statistics classes. One class, which met MWF at 10:00 A.M., used Textbook A and was taught by Professor X. The other class, which met for 3 hours on Wednesday evening, used Textbook B and was taught by Professor Y. At the end of the term, all students took the same comprehensive test. The mean score for the Textbook A students was higher than the mean score for the Textbook B students.
1.10. In philosophy, two approaches to epistemology are ________ and ________. Statistics has its roots in ________.
1.11. Read the nine objectives at the beginning of this chapter. Responding to them will help you consolidate what you have learned.
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 1 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, workshops, and more. The workshops are Scale of Measurement in the Statistics Workshops and Experimental Methods (dependent and independent variables) in the Research Methods Workshops. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions.
Introduction ■ 21
KEY TERMS Dependent variable (p. 13) Descriptive statistics (p. 2) Epistemology (p. 15) Extraneous variable (p. 14)
Independent variable (p. 13) Inferential statistics (p. 2) Interval scale (p. 10) Level (p. 13)
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Lower limit (p. 7) Mean (p. 2) Nominal scale (p. 10) Ordinal scale (p. 10) Parameter (p. 6) Population (p. 6) Qualitative variable (p. 8)
22 ■ Chapter 1
Quantitative variable (p. 7) Ratio scale (p. 11) Sample (p. 6) Statistic (p. 6) Treatment (p. 13) Upper limit (p. 7) Variable (p. 7)
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23
transitio ge to descriptive statistics
THE MOST COMMON way to divide the statistics pie into two parts is to divide
it into descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The next four chapters
are about descriptive statistics. You are already familiar with some of these
descriptive statistics, such as the mean, range, and bar graphs. Others may be
less familiar—the standard deviation, correlation coefficient, and boxplot. All of
these and others that you will study will be helpful in your efforts to understand
data. Descriptive statistics are especially valuable when your task is to convey the
story of the data to others. In addition, many descriptive statistics have important
roles in the inferential statistical techniques that are covered in later chapters.
Let’s get started.
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chapt
Frequency Distributions and Graphs
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 2
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Arrange a set of scores into simple and grouped frequency distributions
2. Describe the characteristics of frequency polygons, histograms, and bar graphs and explain the information provided in each one
3. Name certain distributions by looking at their shapes
4. Describe the characteristics of a line graph
5. Comment on the recent use of graphics
YOU HAVE NOW invested some time, energy, and effort learning the preliminaries of elementary statistics. Concepts have been introduced and you have an overview of the course. The chapters that follow immediately are about descriptive statistics. To get an idea of the specific topics, read this chapter title and the next three chapter titles thoughtfully.
We begin your study of descriptive statistics with a group of raw scores. Raw scores, or raw data, can be obtained in many ways. For example, if you administer a questionnaire to a group of college students, the scores from the questionnaire are raw scores. I will illustrate several
of the concepts in this chapter and the next two by using raw scores that are representative of 100 college students.
If you would like to engage fully in this chapter, take 3 minutes to complete the five-item questionnaire in Figure 2.1, and calculate your score. Score yourself now, before you read further. (If you read the four chapter titles, I’ll bet that you answered the five questions. Engagement always helps.)
The investigation of subjective well-being is an increasingly hot topic in psychology. Subjective well-being is a person’s evaluation of his or her life. Recently, Diener and
24
raw score Score obtained by observation or from an experiment.
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Seligman (2004) marshaled evidence that governments would be better served to focus on policies that increase subjective well-being rather than continuing with their traditional concern, policies of economic well-being.
As a concept, subjective well-being consists of emotional components and cognitive components. An important cognitive component is satisfaction with life. To measure this cognitive component, Ed Diener and his colleagues (Diener et al., 1984) developed the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS). The SWLS is the short, five-item questionnaire in Figure 2.1. It is a reliable, valid measure of a person’s global satisfaction with life. Table 2.1 is an unorganized collection of SWLS scores of 100 representative college students.
Frequency Distributions and Graphs ■ 25
TABLE 2.1 Representative scores of 100 college students on the Satisfaction With Life Scale
15 31 22 26 19 27 33 24 27 25 20 26 29 32 21 13 35 9 25 25 28 23 17 27 30 16 11 29 26 20 23 30 16 24 27 29 26 10 23 34 5 19 28 29 27 30 32 22 17 13
35 28 27 25 26 25 23 21 29 28 20 27 30 22 22 12 32 25 24 23 20 24 26 26 29 33 29 24 20 25 19 25 9 21 32 30 27 24 10 5 22 26 26 28 23 27 25 28 27 31
F I G U R E 2 . 1 Questionnaire
Instructions: Five statements with which you may agree or disagree are shown below. Using the scale that follows, indicate your agreement with each item by placing the appropriate number on the line preceding that item. Please be open and honest in your responding.
1 � Strongly disagree 5 � Slightly agree 2 � Disagree 6 � Agree 3 � Slightly disagree 7 � Strongly agree 4 � Neither agree nor disagree
1. In most ways my life is close to my ideal.
2. The conditions of my life are excellent.
3. I am satisfied with my life.
4. So far I have gotten the important things I want in life.
5. If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing.
Scoring instructions: Add the numbers in the blanks to determine your score.
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26 ■ Chapter 2
TABLE 2.2 Rough draft of a simple frequency distribution of Satisfaction With Life Scale scores for a representative sample of 100 college students
SWLS score Tally Frequency SWLS score Tally Frequency (X) marks ( f ) (X) marks ( f )
35 2 19 3 34 1 18 0 33 2 17 2 32 4 16 2 31 2 15 1 30 5 14 0 29 7 13 2 28 6 12 1 27 10 11 1 26 9 10 2 25 9 9 2 24 6 8 0 23 6 7 0 22 5 6 0 21 3 5 2 20 5 N � 100> > > >
> >> > >
> > > >
> > > > > > > > > >
> >> > > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > > >> > > > > > >> > > > > >
> > > >
>> >
> >> > > >
> >> >
>
> > >> >
Simple Frequency Distributions
Table 2.1, which is just a jumble of numbers, is not very interesting or informative. (My guess is that you glanced at it and went quickly on.) A much more informative presentation of the 100 scores is an arrangement called a simple frequency
distribution. Table 2.2 is a simple frequency distribution—an ordered arrangement that shows the frequency of each score. Look at Table 2.2. (I would guess that you spent more time on Table 2.2 than on Table 2.1 and that you got more information from it.)
Look again at Table 2.2. The SWLS score column tells the name of the variable that is being measured. The generic name for any variable is
X, which is the symbol used in formulas. The Frequency ( f ) column shows how frequently a score occurred. The tally marks are used when you construct a rough- draft version and are not usually included in the final form. N is the number of scores and is found by summing the numbers in the f column. You will have a lot of opportunities to construct simple frequency distributions, so here are the steps. General instructions are given first, followed by their application to the data in Table 2.1 (italics).
1. Find the highest and lowest scores. Highest score is 35; lowest is 5. 2. In column form, write in descending order all the numbers. 35 to 5. 3. At the top of the column, name the variable being measured. Satisfaction
With Life Scale scores. 4. Start with the number in the upper left-hand corner of the scores, draw a
line under it, and place a tally mark beside that number in the column of
simple frequency distribution Scores arranged from highest to lowest, with the frequency shown for each score.
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numbers. Underline 15 in Table 2.1, and place a tally mark beside 15 in Table 2.2.
5. Continue underlining and tallying for all the unorganized scores. 6. Add a column labeled f (frequency). 7. Count the number of tallies by each score and enter the count in the f
column. 2, 1, 2, 4, . . . , 0, 2. 8. Add the numbers in the f column. If the sum is equal to N, you haven’t left
out any scores. Sum � 100.
error detection Underlining numbers is much better than crossing them out. Easy-to-read numbers are appreciated later when you check your work or do an additional analysis.
A simple frequency distribution is a useful way to present a set of data because you pick up valuable information with just a glance. For example, the highest and lowest scores are readily apparent in any frequency distribution. In addition, after some practice with frequency distributions, you can ascertain the general shape of the distribution and make an informed guess about measures of central tendency and variability.
Table 2.3 shows a formal presentation of the data in Table 2.1. Formal presentations are used to present data to colleagues, professors, supervisors, editors, and others. Formal presentations usually do not include tally marks and often do not include zero-frequency scores.
Frequency Distributions and Graphs ■ 27
TABLE 2.3 Formal simple frequency distribution of Satisfaction With Life Scale scores for a representative sample of 100 college students
SWLS Frequency SWLS Frequency score (X ) ( f ) score (X ) ( f )
35 2 22 5 34 1 21 3 33 2 20 5 32 4 19 3 31 2 17 2 30 5 16 2 29 7 15 1 28 6 13 2 27 10 12 1 26 9 11 1 25 9 10 2 24 6 9 2 23 6 5 2
N � 100
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Grouped Frequency Distributions
Many researchers would condense Table 2.3 even more. The result is a grouped frequency distribution. Table 2.4 is a rough-draft example of such a distribution.1 Raw data are
usually condensed into a grouped frequency distribution when researchers want to present the data as a graph or as a table.
In a grouped frequency distribution, scores are grouped into equal-sized ranges called class intervals. In Table 2.4, the entire range of scores, from 35 to 5, is reduced to 11 class intervals. Each interval covers three scores; the symbol i indicates the size of the interval. In Table 2.4, i � 3. The midpoint of each interval represents all the scores in that interval. For example, five students had scores of 15, 16, or 17. The midpoint of the class interval 15–17 is 16.2 The midpoint, 16, represents all 5 scores. There are no scores in the interval 6–8, but zero-frequency
intervals are included in formal grouped frequency distributions if they are within the range of the distribution.
Class intervals have lower and upper limits, much like simple scores obtained by measuring a quantitative variable. A class interval of 15–17 has a lower limit of 14.5 and an upper limit of 17.5.
The only difference between grouped frequency distributions and simple frequency distributions is class intervals. The details of establishing class intervals are described in Appendix B. For problems in this chapter, I will give you the class intervals to use.
28 ■ Chapter 2
grouped frequency distribution Compilation of scores into equal- sized ranges (class intervals), with the frequency shown for each interval.
class interval A range of scores in a grouped frequency distribution.
1 Much like a formal simple frequency distribution, a formal grouped frequency distribution does not include tally marks. 2 When the scores are whole numbers, make i an odd number. With i odd, the midpoint of the class interval is a whole number.
TABLE 2.4 Rough draft of a grouped frequency distribution of Satisfaction With Life Scale scores (i � 3)
SWLS scores (class Midpoint
interval) (X ) Tally marks f
33–35 34 5 30–32 31 11 27–29 28 23 24–26 25 24 21–23 22 14 18–20 19 8 15–17 16 5 12–14 13 3 9–11 10 5 6–8 7 0 3–5 4 2
N � 100
> >
> > > >
> > >
> > > >
> > >> > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > > >> > > >
> > > >
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P R O B L E M S
*2.1. (This is the first of many problems with an asterisk. See the footnote.) The following numbers are the heights in inches of two groups of Americans in their 20s. Choose the group that interests you more, and organize the 50 numbers into a simple frequency distribution using the rough-draft form. For the group you choose, your result will be fairly representative of the whole population of 20- to 29-year-olds (Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2005, 2006).
Women Men
64 67 63 65 62 72 65 72 68 70 66 66 62 65 65 69 73 71 69 67 60 72 64 61 65 77 67 72 73 68 69 64 64 66 60 68 64 72 69 69 65 67 65 62 68 70 71 71 70 75 62 65 63 64 60 72 68 62 68 74 66 64 59 63 65 66 70 72 66 67 63 63 66 64 65 69 71 68 73 69 66 67 62 62 63 71 69 69 65 76 64 70 64 63 65 71 72 65 70 70
*2.2. (The frequency distribution you will construct for this problem is a little different. The “scores” are names and thus nominal data.) A political science student traveled on every street in a voting precinct on election day morning, recording the yard signs (by initial) for the five candidates. The five candidates were Attila (A), Bolivar (B), Gandhi (G), Lenin (L), and Mao (M). Construct an appropriate frequency distribution from her observations. (She hoped to find the relationship between yard signs and actual votes.)
G A M M M G G L A G B A A G G B L M M
A G G B G L M A A L M G G M G L G A A
B L G G A G A M L M G B A G L G M A
*2.3. You may have heard or read that the normal body temperature (oral) is 98.6°F. The numbers that follow are temperature readings from healthy adults, aged 18–40. Arrange the data into a grouped frequency distribution, using 99.3–99.5 as the highest class interval and 96.3–96.5 as the lowest. (Based on Mackowiak, Wasserman, and Levine, 1992.)
98.1 97.5 97.8 96.4 96.9 98.9 99.5 98.6 98.2 98.3
97.9 98.0 97.2 99.1 98.4 98.5 97.4 98.0 97.9 98.3
98.8 99.5 98.7 97.9 97.7 99.2 98.0 98.2 98.3 97.0
99.4 98.9 97.9 97.4 97.8 98.6 98.7 97.9 98.4 98.8
*2.4. An experimenter read 60 related statements to a class. He then asked the students to indicate which of the next 20 statements were among the
Frequency Distributions and Graphs ■ 29
* Problems with asterisks are multiple-use problems; they turn up again. If you do all the problems in a notebook, you will have a handy reference when a problem is referred to again.
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first 60. Due to the relationships among the concepts in the sentences, many seemed familiar but, in fact, none of the 20 had been read before. The following scores indicate the number (out of 20) that each student had “heard earlier.” (See Bransford and Franks, 1971.) Arrange the scores into a simple frequency distribution. Based on this description and your frequency distribution, write a sentence of interpretation.
14 11 10 8 12 13 11 10 16 11
11 9 9 7 14 12 9 10 11 6
13 8 11 11 9 8 13 16 10 11
9 9 8 12 11 10 9 7 10
Graphs of Frequency Distributions
You have no doubt heard the saying A picture is worth a thousand words. When it comes to numbers, a not-yet-well-known saying is A graph is better than a thousand numbers. Actually, as long as I am rewriting sayings, I would also like to say The more numbers you have, the more valuable graphics are. According to the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Statistical Inference, “Graphics broadcast, statistics narrowcast” (Wilkinson et al., 1999, p. 597). Graphics are becoming more and more important for data analysis.
Pictures that present statistical data are called graphics. The most common graphic is a graph composed of a horizontal axis (variously called the baseline, X axis, or abscissa) and a vertical axis (called the Y axis, or ordinate). To the right and upward are both positive directions; to the left and downward are both negative directions. The axes cross at the origin. Figure 2.2 is a picture of these words.
This section presents three kinds of graphs that are used to present frequency distributions—frequency polygons, histograms, and bar graphs. Frequency distribution graphs present an entire set of observations from a sample or a population.
30 ■ Chapter 2
abscissa The horizontal, or X, axis of a graph.
ordinate The vertical axis of a graph; Y axis.
��
�
�
X axis (baseline, abscissa)
Y axis (ordinate)
Origin
F I G U R E 2 . 2 The elements of a graph
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If the variable being graphed is a quantitative variable, use a frequency polygon or a histogram; if the variable is qualitative, use a bar graph. (Think about the SWLS scores in Table 2.4 and the yard sign data in problem 2.2. Which variable is quantitative and which is qualitative?)
Frequency Polygon
A frequency polygon is used to graph quantitative variables. The SWLS scores in Table 2.4 are quantitative data, so a frequency polygon is appropriate. The result is Figure 2.3. An explanation of Figure 2.3 will serve as your introduction to constructing polygons.
Each point of the frequency polygon represents two numbers: the class midpoint directly below it on the X axis and the frequency of that class directly across from it on the Y axis. By looking at the data points in Figure 2.3, you can see that five students are represented by the midpoint 34, zero students by 7, and so on.
The name of the variable being graphed goes on the X axis (Satisfaction With Life Scale scores). The X axis is marked off in equal intervals, with each tick mark indicating the midpoint of a class interval. Low scores are on the left. The lowest class interval midpoint, 1, and the highest, 37, have zero frequencies. Frequency polygons are closed at both ends. In cases where the lowest score in the distribution is well above zero, it is conventional to replace numbers smaller than the lowest score on the X axis with a slash mark, which indicates that the scale to the origin is not continuous.
Histogram
A histogram is another graphing technique that is appropriate for quantitative variables. Figure 2.4 shows the SWLS data of Table 2.4 graphed as a histogram. A histogram is constructed by raising bars from the X axis to the appropriate frequencies. The lines that separate the bars intersect the X axis at the lower and upper limits of the class intervals.
Frequency Distributions and Graphs ■ 31
frequency polygon Frequency distribution graph of a quantitative variable with frequency points connected by lines.
histogram Frequency distribution graph of a quantitative variable with frequencies indicated by contiguous vertical bars.
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Satisfaction With Life Scale scores
Fr eq
ue nc
y
F I G U R E 2 . 3 Frequency polygon of Satisfaction With Life Scale scores of 100 college students
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Here are some considerations for deciding whether to use a frequency polygon or a histogram. On the one hand, if you are displaying two overlapping distributions on the same axes, a frequency polygon is less cluttered than a histogram. On the other hand, it is easier to read frequencies from a histogram, and histograms are the better choice when you are presenting discrete data. (Discrete data are quantitative data that do not have intermediate values; the number of children in a family is an example.)
Bar Graph
A bar graph is used to present the frequencies of the categories of a qualitative variable. A conventional bar graph looks exactly like a histogram except for the wider
spaces between the bars. The space is usually a signal that a qualitative variable is being graphed. Conventionally, bar graphs also have the name of the variable being graphed on the X axis and frequency on the Y axis.
If an ordinal scale variable is being graphed, the order of the values on the X axis follows the order of the variable. If, however, the variable
is a nominal scale variable, then any order on the X axis is permissible. Alphabetizing might be best. Other considerations may lead to some other order.
Figure 2.5 is a bar graph of the six most common liberal arts majors among U.S. college graduates in 2002–2003. The majors are listed on the X axis; the number of graduates is on the Y axis. I ordered the majors from most to fewest graduates, but other orders would be more appropriate in other circumstances. For example, moving the bar for English majors to the first position would be better for a presentation about English majors.
P R O B L E M S
2.5. Answer the following questions for Figure 2.3. a. What is the meaning of the number 25 on the X axis? b. What is the meaning of the number 5 on the Y axis? c. How many students had scores in the class interval 6–8?
32 ■ Chapter 2
1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Satisfaction With Life Scale scores
Fr eq
ue nc
y
F I G U R E 2 . 4 Histogram of Satisfaction With Life Scale scores of 100 college students
bar graph Graph of the frequency distribution of nominal or qualitative data.
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2.6. For the height data in problem 2.1 you constructed a frequency distribution. Graph it, being careful to include the zero-frequency scores.
2.7. The average hourly workweek varies from country to country for industrial workers. In 2006 the most recent figures were: Brazil, 44.2; Canada, 38.6; Finland, 37.5; India, 46.8; Japan, 43.5; Korea, 48.3; Mexico, 44.7; United Kingdom, 41.4; United States, 40.8. What kind of graph is appropriate for these data? Design a graph and draw it.
*2.8. Decide whether the following distributions should be graphed as frequency polygons or as bar graphs. Graph both distributions.
a. Class interval f b. Class interval f
48–52 1 54–56 3 43–47 1 51–53 7 38–42 2 48–50 15 33–37 4 45–47 14 28–32 5 42–44 11 23–27 7 39–41 8 18–22 10 36–38 7 13–17 12 33–35 4 8–12 6 30–32 5 3–7 2 27–29 2
24–26 0 21–23 0 18–20 1
Frequency Distributions and Graphs ■ 33
Psychology Biology English Political science
History Sociology
82
62
54
36
30 27
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Liberal arts majors
T ho
us an
ds o
f gr
ad ua
te s
F I G U R E 2 . 5 The six most common liberal arts majors among college graduates for the academic year 2003–2004
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34 ■ Chapter 2
Normal distribution Rectangular distribution
F I G U R E 2 . 6 A normal distribution and a rectangular distribution
2.9. Look at the frequency distribution that you constructed for the yard-sign observations in problem 2.2. Which kind of graph should be used to display these data? Graph the distribution.
Describing Distributions
There are three ways to describe the form or shape of a distribution: words, pictures, and mathematics. In this section you will use the first two ways. The only mathematical method I cover is in Chapter 13 on chi square.
Symmetrical Distributions
Symmetrical distributions have two halves that more or less mirror each other; the left half looks pretty much like the right half. In many cases symmetrical distributions are bell-
shaped; the highest frequencies are in the middle of the distribution, and scores on either side occur less and less frequently. The distribution of heights in problem 2.6 is an example.
There is a special case of a bell-shaped distribution that you will soon come to know very well. It is the normal distribution (or normal curve). The left panel in Figure 2.6 is an illustration of a normal distribution.
A rectangular distribution (also called a uniform distribution) is a symmetrical distribution that occurs when the frequency of each value on the X axis is the same. The right panel of Figure 2.6 is an example. You will see this distribution again in Chapter 6.
Skewed Distributions
In some distributions, the scores that occur most frequently are near one end of the scale, which leaves few scores at the other end. Such distributions are skewed. Skewed distributions, like a skewer, have one end that is thin and narrow. On a graph, if the thin point is to the right— the positive direction—the curve has a positive skew. If the thin point
normal distribution (normal curve) A mathematically defined, theoretical distribution or a graph of observed scores with a particular bell shape.
skewed distribution Asymmetrical distribution; may be positive or negative.
positive skew Graph with a great preponderance of low scores.
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is to the left, the curve is negatively skewed. Figure 2.7 shows a negatively skewed curve on the left and a positively skewed curve on the right. The data in Table 2.4 are negatively skewed.
Bimodal Distributions
A graph with two distinct humps is called a bimodal distribution.3 Both distributions in Figure 2.8 would be referred to as bimodal even though the humps aren’t the same height in the distribution on the right. For both distributions and graphs, if two high-frequency scores are separated by scores with lower frequencies, the name bimodal is appropriate.
Any set of measurements of a phenomenon can be arranged into a distribution; scientists and others find them most helpful. Sometimes measurements are presented in a frequency distribution table and sometimes in a graph (and sometimes both ways).
Frequency Distributions and Graphs ■ 35
negative skew Graph with a great preponderance of large scores.
bimodal distribution Distribution with two modes.
Low High
Fr eq
ue nc
y
Scores
Low High
Fr eq
ue nc
y
Scores
Narrow point
Narrow point
F I G U R E 2 . 7 A negatively skewed curve and a positively skewed curve
Bimodal Bimodal
F I G U R E 2 . 8 Two bimodal curves
3 The mode of a distribution is the score that occurs most frequently.
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In the first chapter I said that by learning statistics you could become more persuasive. Frequency distributions and graphs (but especially graphs) will be valuable to you as you face audiences large and small over the years.
The Line Graph
Perhaps the graph most frequently used by scientists is the line graph. A line graph is a picture of the relationship between two variables. A point on a line graph represents
the value on the Y variable that goes with the corresponding value on the X variable. The point might represent two scores by one person or the mean score of a group of people.
Line graphs are very popular with those who convey information. Peden and Hausmann (2000) found that two-thirds of the graphs in
psychology textbooks were line graphs. Likewise, Boehner and Howe (1996) report that line graphs accounted for two-thirds of the data graphs in a random selection of psychology-related journal articles.
Figure 2.9 is an example of a line graph. It shows the serial position effect. If you practice an ordered list of words until you can repeat it without error, you’ll find that you make the most errors on the words just past the middle. The serial position effect applies to any sequence of material that is learned in order. Knowing about the serial position effect, you should devote extra study time to items in the middle of a list.
More on Graphics
Almost 100 graphs and figures appear in the chapters, problems, and answers that follow. Some graphs are frequency distributions; others are line graphs. In addition, you will find boxplots and scatterplots (with explanations). Group means and the variability of the scores about those means are pictured with bar graphs. Although this
36 ■ Chapter 2
2 4 6 8 10 12 14 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Serial position of words in a list
M ea
n er
ro rs
F I G U R E 2 . 9 The serial position effect
line graph Graph that shows the relationship between two variables with lines.
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chapter is the only one with graphs in the title, this textbook and scientific research in general are full of graphs. New designs are being created regularly.
Recognition of the importance of graphs has been emerging in the past 20 or so years. L. D. Smith et al. (2002) described psychologists’ use of graphs in their work, pointing out that researchers use graphs throughout a project. Even before data are collected, graphs provide a way to convey expected results and compare them to previous results. Wainer and Velleman (2001) show that graphs serve as a guide to the future in addition to their traditional role as a picture of past discoveries. Certainly, a scene of several scientists scribbling a graph on a paper napkin or a blackboard is almost a stereotype of how scientists work.
Graphs are one of our most powerful ways of persuading others. When a person is confused or is of the opposite opinion, a graph can be convincing. One particular champion of graphics is Edward Tufte, an emeritus professor at Yale University. His book, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (2nd edition, 2001), celebrates and demonstrates the power of graphs, and also includes a reprint of “(perhaps) the best statistical graphic ever drawn.”4 Tufte says that regardless of your field, when you construct a quality graphic, it improves your understanding of the phenomenon you are studying. So, if you find yourself somewhere on that path between confusion and understanding, you should try to construct a graph. A graph communicates information with the simultaneous presentation of words, numbers, and pictures. In the heartfelt words of a sophomore engineering student I know, “Graphs sure do help.”
Designing an effective and pleasing graph requires planning and rough drafts. Sometimes conventional advice is helpful and sometimes not. For example, “Make the height 60 to 75 percent of the width” works for some data sets and not for others. Graphic designers should heed Tufte’s admonition (2001, epilogue), “It is better to violate any principle than to place graceless or inelegant marks on paper.”
So, how can you learn to put graceful, elegant marks on paper? Here are some books that can help. Statistical Graphics for Univariate and Bivariate Data (Jacoby, 1997) is an 88-page primer with examples from many disciplines. Nicol and Pexman (2003) provide a detailed guide that illustrates a wide variety of graphs and figures; it also covers poster presentations. The Elements of Graphing Data (Cleveland, 1994) is a thorough textbook that includes some theory about graphs.
A Moment to Reflect
At this point in your statistics course, I have a question for you: How are you doing? I know that questions like this are better asked by a personable human than by an impersonal textbook. Nevertheless, please give your answer. I hope you can say OK or perhaps something better. If your answer isn’t OK or better, now is the time to make changes. Take paper and pen and write down changes that you think (or know!) will help. Develop a plan. Share it with someone who will support you. Implement your plan.
Frequency Distributions and Graphs ■ 37
4 I’ll give you just a hint about this graphic. A French engineer drew it well over a century ago to illustrate a disastrous military campaign by Napoleon against Russia in 1812–13. This graphic was nominated by Wainer (1984) as the “World’s Champion Graph.”
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P R O B L E M S
*2.10. Determine the direction of the skew for the two curves in problem 2.8 by examining the curves or the frequency distributions (or both).
2.11. Describe how a line graph is different from a frequency polygon. 2.12. From the data for the five U.S. cities that follow, construct a line graph
that shows the relationship between elevation above sea level and mean January temperature. The latitudes of the five cities are almost equal; all are within one degree of 35°N latitude. Write a sentence of interpretation.
City Elevation (feet) Mean January temperature (°F)
Albuquerque, NM 5000 34 Amarillo, TX 3700 35 Flagstaff, AZ 6900 29 Little Rock, AR 350 39 Oklahoma City, OK 1200 36
2.13. Without looking at Figures 2.6 and 2.8, sketch a normal distribution, a rectangular distribution, and a bimodal distribution.
2.14. Is the narrow point of a positively skewed distribution directed toward the right or the left?
2.15. For each frequency distribution listed, tell whether it is positively skewed, negatively skewed, or approximately symmetrical (bell-shaped or rectangular). a. Age of all people alive today b. Age in months of all first-graders c. Number of children in families d. Wages in a large manufacturing plant e. Age at death of everyone who died last year f. Shoe size
2.16. Write a paragraph on graphs. 2.17. a. Problem 2.3 presented data on oral body temperature. Use those data
to construct a simple frequency distribution. b. Using the grouped frequency distribution you created for your answer
to problem 2.3, construct an appropriate graph, and describe its form. 2.18. Read and respond to the five objectives at the beginning of the chapter.
Engaged responding will help you remember what you learned.
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 2 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, and more. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and problems that require graphs.
38 ■ Chapter 2
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Frequency Distributions and Graphs ■ 39
Abscissa (p. 30) Bar graph (p. 32) Bimodal distribution (p. 35) Class intervals (p. 28) Frequency (p. 26) Frequency polygon (p. 31) Grouped frequency distribution (p. 28) Histogram (p. 31) Line graph (p. 36)
Negative skew (p. 35) Normal distribution
(normal curve) (p. 34) Ordinate (p. 30) Positive skew (p. 34) Raw scores (p. 24) Rectangular distribution (p. 34) Simple frequency distribution (p. 26) Skewed distribution (p. 34)
KEY TERMS
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chapt
Central Tendency and Variability
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 3
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Find the mean, median, and mode of a simple frequency distribution
2. Distinguish among statistics and parameters for the mean and standard deviation
3. Determine the central tendency measure that is most appropriate for a set of data
4. Estimate the direction of skew of a frequency distribution from the relationship between the mean and median
5. Calculate a weighted mean
6. Explain the concept of variability
7. Find and interpret the range of a distribution
8. Find and interpret the interquartile range of a distribution
9. Distinguish among the standard deviation of a population, the standard deviation of a sample used to estimate a population standard deviation, and the standard deviation used to describe a sample
10. Know the meaning of s, ŝ, and S
11. For grouped and ungrouped data, calculate a standard deviation and interpret it
12. Calculate the variance of a distribution
IN THE PREVIOUS chapter, you learned to present a distribution of scores using frequency distributions and graphs. These two descriptive methods
show the form of a distribution. In this chapter I cover two additional ways to describe a distribution: measures of central tendency and measures of variability. Measures of central tendency give you one value that represents, or is typical of, a distribution. Measures of
40
central tendency Descriptive statistics that indicate a typical or representative score.
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Central Tendency and Variability ■ 41
variability tell you whether the scores are all the same, closely grouped, or spread out. If you know the form, central tendency, and variability of a distribution, you can answer most of the questions that come up.
Recall from Chapter 1 that when populations aren’t available, parameters cannot be calculated. In this situation, researchers resort to statistics that are based on sample data. Naturally, good statistics are those that mimic parameters. As you will see, our common measures of central tendency are good mimics of their corresponding parameters; for measures of variability, the situation is more complicated.
Measures of Central Tendency
There are a number of measures of central tendency; the most popular are the mean, median, and mode.
The Mean
The symbol for the mean of a sample is X� (pronounced “mean” or “X- bar”). The symbol for the mean of a population is m (a Greek letter, pronounced “mew”). Of course, an X� is only one of many possible means from a population. Because other samples from that same population produce somewhat different X�’s, a degree of uncertainty goes with X�.
Of course, if you had an entire population of scores you could calculate m, and it would carry no uncertainty with it. Most of the time, however, the population is not available and you must make do with a sample. Fortunately, mathematical statisticians have shown that the formula for X� produces a value that is the best estimator of m. It also turns out that this formula for X� is the same as the formula for m. The difference in X� and m then is in the interpretation. X� carries some uncertainty with it; m does not.
Here’s a very simple example of a sample mean. Suppose a college freshman arrives at school in the fall with a promise of a monthly allowance for spending money. Sure enough, on the first of each month, there is money to spend. However, 3 months into the school term, our student discovers a recurring problem: too much month left at the end of the money.
In pondering this problem, our student realizes that money escapes from his pocket at the Student Center. So, for a 2-week period, he keeps a careful accounting of every cent spent at the center (soft drinks, snacks, video games, coffee, and so forth). His data are presented in Table 3.1. You already know how to compute the mean of these numbers, but before you do, eyeball the data and then write down your estimate of the mean in the space provided. The formula for the mean is
where X� � the mean 1 � � an instruction to add (� is uppercase Greek sigma) X � a score or observation; �X means to add all the X’s N � number of scores or observations
X� � ©X N
variability Having more than one value.
1 Many scientific journals use a capital M to represent the mean.
mean The arithmetic average; the sum of the scores divided by the number of scores.
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For the data in Table 3.1,
These data are for a 2-week period, but our freshman is interested in his expenditures for at least 1 month and, more likely, for many months. Thus, the result is a sample mean and the X� symbol is appropriate. The amount, $2.69, is an estimate of the amount that our friend spends at the Student Center each day. $2.69 may seem low to you. If so, note that $0.00 was spent several days.
Now we come to an important part of any statistical analysis, which is to answer the question, So what? Calculating numbers or drawing graphs is a part of almost every statistical problem, but unless you can tell the story of what the numbers and pictures mean, you won’t find statistics worthwhile.
The first use you can make of Table 3.1 is to estimate the student’s monthly Student Center expenses. This is easy to do. Thirty days times $2.69 is $80.70. Now, let’s suppose our student decides that this $80.70 is an important part of the “monthly money problem.” The student has three apparent options. The first is to get more money. The second is to spend less at the Student Center. The third is to justify leaving things as they are. For this third option, our student might perform an economic analysis to determine what he gets in return for his $80� a month. His list might be pretty impressive: lots of visits with friends, information about classes, courses, and professors, a borrowed book that was just super, thousands of calories, and more.
The point of all this is that part of the attack on the student’s money problem involved calculating a mean. However, an answer of $2.69 doesn’t have much meaning by itself. Interpretations and comparisons are called for.
X� � ©X N
� $37.66
14 � $2.69
TABLE 3.1 Amounts of money spent at the Student Center during a 2-week period
Day Money spent
1 $3.25 2 2.50 3 4.47 4 0.00 5 3.81 6 1.75 7 0.00 8 0.00 9 6.78
10 2.40 11 0.00 12 0.00 13 8.50 14 4.20
� � $37.66 Your estimate of the mean _______
42 ■ Chapter 3
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Central Tendency and Variability ■ 43
Characteristics of the mean Two characteristics of the mean are important for you to know. Both characteristics will come up again later.
First, if the mean of a distribution is subtracted from each score in that distribution and the differences are added, the sum will be zero; that is, �(X � X�) � 0. The statistic, X � X�, is called a deviation score. To demonstrate to yourself that �(X � XX�) � 0, you might pick a few numbers to play with (numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are easy to work with). In addition, if you know the rules that govern algebraic operations of summation (�) notation, you can prove the relationship �(X � X�) � 0. (See Kirk, 1999, p. 90.)
Second, the mean is the point about which the sum of the squared deviations is minimized. If we subtract the mean from each score, square each deviation, and add the squared deviations together, the resulting sum will be smaller than if any number other than the mean had been used; that is, �(X � X�)2 is a minimum. You can demonstrate this relationship for yourself by playing with some numbers.
The Median
The median is the point that divides a distribution of scores into two parts that are equal in size. To find the median of the Student Center expense data, arrange the daily expenditures from highest to lowest, as shown in Table 3.2. Because there are 14 scores, the halfway point, or median, will have seven scores above it and seven scores below it. The seventh score from the bottom is $2.40. The seventh score from the top is $2.50. The median, then, is halfway between these two scores, or $2.45.2 Remember, the median is a hypothetical point in the distribution; it may or may not be an actual score.
median Point that divides a distribution of scores into equal halves.
2 The halfway point between two numbers is the mean of the two numbers. Thus, ($2.40 � $2.50)/2 � $2.45.
TABLE 3.2 Data of Table 3.1 arranged in descending order
X
$8.50 6.78 4.47 4.20 7 scores 3.81 3.25 2.50
Median � $2.45 2.40 1.75 0.00 0.00 7 scores 0.00 0.00 0.00
v
v
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What is the interpretation of a median of $2.45? The simplest interpretation is that on half the days our student spends less than $2.45 in the Student Center and on the other half he spends more.
What if there had been an odd number of days in the sample? Suppose the student chose to sample half a month, or 15 days. Then the median would be the eighth score. The eighth score has seven scores above and seven below. For example, if an additional day was included, during which $3.12 was spent, the median would be $2.50. If the additional day’s expenditure was zero, the median would be $2.40.
The reasoning you just went through can be expressed in formula form. The formula for finding the location of the median is:
The location may be at an actual score (as in the second example) or a point between two scores (the first example).
The Mode
The third central tendency statistic is the mode. As mentioned earlier, the mode is the most frequently occurring score—the score with the highest frequency. For the Student Center expense data, the mode is $0.00. Table 3.2 shows the mode most clearly. The zero amount occurred five
times, and all other amounts occurred only once. When a mode is given, it is often helpful to tell the percentage of times it occurred.
You will probably agree that “The mode was $0.00, which was observed on 36 percent of the days” is more informative than “The mode was $0.00.”
Finding Central Tendency of Simple Frequency Distributions
Mean
Table 3.3 is an expanded version of Table 2.3, the frequency distribution of Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) scores in Chapter 2. The steps for finding the mean from a simple frequency distribution follow, but first (looking only at the data and not at the summary statistics at the bottom) estimate the mean of the SWLS scores in the space at the bottom of Table 3.3.3
The first step in calculating the mean from a simple frequency distribution is to multiply each score in the X column by its corresponding f value, so that all the people who make a particular score are included. Next, sum the f X values and divide the total by N. (N is the sum of the f values.) The result is the mean.4 In terms of a formula,
m or X� � ©f X
N
Median location � N � 1
2
44 ■ Chapter 3
3 If the data are arranged in a frequency distribution, you can estimate the mean by selecting the most frequent score (the mode) or by selecting the score in the middle of the list. 4 When you work with whole numbers, calculating a mean to two decimal places is usually sufficient.
mode Score that occurs most frequently in a distribution.
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For the data in Table 3.3,
How did 24.00 compare to your estimate? To answer the question of whether 24.00 is X� or m, you need more information.
Here’s the question to ask: Is there any interest in a group larger than these 100? If the answer is no, the 100 scores are a population and 24.00 � m. If the answer is yes, the 100 scores are a sample and 24.00 � X�.
Median
The formula for finding the location of the median that you used earlier works for a simple frequency distribution, too.
Thus, for the scores in Table 3.3,
To find the 50.5th position, begin adding the frequencies in Table 3.3 from the bottom (2 � 2 � 2 � 1 � . . .). The total is 43 by the time you include the score of 24. Including 25 would make the total 52—more than you need. So the 50.5th score is among those nine scores of 25. The median is 25.
Median location � N � 1
2 �
100 � 1
2 � 50.5
Median location � N � 1
2
m or X � ©f X
N �
2400
100 � 24.00
Central Tendency and Variability ■ 45
TABLE 3.3 Calculating the mean of the simple frequency distribution of the Satisfaction With Life Scale scores
SWLS SWLS score (X) f fX score (X) f fX
35 2 70 22 5 110 34 1 34 21 3 63 33 2 66 20 5 100 32 4 128 19 3 57 31 2 62 17 2 34 30 5 150 16 2 32 29 7 203 15 1 15 28 6 168 13 2 26 27 10 270 12 1 12 26 9 234 11 1 11 25 9 225 10 2 20 24 6 144 9 2 18 23 6 138 5 2 10
2400 Your estimate of the mean _______
© � 100
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Suppose you start the quest for the median at the top of the distribution rather than at the bottom.Again, the location of the median is at the 50.5th position in the distribution. To get to 50.5, add the frequencies from the top (2 � 1 � 2 � . . .). The sum of the frequencies of the scores from 35 down to and including 26 is 48. The next score, 25, had a frequency of 9. Thus, the 50.5th position is among the scores of 25. The median is 25.
error detection Calculating the median by starting from the top of the distribution produces the same result as calculating the median by starting from the bottom.
Mode
It is easy to find the mode from a simple frequency distribution. In Table 3.3, the score with the highest frequency, 10, is the mode. So 27 is the mode.
P R O B L E M S
3.1. Find the median for the following sets of scores. a. 2, 5, 15, 3, 9 b. 9, 13, 16, 20, 12, 11 c. 8, 11, 11, 8, 11, 8
3.2. Which of the following distributions is bimodal? a. 10, 12, 9, 11, 14, 9, 16, 9, 13, 20 b. 21, 17, 6, 19, 23, 19, 12, 19, 16, 7 c. 14, 18, 16, 28, 14, 14, 17, 18, 18, 6
*3.3. Refer to problem 2.2, the political scientist’s yard-sign data. a. Decide which measure of central tendency is appropriate and find it. b. Is this central tendency measure a statistic or a parameter? c. Write a sentence of interpretation.
*3.4. Refer to problem 2.1. Find the mean, median, and mode of the heights of both groups of Americans in their 20s. Work from the Appendix G answers to problem 2.1.
3.5. For distribution a, find the median starting from the bottom. For distribu- tion b, find the median starting from the top. The median of distribution c can probably be solved by inspection.
a. X f b. 4, 0, �1, 2, 1, 0, 3, 1, �2, �2, �1, 2, 1, 3, 0, �2, 1, 2, 0, 1
15 4 c. 28, 27, 26, 21, 18, 10 14 3 13 5 12 4 11 2 10 1
3.6. What two mathematical characteristics of the mean were covered in this section?
46 ■ Chapter 3
* Problems with an asterisk are multiple-use problems. Your answer and your understanding of an asterisked problem will help when the data set is presented again.
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error detection Estimating (also called eyeballing) is a valuable way to avoid big mistakes. Begin work by making a quick estimate of the answers. If your calculated answers differ from your estimates, wisdom dictates that you reconcile the difference. You have either overlooked something when estimating or made a computation mistake.
When to Use the Mean, Median, and Mode
A common question is: Which measure of central tendency should I use? The general answer is, given a choice, use the mean. Sometimes, however, the data give you no choice. Here are three considerations that limit your choice.
Scale of Measurement
A mean is appropriate for ratio or interval scale data, but not for ordinal or nominal distributions. A median is appropriate for ratio, interval, and ordinal scale data, but not for nominal data. The mode is appropriate for any of the four scales of measurement.
You have already thought through part of this issue in working problem 3.3. In it you found that the yard-sign names (very literally, a nominal variable) could be characterized with a mode, but it would be impossible to try to add up the names and divide by N or to find the median of the names.
For an ordinal scale such as class standing in college, either median or mode makes sense. The median would probably be sophomore, and the mode would be freshman.
Open-Ended Class Intervals
Even if you have interval or ratio data, there is a circumstance in which you cannot calculate a mean. This circumstance is when the class interval with the highest (or lowest) scores is open-ended. As an example, age data are sometimes reported with the highest category being “75 and over.” In such cases, there is no midpoint, and therefore you cannot compute a mean. Medians and modes are appropriate measures of central tendency when one or both of the extreme class intervals are open-ended.
Skewed Distributions
Even if you have interval or ratio data and all class intervals have midpoints, using a mean is not recommended if the distribution is severely skewed. The following story demonstrates why the mean gives an erroneous impression for severely skewed distributions. (Note also that the story describes a population of data, not a sample; see if you can tell why.)
The developer of Swampy Acres Retirement Homesites is attempting, with a computer-selected mailing list, to sell the lots in a southern “paradise” to northern buyers. The marks express concern that flooding might occur. The developer reassures
Central Tendency and Variability ■ 47
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them by explaining that the average elevation of the lots is 78.5 feet and that the water level has never exceeded 25 feet in that area. On the average, the developer has told the truth, but this average truth is misleading. Look at the actual lay of the land in Figure 3.1 and examine the frequency distribution in Table 3.4.
The mean elevation, as the developer said, is 78.5 feet; however, only 20 lots, all on a hill, are out of the flood zone. The other 80 lots are, on the average, under water. Using the mean is misleading. The median is a much better measure of central tendency here because it is unaffected by the few extreme lots on the hill. The median elevation is 12.5 feet, well below the high-water mark. (Because our interest is in only this one development, the lot elevations constitute a population of data. There is no interest in generalizing from these data to some larger group.)
In summary, use the mean if it is appropriate. To follow this advice you must recognize data for which the mean is not appropriate. Perhaps Table 3.5 will help.
48 ■ Chapter 3
SW A M PY
A CR
ES
350
25
5
E le
va tio
n
80 Lots
20 Lots
F I G U R E 3 . 1 Elevation of Swampy Acres
TABLE 3.4 Frequency distribution of lot elevations at Swampy Acres
Elevation, Number of in feet (X) lots ( f ) f X
348–352 20 7000 13–17 30 450 8–12 30 300 3–7 20 100
7850
m � ©fX
N �
7850
100 � 78.5 feet
© � 100
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TABLE 3.5 Data characteristics and recommended central tendency statistic
Recommended statistic
Data characteristic Mean Median Mode
Nominal scale data No No Yes Ordinal scale data No Yes Yes Interval scale data Yes Yes Yes Ratio scale data Yes Yes Yes Open-ended category(ies) No Yes Yes Skewed distribution No Yes Yes
Determining Skewness from the Mean and Median
There is a rule of thumb that uses the relationship of the mean to the median to help determine skewness. This rule works most of the time. It usually works for continuous data such as SWLS scores but is less trustworthy for discrete data such as the number of adult residents in U.S. households (von Hippel, 2005).
The rule is that when the mean is larger than the median, you can expect the distribution to be positively skewed. If the mean is smaller than the median, expect negative skew. Figure 3.2 shows the relationship of the mean to the median for a positively skewed and a negatively skewed distribution of continuous data.
The size of the difference between the mean and median usually indicates the degree of skew. The greater the difference, the greater the skew. To illustrate, I added an expenditure of $100.00 to the slightly skewed distribution in Table 3.1. The original mean was $2.69 and the median was $2.45. Adding a score of $100.00 produces a much more skewed distribution with a mean of $9.83 and a median of $2.50. In the original distribution the difference between the mean and median was $0.24; in the
Central Tendency and Variability ■ 49
Low High
Fr eq
ue nc
y
Scores
Fr eq
ue nc
y
Narrow point
Narrow point
Scores
Median Mean smaller than
median—skew is negativeMean
Median Mean larger than
median—skew is positiveMean
Low High
F I G U R E 3 . 2 The effect of skewness on the relative position of the mean and median for continuous data
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severely skewed distribution the difference is $7.33. The more severe skew is reflected in this larger difference between the mean and median.5 Note also that the mean of the new distribution ($7.33) is greater than every score in the distribution except for $100.00. For severely skewed distributions, the mean is not a typical score; the median is usually a better measure of central tendency.
The Weighted Mean
Sometimes several sample means are available from the same or similar populations. In such cases, a weighted mean, X�W, is the best estimate of the population parameter, m. If every sample has the same N, you can compute a weighted mean by adding the means and dividing by the number of means. If the sample means are based on N’s of different sizes, however, you cannot use this procedure. Here is a story that illustrates the right
way and the wrong way to calculate a weighted mean. At my undergraduate college, a student with a cumulative grade point average
(GPA) of 3.25 in the middle of the junior year was eligible to enter a program to “graduate with honors.” [In those days (1960) usually fewer than 10 percent of a class had GPAs greater than 3.25.] Discovering this rule after my sophomore year, I decided to figure out if I had a chance to qualify. Calculating a cumulative GPA seemed easy enough to do: Four semesters had produced GPAs of 3.41, 3.63, 3.37, and 2.16. Given another GPA of 3.80, the sum of the five semesters would be 16.37, and dividing by 5 gave an average of 3.27, well above the required 3.25.
Graduating with honors seemed like a great ending for college, so I embarked on a goal-oriented semester—a GPA of 3.80 (a B in German and an A in everything else). And, at the end of the semester I had accomplished the goal. Unfortunately, “graduating with honors” was not to be.
There was a flaw in my method of calculating my cumulative GPA. My method assumed that all of the semesters were equal in weight, that they had all been based on the same number of credit hours. My calculations based on this assumption are shown on the left side of Table 3.6.
Unfortunately, all five semesters were not the same; the semester with the GPA of 2.16 was based on 19 hours, rather than the usual 16 or so.6 Thus, that semester should have been weighted more heavily than semesters with fewer hours.
The formula for a weighted mean is
where
K � number of samples
N1, N2, NK � sample sizes
X�1, X�2, X�K � sample means
X�W � the weighted mean
X�W � N1X�1 � N2X�2 � p � NK X�K
N1 � N2 � p � NK
50 ■ Chapter 3
5 For a mathematical measure of skewness, see Kirk, 1999, p. 129. 6 That semester was more educational than a GPA of 2.16 would indicate. I read a great deal of American literature that spring, but unfortunately, I was not registered for any courses in American literature!
weighted mean Overall mean calculated from two or more samples with different N’s.
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The right side of Table 3.6 shows the steps for a weighted mean, which is required to correctly calculate a cumulative GPA. Each semester’s GPA is multiplied by its number of credit hours. These products are summed and that total is divided by the sum of the hours. As you can see from the numbers on the right, the actual cumulative GPA was 3.24, not high enough to qualify for the honors program.
More generally, to find the mean of a set of means, multiply each separate mean by its N, add these products together, and divide the total by the sum of the N’s. As an example, three means of 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0, calculated from the scores of samples with N’s of 6, 3, and 2, produce a weighted mean (X�W) of 2.64. Do you agree?
P R O B L E M S
3.7. For each of the following situations, tell which measure of central tendency is appropriate and why. a. As part of a study on prestige, an investigator sat on a corner in a
high-income residential area and classified passing automobiles according to color: black, gray, white, silver, green, and other.
b. In a study of helping behavior, an investigator pretended to have locked himself out of his car. Passersby who stopped were classified on a scale of 1 to 5 as (1) very helpful, (2) helpful, (3) slightly helpful, (4) neutral, and (5) discourteous.
c. In a study of household income in a city, the following income cate- gories were established: $0–$20,000, $20,001–$40,000, $40,001– $60,000, $60,001–$80,000, $80,001–$100,000, and $100,001 and more.
d. In a study of per capita income in a city, the following income categories were established: $0–$20,000, $20,001–$40,000, $40,001– $60,000, $60,001–$80,000, $80,001–$100,000, $100,001–$120,000, $120,001–$140,000, $140,001–$160,000, $160,001–$180,000, and $180,001–$200,000.
Central Tendency and Variability ■ 51
TABLE 3.6 Two methods of calculating a weighted mean from five semesters’ GPAs; the method on the left is correct only if all semesters have the same number of credit hours
Flawed method Correct method
Semester Semester Credit GPA � GPA GPA hours hours
3.41 3.41 17 58 3.63 3.63 16 58 3.37 3.37 19 64 2.16 2.16 19 41 3.80 3.80 16 61
X�W � 282
87 � 3.24X�W �
16.37
5 � 3.27
© � 282© � 87© � 16.37
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e. First admissions to a state mental hospital for 5 years were classified by disorder: schizophrenic, delusional, anxiety, dissociative, and other.
f. A teacher gave her class an arithmetic test; most of the children scored in the range 70–79. A few scores were above this, and a few were below.
3.8. A senior psychology major performed the same experiment on three groups and obtained means of 74, 69, and 75 percent correct. The groups consisted of 12, 31, and 17 participants, respectively. What is the overall mean for all participants?
3.9. In problem 2.8 and problem 2.10, you determined the direction of the skew by looking at the distributions. Verify those judgments now by calculating and comparing the means and medians of each distribution.
3.10. A 3-year veteran of the local baseball team was calculating his lifetime batting average. The first year he played for half the season and batted .350 (28 hits in 80 at-bats). The second year he had about twice the number of at-bats and his average was .325. The third year, although he played even more regularly, he was in a slump and batted only .275. Adding the three season averages and dividing the total by 3, he found his lifetime batting average to be .317. Is this correct? Explain.
Variability
The value of knowing about variability is illustrated by the story of two brothers who went water skiing on Christmas Day (the temperature was about 35°F). On the average each skier finished his turn 5 feet from the shoreline (where one may step off the ski into only 1 foot of very cold water). This bland average of the two actual stopping places, however, does not convey the excitement of the day.
The first brother, determined to avoid the cold water, held onto the towrope too long. Scraped and bruised, he finally stopped rolling at a spot 35 feet up on the rocky shore. The second brother, determined not to share the same fate, released the towrope too soon. Although he swam the 45 feet to shore very quickly, his lips were very blue. No, the average stopping place of 5 feet from the shoreline doesn’t capture the excitement of the day. To get the full story, you should ask about variability. Here are some other situations in which knowing the variability is important.
1. You are an elementary school teacher who has been assigned a class of fifth- graders whose mean IQ is 115, well above the IQ of 100 that is the average for the general population. Because children with IQs of 115 can handle more complex, abstract material, you plan many sophisticated projects for the year.
Caution: If the variability of the IQs in the class is small, your projects will probably succeed. If the variability is large, the projects will be too complicated for some, but for others, even these projects will not be challenging enough.
2. Suppose that your temperature, taken with a thermometer under your tongue, is 97.5°F. You begin to worry. This is below even the average of 98.2°F that you learned in the previous chapter (based on Mackowiak, Wasserman, and Levine, 1992).
52 ■ Chapter 3
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Caution: There is variability around that mean of 98.2°F. Is 97.5°F below the mean by just a little or by a lot? Measuring variability is necessary if you are to answer this question.
3. Having graduated from college, you are considering two offers of employment, one in sales and the other in management. The pay is about the same for both. Using the library to check out the statistics for salespeople and managers, you find that those who have been working for 5 years in each type of job also have similar averages. You conclude that the pay for the two occupations is equal.
Caution: Pay is more variable for those in sales than for those in management. Some in sales make much more than the average and some make much less, whereas the pay of those in management is clustered together. Your reaction to this difference in variability might help you choose.
The information that measures of variability provide is completely independent of that provided by the mean, median, and mode. Table 3.7 shows three distributions, each with a mean of 15. As you can see, however, the actual scores are quite different. Fortunately, measures of variability reveal the differences in the three distributions, giving you information that the mean does not.
This portion of the chapter is about statistics and parameters that measure the variability of a distribution. The range is the first measure I will describe; the second is the interquartile range. The third, the standard deviation, is the most important. Most of this chapter is about the standard deviation. A fourth way to measure variability is the variance.
The Range
The range of a quantitative variable is the highest score minus the lowest score.
where XH � highest score XL � lowest score
The range of the Satisfaction With Life Scale scores you worked with in the previous chapter (Table 2.2) was 30. The highest score was 35; the lowest was 5. Thus,
Range � XH � XL
Central Tendency and Variability ■ 53
TABLE 3.7 Illustration of three different distributions that have equal means
X1 X2 X3
25 17 90 20 16 30 15 15 15 10 14 0 5 13 �60
Mean 15 15 15
range Highest score minus the lowest score.
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the range is 35 � 5 � 30. In Chapter 2 you worked with oral body temperatures. (See problem 2.3 and its answer.) The highest temperature was 99.5°F; the lowest was 96.4°F. The range is 3.1°F. Knowing that the range of normal body temperature is more than 3 degrees tends to soften a strict interpretation of a particular temperature. In manufacturing, the range is used in some quality-control procedures. From a small sample of whatever is being manufactured, inspectors calculate a range and compare it to an expected figure. A large range means there is too much variability in the process and adjustments are called for.
The range is a quickly calculated, easy-to-understand statistic that is just fine in some situations. However, you can probably imagine two very different distributions of scores that have the same mean and the same range. (Go ahead, imagine them.) If you are able to dream up two such distributions, it follows that additional measures of variability are needed if you are to distinguish among different distributions using just one measure of central tendency and one measure of variability.
Interquartile Range
The next measure of variability, the interquartile range, tells the range of scores that make up the middle 50 percent of the distribution. It is an important element of
boxplots, which you will study in Chapter 4. (A boxplot is a graphic that conveys the data of a distribution and some of its statistical characteristics with one picture.)
To find the interquartile range, you must have the 25th percentile score and the 75th percentile score. You may already be familiar with the concept of percentile scores. The 10th percentile score has 10 percent of the distribution below it; it is near the bottom. The 95th percentile score is near the top; 95 percent of the scores in the distribution are smaller. The 50th percentile divides the distribution into equal halves.7
Determining percentiles is something you have already practiced. In this chapter you calculated several medians. The median is the point that divides a distribution into equal halves. Thus, the median is the 50th percentile. Finding the 25th and 75th percentile scores involves the same kind of thinking used to find the median.
The 25th percentile score is the one that has 25 percent of the scores below it. Look at Table 3.8, which shows a frequency distribution of 40 scores. To find the 25th percentile score, multiply 0.25 times N (0.25 � 40 � 10). When N � 40, the 10th score up from the bottom is the 25th percentile score. You can see in Table 3.8 that there are 5 scores of 23 or lower. The 10th score is among the 7 scores of 24. Thus, the 25th percentile is a score of 24.
The 75th percentile score has 75 percent of the scores below it. The easiest way to find it is to work from the top, using the same multiplication procedure, 0.25 times N (0.25 � 40 � 10). The 75th percentile score is the 10th score down from the top of the distribution. In Table 3.8 there are 9 scores of 29 or higher. The 10th score is among the 4 scores of 28, so the 75th percentile score is 28.
54 ■ Chapter 3
7 For more details on percentile scores, see Runyon, Coleman, and Pittenger (2000, pp. 59–61).
interquartile range Range of scores that contains the middle 50 percent of a distribution.
percentile Point below which a specified percentage of the distribution falls.
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The interquartile range is simply the 75th percentile minus the 25th percentile:
where IQR � interquartile range. Thus, for the distribution in Table 3.8, IQR � 28 � 24 � 4. The interpretation is that the middle 50 percent of the scores have values from 24 to 28.
P R O B L E M S
3.11. Find the range for the two distributions. a. 17, 5, 1, 1 b. 0.45, 0.30, 0.30
*3.12. Find the interquartile range of the Satisfaction With Life Scale scores in Table 3.3. Write a sentence of interpretation.
*3.13. Find the interquartile range of the heights of both groups of those 20- to 29-year-old Americans. Use the frequency distributions you constructed for problem 2.1. (These distributions may be in your notebook of answers; they are also in Appendix G.)
The Standard Deviation
When it comes to describing the variability of a distribution, the most widely used statistic is the standard deviation. It is popular because it is useful. Once you understand standard deviations, you can express quantitatively the difference between the two distributions you imagined previously in the section on the range. (You did do the imagining, didn’t you?)
In addition, the standard deviation (or its close relatives) turn up in every chapter after this one. Of course, in order to understand, you’ll have to read all the material, work the problems, and do the interpretations. (What you get for all this work is a lifetime of understanding the most popular yardstick of variability.)
IQR � 75th percentile � 25th percentile
Central Tendency and Variability ■ 55
TABLE 3.8 Finding the 25th and 75th percentiles
Score f
31 1 30 3 9 scores 29 5 28 4 27 5 26 4 25 6 24 7 23 3
5 scores 22 2
N � 40
r r
standard deviation Descriptive measure of the dispersion of scores around the mean.
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Your principal task in this section is to learn the distinctions among three different standard deviations. Which standard deviation you use in a particular situation will be determined by your purpose. Table 3.9 lists symbols, purposes, and descriptions. It will be worth your time to study Table 3.9 thoroughly now.
Distinguishing among these three standard deviations is sometimes a problem for beginning students. Be alert in situations where a standard deviation is used. With each situation, you will acquire more understanding. I will first discuss the calculation of s and S and then deal with ŝ.
The Standard Deviation as a Descriptive Index of Variability
Both s and S are used to describe the variability of a set of data. s is a parameter of a population; S is a statistic of a sample. Both are calculated with similar formulas. I will show you two ways to arrange the arithmetic for these formulas, the deviation- score formula and the raw-score formula.
You can best learn what a standard deviation is actually measuring by working through the steps of the deviation-score formula. The raw-score formula, however, is quicker (and sometimes more accurate, depending on rounding). Algebraically, the two formulas are identical.
My suggestion is that you learn both methods. By the time you get to the end of the chapter, you should have both the understanding that the deviation-score formula produces and the efficiency that the raw-score formula gives. After that, you may want to use a calculator or computer to do all the arithmetic for you.
Deviation Scores
A deviation score is a raw score minus the mean of the distribution, whether the distribution is a sample or a population.
or
Raw scores that are greater than the mean have positive deviation scores, raw scores that are less than the mean have negative deviation scores, and raw scores that are equal to the mean have a deviation score of zero.
X � mDeviation score � X � X�
56 ■ Chapter 3
TABLE 3.9 Symbols, purposes, and descriptions of three standard deviations
Symbol Purpose Description
s Measure a population’s Lowercase Greek sigma. A parameter. Describes variability variability when a population of data is available.
ŝ Estimate a population’s Lowercase ŝ (s-hat). A statistic. An estimate of s (in the variability same way that is an estimate of m). The variability
statistic you will use most often in this book.
S Measure a sample’s Capital S. A statistic. Describes the variability of a variability sample when there is no interest in estimating s.
X�
deviation score Raw score minus the mean of its distribution.
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Table 3.10 provides an illustration of how to compute deviation scores for a small sample of data. In Table 3.10, I first computed the mean, 8, and then subtracted it from each score. The result is deviation scores, which appear in the right-hand column.
A deviation score tells you the number of points that a particular score deviates from, or differs from, the mean. In Table 3.10, the X � X� value for Selene, 6, tells you that she scored six points above the mean. Luke, 0, scored at the mean, and Stephen, �5, scored five points below the mean.
error detection Notice that the sum of the deviation scores is always zero. Add the deviation scores; if the sum is not zero, you have made an error. You have studied this concept before. Earlier in this chapter you learned that �(X � X�) � 0.
Computing S and S Using Deviation Scores
The deviation-score formula for computing the standard deviation as a descriptive index is
or
where S � standard deviation of a sample s � standard deviation of a population N � number of scores (same as the number of deviations)
The numerator of standard deviation formulas, �(X � X�)2, is shorthand notation that tells you to find the deviation score for each raw score, square the deviation score, and then add all the squares together. This sequence illustrates one of the rules for working with summation notation: Perform the operations within the parentheses first.
How can a standard deviation add to your understanding of a phenomenon? Let’s take the sales of Girl Scout cookies. Table 3.11 presents some imaginary (but true-to-life) data on boxes of cookies sold by six Girl Scouts. I’ll use these data to
s �B © 1X � m 2 2NS �B © 1X � X� 2 2N
Central Tendency and Variability ■ 57
TABLE 3.10 The computation of deviation scores from raw scores
Name Score Deviation score
Selene 14 14 � 8 6 Ian 10 10 � 8 2 Luke 8 8 � 8 0 Zachary 5 5 � 8 �3 Stephen 3 3 � 8 �5
X� � ©X N
� 40
5 � 8
©1X � X� 2 � 0©X � 40
X � X�
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illustrate the calculation of the standard deviation, S. If these data were a population, the value of s would be identical.
The numbers of boxes sold are listed in the X column of Table 3.11. The rest of the arithmetic needed for calculating S is also given. To compute S by the deviation- score formula, first find the mean.8 Obtain a deviation score for each raw score by subtracting the mean from the raw score. Square each deviation score and sum the squares to obtain �(X � X�)2. Divide �(X � X�)2 by N. Take the square root. The result is S � 8.66 boxes.
Now, what does S � 8.66 boxes mean? How does it help your understanding? The 8.66 boxes is a measure of the variability in the number of boxes the six Girl Scouts sold. If S was zero, you would know that each girl sold the same number of boxes. The closer S is to zero, the more confidence you can have in predicting that the number of boxes any girl sold was equal to the mean of the group. Conversely, the further S is from zero, the less confidence you have. With S � 8.66 and X� � 10, you know that the girls varied a great deal in cookie sales.
I realize that, so far, my interpretation of the standard deviation has not given you any more information than the range does. (A range of zero means that each girl sold the same number of boxes, and so forth.) The range, however, has no additional information to give you—the standard deviation does, as you will see.
Now look again at Table 3.11 and the formula for S. Notice what is happening. The mean is subtracted from each score. This difference, whether positive or negative, is squared and these squared differences are added together. This sum is divided by N and the square root is found. Every score in the distribution contributes to the final answer, but they don’t all contribute equally.
Notice the contribution made by a score such as 28, which is far from the mean; its contribution to �(X � X�)2 is large. This makes sense because the standard deviation
58 ■ Chapter 3
8 For convenience I arranged the data so the mean is an integer. If you are confronted with decimals, it usually works to carry three decimals in the problem and then round the final answer to two decimal places.
TABLE 3.11 Using the deviation-score formula to compute S for cookie sales by a sample of six Girl Scouts
Boxes of cookies Deviation scores
28 18 324 11 1 1 10 0 0
5 –5 25 4 –6 36 2 –8 64
boxes
S � B� 1X � X� 2 2N � B4506 � 275 � 8.66 boxes X� �
©X N
� 60
6 � 10
© 1X � X� 2 2 � 450© 1X � X� 2 � 0©X � 60
1X � X� 2 2X � X�X
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is a yardstick of variability. Scores that are far from the mean cause the standard deviation to be greater. Take a moment to think through the contribution to the standard deviation made by a score near the mean.9
error detection All standard deviations are positive numbers. If you find yourself trying to take the square root of a negative number, you’ve made an error.
P R O B L E M S
3.14. Give the symbol and purpose of each of the three standard deviations. 3.15. Using the deviation-score method, compute S for the three sets of
scores. *a. 7, 6, 5, 2
b. 14, 11, 10, 8, 8 *c. 107, 106, 105, 102
3.16. Compare the standard deviation of problem 3.15a with that of problem 3.15c. What conclusion can you draw about the effect of the size of the scores on the following? a. standard deviation b. mean
*3.17. The temperatures listed are averages for March, June, September, and December. Calculate the mean and standard deviation for each city. Summarize your results in a sentence.
San Francisco, CA 54°F 59°F 62°F 52°F
Albuquerque, NM 46°F 75°F 70°F 36°F
3.18. No computation is needed here; just eyeball the scores in set I and set II and determine which set is more variable or whether the two sets are equally variable. a. set I: 1, 2, 4, 1, 3 set II: 9, 7, 3, 1, 0 b. set I: 9, 10, 12, 11 set II: 4, 5, 7, 6 c. set I: 1, 3, 9, 6, 7 set II: 14, 15, 14, 13, 14 d. set I: 8, 4, 6, 3, 5 set II: 4, 5, 7, 6, 15 e. set I: 114, 113, 114, 112, 113 set II: 14, 13, 14, 12, 13
Computing S and S with the Raw-Score Formula
The deviation-score formula helps you understand what is actually going on when you calculate a standard deviation. It is the formula to use until you do understand. Unfortunately, except in textbook examples, the deviation-score formula almost always has you working with decimal values. The raw-score formula, which is algebraically
Central Tendency and Variability ■ 59
9 If you play with a formula, you will become more comfortable with it and understand it better. Make up a small set of numbers and calculate a standard deviation. Change one of the numbers, or add a number, or leave out a number. See what happens. Besides teaching yourself about standard deviations, you may learn more efficient ways to use your calculator.
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equivalent, involves far fewer decimals. It also produces answers more quickly, especially if you are working with a calculator.
The raw-score formula is
where �X2 � sum of the squared scores (�X)2 � square of the sum of the raw scores
N � number of scores
Although the raw-score formula may appear more forbidding, it is actually easier to use than the deviation-score formula because you don’t have to compute deviation scores. The numbers you work with will be larger, but your calculator won’t mind.
Table 3.12 shows the steps for calculating S or s by the raw-score formula. The data are for boxes of cookies sold by the six Girl Scouts. You can put the arithmetic of Table 3.12 into words: Square the sum of the values in the X column and divide the total by N. Subtract this quotient from the sum of the values in the X 2 column. Divide this difference by N and find the square root. The result is S or s. Notice that the value of S in Table 3.12 is the same as the one you calculated in Table 3.11. In this case, the mean is an integer, so the deviation scores introduced no rounding errors.10
S or s �R ©X 2 �
1©X 2 2
N
N
60 ■ Chapter 3
10 Some textbooks and statisticians prefer the algebraically equivalent formula
I am using the formula in the text because the same form, or parts of it, will be used in other procedures. Yet another formula is often used in the field of testing. To use this formula, you must first calculate the mean:
All these arrangements of the arithmetic are algebraically equivalent.
S � B©X 2N � X� 2 and s � B©X 2N � m2
S or s � BN©X 2 � 1©X 2 2N 2
TABLE 3.12 Using the raw-score formula to compute S for cookie sales by a sample of six Girl Scouts
Boxes of cookies X X2
28 784 11 121 10 100 5 25 4 16 2 4
Note:
S �R©X 2 � 1©X 2 2
N
N �R1050 �
160 2 2
6
6 � B1050 � 6006 � B 4506 � 275 � 8.66 boxes
1©X 2 2 � 160 2 2 � 3600©X 2 � 1050©X � 60
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�X2 and (�X)2: Did you notice the difference in these two terms when you were working with the data in Table 3.12? If so, congratulations. You cannot calculate a standard deviation correctly unless you understand the difference. Reexamine Table 3.12 if you aren’t sure of the difference between �X2 and (�X)2. Be alert for these two sums in the problems that are coming up.
error detection The range is usually two to five times greater than the standard deviation when N � 100 or less. The range (which can be calculated quickly) will tell you if you made any large errors in calculating a standard deviation.
P R O B L E M S
*3.19. Look at the following two distributions. Without calculating ( just look at the data), decide which one has the larger standard deviation and estimate its size. (You may wish to calculate the range before you estimate.) Finally, make a choice between the deviation-score and the raw-score formulas and compute S for each distribution. Compare your computation with your estimate. a. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 b. 5, 5, 5, 0, 0, 0
3.20. For each of the distributions in problem 3.19, divide the range by the standard deviation. Is the result between 2 and 5?
3.21. By now you can look at the following two distributions and see that a is more variable than b. The difference in the two distributions is in the lowest score (2 and 6). Calculate s for each distribution, using the raw- score formula. Notice the difference in s that is produced by the change of just one score. a. 9, 8, 8, 7, 2 b. 9, 8, 8, 7, 6.
s^as an Estimate of S
Remember that ŝ is the principal statistic you will learn in this chapter. It will be used again and again throughout the rest of this text. If you have sample data and you want to calculate an estimate of s, you should use the statistic ŝ:
Statisticians often add a “hat” to a symbol to indicate that something is being estimated. Note that the difference between ŝ and s is that ŝ has N � 1 in the denominator, whereas s has N.
ŝ � B © 1X � X� 2 2N � 1
Central Tendency and Variability ■ 61
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This issue of dividing by N or by N � 1 sometimes leaves students shrugging their shoulders and muttering, “OK, I’ll memorize it and do it however you want.” I would like to explain, however, why you use N � 1 in the denominator when you have sample data and want to estimate s.
Because the formula for s is
it would seem logical just to calculate X� from the sample data, substitute X� for m in the numerator of the formula, and calculate an answer. This solution will, more often than not, produce a numerator that is too small [as compared to the value of �(X � m)2].
To explain this surprising state of affairs, remember (page 43) a characteristic of the mean: For any set of scores, the expression �(X � X�)2 is minimized. That is, for any set of scores, this sum is smaller when X� is used than it is if some other number (either larger or smaller) is used in place of X�.
Thus, for a sample of scores, substituting X� for m gives you a numerator that is minimized. However, what you want is a value that is the same as �(X � m)2. Now, if the value of X� is at all different from m, then the minimized value you get using �(X � X�)2 will be too small.
The solution that statisticians have adopted for this underestimation problem is to use X� and then to divide the too-small numerator by a smaller denominator—namely, N � 1. This results in a statistic that is a much better estimator of s.11
You just finished four dense paragraphs and a long footnote—lots of ideas per square inch. You may understand it already, but if you don’t, take 10 or 15 minutes to reread, do the exercise in footnote 11, and think.
Note also that as N gets larger, the subtraction of 1 from N has less and less effect on the size of the estimate of variability. This makes sense because the larger the sample size is, the closer X� will be to m, on average.
One other task comes with the introduction of ŝ: the decision whether to calculate s, S, or ŝ for a given set of data. Your choice will be based on your purpose. If your purpose is to estimate the variability of a population using data from a sample, calculate ŝ. (This purpose is common in inferential statistics.) If your purpose is to describe the variability of a sample or a population, use S or s.
s � B © 1X � m 2 2N
62 ■ Chapter 3
11 To illustrate this issue for yourself, use a small population of scores and do some calculations. For a population with scores of 1, 2, and 3, s � 0.82. Three different samples with N � 2 are possible in the population. For each sample, calculate the standard deviation using X� and N in the denominator. Find the mean of these three standard deviations. Now, for each of the three samples, calculate the standard deviation using N � 1 in the denominator and find the mean of these three. Compare the two means to the s that you want to estimate.
Mathematical statisticians use the term unbiased estimator for statistics whose average value (based on many samples) is exactly equal to the parameter of the population the samples came from. Unfortunately, even with N � 1 in the denominator, ŝ is not a unbiased estimator of s, although the bias is not very serious. There is, however, an unbiased measure of variability called the variance. The simple variance, ŝ2, is an unbiased estimator of the population variance, s2. (See the Variance section that follows.)
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Calculating ŝ
To calculate from raw scores, I recommend this formula:
This formula is the same as the raw-score formula for s except for N � 1 in the denominator. This raw-score formula is the one you will probably use for your own data.12
Sometimes you may need to calculate a standard deviation for data already arranged in a frequency distribution. For a simple frequency distribution or a grouped frequency distribution, the formula is
where f is the frequency of scores in an interval. Here are some data to illustrate the calculation of ŝ both for ungrouped raw scores
and for a frequency distribution. Consider puberty. As you know, females reach puberty earlier than males (about 2 years earlier on the average). Is there any difference between the genders in the variability of reaching this developmental milestone? Comparing standard deviations will give you an answer.
If you have only a sample of ages for each sex and your interest is in all females and all males, ŝ is the appropriate standard deviation. Table 3.13 shows the calculation of ŝ for the females. Work through the calculations. The standard deviation is 2.19 years.
Data for the ages at which males reach puberty are presented in a simple frequency distribution in Table 3.14. Work through these calculations, noting that grouping causes two additional columns of calculations. For males, ŝ is 1.44 years. (Note that there is no X 2 column in Table 3.14.)
Thus, based on sample data, you can conclude that there is more variability among females in the age of reaching puberty than there is among males. (Incidentally, you would be correct in your conclusion—I chose the numbers so they would produce results that are similar to population figures.)
Here are three final points about simple and grouped frequency distributions.
• �f X 2 is found by squaring X, multiplying by f, and then summing. • (�f X)2 is found by multiplying f by X, summing, and then squaring. • For grouped frequency distributions, X is the midpoint of a class interval.
ŝ �R©f X 2 � 1©f X22
N
N � 1
ŝ �R ©X2 �
1©X22
N
N � 1
Central Tendency and Variability ■ 63
12 Calculators with standard deviation functions differ. Some use N in the denominator, some use N � 1, and some have both standard deviations. You will have to check yours to see how it is programmed.
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64 ■ Chapter 3
TABLE 3.14 Calculation of ŝ for age at which males reach puberty (simple frequency distribution)
Age (X) f fX fX 2
18 1 18 324 17 1 17 289 16 2 32 512 15 4 60 900 14 5 70 980 13 3 39 507
N � 16
ŝ �R ©fX 2 �
1©fX 2 2
N
N � 1 �R
3512 � 1236 2 2
16
15 � B3512 � 348115 � 1.44 years
X� � 14.75 years ©f X 2 � 3512©f X � 236
TABLE 3.13 Calculation of ŝ for age at which females reach puberty (ungrouped raw-score method)
Age (X) X2
17 289 15 225 13 169 12 144 12 144 11 121 11 121 11 121
ŝ �R ©X 2 �
1©X 2 2
N
N � 1 �R
1334 � 1102 2 2
8
7 � B1334 � 1300.507 � 2.19 years
X� � 12.75 years 1©X 2 2 � 10,404©X 2 � 1334©X � 102
error detection �f X 2 and (�f X)2 are similar in appearance, but they tell you to do different operations. The different operations produce different results.
For both grouped and simple frequency distributions, most calculators give you �f X and �f X 2 if you properly key in X and f for each line of the distribution. Procedures differ depending on the brand. The time you invest in learning will be repaid several times over in future chapters (not to mention the satisfying feeling you will get).
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clue to the future You will be glad to know that in your efforts to calculate a standard deviation, you have produced two other useful statistics along the way. Each has a name, and they turn up again in future chapters. The number that you took the square root of to get the standard deviation is called the variance (also called a mean square). The expression in the numerator of the standard deviation, �(X � X�)2, is called the sum of squares, which is an important concept in Chapters 10–12.
Graphing Standard Deviations
The information on variability that a standard deviation conveys can often be added to a graph. Figure 3.3 is a double-duty bar graph of the puberty data that shows standard deviations as well as means. The lines extend one standard deviation above and below the mean.13 From this graph you can see at a glance that the mean age of puberty for females is younger than for males and that they are more variable in reaching puberty.
The Variance
The last step in calculating a standard deviation is to find a square root. The number you take the square root of is the variance. The symbols for the variance are s2 (population variance) and ŝ2 (sample variance used to estimate the population variance). By formula,
and or ŝ 2 �
©X 2 � 1©X 2 2
N
N � 1 ŝ 2 �
© 1X � X� 2 2
N � 1 s2 �
© 1X � m 22
N
Central Tendency and Variability ■ 65
variance Square of the standard deviation.
Females Males
10
12
14
16 A
ge (
ye ar
s)
F I G U R E 3 . 3 Bar graph of mean age of onset of puberty for females and males (error bars � I standard deviation)
13 Other measures of variability besides standard deviations are also presented as an extended line. The caption or the legend of the graph tells you the measure.
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The difference between s2 and ŝ2 is the term in the denominator. The population variance uses N and the sample variance uses N � 1. The variance is not very useful as a descriptive statistic. It is, however, of enormous importance in inferential statistics, especially in a technique called the analysis of variance (Chapters 10, 11, and 12).
Table 3.15 shows the output of SPSS for the descriptive statistics covered in this chapter. The standard deviation that SPSS calculates is ŝ and the variance is ŝ2.
clue to the future The distributions you have worked with in this chapter are empirical distributions based on scores that were observed. This chapter and the next two are about these empirical frequency distributions. Starting with Chapter 6 and throughout the rest of the book, you will also use theoretical distributions—distributions based on mathematical formulas and logic rather than on actual observations.
Estimating Answers
You may have noticed that I have been (subtly?) working in some advice: As your first step, estimate an answer. Here’s why I think you should begin a problem by estimating the answer: (1) Taking a few seconds to estimate keeps you from plunging into the numbers before you fully understand the problem. (2) An estimate is especially helpful when you have a calculator or a computer doing the bulk of your number crunching. Although these wonderful machines don’t make errors, the people who enter the numbers or give instructions do, occasionally. Your initial estimate helps you catch these mistakes. (3) Noticing that an estimate differs from a calculated value gives you a chance to correct an error before anyone else sees it.
It can be exciting to look at an answer, whether it is on paper, a calculator display, or a computer screen, and say, “That can’t be right!” and then to find out that, sure enough, the displayed answer is wrong. If you develop your ability to estimate answers, I promise that you will sometimes experience this excitement.
66 ■ Chapter 3
TABLE 3.15 SPSS output of descriptive statistics for the SWLS scores
Statistics
SWLSscores
N Valid 100 Missing 0
Mean 24.0000 Median 25.0000 Mode 27.00 Std. Deviation 6.41809 Variance 41.192 Range 30.00 Percentiles 25 21.0000
50 25.0000 75 28.0000
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P R O B L E M S
3.22. Make a rough-sketch bar graph that shows the means and standard deviations of the problem 3.17 temperature data for San Francisco and Albuquerque. Include a caption.
3.23. Here is an interpretation problem. Remember the student who recorded money spent at the Student Center every day for 14 days? The mean was $2.69 per day. Suppose the student wanted to reduce his Student Center spending. Write a sentence of advice if ŝ � $0.02 and a second sentence if ŝ � $2.50.
3.24. Describe in words the relationship between the variance and the standard deviation.
3.25. A researcher had a sample of scores from the freshman class on a test that measured attitudes toward authority. She wished to estimate the standard deviation of the scores of the entire freshman class. (She had data from 20 years ago and she believed that current students were more homogeneous than students in the past.) �X and �X 2 have already been determined. Calculate the proper standard deviation and variance.
3.26. Here are those data on the heights of the Americans in their 20s that you have been working with. For each group, calculate ŝ. Write a sentence of interpretation.
Women Men
Height (in.) f Height (in.) f
72 1 77 1 70 1 76 1 69 1 75 1 68 1 74 1 67 3 73 3 66 6 72 7 65 10 71 6 64 9 70 6 63 7 69 8 62 6 68 6 61 1 67 3 60 3 66 2 59 1 65 3
64 1 62 1
3.27. A high school English teacher measured the attitudes of 11th-grade students toward poetry. After a 9-week unit on poetry, she measured the students’ attitudes again. She was disappointed to find that the mean change was zero. Following are some representative scores. (High scores represent more favorable attitudes.) Calculate ŝ for both before and after scores, and write a conclusion based on the standard deviations.
N � 21 ©X � 304 ©X2 � 5064
Central Tendency and Variability ■ 67
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Before 7 5 3 5 5 4 5 6
After 9 8 2 1 8 9 1 2
3.28. In manufacturing, engineers strive for consistency. The following data are the errors, in millimeters, in giant gizmos manufactured by two different processes. Choose S or ŝ and determine which process produces the more consistent gizmos.
Process A 0 1 �2 0 �2 3
Process B 1 �2 �1 1 �1 2
3.29. Estimate the population standard deviation for oral body temperature using data you worked with in problem 2.17a. You may find �f X and �f X 2 by working from the answer to problem 2.17a, or, if you understand what you need to do to find these values from that table, you can use �f X � 3928.0 and �f X 2 � 385,749.24.
3.30. Reread the description of the classic study by Bransford and Franks (problem 2.4). Using the frequency distribution you compiled for that question (or the answer in Appendix G), calculate the mean, median, and mode. Find the range and the interquartile range. After considering why Bransford and Franks would gather such data, calculate an appropriate standard deviation and variance. Write a paragraph explaining what your calculations show.
3.31. Return to the objectives at the beginning of the chapter. Can you do each one?
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 3
Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, workshops, and more. The workshop is Central Tendency and Variability in the Statistics Workshop. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the- blank questions, and problems that require calculation and interpretation.
KEY TERMS
68 ■ Chapter 3
Central tendency (p. 40) Deviation score (p. 56) Empirical distribution (p. 66) Estimating (p. 66) Interquartile range (p. 54) Mean (p. 41) Median (p. 43) Mode (p. 44) Open-ended class intervals (p. 47)
Percentile (p. 54) Range (p. 53) Scale of measurement (p. 47) Skewed distributions (pp. 47–48) Standard deviation (p. 55) Theoretical distribution (p. 66) Variability (p. 41) Variance (p. 65) Weighted mean (p. 50)
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chapter 4 Other Descriptive Statistics
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 4
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Use z scores to compare two scores in one distribution
2. Use z scores to compare scores in one distribution with scores in a second distribution
3. Construct and interpret boxplots
4. Indentify outliers in a distribution
5. Calculate an effect size index and describe it in words
6. Compile descriptive statistics and an explanation into a Descriptive Statistics Report
THIS CHAPTER INTRODUCES you to four statistical techniques that have two things in common. First, all four are descriptive statistics. Second, each one combines two or more statistical components. Fortunately, the concepts are ones you have studied in the preceding two chapters. These four statistical techniques should prove quite helpful as you improve your own ability to understand data.
The first statistic, the z score, tells you the relative standing of a raw score in its distribution. The formula for a z score combines a raw score with its distribution’s mean and standard deviation. A z-score description of a raw score works regardless of the kind of raw scores or the shape of the distribution.
The second section of this chapter covers boxplots. A boxplot is a graphic with information on one variable, much like a frequency polygon, but it conveys lots more information. With just one picture, a boxplot gives you a minimum of median, range, interquartile range, and skew of the distribution.
This chapter introduces d, the effect size index. An effect size index allows you to describe the size of the difference between two distributions as small, medium, or large. If you know that an independent variable makes a difference in the scores on the dependent variable, then d indicates how much of a difference the independent variable makes.
69
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The final section of this chapter has no new statistics. It shows you how to put together the ones you have learned into a Descriptive Statistics Report, which is an organized collection of descriptive statistics that helps a reader understand the data that were gathered.
Probably all college graduates are familiar with measures of central tendency; most are familiar with measures of variability. However, only those with a good education in quantitative thinking are familiar with all four techniques presented in this chapter. So, learn this material. You will then understand more than most and you will be better equipped to help others.
Using z Scores to Describe Individuals
Suppose one of your friends says he got a 95 on a math exam. What does that tell you about his mathematical ability? From your previous experience with tests, 95 may seem like a pretty good score. This conclusion, however, depends on a couple of assumptions, and unless those assumptions are correct, a score of 95 is meaningless. Let’s return to the conversation with your friend.
After you say, “95! Congratulations,” suppose he tells you that 200 points were possible. Now a score of 95 seems like something to hide. “My condolences,” you say. But then he tells you that the highest score on that difficult exam was 101. Now 95 has regained respectability and you chortle, “Well, all right!” In response, he shakes his head and tells you that the mean score was 98. The 95 takes a nose dive. As a final blow, you find out that 95 was the lowest score, that nobody scored worse than your friend. With your hand on his shoulder, you cut off further discussion of the test with, “Come on, I’ll buy you an ice cream cone.”
This example illustrates that the score of 95 acquires meaning only when it is compared with the rest of the test scores. In particular, a score gets its meaning from
its relation to the mean and the variability of other scores in the distribution. A z score is a mathematical way to modify an individual raw score so that the result conveys the score’s relationship to the mean and standard deviation of its fellow scores. The formula is
Remember that the numerator, X – X�, is an acquaintance of yours, the deviation score. A z score describes the relation of X to X� with respect to the variability of the distribution. For example, if you know that a score (X) is 5 units from the mean—that is, X – X� � 5—you know only that the score is better than average, but you have no idea how far above average it is. If the distribution has a range of 10 units and X� � 50, then an X of 55 is a very high score. On the other hand, if the distribution has a range of 100 units, an X of 55 is barely above average. Look at Figure 4.1, which is a picture of the ideas in this paragraph.
Thus, to know a score’s position in a distribution, the variability of the distribution must be taken into account. The way to do this is to divide X – X� by a unit that measures variability, the standard deviation. The result is a deviation score per unit of standard
z � X � X�
S
70 ■ Chapter 4
z score Score expressed in standard deviation units.
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deviation.1 A z score is also referred to as a standard score because it is a deviation score expressed in standard deviation units.
Any distribution of raw scores can be converted into a distribution of z scores; for each raw score, there is one z score. Positive z scores represent raw scores that are greater than the mean; negative z scores go with raw scores that are less than the mean. In both cases, the absolute value of the z score tells the number of standard deviations the score is from the mean. The mean of the z scores is 0; its standard deviation is 1.
When a raw score is converted into z score, the z score gives the raw score’s position in the distribution. If two raw scores are converted to z scores, you will know their positions relative to each other as well as to the distribution. Finally, z scores are also used to compare two scores from different distributions, even when the scores are measuring different things. (If this seems like trying to compare apples and oranges, see problem 4.5.)
In the general psychology course I took as a freshman, the professor returned tests with a z score rather than a percentage score. This z score was the key to figuring out your grade. A z score of �1.50 or higher was an A, and �1.50 or lower was an F. (z scores between �.50 and �1.50 received B’s. If you assume the professor practiced symmetry, you can figure out the rest of the grading scale.)
Table 4.1 lists the raw scores (percentage correct) and z scores for four of the many students who took two of the tests in that class. Consider the first student, Kris, who scored 76 on both tests. The two 76s appear to be the same, but the z scores show that they are not. The first 76 was a high A and the second 76 was an F. The second student, Robin, appears to have improved on the second test, going from 54 to 86, but in fact, the scores were the test averages both times (a grade of C). Robin stayed the same. Marty also appears to have improved if you examine only the raw scores. However, the z scores reveal that Marty did worse on the second test. Finally,
Other Descriptive Statistics ■ 71
45 50 55
XX �
0 50 100
X �
55
X
X � X � 5 �
X � X � 5 �
F I G U R E 4 . 1 A comparison of X � X� � 5 for a distribution with a small standard deviation (left) and a large standard deviation (right)
1 This technique is based on the same idea that percents are based on. For example, 24 events at one time and 24 events a second time appear to be the same. But don’t stop with appearances. Ask for the additional information that you need, which is, “24 events out of how many chances?” An answer of “50 chances the first time and 200 chances the second” allows you to convert both 24s to “per centum” (per one hundred). Clearly, 48 percent and 12 percent are different, even though both are based on 24 events.
standard score Score expressed in standard deviation units; z is one example.
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comparing Terry’s and Robin’s raw scores, you can see that although Terry scored 4 points higher than Robin on each test, the z scores show that Terry’s improvement was greater on the second test.
The reason for these surprising comparisons is that the means and standard deviations are so different for the two tests. Perhaps the second test was easier, or the material was more motivating to students, or the students studied more. Maybe the teacher prepared better. Perhaps all of these reasons were true.
To summarize, z scores give you a way to compare raw scores. The basis of the comparison is the distribution itself rather than some external standard (such as a grading scale of 90–80–70–60 percent for As, Bs, and so on).
A word of caution: z is used as both a descriptive statistic and an inferential statistic. As a descriptive statistic, its range is limited. For a distribution of 100 or so scores, the z scores might range from approximately �3 to �3. For many distributions, especially when N is small, the range is more narrow.
As an inferential statistic, however, z values are not limited to �3. To illustrate, a z score test is used in Chapter 14 to help decide whether two populations are different. The value of z depends heavily on how different the two populations actually are. When z is used as an inferential statistic, values much greater than 3 can occur.
clue to the future z scores will turn up often as you study statistics. They are prominent in this book in Chapters 4, 6, 7, and 14.
P R O B L E M S
4.1. The mean of any distribution has a z score equal to what value? 4.2. What conclusion can you reach about �z? 4.3. Under what conditions would you prefer that your personal z score be
negative rather than positive? 4.4. Harriett and Heslope, twin sisters, were intense competitors, but they
never competed against each other. Harriett specialized in long-distance
72 ■ Chapter 4
TABLE 4.1 The z scores of selected students on two 100-point tests in general psychology
Test 1 Test 2
Student Raw score z score Raw score z score
Kris 76 �2.20 76 �1.67 Robin 54 .00 86 .00 Marty 58 �.40 82 �.67 Terry 58 �.40 90 �.67
Test 1: Test 2: S � 10 S � 6
X� � 86 X� � 54
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Other Descriptive Statistics ■ 73
5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Satisfaction With Life Scale
F I G U R E 4 . 2 Boxplot of Satisfaction With Life Scale scores
running and Heslope was an excellent sprint swimmer. As you can see from the distributions in the accompanying table, each was the best in her event. Take the analysis one step further and use z scores to determine who is the more outstanding twin. You might start by looking at the data and making an estimate.
10k runners Time (min) 50m swimmers Time (sec)
Harriett 37 Heslope 24 Dott 39 Ta-Li 26 Liz 40 Deb 27 Marette 42 Betty 28
4.5. Tobe grows apples and Zeke grows oranges. In the local orchards the mean weight of apples is 5 ounces, with S � 1.0 ounce. For oranges the mean weight is 6 ounces, with S � 1.2 ounces. At harvest time, each entered his largest specimen in the Warwick County Fair. Tobe’s apple weighed 9 ounces and Zeke’s orange weighed 10 ounces. This particular year Tobe was ill on the day of judgment, so he sent his friend Hamlet to inquire who had won. Adopt the role of judge and use z scores to determine the winner. Hamlet’s query to you is: “Tobe, or not Tobe; that is the question.”
4.6. Ableson’s anthropology professor announced that the poorest exam grade for each student would be dropped. Ableson scored 79 on the first anthropology exam. The mean was 67 and the standard deviation 4. On the second exam, he made 125. The class mean was 105 and the standard deviation 15. On the third exam, the mean was 45 and the standard deviation 3. Ableson got 51. Which test should be dropped?
Boxplots
So far you have studied three different characteristics of distributions: central tendency, variability, and form. A boxplot is a way to present all three characteristics with one graphic. What information does a boxplot provide? You get two measures of central tendency, two measures of variability, and a way to estimate skewness. Skewness, of course, is a description of the form of the distribution.
Figure 4.2 is a boxplot of the Satisfaction With Life Scale scores you first encountered in Chapter 2. The older name for this graphic is a
boxplot Graph that shows a distribution’s range, interquartile range, skew, median, and sometimes other statistics.
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“box-and-whisker plot,” and as you can see, it consists of a box and whiskers (and a line and a dot within the box). The horizontal axis shows the variable that was measured and its values.
Interpreting Boxplots
Variability Both the box and the whiskers in Figure 4.2 tell you about variability. The box covers the interquartile range, which you studied in Chapter 3. The left-hand end of the box is the 25th percentile score, and the right-hand end is the 75th percentile score. You can estimate these scores from the horizontal axis. The horizontal width of the box is the interquartile range.
The whiskers extend to the extreme scores in the distribution. Thus, the whiskers give you a picture of the range. Again, reading from the scale in Figure 4.2, you can see that the highest score is 35 and the lowest is 5.
Central tendency Besides the two measures of variability, a boxplot gives two measures of central tendency. The vertical line inside the box is the median. The dot is the mean. In Figure 4.2 you can estimate the median as 25 and the mean as slightly less (it is actually 24).
Skew Finally, both the relationship of the mean to the median and any difference in the lengths of the whiskers help you determine the skew of the distribution. You already know that, in general, when the mean is less than the median, the skew is negative; when the mean is greater than the median, the skew is positive. This relationship is readily apparent in a boxplot.
Skew is usually also indicated by whiskers of different length. The longer whisker tells you the direction of the skew. Thus, if the longer whisker is over the lower scores, the skew is negative; if the longer whisker is over the higher scores, the skew is positive. Given these two rules of thumb to determine skew, you can confirm that the distribution of SWLS scores in Figure 4.2 is negatively skewed.
Variations in boxplots Boxplots are useful during the initial exploratory stages of data analysis and also later for presentation of data to others. Fortunately, the boxplot format can be varied to suit the needs of the researcher. For example, at times the mean is not included in a boxplot. Also, boxplots are sometimes oriented vertically instead of horizontally.
For some data, it is helpful to note outliers, which are extreme scores separated from the others. A common definition of outliers uses the factor 1.5 � IQR. A low score is an outlier if it is equal to or less than the 25th percentile minus 1.5 � IQR. A high score is an outlier if it is equal to or greater than the 75th percentile plus 1.5 � IQR. (Hogan and Evalenko, 2006). Outliers are indicated on boxplots as dots or asterisks beyond the
end of a whisker.
Boxplot questions Look at Figure 4.3, which shows the boxplots of four distributions. Seven questions follow. See how many you get right. If you get all of them right, consider skipping the explanations that follow the answers.
74 ■ Chapter 4
Outlier An extreme score separated from the others and 1.5 � IQR or more beyond the 25th or 75th percentile.
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Questions
1. Which distribution has the greatest positive skew? 2. Which distribution is the most compact? 3. Which distribution has a mean closest to 40? 4. Which distribution is most symmetrical? 5. Which distribution has a median closest to 50? 6. Which distribution is most negatively skewed? 7. Which distribution has the largest range?
Answers
1. Positive skew: Distribution D. The mean is greater than the median, and the high-score whisker is longer than the low-score whisker.
2. Most compact: Distribution C. The range is smaller than other distributions. 3. Mean closest to 40: Distribution D. 4. Most symmetrical: Distribution A. The mean and median are about the same,
and the whiskers are about the same length. 5. Median closest to 50: Distribution B. 6. Most negative skew: Distribution B. The difference between the mean and
median is greater in B than in C, and the difference in whisker length is greater in B than in C.
7. Largest range: Distribution A.
error detection Gross errors from misrecording data are often apparent from a boxplot. Detecting errors is easiest when you use a computer program to generate the boxplot and you are familiar with boxplot interpretation.
P R O B L E M S
4.7. Tell the story (mean, median, range, interquartile range, and form) of each of the three boxplots in the figure.
Other Descriptive Statistics ■ 75
Scores
30 40 50 60 7020 80
A
B
C
D
Distribution
F I G U R E 4 . 3 Boxplots of four distributions
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76 ■ Chapter 4
Scores
0 4 6 8 10
Distribution
X
Y
Z
975321
4.8. You have already found the elements needed for boxplots of the heights of 20- to 29-year-old women and men. (See problem 2.1 and problems 3.4 and 3.13.) Draw boxplots of the two groups using one horizontal axis.
*4.9. Create a boxplot (but without the mean) of the oral body temperature data based on Mackowiak, Wasserman, and Levine (1992). Find the statistics you need from the simple frequency distribution answer for problem 2.17 (Appendix G).
4.10. Using the frequency distribution in problem 2.17, determine which of the following temperatures qualifies as an outlier. a. 98.6�F b. 99.9�F c. 96.0�F d. 96.6�F e. 100.5�F
Effect Size Index
■ Men are taller than women. ■ First-born children score higher than second-born children on tests of
cognitive ability. ■ Interrupted tasks are remembered better than uninterrupted tasks.
These three statements follow a pattern that is common when quantitative variables are compared. The pattern is, “The average X is greater than the average Y.” It happens that the three statements are true on average, but they leave an important question unanswered. How much taller, higher, or better is the first group than the second? For the heights of men and women, a satisfactory answer is that men, on the average, are about 5 inches taller than women.
But how satisfactory is it to know that the mean difference in cognitive ability scores of first-born and second-born children is 13 points or that the difference in recall of interrupted and uninterrupted tasks is 3 tasks? Something else is needed. An effect
size index is the statistician’s way to answer the question, How much difference is there?
An effect size index gives you a mathematical way to answer the question, How much taller, higher, or better? It works whether you are
effect size index Amount or degree of separation between two distributions.
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already familiar with the scale of measurement (such as inches) or you have never heard of the scale before (cognitive ability and recall scores).
The effect size index is symbolized by d, where
To calculate d, you must estimate the parameters with statistics. Samples from the m1 population and from the m2 population produce X�1 and X�2. Calculating an estimate of s requires knowing about degrees of freedom, a concept that is better introduced in connection with hypothesis testing (Chapter 8 and chapters that follow). So, at this point you will have to be content to have s given to you.
You can easily see that if the difference between means is zero, then d � 0. Also, depending on s, a given difference between two means might produce a small d or a large d. Whether d is positive or negative depends on which group is assigned 1 and which is given 2. Often this decision is arbitrary, which makes the sign of d unimportant. However, in an experiment with an experimental group and a control group, it is conventional to designate the experimental group as group 1.
The issue of what represents a small, medium, or large effect size index was addressed by Jacob Cohen (1969), who proposed guidelines that seem to be universally accepted.2 They are:
Small effect d � 0.20
Medium effect d � 0.50
Large effect d � 0.80
To get a visual idea of these d values, look at Figure 4.4. The three panels illustrate small, medium, and large values of d for both frequency polygons and boxplots. In the top panel the mean of distribution B is two-tenths of a standard deviation unit greater than the mean of distribution A (d � 0.20). You can see that there is a great deal of overlap between the two distributions. Study the other two panels of Figure 4.4, examining the amount of overlap for d � 0.50, and d � 0.80.
To illustrate further, let’s take the heights of women and men. Just intuitively, what adjective would you use to describe the difference in the heights of women and men? A small difference? A large difference?
Well, it certainly is an obvious difference, one that everyone sees. Let’s find the effect size index for the difference in heights of women and men. You already have estimates of mwomen and mmen from your work on problem 3.4: X�women � 64.3 inches and X�men � 69.7 inches. For this problem, s � 2.8 inches. Thus,
The interpretation of d � 1.92 is that the difference in heights of women and men is just huge, more than twice the size of a difference that would be judged “large.” So, here is a reference point for you for effect size indexes. If a difference is so great that everyone is aware of it, then the effect size index, d, will be greater than large.
d � m1 � m2 s
� X�1 � X�2 s
� 64.3 � 69.7
2.8 � �1.92
d � m1 � m2 s
Other Descriptive Statistics ■ 77
2 For an easily accessible source of Cohen’s reasoning in proposing these conventions, see Cohen (1992, p. 99).
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78 ■ Chapter 4
d � 0.20
d � 0.50
d � 0.80
mA mB
A B
mA mB
A B
B
A
B
A
B
A
mA mB
A B
F I G U R E 4 . 4 Frequency polygons and boxplots of two populations that differ by small (d � 0.20), medium (d � 0.50), and large (d � 0.80) amounts
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Let’s take another example. Women, on average, have higher verbal scores than men do. What is the effect size index for this difference? To answer this question, I referred to Hedges and Nowell (1995). Their analysis of six studies with very large representative samples and a total N � 150,000 revealed that X�women � 513, X�men � 503, and s � 110.3 Thus,
A d value of 0.09 is less than half the size of a value considered “small.” Thus, you can say that although the average verbal ability of women is better than that of men, the difference is very small.
Figure 4.5 shows overlapping frequency polygons with d values of 1.92 and 0.09, the d values found in the two examples in this section.
A common question is: How do you interpret d values that are intermediate between 0.20, 0.50, and 0.80? The answer is to use modifiers. So far, I’ve used the terms “huge” and “half the size of small.” Phrases such as “somewhat larger than” and “intermediate between” are often useful.
The Descriptive Statistics Report
Techniques from this chapter and the previous two can be used to compile a Descriptive Statistics Report, which gives you a fairly complete story for a set of data.4 The most interesting Descriptive Statistics Reports are those that compare two or more distributions of scores. To compile a Descriptive Statistics Report for two groups, (1) construct boxplots, (2) find the effect size index, and (3) tell the story that the data reveal. As for telling the story, cover the following points, arranging them so that your story is told well.
■ Form of the distributions ■ Central tendency
d � m1 � m2 s
� X 1 � X 2 s
� 513 � 503
110 � 0.09
Other Descriptive Statistics ■ 79
d � 1.92 d � 0.09
F I G U R E 4 . 5 Frequency polygons that show effect size indexes of 1.92 (heights of men and women) and 0.09 (verbal scores of men and women)
3 I created the means and standard deviation, which are similar to SAT scores, so the result would mirror the conclusions of Hedges and Nowell (1995). 4 A more complete report contains inferential statistics and their interpretation.
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■ Overlap of the two distributions ■ Interpretation of the effect size index
To illustrate a Descriptive Statistics Report, let’s return to the heights of the men and women that you began working with in Chapter 2. The first step is to assemble the statistics needed for boxplots and to calculate an effect size index. Look at Table 4.2, which shows these statistics. The next step is to construct boxplots (your answer to problem 4.8). The final step is to write a paragraph of interpretation. To write a paragraph, I recommend that you make notes and then organize your points, selecting the most important one to lead with. Write a rough draft. Revise the draft until you are satisfied with it.5 My version is Table 4.3, a Descriptive Statistics Report of the heights of women and men.
80 ■ Chapter 4
TABLE 4.2 Descriptive statistics for a Descriptive Statistics Report of the heights of women and men
Heights of 20- to 29-year-old Americans
Women Men (in.) (in.)
Mean 64.3 69.7 Median 64 70 Minimum 59 62 Maximum 72 77 25th percentile score 63 68 75th percentile score 66 72 Effect size index 1.92
5 For me, several revisions are needed. This paragraph required eight.
TABLE 4.3 A Descriptive Statistics Report on the heights of women and men
The graph shows boxplots of heights of women and men. The difference in means produces an effect size index of 1.92.
The mean height of women is 64.3 inches; the median is 64 inches. The mean height of men is 69.7 inches; the median is 70 inches. Men are about 5 inches taller than women, on average. Although the two distributions overlap, more than 75 percent of the men are all taller than 66 inches, a height exceeded by only 25 percent of the women. This difference in the two distributions is reflected by an effect size index of 1.92, a very large value. (A value of 0.80 is traditionally considered large.) The heights for both women and men are distributed fairly symmetrically.
58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78
Height (in.)
Women
Men
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I will stop with just this one example of a Descriptive Statistics Report. The best way to learn and understand is to create reports of your own. Thus, problems follow shortly.
For the first (but not the last) time, I want to call your attention to the subtitle of this book: Tales of Distributions. A Descriptive Statistics Report is a tale of distributions. What on earth would be the purpose of such stories?
The purpose might be to better understand a scientific phenomenon that you are intensely interested in. The purpose might be to explain to your boss the changes that are taking place in your industry; perhaps it is to convince a quantitative-minded customer to place a big order with you. Your purpose might be to better understand a set of reports on a troubled child (perhaps your own). At this point in your efforts to educate yourself in statistics, you have a good start toward being able to tell the tale of a distribution of data. Congratulations! And, oh yes, here are some more problems so you can get better.
P R O B L E M S
4.11. Find the effect size indexes for the three sets of data in the table. Write an interpretation for each d value.
Group 1 mean Group 2 mean Standard deviation
a. 14 12 4 b. 10 19 10 c. 10 19 30
4.12. In hundreds of studies with many thousands of participants, first-born children scored better than second-born children on tests of cognitive ability. Data based on Zajonc (2001) and Zajonc and Bargh (1980) provide mean scores of 469 for first-born and 456 for second-born. For this measure of cognitive ability, s � 110. Find d and write a sentence of interpretation.
4.13. Having the biggest is a game played far and wide for fun, fortune, and fame (such as being listed in Guinness World Records). For example, the biggest cabbage was grown by Bernard Lavery of Rhonnda, Wales. It weighed 124 pounds. The biggest pumpkin (1446 pounds) was grown by Allan Eaton of Richmond, Ontario (Guinness World Records 2006, 2005). Calculate S from the scores below, which are representative of contest cabbages and pumpkins. Use z scores to determine the BIG winner between Lavery and Eaton.
Cabbages Pumpkins
110 1300 100 1200 90 1100
4.14. Is psychotherapy effective? This first-class question has been investigated by many researchers. The data that follow were constructed
Other Descriptive Statistics ■ 81
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to mirror the classic findings of Smith and Glass (1977), who analyzed 375 studies.
The psychotherapy group received treatment during the study; the control group did not. A participant’s psychological health score at the beginning of the study was subtracted from the same participant’s score at the end of the study, giving the score listed in the table. Thus, each score provides a measure of the change in psychological health for an individual. (A negative score means that the person was worse at the end of the study.) For these change scores, s � 10. Create a Descriptive Statistics Report.
Psychotherapy Control Psychotherapy Control
7 9 13 �3 11 3 �15 22
0 13 10 �7 13 1 5 10
�5 4 9 �12 25 3 15 21
�10 18 10 �2 34 �22 28 5 7 0 �2 2
18 �9 23 4
4.15. It’s time to check yourself. Turn back to the beginning of this chapter and read the objectives. Can you meet each one?
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 4 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, and more. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and problems that require calculation, graphs, and interpretation.
KEY TERMS
82 ■ Chapter 4
Boxplot (p. 73) Descriptive Statistics Report (p. 79) Effect size index (p. 76) Interquartile range (p. 74)
Outliers (p. 74) Skew (p. 74) Standard score (p. 71) z score (p. 70)
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SO FAR IN this exposition of the wonders of statistics, the examples and problems
have been about only one variable. The variable might have been satisfaction
with life scores, heights, money, or apples, but a statistic such as a mean or
standard deviation described that one variable. One-variable data are univariate
data.
Another kind of statistical analysis is about two variables (bivariate data) and
the relationship between them. For example, What is the relationship between
a person’s verbal ability and mathematical ability? You will find out in Chapter 5.
Other pairs of variables that might be related follow. By the time you finish
Chapter 5 you will also know whether or not each of the following pairs of
variables are related and to what degree.
Height of daughters and height of their fathers
Wealth and violent crime
Unemployment and traffic deaths
Stress and infectious diseases
Chapter 5, Correlation and Regression, explains two descriptive statistics.
Correlation is a method that is used to determine the degree of relationship
between two variables when you have bivariate data. Regression is a method
that is used to predict scores for one variable when you have measurements on
a second variable.
83
transitio ge to bivariate distributions
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chapt
Correlation and Regression
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 5
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Explain the difference between univariate and bivariate distributions
2. Explain the concept of correlation and the difference between positive and negative correlation
3. Draw scatterplots
4. Compute a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (r)
5. Use correlation coefficients to assess reliability, common variance, and effect size
6. Identify situations in which the Pearson r does not accurately reflect the degree of relationship
7. Name and explain the elements of the regression equation
8. Compute regression coefficients and fit a regression line to a set of data
9. Interpret the appearance of a regression line
10. Predict scores on one variable based on scores from another variable
CORRELATION AND REGRESSION: My guess is that you have some understanding of the concept of correlation and that you are not as comfortable with the word regression. Speculation aside, correlation is simpler. Correlation is a statistical technique that describes the degree of relationship between two variables.
Regression is more complex. In this chapter you will use the regression technique for two tasks, drawing the line that best fits the data and predicting a person’s score on one variable when you know that person’s score on a second, correlated variable. Regression has other, more sophisticated uses, but you will have to put those off until you study more advanced statistics.
The ideas identified by the terms correlation and regression were developed by Sir Francis Galton in England more than 100 years ago. Galton was a genius (he could read at age 3) who had an amazing variety of interests, many of which he actively
84
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pursued during his 89 years. He once listed his occupation as “private gentleman,” which meant that he had inherited money and did not have to work at a job. Lazy, however, he was not. Galton traveled widely and wrote prodigiously (17 books and more than 200 articles).
From an early age, Galton was enchanted with counting and quantification. Among the many things he tried to quantify were weather, individuals, beauty, characteristics of criminals, boringness of lectures, and effectiveness of prayers. Often he was successful. For example, it was Galton who discovered that atmospheric pressure highs produce clockwise winds around a calm center, and his efforts at quantifying individuals resulted in ways to classify fingerprints that are in use today. Because it worked so well for him, Galton actively promoted the philosophy of quantification, the idea that you can understand a phenomenon much better if you translate its essential parts into numbers.
Many of the variables that interested Galton were in the field of heredity. Although it was common in the 19th century to comment on physical similarities within a family (height and facial characteristics, for example), Galton thought that psychological characteristics, too, tended to run in families. Specifically, he thought that characteristics such as genius, musical talent, sensory acuity, and quickness had a hereditary basis. Galton’s 1869 book, Hereditary Genius, listed many families and their famous members, including Charles Darwin, his cousin.1
Galton wasn’t satisfied with the list in that early book; he wanted to express the relationships in quantitative terms. To get quantitative data, he established an anthropometric (people-measuring) laboratory at a health exposition (a fair) and later at a museum in London.Approximately 17,000 people who stopped at a booth paid three pence to be measured. They left with self-knowledge; Galton left with quantitative data and a pocketful of coins. For one summary of Galton’s results, see Johnson et al., 1985.
Galton’s most important legacy is probably his invention of the concepts of correlation and regression. Correlation permits you to express the degree of relationship between any two paired variables. (The relationship between the height of fathers and the height of their adult sons was Galton’s classic example.)
Galton was not enough of a mathematician to work out the theory and formulas for his concepts. This task fell to Galton’s friend and protégé, Karl Pearson, Professor of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics at University College in London.2 Pearson’s 1896 product-moment correlation coefficient and other correlation coefficients that he and his students developed were quickly adopted by researchers in many fields and are widely used today in psychology, sociology, education, political science, the biological sciences, and other areas.
Finally, although Galton and Pearson’s fame is for their data gathering and statistics, their principal goal was to develop recommendations that would improve the human condition. Making recommendations required a better understanding of heredity and evolution, and they saw statistics as the best way to arrive at this better understanding.
Correlation and Regression ■ 85
1 Galton and Darwin had the same famous grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, but not the same grandmother. 2 I have some biographical information on Pearson in Chapter 13, the chapter on chi square. Chi square is another statistical invention of Karl Pearson.
quantification Concept that translating a phenomenon into numbers promotes a better understanding of the phenomenon.
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86 ■ Chapter 5
3 For a short biography of Galton, I recommend Thomas (2005) or Waller (2001).
TABLE 5.1 A bivariate distribution of scores on two tests taken by the same individuals
Humor test Intelligence test X variable Y variable
Larry 50 8 Shep 40 9 Curly 30 5 Moe 20 4
In 1889 Galton described how valuable statistics are (and also let us in on his emotional feelings about statistics):
Some people hate the very name of statistics, but I find them full of beauty and interest. . . . Their power of dealing with complicated phenomena is extraordinary. They are the only tools by which an opening can be cut through the formidable thicket of difficulties that bars the path of those who pursue the Science of [Human Beings].3
My plan in this chapter is for you to read about bivariate distributions (necessary for both correlation and regression), to learn to compute and interpret Pearson product- moment correlation coefficients, and to use the regression technique to draw a best- fitting straight line and predict outcomes.
Bivariate Distributions
In the chapters on central tendency and variability, you worked with one variable at a time (univariate distributions). Height, time, test scores, and errors all received your attention. If you look back at those problems, you’ll find a string of numbers under one heading (see, for example, Table 3.2). Compare those distributions with the one in Table 5.1. In Table 5.1 there are scores under the variable Humor test and other scores under a second variable, Intelligence test. You could find the mean and standard deviation of either of these variables. The characteristic of the data in this table that makes it a bivariate distribution is that the scores on the two variables
are paired. The 50 and the 8 go together; the 20 and the 4 go together. They are paired, of course, because the same person made the two scores. As you will see, there are also other reasons for pairing scores. All in all, bivariate distributions are fairly common.
The essential idea of a bivariate distribution (which is required for correlation and regression techniques) is that two variables have values that are paired for some logical reason. A bivariate distribution may show positive correlation, negative correlation, or zero correlation.
univariate distribution Frequency distribution of one variable.
bivariate distribution Joint distribution of two variables; scores are paired.
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Positive Correlation
In the case of a positive correlation between two variables, high measurements on one variable tend to be associated with high measurements on the other variable, and low measurements on one variable with low measurements on the other. For example, tall fathers tend to have sons who grow up to be tall men. Short fathers tend to have sons who grow up to be short men.
In the case of the manufactured data in Table 5.2, fathers have sons who grow up to be exactly their height. The data in Table 5.2 represent an extreme case in which the correlation coefficient is 1.00, which is referred to as perfect correlation. (Table 5.2 is ridiculous of course; mothers and environments have their say, too.)
Figure 5.1 is a graph of the bivariate data in Table 5.2. One variable (height of father) is plotted on the X axis; the other variable (height of son) is on the Y axis. Each data point in the graph represents a pair of scores, the height of a father and the height of his son. The points in the graph constitute a scatterplot. Incidentally, it was when Galton cast his data as a scatterplot graph that the idea of a co-relationship began to become clear to him.
The line that runs through the points in Figure 5.1 (and in Figures 5.2, 5.3, and 5.5) is called a regression line. It is a “line of best fit.” When there is perfect correlation (r � 1.00), all points fall exactly on the regression line. It is Galton’s use of the term regression that gives the symbol r for correlation.4
In recent generations, changes in nongenetic factors such as nutrition resulted in sons who tend to be somewhat taller than their fathers, except for extremely tall fathers.
Correlation and Regression ■ 87
TABLE 5.2 Manufactured data on two variables: heights of fathers and their sons*
Height (in.) Height (in.) Father X Son Y
Michael Smith 74 Mike, Jr. 74 Christopher Johnson 72 Chris, Jr. 72 Matthew Williams 70 Matt, Jr. 70 Joshua Jones 68 Josh, Jr. 68 Daniel Brown 66 Dan, Jr. 66 David Davis 64 Dave, Jr. 64
* The first names are, in order, the six most common for baby boys born in 1990 in the United States. Rounding out the top ten are Andrew, James, Justin, and Joseph (www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi). The surnames are also the six most common. Completing the top ten are Miller, Wilson, Moore, and Taylor (www.census.gov/genealogy/names/dist.all.last).
4 The term regression can be confusing because it has two separate meanings. As you already know, regression is a statistical method that allows you to draw the line of best fit and to make predictions with bivariate data. Regression also refers to a phenomenon that occurs when a select group is tested a second time. The phenomenon occurs when those with extreme scores in a distribution (those who did very well or very poorly) are tested a second time. Those who scored high will, on average, score lower on the retest. The mean of those who scored low the first time will increase on the second test.
Galton found that the mean height of sons of extremely tall men was less than the mean height of their fathers and also that the mean height of sons of extremely short men was greater than the mean height of
scatterplot Graph of the scores of a bivariate frequency distribution.
regression line A line of best fit for a scatterplot.
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If every son grew to be exactly 2 inches taller than his father (or 1 inch or 6 inches, or even 5 inches shorter), the correlation would still be perfect, and the coefficient would still be 1.00. Figure 5.2 demonstrates this point: You can have a perfect correlation even if the paired numbers aren’t the same. The only requirement for perfect correlation is that the differences between pairs of scores all be the same. If they are the same, then all the points of a scatterplot lie on the regression line, correlation is perfect, and an exact prediction can be made.
Of course, people cannot predict their sons’ heights precisely. The correlation is not perfect and the points do not all fall on the regression line. As Galton found, however, there is a positive relationship; the correlation coefficient is about .50. The points do tend to cluster around the regression line.
In your academic career you have taken an untold number of aptitude and achievement tests. For several of these tests, separate scores have been computed for verbal aptitude and mathematics aptitude. Here is a question for you. In the general case, what is the relationship between verbal aptitude and math aptitude? That is, are people who are good in one also good in the other, or are they poor in the other, or is there no relationship? Stop for a moment and compose an answer.
88 ■ Chapter 5
their fathers. In both cases, the sons’ mean is closer to the population mean. Because the mean of an extreme group, when measured a second time, tended to regress toward the population mean, Galton named this phenomenon regression. The statistical technique he developed to assess regression toward the mean was called regression as well.
64 66 68 70 72 74
Height of father (in.)
64
66
68
70
72
74
H ei
gh t o
f so
n (i
n. )
Smith
Johnson
Williams
Jones
Brown
Davis
F I G U R E 5 . 1 A scatterplot and regression line for a perfect positive correlation (r � 1.00)
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As you may have suspected, the next graph shows data that begin to answer the question. Figure 5.3 shows the scores of eight high school seniors who took the SAT college admissions test when the test consisted of a verbal section and a math section. The SAT verbal scores are on the X axis, and the SAT math scores are on the Y axis. As you can see in Figure 5.3, there is a positive relationship, though not a perfect one. As verbal scores vary upward, mathematics scores tend to vary upward. If the score on one is high, the other score tends to be high, and if one is low, the other tends to be low. Later in this chapter you’ll learn to calculate the precise degree of relationship, and because there is a relationship, you can use regression to predict students’ math scores if you know their verbal score.
(Examining Figure 5.3, you might complain that the graph is oddly composed; all the data points are stuck up in one corner. It looks ungainly, but I was in a dilemma, which I’ll explain later in the chapter.)
Negative Correlation
Here is a different bivariate distribution for you to think about: traffic death rates (per 100,000) and unemployment over a 40-year period. Do you think that the relationship is positive, like that of verbal and math aptitude scores, or that there is no relationship, or that the relationship is negative?
Correlation and Regression ■ 89
64 66 68 70 72 74
Height of father (in.)
66
68
70
72
74
76 H
ei gh
t o f
so n
(i n.
)
F I G U R E 5 . 2 A scatterplot and regression line with every son 2 inches taller than his father (r � 1.00)
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As you probably figured out from the heading, the answer to the preceding question is—negative. Figure 5.4 is a scatterplot of unemployment and traffic death rates in the United States based on Wilde (1991).5 High rates of unemployment are associated with low rates of traffic fatalities, and low rates of unemployment are associated with high traffic fatality rates. The explanation is that people who are unemployed travel less and are more cautious.
When a correlation is negative, increases in one variable are accompanied by decreases in the other variable (an inverse relationship). With negative correlation, the regression line goes from the upper left corner of the graph to the lower right corner. As you may recall from algebra, such lines have a negative slope.
Some other examples of variables with negative correlation are highway driving speed and gas mileage, daily rain and daily sunshine, and grouchiness and friendships.
As was the case with perfect positive correlation, there is such a thing as perfect negative correlation (r � �1.00). In cases of perfect negative correlation also, all the data points of the scatterplot fall on the regression line.
Although some correlation coefficients are positive and some are negative, one is not more valuable than the other. The algebraic sign simply tells you the direction of the relationship (which is important when you are describing how the variables are related). The absolute size of r, however, tells you the degree of the relationship. A strong relationship (either positive or negative) is usually more informative than a weaker one.
90 ■ Chapter 5
100 200 300 400 500 600
SAT verbal
100
200
300
400
500
600
SA T
m at
h
F I G U R E 5 . 3 Scatterplot and regression line for SAT verbal and SAT math scores for eight high school students (r � .69)
5 The correlation coefficient is �.68. For six other industrialized countries, the r’s ranged from �.69 to �.88.
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Correlation and Regression ■ 91
T ra
ff ic
f at
al ity
r at
es
Unemployment rates
F I G U R E 5 . 4 Unemployment and traffic fatalities for 40 years
Zero Correlation
A zero correlation means there is no linear relationship between two variables. High and low scores on the two variables are not associated in any predictable manner.
The 50 American states differ in personal wealth; these differences are expressed as per capita income, which ranged from $24,650 (Mississippi) to $45,398 (Connecticut) in 2004 (Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006, 2005). The states also differ in violent crime per capita. Is there a relationship between wealth and violent crime? The correlation coefficient between per capita income and violent crime rate is .01. There is no relationship between the two variables.
Figure 5.5 shows a scatterplot that produces a zero correlation coefficient. When r � 0, the regression line is a horizontal line at a height of Y�. This makes sense; if r � 0, then your best estimate of Y for any value of X is Y�.
clue to the future Correlation comes up again in future chapters. The correlation coefficient between two variables whose scores are ranks is explained in Chapter 14. In part of Chapter 9 and in all of Chapter 11, correlation ideas are involved.
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P R O B L E M S
5.1. What are the characteristics of a bivariate distribution? 5.2. What is meant by the statement “Variable X and variable Y are
correlated”? 5.3. Tell how X and Y vary in a positive correlation. Tell how they vary in a
negative correlation. 5.4. Can the following variables be correlated and, if so, would you expect
the correlation to be positive or negative? a. Height and weight of adults b. Weight of first graders and weight of fifth graders c. Average daily temperature and cost of heating a home d. IQ and reading comprehension e. The first and second quiz scores of students in two sections of
General Biology f. The section 1 scores and the section 2 scores of students in General
Biology on the first quiz
The Correlation Coefficient
A correlation coefficient provides a quantitative way to express the degree of relationship that exists between two variables. The definition formula is
where r � Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient zX � a z score for variable X zY � the corresponding z score for variable Y N � number of pairs of scores
r � © 1zXzY 2
N
92 ■ Chapter 5
Variable X
Y� V
ar ia
bl e
Y
F I G U R E 5 . 5 Scatterplot and regression line for a zero correlation
correlation coefficient Descriptive statistic that expresses degree of relationship between two variables.
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Think through the z-score formula to discover what happens when high scores on one variable are paired with high scores on the other variable (positive correlation). The large positive z scores are paired and the large negative z scores are paired. In each case, the multiplication produces large positive products, which, when added together, make a large positive numerator. The result is a large positive value of r. Think through for yourself what happens in the formula when there is a negative correlation and when there is a zero correlation.
Though valuable for understanding r, the z-score formula is difficult if you are calculating a value for r by hand. Fortunately, however, there are many equivalent formulas for r. I’ll describe two and give you some guidance on when to use each.
Computational Formulas for r
One formula for computing r is referred to as the blanched formula; a second one is called the raw-score formula. The blanched formula requires that you first partially “cook” the data to yield means and standard deviations that give you a better feel for the data. For the raw-score formula, you enter the scores directly into the formula. The raw-score formula doesn’t have intermediate steps. If all you want is r, then the raw- score formula is the quicker method.
Blanched formula Because researchers often use means and standard deviations when telling the story of the data, this formula is used by many:
where X and Y are paired observations XY � product of each X value multiplied by its paired Y value X� � mean of variable X Y� � mean of variable Y
SX � standard deviation of variable X (Use N in the denominator) SY � standard deviation of variable Y (Use N in the denominator) N � number of pairs of observations
The expression �XY is called the “sum of the cross products.” All formulas for Pearson r include �XY. To find �XY, multiply each X value by its paired Y value, and then sum those products. Note that one of the terms in the formula has a new meaning. In correlation problems, N is the number of pairs of scores.
error detection �XY is not (�X)(�Y). To find �XY, you do as many multiplication problems as you have pairs. Afterward, sum the products that you calculated.
As for which variable to call X and which to call Y, it doesn’t make any difference for a correlation coefficient. It may, however, make a big difference in the regression problems you will work later in this chapter.
r �
©XY N
� 1X� 2 1Y� 2
1SX 2 1SY 2
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Table 5.3 illustrates the steps you use to compute r by the blanched procedure. The data are those that were used to draw Figure 5.3, the scatterplot of the SAT verbal and SAT math scores for the eight students. I made up the numbers so that they would produce the same correlation coefficient as reported by W. L. Wallace (1972). Work through the numbers in Table 5.3, paying careful attention to the calculation of �XY.
Raw-score formula With the raw-score formula, you calculate r from the raw scores without computing means and standard deviations. The formula is
You have already learned what all the terms of this formula mean. A reminder: N is the number of pairs of values.
Calculators with two or more memory storage registers—and some with one— allow you to accumulate simultaneously the values for �X and �X 2. After doing so, compute values for �Y and �Y 2 simultaneously. This leaves only �XY to compute.
Many calculators have a built-in function for r. When you enter X and Y values and press the r key, the coefficient is displayed. If you have such a calculator, I recommend that you use this labor-saving device after you have used the computation
r � N©XY � 1©X 2 1©Y 22 3N©X 2 � 1©X 2 2 4 3N©Y 2 � 1©Y 2 2 4
94 ■ Chapter 5
TABLE 5.3 Calculation of r between SAT verbal and SAT math aptitude scores by the blanched formula
SAT SAT verbal math
Student X Y X2 Y2 XY
1 350 350 122,500 122,500 122,500 2 350 500 122,500 250,000 175,000 3 400 400 160,000 160,000 160,000 4 400 500 160,000 250,000 200,000 5 450 450 202,500 202,500 202,500 6 500 650 250,000 422,500 325,000 7 550 600 302,500 360,000 330,000 8 600 550 360,000 302,500 330,000
3600 4000 1,680,000 2,070,000 1,845,000
r �
�XY N
� 1X� 2 1Y 2
SXSY �
1,845,000
8 � 1450 2 1500 2
186.60 2 193.54 2 � .69
SY � R �Y 2 �
1�Y 2 2
N
N �R
2,070,000 � 14000 2 2
8
8 � 93.54
SX � R �X 2 �
1�X 2 2
N
N �R
1,680,000 � 13600 2 2
8
8 � 86.60
X� � �X N
� 3600
8 � 450 Y �
�Y N
� 4000
8 � 500
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formulas a number of times. Working directly with terms like �XY leads to an understanding of what goes into r.
If you calculate sums that reach above the millions, your calculator may switch into scientific notation. A display such as 3.234234 08 might appear. To convert this number back to familiar notation, just move the decimal point to the right the number of places indicated by the number on the right. Thus, 3.234234 08 becomes 323,423,400. The display 1.23456789 12 becomes 1,234,567,890,000.
Table 5.4 illustrates the raw-score procedure for computing r. The data are the same as those in Table 5.3. Note that the value of r is the same with both methods.
Table 5.5 shows the SPSS output for a Pearson correlation of the two variables. Again, r � .69. The designation Sig. (2-tailed) means “the significance level for a two- tailed test,” a concept explained in Chapter 8.
The final step in any statistics problem is interpretation. What story goes with a correlation coefficient of .69 between SAT verbal scores and SAT math scores? An r of .69 is a fairly substantial correlation coefficient. Students who have high SAT verbal scores certainly tend to have high SAT math scores. Note, however, that if the correlation had been near zero, you could say that the two abilities are unrelated. If the coefficient had been strong and negative, you could say, Good in one, poor in the other.
Correlation coefficients should be based on an “adequate” number of pairs of observations. As a general rule of thumb, “adequate” means 30 or more. My SAT example, however, had an N of 8, and most of the problems in the text have fewer than
Correlation and Regression ■ 95
TABLE 5.4 Calculation of r for SAT verbal and SAT math aptitude scores by the raw-score formula
� 360,000
518,459 � .69
� 18 2 11,845,000 2 � 13600 2 14000 22 3 18 2 11,680,000 2 � 13600 2 2 4 3 18 2 12,070,000 2 � 14000 2 2 4
r � N©XY � 1©X2 1©Y 22 3N©X2 � 1©X2 2 4 3N©Y 2 � 1©Y 2 2 4
©X � 3600 ©Y � 4000 ©X2 � 1,680,000 ©Y2 � 2,070,000 ©XY � 1,845,000
TABLE 5.5 SPSS output of Pearson r for SAT verbal and SAT math scores
Correlations
SATverbal SATmath
SATverbal Pearson Correlation 1 .694 Sig. (2-tailed) .056 N 8 8
SATmath Pearson Correlation .694 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .056 N 8 8
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30 pairs. Small-N problems allow you to spend your time on interpretation and understanding rather than on “number crunching.” In Chapter 8 you will learn the reasoning behind my admonition that N be adequate.
The correlation coefficient, r, is a sample statistic. The corresponding population parameter is symbolized by r (the Greek letter rho). The formula for r is the same as the formula for r (except that parameters such as s and m are substituted for the statistics, S and X�). One of the “rules” for statistical names is that parameters are symbolized with Greek letters (m, s, r) and statistics are symbolized with Latin letters (X�, ŝ, r). Like many rules, there are exceptions to this one.
clue to the future The population correlation coefficient, r, is important in Chapter 8, where the issue of the reliability of r is addressed. Also, besides the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, r, there are other correlation coefficients. I have verbal descriptions of several of these later in this chapter. Chapter 14 explains the Spearman coefficient rs, which is appropriate for scores that are ranks.
error detection The Pearson correlation coefficient ranges between �1.00 and �1.00. Values less than �1.00 or greater than �1.00 indicate that you have made an error.
P R O B L E M S
*5.5. This problem is based on data published in 1903 by Karl Pearson and Alice Lee. In the original article, 1376 pairs of father–daughter heights were analyzed. The scores here produce the same means and the same correlation coefficient that Pearson and Lee obtained. For these data, draw a scatterplot and calculate r by both the raw-score formula and the blanched formula.
Father’s height, X (in.) 69 68 67 65 63 73
Daughter’s height, Y (in.) 62 65 64 63 58 63
*5.6. The Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) is an individually administered test that takes over an hour. The Wonderlic Personnel Test can be administered to groups of any size in 15 minutes. X and Y represent scores on the two tests. Summary statistics from a representative sample of 21 adults were �X � 2205, �Y � 2163, �X 2 � 235,800, �Y 2 � 227,200, �XY � 231,100. Compute r and write an interpretation about using the Wonderlic rather than the WAIS.
*5.7. Is the relationship between stress and infectious disease a strong one or a weak one? Summary values that will produce a correlation coefficient similar to that found by Cohen and Williamson (1991) are: �X � 190, �Y � 444, �X 2 � 3940, �Y 2 � 20,096, �XY � 8524, N � 10. Calculate r using either method (blanched or raw score).
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Correlation and Regression ■ 97
r � .20
r � .90
r � .40
r � �.60 r � .80
r � �.95
F I G U R E 5 . 6 Scatterplots of data in which r � .20, .40, �.60, .80, .90, and �.95
Scatterplots
You already know something about scatterplots—what their elements are and what they look like when r � 1.00, r � .00, and r � �1.00. In this section I illustrate some intermediate cases and reiterate my philosophy about the value of pictures.
Figure 5.6 shows scatterplots of data with positive correlation coefficients (.20, .40, .80, .90) and negative correlation coefficients (�.60, �.95). If you draw an envelope around the points in a scatterplot, the picture becomes clearer. The thinner the envelope, the larger the correlation. To say this in more mathe- matical language, the closer the points are to the regression line, the greater the correlation.
Pictures help you understand, and scatterplots are easy to construct. Although the plots require some time, the benefits are worth it. Peden (2001) presents four very different scatterplots that lead to four quite different interpretations. The correlation
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coefficient, however, is .82 for all four data sets. So this is a paragraph that encourages you to construct scatterplots—pictures help you understand data.
Interpretations of r
The basic interpretation of r is probably familiar to you at this point. A correlation coefficient measures the degree of linear relationship between two variables of a bivariate distribution. Fortunately, additional information about the relationship can be obtained from a correlation coefficient. Over the next few pages, I’ll cover some of this additional information. However, a warning is in order—the interpretation of r can be a tricky business. I’ll alert you to some of the common errors.
Effect Size Index for r
What qualifies as a large correlation coefficient? What is small? You will remember that you dealt with similar questions in Chapter 4 when you studied the effect size index. In that situation, you had two sample means that were different. The question was: Is the difference big? Jacob Cohen (1969) proposed that the question be answered by calculating an effect size index (d ) and that d values of .20, .50, and .80 be considered small, medium, and large effect sizes, respectively. In a similar way, Cohen addressed the question of calculating an effect size index for the correlation coefficient.
You will be delighted with Cohen’s calculation of an effect size index for r; the value is r itself. The remaining question is: What is small, medium, and large? Now the story becomes more complicated because correlation coefficients are used to measure many different kinds of relationships. However, Cohen proposed the following:
Small r � .10
Medium r � .30
Large r � .50
These guidelines have not been as acceptable as those that Cohen proposed for d. One of the complaints is that for some problems the guidelines are clearly not appropriate. (See the later section on using r to measure reliability.) Another complaint is that the guidelines do not correspond to the actual distribution of empirical results. For example, Hemphill (2003) examined thousands of correlation coefficients from hundreds of studies and then divided them into thirds. The results were:
Lower third � .20
Middle third .20 to .30
Upper third � .30
I’ll have to leave the issue of “adjectives for correlation coefficients” without being able to give you a simple rule of thumb, but the fact is that the proper adjective to use for a particular r depends on the kind of research being conducted.
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Coefficient of Determination
The correlation coefficient is the basis of the coefficient of determination, which tells the proportion of variance that two variables in a bivariate distribution have in common. The coefficient of determination is calculated by squaring r; it is always a positive value between 0 and 1:
Coefficient of determination � r2
Look back at Table 5.2, the heights that produced r � 1.00. There is variation among the fathers’ heights as well as among the sons’ heights. How much of the variation among the sons’ heights is associated with the variation in the fathers’ heights? All of it! That is, the variation among the sons’ heights (74, 72, 70, and so on) is exactly the same variation that is seen among their fathers’ heights (74, 72, 70, and so on). In the same way, the variation among the sons’ heights in Figure 5.2 (76, 74, 72, and so on) is the same variation that is seen among their fathers’ heights (74, 72, 70, and so on). For Table 5.2 and Figure 5.2, r � 1.00 and r 2 � 1.00.
Now look at Table 5.3, the SAT verbal and SAT math scores. There is variation among the SAT verbal scores as well as among the SAT math scores. How much of the variation among the SAT math scores is associated with the variation among the SAT verbal scores? Some of it. That is, the variation among the SAT math scores (350, 500, 400, and so on) is only partly reflected in the variation among the SAT verbal scores (350, 350, 400, and so on). The proportion of variance in the SAT math scores that is associated with the variance in the SAT verbal scores is r 2. In this case, (.69)2 � .48.
Think for a moment about the many factors that influence SAT verbal scores and SAT math scores. Some factors influence both scores—factors such as motivation, mental sharpness on test day, and, of course, the big one: general intellectual ability. Other factors influence one test but not the other—factors such as anxiety about math tests, chance successes and chance errors, and, of course, the big ones: specific verbal knowledge and specific math knowledge.
What a coefficient of determination of .48 tells you is that 48 percent of the variance in the two sets of scores is common variance. However, 52 percent of the variance is independent variance—that is, variance in one test that is not associated with variance in the other test.
Here is another example. The correlation of academic aptitude test scores with first-term college grade point averages (GPAs) is about .50. The coefficient of determination is .25. This means that of all that variation in GPAs (from flunking out to straight A’s), 25 percent is associated with aptitude scores. The rest of the variance (75 percent) is related to other factors. Examples of other factors that influence GPA, for good or for ill, include health, roommates, new relationships, and financial situation. Academic aptitude tests cannot predict the variation that these factors produce.
Common variance is often illustrated with two overlapping circles, each of which represents the total variance of one variable. The overlapping portion is the amount of common variance. The left half of Figure 5.7 shows overlapping circles for the GPA– college aptitude test scores and the right half shows the SAT verbal–SAT math data.
Note what a big difference there is between a correlation of .69 and one of .50 when they are interpreted using the common variance terminology. Although .69 and .50 seem fairly close, an r of .69 predicts almost twice the amount of variance that an
Correlation and Regression ■ 99
coefficient of determination Squared correlation coefficient, an estimate of common variance.
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r of .50 predicts: 48 percent to 25 percent. By the way, common variance is the way professional statisticians interpret correlation coefficients.6
Uses of r
Reliability
Correlation coefficients are used to assess the reliability of measuring devices such as tests, questionnaires, and instruments. Reliability refers to consistency.
Devices that are reliable produce consistent scores that are not subject to chance fluctuations.
Think about measuring a number of individuals and then measuring them a second time. If the measuring device is not influenced by chance, then you get the same measurements both times. If the second
measurement is exactly the same as the first for every individual, it is easy to conclude that the measuring device is perfectly reliable—that chance has nothing to do with the score you get. However, if the measurements are not exactly the same, the disagreement leads to uncertainty. Fortunately, a correlation coefficient tells you the degree of agreement between the test and the retest scores. High correlation coefficients mean lots of agreement and therefore high reliability; low coefficients mean lots of disagreement and therefore low reliability. But what size r indicates reliability? The rule of thumb is that an r of .80 or greater indicates reliability for social science measurements.
Here is an example from Galton’s data. The heights of 435 adults were measured twice. The correlation was .98. It is not surprising that Galton’s method of measuring height was very reliable. The correlation, however, for “highest audible tone,” a
100 ■ Chapter 5
.75 .25 .75
Variance of GPA
Variance of college aptitude
test scores
.52
Variance of SAT verbal
scores
Variance of SAT math
scores
.48 .52
F I G U R E 5 . 7 Two separate illustrations of common variance
6 If you are moderately skilled in algebra and would like to understand more about common variance, I recommend that you finish the material in this chapter on regression and then work through the presentation of Minium and King (2002).
reliability Dependability or consistency of a measure.
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measure of pitch perception, was only .28 for 349 subjects whom Galton tested a second time within a year (Johnson et al., 1985). One of two interpretations is possible. Either people’s ability to hear high sounds changes up and down during a year, or the test was not reliable. In Galton’s case, the test was not reliable. Two possible explanations for this lack of reliability are (1) the test environment was not as quiet from one time to the next and (2) the instruments the researchers used were not calibrated exactly the same on both tests.
This section is concerned with the reliability of a measuring instrument, which involves measuring one variable twice. The reliability of a relationship between two different variables is a different question and will be covered in Chapter 8. When the question is whether a relationship is reliable, the .80 rule of thumb does not apply.
Correlation—Evidence for Causation?
A high correlation coefficient does not give you the kind of evidence that allows you to make cause-and-effect statements. Therefore, don’t do it. Ever.
Jumping to a cause-and-effect conclusion is a cognitively easy leap for humans. For example, Shedler and Block (1990) found that among a sample of 18-year-olds whose marijuana use ranged from abstinence to once a month, there was a positive correlation between use and psychological health. Is this evidence that occasional drug use promotes psychological health?
Because Shedler and Block had followed their participants from age 3 on, they knew about a third variable, the quality of the parenting that the 18-year-olds had received. Not surprisingly, parents who were responsive, accepting, and patient and who valued originality had children who were psychologically healthy. In addition, these same children as 18-year-olds had used marijuana on occasion. Thus, two variables—drug use and parenting style—were each correlated with psychological health. Shedler and Block concluded that psychological health and adolescent drug use were both traceable to quality of parenting. (This research also included a sample of frequent users, who were not psychologically healthy and who had been raised with a parenting style not characterized by the adjectives above.)
Of course, if you have a sizable correlation coefficient, it may be the result of a cause-and-effect relationship between the two variables. For example, early statements about cigarette smoking causing lung cancer were based on simple correlational data. Persons with lung cancer were often heavy smokers. Also, comparisons between countries indicated a relationship (see problem 5.13). However, as careful thinkers— and the cigarette companies—pointed out, both cancer and smoking might have been caused by a third variable; stress was often suggested. That is, stress caused cancer and stress also caused people to smoke. Thus, cancer rates and smoking rates were related (a high correlation), but one did not cause the other; both were caused by a third variable. What was required to establish a cause-and-effect relationship was data from controlled experiments, not correlational data. Experimental data, complete with control groups, finally established the cause-and-effect relationship between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. (Controlled experiments will be discussed in Chapter 9, Hypothesis Testing, Effect Size, and Confidence Intervals: Two-Sample Designs.)
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To summarize this section using the language of logic: A sizable correlation is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for establishing causality.
P R O B L E M S
5.8. Estimate the correlation coefficients for these scatterplots.
102 ■ Chapter 5
5.9. For the two measures of intelligence in problem 5.6, you found a correlation of .92. What is the coefficient of determination, and what does it mean?
5.10. In problem 5.7, you found that the correlation coefficient between stress and infectious disease was .25. Calculate the coefficient of determination and write an interpretation.
5.11. Examine the following summary statistics (which you have seen before). Can you determine a correlation coefficient? Explain your reasoning.
Height of women (in.) Height of men (in.)
�X 3215 3485 �X2 207,035 243,353 N � 50 pairs
5.12. What percent of variance in common do two variables have if their correlation is .10? What if the correlation is quadrupled to .40?
5.13. For each of 11 countries, the accompanying table gives the cigarette consumption per capita in 1930 and the male death rate from lung
b.
d.
a.
c.
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cancer 20 years later in 1950 (Doll, 1955; reprinted in Tufte, 2001). Calculate a Pearson r and write a statement telling what the data show.
Per capita cigarette Male death rate Country consumption (per million)
Iceland 217 59 Norway 250 91 Sweden 308 113 Denmark 370 167 Australia 455 172 Holland 458 243 Canada 505 150 Switzerland 542 250 Finland 1112 352 Great Britain 1147 467 United States 1283 191
5.14. Interpret each of these statements. a. The correlation between vocational-interest scores at age 20 and at
age 40 for the 150 participants was .70 b. The correlation between intelligence test scores of identical twins
raised together is .86 c. A correlation of �.30 between IQ and family size d. r � .22 between height and IQ for 20-year-old men e. r � �.83 between income level and probability of diagnosis of
schizophrenia
Strong Relationships but Low Correlations
One good thing about understanding something is that you come to know what’s going on beneath the surface. Knowing the inner workings, you can judge whether the surface appearance is to be trusted or not. You are about to learn two of the “inner workings” of correlation. These will help you evaluate the meaning of low correlations. Low correlations do not always mean there is no relationship between two variables.7
Nonlinearity
For r to be a meaningful statistic, the best-fitting line through the scatterplot of points must be a straight line. If a curved regression line fits the data better than a straight line, r will be low, not reflecting the true relationship between the two variables.
Figure 5.8 is an example of a situation in which r is inappropriate because the best-fitting line is curved. The X variable is arousal and the Y variable is efficiency of
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7 Correlations that do not reflect the true degree of the relationship are said to be spuriously low or spuriously high.
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performance. At low levels of arousal (sleepy, for example), performance is not very good. Likewise, at very high levels of arousal (agitation, for example), people don’t perform well. In the middle range, however, there is a degree of arousal that is optimum; performance is best at moderate levels of arousal.
In Figure 5.8 there is obviously a strong relationship between arousal and performance, but r for the distribution is �.10, a value that indicates a very weak relationship. The product-moment correlation coefficient is just not useful for measuring the strength of curved relationships. For curved relationships, researchers often measure the strength of association with the statistic eta (h) or by calculating the formula for a curve that fits the data.
Truncated Range
Besides nonlinearity, a second situation gives low Pearson correlation coefficients even though there is a strong relationship between the two variables. Spuriously low r values
can occur when the range of scores in the sample is much smaller than the range of scores in the population (a truncated range).
I’ll illustrate with the relationship between GRE scores and grades in graduate school.8 The relationship graphed in Figure 5.9 is based on
a study by Sternberg and Williams (1997). These data look like a snowstorm; they lead to the conclusion that there is little relationship between GRE scores and graduate school grades.
However, students in graduate school do not represent the full range of GRE scores; those with low GRE scores are not included. What effect does this restriction of the range have? You can get an answer to this question by looking at Figure 5.10,
104 ■ Chapter 5
Arousal
Pe rf
or m
an ce
F I G U R E 5 . 8 Generalized relationship between arousal and efficiency of performance
8 The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is used by many graduate schools to help select students to admit.
truncated range Range of the sample is smaller than the range of its population.
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which shows a hypothetical scatterplot of data for the full range of GRE scores. This scatterplot shows a moderate relationship. So, unless you recognized that your sample of graduate students truncated the range of GRE scores, you might be tempted to dismiss GRE scores as “worthless.”
Correlation and Regression ■ 105
Medium High
GRE scores
G ra
du at
e sc
ho ol
g ra
de s
Low
High
F I G U R E 5 . 9 Scatterplot of GRE scores and graduate school grades in one school
Low Medium High
GRE scores
E xp
ec te
d gr
ad ua
te sc
ho ol
g ra
de s
F I G U R E 5 . 1 0 Hypothetical scatterplot of GRE scores and expected graduate school grades for the population
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error detection Scatterplots are especially recommended for data sets that produce correlation coefficients that are small. A scatterplot might reveal that a Pearson correlation coefficient is not appropriate for the data.
Other Kinds of Correlation Coefficients
The kind of correlation coefficient you have been learning about—the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient—is appropriate for measuring the degree of the relationship between two linearly related, continuous variables. Sometimes, however, the data do not consist of two linearly related, continuous variables. What follows is a description of five other situations. In each case, you can express the degree of relationship in the data with a correlation coefficient—but not a Pearson product- moment correlation coefficient. Fortunately, these correlation coefficients can be interpreted much like Pearson product-moment coefficients.
1. If one of the variables is dichotomous (has only two values), then a biserial correlation (rb) or a point-biserial correlation (rpb) is appropriate. Variables such as height (measured as simply tall or short) and gender (male or female) are examples of dichotomous variables.
2. Several variables can be combined, and the resulting combination can be correlated with one variable. With this technique, called multiple correlation, a more precise prediction can be made. Performance in school can be predicted better by using several measures of a person rather than one.
3. A technique called partial correlation allows you to separate or partial out the effects of one variable from the correlation of two variables. For example, if you want to know the true correlation between achievement test scores in two school subjects, it is probably necessary to partial out the effects of intelligence because IQ and achievement are correlated.
4. When the data are ranks rather than scores from a continuous variable, researchers calculate Spearman rs , which is covered in Chapter 14.
5. If the relationship between two variables is curved rather than linear, then the correlation ratio eta (h) gives the degree of association (Field, 2005a).
These and other correlational techniques are discussed in intermediate-level textbooks such as Howell (2007).
P R O B L E M S
5.15. The correlation between scores on a humor test and a test of insight is .83. Explain what this means. Continue your explanation by interpreting
106 ■ Chapter 5
dichotomous variable A variable that has only two values.
multiple correlation Correlation coefficient that expresses the degree of relationship between one variable and two or more other variables.
partial correlation Technique that allows the separation of the effect of one variable from the correlation of two other variables.
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the effect size index and the coefficient of determination. End your explanation with caveats9 appropriate for r.
5.16. The correlation between number of older siblings and degree of acceptance of personal responsibility for one’s own successes and failures is �.37. Interpret this correlation. Find the coefficient of determination and explain what it means. What can you say about the cause of the correlation?
5.17. Examine the following data, make a scatterplot, and compute r if appropriate.
Serial position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Errors 2 5 6 9 13 10 6 4
Linear Regression
You are now ready to learn to make quantitative predictions. The technique is called linear regression. As you will see, what you have learned about correlation will be most helpful when you interpret a regression equation.
A few sections ago I said that the correlation between college entrance examination scores and first-semester grade point averages is about .50. Knowing this correlation, you can predict that those who score high on the entrance examination are more likely to succeed as freshmen than those who score low. This statement is correct, but it is pretty general. Usually you want to predict a specific grade point for a specific applicant. For example, if you were in charge of admissions at Collegiate U., you want to know the entrance examination score that predicts a GPA of 2.00, the minimum required for graduation. To make specific predictions, you must calculate a regression equation.
Linear regression is a technique that uses the data to produce an equation for a straight line. This equation is then used to make predictions. I’ll begin with some background on making predictions from equations.
Making Predictions from a Linear Equation
You are used to making predictions; some you make with a great deal of confidence. “If I get my average up to 80 percent, I’ll get a B in this course.” “If I spend $15 plus tax on this compact disc, I won’t have enough left from my $20 to go to a movie.”
Often predictions are based on an assumption that the relationship between two variables is linear, that a straight line will tell the story exactly. Frequently, this assumption is quite justified. For the preceding short-term economics problem, imagine a set of axes with “Amount spent” on the X axis ($0 to $20) and “Amount left” on the Y axis ($0 to $20). A straight line that connects the two $20 marks on the axes tells the whole story. (This is a line with a negative slope that is inclined 45 degrees from horizontal.) Draw this picture. Can you also write the equation for this graph?
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9 Warnings.
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Part of your education in algebra was about straight lines. You may recall that the slope-intercept formula for a straight line is
Y � mX � b
where Y and X are variables representing scores on the Y and X axes m � slope of the line (a constant) b � intercept (intersection) of the line with the Y axis (a constant)
Here are some reminders about the slopes of lines. The slope of a line is positive if the highest point on the line is to the right of the lowest point. If the highest point is to the left of the lowest point, the slope is negative. Horizontal lines have a slope equal to zero. Lines that are almost vertical have slopes that are either large positive numbers or large negative numbers.
Now, back to the slope-intercept formula. If you are given the two constants, m � 3 and b � 6, the formula becomes Y � 3X � 6. Now, if you start with a value for X, you can easily find the value of Y. If X � 4, then Y � _____?
The unsolved problem (so far) is how to go from the general formula, Y � mX � b, to a specific formula like Y � 3X � 6—that is, how to find the values for m and b.
A common solution involves a rule and a little algebra. The rule is that if a point lies on the line, then the coordinates of the point satisfy the equation of the line. To use this rule to find an equation, you must know the coordinates for two points. Suppose you are told that the point where X � 5 and Y � 8 is on the line. This point, represented as (5, 8), produces 8 � 5m � b when the coordinates are substituted into the general equation. If you are given a second point that lies on the line, you will get another equation with m and b as unknowns. Now you have two equations with two unknowns and you can solve for each in turn, giving you values for m and b. If you would like to check your understanding of this on a simple problem, figure out the formula for the line that tells the story of the $20 problem. For simplicity, use the two points where the line crosses the axes, (0, 20) and (20, 0).
Once you have assumed or have satisfied yourself that a relationship is linear, any two points will allow you to draw the line that tells the story of the relationship.
The Regression Equation—A Line of Best Fit
With this background in place, you are in a position to appreciate the problem Karl Pearson faced at the end of the 19th century when he looked at father–daughter height data (problem 5.5). Look at your scatterplot of those data. It is reasonable to assume that the relationship is linear, but which two points should be used to write the equation for the line? The equation will depend on which two particular points you choose to plug into the formula. The two-point approach produces dozens of different lines. Which one is the best line? What solutions come to your mind?
One solution is to find the mean Y value for each of the X values on the abscissa. Connect those means with straight lines, and then choose two points that make the regression line fall within this narrower range of the means. Pearson’s solution, which statistics embraced, is to use a more mathematically sophisticated version of this idea, a method called least squares. Look at Figure 5.11, which is based on Pearson and Lee’s
108 ■ Chapter 5
least squares Fitting a regression line such that the sum of the squared deviations from the straight regression line is a minimum.
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1903 data on the heights of fathers and their adult daughters. There are two data points and a least squares regression line, which was calculated from all the data points. The two data points are for 5�6� Ann and her 5�9� father and 5�3� Beth and her father, who is also 5�9�. As you can see from the regression line, 5�4� is the predicted height for the daughter of a 5�9� father. (Predicted values are symbolized by Ŷ, pronounced “Y-hat” or “Y-predicted.”) The data, however, show that Ann is 5�6� and Beth is 5�3�. You can imagine that if the other daughters’ heights were plotted on the graph, most of them would not fall on the regression line either. With all this error, why use the least squares method for drawing the line?
The answer is that a least squares regression line minimizes error. Calculating error is easy. For each prediction,
Error � Y � Ŷ
Look again at Figure 5.11. Using the two daughters in our example,
Ann: error � Y � Ŷ � 66 � 64 � 2
Beth: error � Y � Ŷ � 63 � 64 � �1
In a similar way, there is an error for each point in the scatterplot (though for some, the error is zero). The least squares method creates a straight line such that the sum of the squares of the errors is a minimum. In symbol form, �(Y �Ŷ )2 is a minimum for a straight line calculated by the least squares method.
Not only does the least squares method minimize error, it also produces numerical values for the slope and the intercept. With a slope and an intercept, you can write the equation for a straight line; this regression line is the one that best fits the data.
One more transitional point is necessary. In the language of algebra, the idea of a straight line is expressed as Y � mX � b. In the language of statistics, exactly the same idea is expressed as Y � a � bX. Y and X are the same in the two formulas, but different letters are used for the slope and the intercept and the order of the terms is
Correlation and Regression ■ 109
5�9�
Height of fathers
5�3�
5�4�
5�6�
H ei
gh t o
f da
ug ht
er s
Beth
Ann
Y � Y � �1�
Y � Y � 2�
Y � 5�4�^ ^
^
F I G U R E 5 . 1 1 Hypothetical case of two daughters with a 5�9� father
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different. Unfortunately, the terminology is well established in both fields. However, the mental translation required of students doesn’t cause many problems. Thus, in statistics, b is the slope of the line and a is the intercept of the line with the Y axis.
In statistics, the regression equation is
Ŷ � a � bX
where Ŷ � Y value predicted for a particular X value a � point at which the regression line intersects the Y axis b � slope of the regression line X � value for which you wish to predict a Y value
For correlation problems, the symbol Y can be assigned to either variable, but in regression equations, Y is assigned to the variable you wish to predict.
The Regression Coefficients
To use the equation Ŷ � a � bX you must have values for a and b, which are called regression coefficients. Values for a and b can be calculated from any bivariate set of
data. The arithmetic for these calculations comes from the least squares method of line fitting.
If you have already computed r and the standard deviations for both X and Y, then the slope of the regression line, b, is
where r � correlation coefficient for X and Y SY � standard deviation of the Y variable SX � standard deviation of the X variable
Is it clear to you that for positive correlations, b will be a positive number? For negative correlations, b will be negative.
The value of b can also be obtained with the formula
To compute a, the regression line’s intercept with the Y axis, use the formula
where Y� � mean of the Y scores b � regression coefficient computed previously X� � mean of the X scores
Figure 5.12 is designed to generically illustrate the regression coefficients a and b. In Figure 5.12, the regression line crosses the Y axis exactly at 4, so a � 4.00. The coefficient b is the slope of the line. To independently determine the slope of a line from a graph, divide the vertical distance the line rises by the horizontal distance the line covers. In Figure 5.12 the line DE (vertical rise of the line FD) is half the length
a � Y� � bX�
b � N©XY � 1©X 2 1©Y 2
N©X2 � 1©X 2 2
b � r SY SX
110 ■ Chapter 5
regression equation Equation that predicts values of Y for specific values of X.
regression coefficients The constants a and b in a regression equation.
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of FE (the horizontal distance of FD). Thus, the slope of the regression line is 0.50 (DE/FE � b � 0.50). Put another way, the value of Y increases one-half point for every one-point increase in X.
Writing the Regression Equation for SAT Data
To illustrate the construction of a regression equation, I’ll use the SAT data, choosing to make predictions about math aptitude scores (Y ) from verbal aptitude scores (X). The descriptive statistics needed from the data are
r � .69 SX � 86.60 SY � 93.54 X� � 450 Y� � 500
The formula for b gives
The formula for a gives
a � Y� � bX� � 500 � (0.75)(450) � 500 � 337.50 � 162.50
The b coefficient tells you that when math aptitude (Y ) increases by three-fourths of a point, verbal aptitude (X ) increases by one point. The a coefficient tells you that the regression line intersects the Y axis at 162.50. Entering these regression coefficient values into the regression equation produces a formula that predicts math achievement scores from verbal achievement scores:
Ŷ � a � bX � 162.50 � 0.75X
The linear regression program in SPSS calculates several statistics. The output for regression coefficients appears in Table 5.6 in the B column under Unstandardized Coefficients. The intercept coefficient, a (162.500), is labeled (Constant). The slope coefficient, b (0.750), is labeled SATverbal. Note that the Pearson correlation coefficient (.694) is in the Beta column.
b � r SY SX
� 1.69 2 93.54
86.60 � 1.69 2 11.08 2 � 0.75
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DE
4 8 12 16 20
X score
4
8
12
16 Y
s co
re
F E
D
___ FE
b �
a
F I G U R E 5 . 1 2 The regression coefficients a and b
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error detection Step one in writing a regression equation is to identify the variable whose scores you want to predict. Make that variable Y.
Drawing the Regression Line for SAT Data
To draw a regression line on a scatterplot, you need a straightedge and two points that are on the line. Any two points will do. I’ll demonstrate with Figure 5.13, which is a redrawing of the SAT data. One point that is always on the regression line for any bivariate data is (X�, Y�). Thus, for the SAT data, the two means (450, 500) identify a point, which is marked on Figure 5.13 with an open circle. A second point can be found by substituting an X value of your choosing into the formula in the previous section. By choosing X as 400, the arithmetic can be done almost at a glance:
Ŷ � a � bX � 162.50 � 0.75X � 162.50 � 300 � 462.50
112 ■ Chapter 5
SAT verbal
400 500 600
400
500
600
SA T
m at
h
700
F I G U R E 5 . 1 3 Scatterplot and regression line for the verbal and math aptitude data (Table 5.3)
TABLE 5.6 SPSS output of regression coefficients and r for the SAT verbal and SAT math scores
Coefficientsa
Unstandardized Standardized Coefficients Coefficients
Model B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
1 (Constant) 162.500 145.416 1.117 .307 SATverbal .750 .317 .694 2.364 .056
a. Dependent Variable: SATmath
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The second point (400, 462.50) is marked on Figure 5.13 with an X. Finally, line up the straightedge on the two points and extend the line in both directions. Notice that the line crosses the Y axis at 400, which may surprise you because a � 162.5.
The Appearance of Regression Lines
A word of caution is in order about appearances. The appearance of the slope of a line on a scatterplot or other graph depends on the units chosen for the X and Y axes and whether there are breaks in the axes. Look at Figure 5.14. Although the two lines appear different, b � 1.00 for both. They appear different because the space allotted to each Y unit in the right graph is half that allotted to each Y unit in the left graph.
I can now explain the dilemma I faced when I composed the “ungainly” Figure 5.3 for you. The graph is ungainly because it is square (100 X units is the same length as 100 Y units) and because both axes start at zero (even though the lowest score is 350). I composed it the way I did because I wanted the regression line to cross the Y axis at a (note that it does) and because I wanted its slope to appear equal to b (note that it does).
The more attractive Figure 5.13 is a scatterplot of the same data as those in Figure 5.3. The difference is that Figure 5.13 has breaks in the axes and 100 Y units is about one-third the length of 100 X units. I’m sure by this point you have the message—you cannot necessarily determine a and b by looking at a graph.
Predicting a Y Score—Finding Ŷ
There are two methods you may use to find Ŷ for a particular X score. For a rough estimate, you can use an accurately drawn regression line. From the X score, draw a vertical line up to the regression line. Then draw a horizontal line to the vertical axis. The Y score there is Ŷ. This graphical method is demonstrated by the broken lines in Figure 5.13 for a verbal aptitude score of 550. The projection to the Y axis shows a predicted math aptitude score of between 550 and 600.
The precise way to find Ŷ is to use the regression equation. To predict a math aptitude score for a verbal aptitude score of 550, the regression equation is
Correlation and Regression ■ 113
1 2 3 4
1
2
3
4
1 2 3 4
1
2
3
4
F I G U R E 5 . 1 4 Two regression lines with the same slope (b � 1.00) but with different appearances. The difference is caused by different sized units on the Y axis.
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Thus, for an X score of 550, the predicted Y score is 575. To find Ŷ values from summary data without calculating a and b, use this formula:
For the verbal aptitude score of 550, the math aptitude score is
Ŷ � (.69)(1.08)(100) � 500 � 74.52 � 500 � 574.52 � 575
This is the same value as before. Now you know how to make predictions. Predictions, however, are cheap; anyone
can make them. Respect accrues only when your predictions come true. So far, I have dealt with accuracy by simply pointing out that when r is high, accuracy is high, and when r is low, you cannot put much faith in your predicted values of Ŷ.
To actually measure the accuracy of predictions made from a regression analysis, you need the standard error of estimate. This statistic is discussed in most intermediate-level textbooks and in textbooks on testing. (See, for example, Howell, 2004, pp. 213–215.) The materials in Chapters 6 and 7 of this book provide the background needed to understand the standard error of estimate.
Finally, a note of caution: Every scatterplot has two regression lines. One is called the regression of Y onto X, which is what you did in this chapter. The other is the regression of X onto Y. The difference between these two depends on which variable is designated Y. So, in your calculations be sure you assign Y to the variable you want to predict.
P R O B L E M S
5.18. In problem 5.5, the father–daughter height data, you found r � .513. a. Compute the regression coefficients a and b. b. Use your scatterplot from problem 5.5 and draw the regression line.
5.19. In problem 5.6, the two different intelligence tests with the WAIS test as X and the Wonderlic as Y, you computed r. a. Compute a and b. b. What Wonderlic score would you predict for a person who scored
130 on the WAIS? 5.20. Regression is a technique that economists and businesspeople rely on
heavily. Think about the relationship between advertising expenditures and sales. Use the data in the accompanying table, which are based on national statistics. a. Find r. b. Write the regression equation. c. Plot the regression line on the scatterplot.
Ŷ � r SY SX
1X � X� 2 � Y�
� 575
� 162.50 � 412.50
� 162.50 � 10.75 2 1550 2
Ŷ � a � bX
114 ■ Chapter 5
standard error of estimate Standard deviation of the differences between predicted outcomes and actual outcomes.
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d. Predict sales for an advertising expenditure of $10,000. e. Explain whether any confidence at all can be put in the prediction
you made.
Advertising, X Sales, Y ($ thousands) ($ thousands)
3 70 4 120 3 110 5 100 6 140 5 120 4 100
5.21. The correlation between Stanford–Binet IQ scores and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) IQs is about .80. Both tests have a mean of 100. The standard deviation of the Stanford–Binet is 16. For the WAIS, S � 15. What WAIS IQ do you predict for a person who scores 65 on the Stanford–Binet? Write a sentence summarizing these results. (An IQ score of 70 has been used by some schools as a cutoff point between regular classes and special education classes.)
5.22. Many predictions about the future come from regression equations. Use the following data from the Statistical Abstract of the United States to predict the number of college graduates with bachelor’s degrees in the year 2008. Use the time period numbers rather than years in your calculations and carry four decimal places. Carefully choose which variable to call X and which to call Y.
Time period 1 2 3 4 5
Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Graduates (millions) 1.20 1.24 1.24 1.29 1.35
5.23. Once again, look over the objectives at the beginning of the chapter. Can you do them?
5.24. Now it is time for integrative work on the descriptive statistics you studied in Chapters 2–5. Choose one of the two options that follow. a. Write an essay on descriptive statistics. Start by jotting down from
memory things you could include. Review Chapters 2–5, adding to your list additional facts or other considerations. Draft the essay. Rest. Revise it.
b. Construct a table that summarizes the descriptive statistics in Chapters 2–5. List the techniques in the first column. Across the top of the table, list topics that distinguish among the techniques— topics such as purpose, formula, and so forth. Fill in the table.
Whether you choose option a or b, save your answer for that time in the future when you are reviewing what you are learning in this course (final exam time?).
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ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 5 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, workshops, and more. The workshops are Correlation and Bivariate Scatter Plots in the Statistics Workshop. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and problems that require calculation and interpretation.
KEY TERMS
What Would You Recommend? Chapters 1–5
At this point in the text (and at two later points) there is a set of problems titled What would you recommend? These problems help you review and integrate your knowledge. You are to choose an appropriate statistic from among those you learned in the first five chapters. For each problem that follows, recommend a statistic that answers the question and note why you recommend that statistic.
a. Registration figures for the American Kennel Club show which dog breeds are common and which are uncommon. For a frequency distribution for all breeds, what central tendency statistic is appropriate?
b. Among a group of friends, one person is the best golfer. Another person in the group is the best at bowling. What statistical technique allows you to determine that one of the two is better than the other?
c. Tuition at Almamater U. has gone up each of the past 5 years. How can I predict what it will be in 25 years when my child enrolls?
d. Each of the American states has a certain number of miles of ocean coastline (ranging from 0 to 6640 miles). Consider a frequency distribution of these 50 scores. What central tendency statistic is appropriate for this distribution? Explain your choice. What measure of variability do you recommend?
116 ■ Chapter 5
Bivariate distribution (p. 86) Causation and correlation (p. 101) Coefficient of determination (p. 99) Common variance (p. 99) Correlation coefficient (p. 92) Dichotomous variable (p. 106) Effect size index for r (p. 98) Intercept (p. 110) Least squares method (p. 108) Multiple correlation (p. 106) Negative correlation (p. 89) Partial correlation (p. 106)
Positive correlation (p. 87) Quantification (p. 85) Regression coefficients (p. 110) Regression equation (p. 110) Regression line (p. 87) Reliability (p. 100) Scatterplot (p. 87) Slope (p. 110) Standard error of estimate (p. 114) Truncated range (p. 104) Univariate distribution (p. 86) Zero correlation (p. 91)
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e. Jobs such as “appraiser” require judgments about the value of a unique item. Later a sale price establishes an actual value. Suppose two applicants for an appraiser’s job made judgments about 30 items. After the items sold, an analysis revealed that when each applicant’s errors were listed, the average was zero. What other analysis of the data might provide an objective way to decide that one of the two applicants was better?
f. Suppose you study some new, relatively meaningless material until you know it all. If you are tested 40 minutes later, you recall 85 percent; 4 hours later, 70 percent; 4 days later, 55 percent; and 4 weeks later, 40 percent. How can you express the relationship between time and memory?
g. A table shows the ages and the number of voters in the year 2006. The age categories start with “18–20” and end with “65 and over.” What statistic can be calculated to best describe the age of the typical voter?
h. For a class of 40 students, the study time for the first test ranged from 30 minutes to 6 hours. The grades ranged from a low of 48 to a high of 98. What statistic describes how the variable Study time is related to the variable Grade?
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118
YOU ARE NOW through with the part of the book that is clearly about descriptive
statistics. You should be able to describe a set of data with a graph, a few choice
words, and numbers such as a mean, a standard deviation, and (if appropriate)
a correlation coefficient.
The next chapter serves as a bridge between descriptive and inferential
statistics. All the problems you will work give you answers that describe
something about a person, score, or group of people or scores. However, the
ideas about probability and theoretical distributions that you use to work these
problems are essential elements of inferential statistics.
So, the transition this time is to concepts that prepare you to plunge into
material on inferential statistics. As you will see rather quickly, many of the
descriptive statistics that you have been studying are elements of inferential
statistics.
trans ssage to inferential statistics
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chapter 6 Theoretical Distributions Including the Normal Distribution
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 6
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Distinguish between theoretical and empirical distributions
2. Distinguish between theoretical and empirical probability
3. Predict the probability of certain events from knowledge of the theoretical distribution of those events
4. List the characteristics of the normal distribution
5. Find the proportion of a normal distribution that lies between two scores
6. Find the scores between which a certain proportion of a normal distribution falls
7. Find the number of scores associated with a particular proportion of a normal distribution
THIS CHAPTER HAS more figures than any other chapter, almost one per page. The reason for all these figures is that they are the best way I know to convey to you ideas about theoretical distributions and probability. So, please examine these figures carefully, making sure you understand what each part means. When you are working problems, drawing your own pictures is a big help.
I’ll begin by distinguishing between empirical distributions and theoretical distributions. In Chapter 2 you learned to arrange scores in frequency distributions. The scores you worked with were selected because they were representative of scores from actual research. Distributions of such observed scores are empirical distributions.
This chapter is about theoretical distributions. Like the empirical distributions in Chapter 2, a theoretical distribution is a presentation of
119
empirical distribution Scores that come from observations.
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120 ■ Chapter 6
all the scores, usually presented as a graph. Theoretical distributions, however, are based on mathematical formulas and logic rather than on empirical observations.
Theoretical distributions are used in statistics to determine probabilities. When there is a correspondence between an empirical distribution and a theoretical distribution, you can use the theoretical distribution to arrive at probabilities about future empirical events. Probabilities, as you know, are quite helpful in reaching decisions.
This chapter covers three theoretical distributions: rectangular, binomial, and normal. Rectangular and binomial distributions are used to illustrate probability more fully and to establish some points that are true for all theoretical distributions. The third distribution, the normal distribution, will occupy the bulk of your time and attention in this chapter.
Probability
You are already somewhat familiar with the concept of probability. You know, for example, that probability values range from .00 (there is no possibility that an event will occur) to 1.00 (the event is certain to happen).
In statistics, events are sometimes referred to as “successes” or “failures.” To calculate the probability of a success using the theoretical approach, you first enumerate all the ways a success can occur. Then you enumerate all the events that can occur (whether successes or failures). Finally, you form a ratio with successes on top (the numerator) and total events on the bottom (the denominator). This fraction, changed to a decimal, is the theoretical probability of a success.
For example, with coin flipping, the theoretical probability of “head” is .50. A head is a success and it can occur in only one way. The total number of possible outcomes is two (head and tail), and the ratio is .50. In a similar way, the probability of rolling a six on a die is .167. For playing cards, the probability of drawing a jack is
The empirical approach to finding probability involves observing actual events, some of which are successes and some of which are failures. The ratio of successes to total events produces a probability, a decimal number between .00 and 1.00. To find an empirical probability, you use observations rather than logic to get the numbers.1
What is the probability of particular college majors? Remember the data in Figure 2.5, which showed college majors? The probability question can be answered by processing numbers from that figure. Here’s how. Choose the major that you are interested in and label the frequency of that major as “number of successes.” Divide that number by 1,348,500, which is the total number of baccalaureate degrees granted in 2002–2003. The figure you get answers the probability question. If the major in question is sociology, then 27,000/1,348,500 � .02 is the answer. For English, 54,000/1,348,500 � .04 is the answer.2 Now, here’s a question for you to answer for yourself. Were these probabilities determined theoretically or empirically?
4 52 � .077.
1 6 �
1 2
theoretical distribution Hypothesized scores based on mathematical formulas and logic.
1 The empirical probability approach is sometimes called the relative frequency approach. 2 If I missed doing the arithmetic for the major you are interested in, I hope you’ll do it for yourself.
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The rest of this chapter will emphasize theoretical distributions and theoretical probability. You will work with coins and cards next, but before you are finished, I promise you a much wider variety of applications.
A Rectangular Distribution
To show you the relationship between theoretical distributions and theoretical probabilities, I’ll use an example of a theoretical distribution that you may be familiar with. Figure 6.1 is a histogram that shows the distribution of types of cards in an ordinary deck of playing cards. There are 13 kinds of cards, and the frequency of each card is 4. This theoretical curve is a rectangular distribution. (The line that encloses a histogram or frequency polygon is called a curve, even if it is straight.) The number in the area above each card is the probability of obtaining that card in a chance draw from the deck. That theoretical probability (.077) was obtained by dividing the number of cards that represent the event (4) by the total number of cards (52).
Probabilities are often stated as “chances in a hundred.” The expression p � .077 means that there are 7.7 chances in 100 of the event occurring. Thus, from Figure 6.1 you can tell at a glance that there are 7.7 chances in 100 of drawing an ace from a deck of cards. This knowledge might be helpful in some card games.
With this theoretical distribution, you can determine other probabilities. Suppose you want to know your chances of drawing a face card or a 10. These are the shaded events in Figure 6.1. Simply add the probabilities associated with a 10, jack, queen, and king. Thus, .077 � .077 � .077 � .077 � .308. This knowledge might be helpful in a game of blackjack, in which a face card or a 10 is an important event (and may even signal “success”).
In Figure 6.1 there are 13 kinds of events, each with a probability of .077. It is not surprising that when you add up all the events [(13)(.077)], the result is 1.00.
.0 77
Ace
.0 77
2
.0 77
3
.0 77
4
.0 77
5
.0 77
6
.0 77
7
.0 77
8
.0 77
9
.0 77
10
.0 77
J
.0 77
Q
.0 77
K
Card
1
2
3
4
Fr eq
ue nc
y
F I G U R E 6 . 1 Theoretical distribution of 52 draws from a deck of playing cards
rectangular distribution Distribution in which all scores have the same frequency.
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In addition to the probabilities adding up to 1.00, the areas add up to 1.00. That is, by conventional agreement, the area under the curve is taken to be 1.00. With this arrangement, any statement about area is also a statement about probability. (If you like to verify things for yourself, you’ll find that each slender rectangle has an area that is .077 of the area under the curve.) Of the total area under the curve, the proportion that signifies ace is .077, and that is also the probability of drawing an ace from the deck.3
clue to the future The probability of an event or a group of events corresponds to the area of the theoretical distribution associated with the event or group of events. This idea will be used throughout this book.
P R O B L E M S
6.1. What is the probability of drawing a card that falls between 3 and jack, excluding both?
6.2. If you drew a card at random, recorded the result, and replaced the card in the deck, how many 7s would you expect in 52 draws?
6.3. What is the probability of drawing a card that is higher than a jack or lower than a 3?
6.4. If you made 78 draws from a deck, replacing each card, how many 5s and 6s would you expect?
A Binomial Distribution
The binomial distribution is another example of a theoretical distribution. Suppose you take three new quarters and toss them into the air. What is the probability that all three will come up heads? As you may know, the answer is found by multiplying together the probabilities of each of the independent events. For each coin, the
probability of a head is so the probability that all three will be heads is
Here are two other questions about tossing those three coins. What is the probability of two heads? What is the probability of one head or zero heads? You could answer these questions easily if you had a theoretical distribution of the probabilities. Here’s how to construct one. Start by listing, as in Table 6.1, the eight possible outcomes of tossing the three quarters into the air. Each of these eight
1 8 � .1250.
112 2 1 1 2 2 1
1 2 2 �
1 2,
3 In gambling situations, uncertainty is commonly expressed in odds. The expression “odds of 5:1” means that there are five ways to fail and one way to succeed; 3:2 means three ways to fail and two ways to succeed. The odds of drawing an ace are 12:1. To convert odds to a probability of success, divide the second number by the sum of the two numbers.
binomial distribution Distribution of the frequency of events that can have only two possible outcomes.
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outcomes is equally likely, so the probability for any one of them is There are three outcomes in which two heads appear, so the probability of two heads is .1250 � .1250 � .1250 � .3750. The probability .3750 is the answer to the first question. Based on Table 6.1, I constructed Figure 6.2, which is the theoretical distribution of probabilities you need. You can use it to answer problems 6.5 and 6.6, which follow.4
P R O B L E M S
6.5. If you toss three coins into the air, what is the probability of a success if success is (a) either one head or two heads? (b) all heads or all tails?
6.6. If you throw the three coins into the air 16 times, how many times would you expect to find zero heads?
1 8 � .1250.
TABLE 6.1 All possible outcomes when three coins are tossed
Outcomes Number of heads Probability of outcome
Heads, heads, heads 3 .1250 Heads, heads, tails 2 .1250 Heads, tails, heads 2 .1250 Tails, heads, heads 2 .1250 Heads, tails, tails 1 .1250 Tails, heads, tails 1 .1250 Tails, tails, heads 1 .1250 Tails, tails, tails 0 .1250
.1250
0
.3750
1
.3750
2
.1250
3
Number of heads
1
2
3
Fr eq
ue nc
y
F I G U R E 6 . 2 A theoretical binomial distribution showing the number of heads when three coins are tossed
4 The binomial distribution is discussed more fully by Howell (2007) and Pagano (2007, Chap. 9).
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Comparison of Theoretical and Empirical Distributions
I have carefully called Figures 6.1 and 6.2 theoretical distributions. A theoretical distribution may not reflect exactly what would happen if you drew cards from an actual deck of playing cards or tossed quarters into the air. Actual results could be influenced by lost or sticky cards, sleight of hand, uneven surfaces, or chance deviations. Now let’s turn to the empirical question of what a frequency distribution of actual draws from a deck of playing cards looks like. Figure 6.3 is a histogram based on 52 draws from a used deck shuffled once before each draw.
As you can see, Figure 6.3 is not exactly like Figure 6.1. In this case, the differences between the two distributions are due to chance or worn cards and not to lost cards or sleight of hand (at least not conscious sleight of hand). Of course, if I made 52 more draws from the deck and constructed a new histogram, the picture would probably be different from both Figures 6.3 and 6.1. However, if I continued, drawing 520 or 5200 or 52,000 times,5 and only chance was at work, the curve would be practically flat on the top; that is, the empirical curve would look like the theoretical curve.
The major point here is that a theoretical curve represents the “best estimate” of how the events would actually occur. As with all estimates, a theoretical curve may produce predictions that vary from actual observations, but in the world of real events, it is better than any other estimate.
In summary, then, a theoretical distribution is one based on logic and mathematics rather than on observations. It shows you the probability of each event that is part
Ace 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 J Q K
Card
2
4
6
8
Fr eq
ue nc
y
7
5
3
1
F I G U R E 6 . 3 Empirical frequency distribution of 52 draws from a deck of playing cards
5 Statisticians use the phrase the long run to describe extensive sampling.
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of the distribution. When it is similar to an empirical distribution, the probability figures obtained from the theoretical distribution are accurate predictors of actual events.
The Normal Distribution
One theoretical distribution that has proved to be extremely valuable is the normal distribution. With contributions from Abraham de Moivre (1667–1754) and Pierre-Simon Laplace (1749–1827), Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) worked out the mathematics of the curve and used it to assign precise probabilities to errors in astronomy observations (Wight and Gable, 2005). Because the Gaussian curve was such an accurate picture of the effects of random variation, early writers referred to the curve as the law of error.6 At the end of the 19th century, Francis Galton called the curve the normal distribution (David, 1995). Perhaps Galton chose the word normal based on the Latin adjective normalis, which means built with a carpenter’s square (and therefore exactly right). Certainly there were statisticians during the 19th century who mistakenly believed that if data were collected without any mistakes, the form of the distribution would be what is today called the normal distribution.
One of the early promoters of the normal curve was Adolphe Quetelet (KA-tle) (1796–1874), a Belgian who showed that many social and biological measurements are distributed normally. Quetelet, who knew about the “law of error” from his work as an astronomer, presented tables showing the correspondence between measurements such as height and chest size and the normal curve. His measure of starvation and obesity was weight divided by height. This index was a precursor of today’s BMI (body mass index). During the 19th century Quetelet was widely influential (Porter, 1986). Florence Nightingale, his friend and a pioneer in using statistical analyses to improve health care, said that Quetelet was “the founder of the most important science in the whole world.” (See Maindonald and Richardson, 2004, who also include an interview with Nightingale reconstructed from her writings.) Quetelet’s work also suggested to Francis Galton that genius could be treated mathematically, an idea that led to the concept of correlation.7
Although many measurements are distributed approximately normally, it is not the case that data “should” be distributed normally. This unwarranted conclusion has been reached by some scientists in the past.
Finally, the theoretical normal curve has an important place in statistical theory. This importance is quite separate from the fact that empirical frequency distributions often correspond closely to the normal curve.
Description of the Normal Distribution
Figure 6.4 is a normal distribution. It is a bell-shaped, symmetrical, theoretical distribution based on a mathematical formula rather than on empirical observations. (Even so, if you peek ahead to Figures 6.7, 6.8, and 6.9, you will see that empirical
6 In statistics, error means random variation. 7 Quetelet qualifies as a famous person: A statue was erected in his honor in Brussels, he was the first foreign member of the American Statistical Association, and the Belgian government commemorated the centennial of his death with a postage stamp (1974). For a short intellectual biography of Quetelet, see Faber (2005).
normal distribution A bell-shaped, theoretical distribution that predicts the frequency of occurrence of chance events.
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curves often look similar to this theoretical distribution.) When the theoretical curve is drawn, the Y axis is sometimes omitted. On the X axis, z scores are used as the unit
of measurement for the standardized normal curve, where
where X � a raw score m � the mean of the distribution s � the standard deviation of the distribution
There are several other things to note about the normal distribution. The mean, the median, and the mode are the same score—the score on the X axis where the curve peaks. If a line is drawn from the peak to the mean score on the X axis, the area under
the curve to the left of the line is half the total area—50 percent—leaving half the area to the right of the line. The tails of the curve are asymptotic to the X axis; that is, they never actually cross the axis but continue in both directions indefinitely, with the distance between the curve and the X axis becoming less and less. Although, in theory, the curve never ends, it is convenient to think of (and to draw) the curve as extending from
�3s to �3s. (The table for the normal curve in Appendix C, however, covers the area from �4s to �4s.)
Another point about the normal distribution is that the two inflection points in the curve are at exactly �1s and �1s. The inflection points are where the curve is the steepest—that is, where the curve changes from bending upward to bending over. (See the points above �1s and �1s in Figure 6.4 and think of walking up, over, and down a bell-shaped hill.)
To end this introductory section, here’s a caution about the word normal. The antonym for normal is abnormal. Curves that are not normal distributions, however, are definitely not abnormal. There is nothing uniquely desirable about the normal
z � X � m
s
m 1s 2s 3s1s�2s�3s�
0 1 2 31�2�3�z scores
F I G U R E 6 . 4 The normal distribution
asymptotic Line that continually approaches but never reaches a specified limit.
inflection point Point on a curve that separates a concave upward arc from a concave downward arc, or vice versa.
z score Score expressed in standard deviation units.
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distribution. Many nonnormal distributions are also useful to statisticians. Figure 6.1 is an example. It isn’t a normal distribution, but it can be very useful. Figure 6.5 shows what numbers were picked when an instructor asked introductory psychology students to pick a number between 1 and 10. Figure 6.5 is a bimodal distribution with modes at 3 and 7. It isn’t a normal distribution, but it will prove useful later in this book.
The Normal Distribution Table
The theoretical normal distribution is used to determine the probability of an event, just as Figure 6.1 was. Figure 6.6 is a picture of the normal curve, showing the probabilities associated with certain areas. The figure shows that the probability of an event with a z score between 0 and 1.00 is .3413. For events with z scores of 1.00 or larger, the probability is .1587. These probability figures were obtained from Table C in Appendix C. Turn to Table C now and insert a bookmark there. Table C is arranged so that you can begin with a z score (column A) and find the following:
1. The area between the mean and the z score (column B) 2. The area from the z score to infinity (�) (column C)
In column A find the z score of 1.00. The proportion of the curve between the mean and a z score of 1.00 is .3413. The proportion beyond the z score of 1.00 is .1587. Because the normal curve is symmetrical and because the area under the entire curve is 1.00, the sum of .3413 and .1587 will make sense to you. Also, because the curve is symmetrical, these same proportions hold for z � �1.00. Thus, all the proportions in Figure 6.6 were derived by finding the proportions associated with a z value of 1.00 in Table C. Don’t just read this paragraph; do it. Understanding the normal curve now will pay you dividends throughout the book.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number picked
10
20
30
40 Fr
eq ue
nc y
F I G U R E 6 . 5 Frequency distribution of choices of numbers between 1 and 10
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128 ■ Chapter 6
Notice that the proportions in Table C are carried to four decimal places and that I used all of them. This is customary practice in dealing with the normal curve because you often want two decimal places when a proportion is converted to a percentage.
P R O B L E M S
6.7. In Chapter 4 you read of a professor who gave A’s to students with z scores of �1.50 or higher. a. What proportion of a class would be expected to make A’s? b. What assumption must you make to find the proportion in part a?
6.8. What proportion of the normal distribution is found in the following areas? a. Between the mean and z � .21 b. Beyond z � .55 c. Between the mean and z � �2.01
6.9. Is the distribution in Figure 6.5 theoretical or empirical?
As I’ve already mentioned, many empirical distributions are approximately normally distributed. Figure 6.7 shows a set of 261 IQ scores, Figure 6.8 shows the diameter of 199 ponderosa pine trees, and Figure 6.9 shows the hourly wage rates of 185,822 union truck drivers in the middle of the last century (1944). As you can see, these distributions from diverse fields are similar to Figure 6.4, the theoretical normal distribution. Please note that all of these empirical distributions are based on a “large” number of observations. More than 100 observations are usually required for the curve to fill out nicely.
In this section I made two statistical points: first that Table C can be used to determine areas (proportions) of a normal distribution, and second that many empirical distributions are approximately normally distributed.
.1587
.3413 .3413
.1587
m 1s 2s 3s1s�2s�3s�
0 1 2 31�2�3�z scores
From column C
From column B
From column A
F I G U R E 6 . 6 The normal distribution showing the probabilities of certain z scores
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Converting Empirical Distributions to the Standard Normal Distribution
The point of this section is that any normally distributed empirical distribution can be made to correspond to the theoretical distribution in Table C by using z scores. If the raw scores of an empirical distribution are converted to z scores, the mean of the z scores will be 0 and the standard deviation will be 1. Thus, the parameters of the theoretical normal distribution (which is also called the standardized normal distribution) are: mean � 0, standard deviation � 1.
4 8 12 16 20 24 28
Diameter (in.)
5
10
15
20
25
30
N um
be r
of tr
ee s
F I G U R E 6 . 8 Frequency distribution of diameters of 100-year-old ponderosa pine trees on 1 acre, N � 199 (Forbs and Meyer, 1955)
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Text not available due to copyright restrictions
130 ■ Chapter 6
Using z scores calculated from the raw scores of an empirical distribution, you can determine the probabilities of empirical events such as IQ scores, tree diameters, and hourly wages. In fact, with z scores, you can find the probabilities of any empirical events that are distributed normally. Let’s begin with the simple problem of calculating z scores.
P R O B L E M
IQ scores are distributed normally (Figure 6.7 is evidence for that) with a theoretical mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.8
6.10. Calculate the z scores for IQ scores of a. 55 b. 110 c. 103 d. 100
Proportion of a Population with Scores of a Particular Size or Greater
Human beings vary from one another in many ways. One of those ways is cognitive ability, which can be measured with IQ tests, college entrance examination tests, and nonverbal tests such as the Raven’s Progressive Matrices test. As you have already experienced, many academic and personnel decisions are made based on scores from such tests.
Suppose you are faced with finding out what proportion of the population has an IQ of 120 or higher. Begin by sketching a normal curve (either in the margin or on a
30 50 70 90 110 130 150 170
Cents per hour
10
20
30
40
T ho
us an
ds o
f dr
iv er
s
F I G U R E 6 . 9 Frequency distribution of hourly wage rates of union truck drivers on July 1, 1944, N � 185,822 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, December 1944)
8 This is true for the Wechsler intelligence scales (WAIS, WISC, and WPPSI) and most other IQ tests. The Stanford–Binet test has a mean of 100 also, but the standard deviation is 16. As first noted by Flynn (1987), the actual population mean IQ in recent years has been well above 100 in many countries.
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separate paper). Note on the baseline the positions of IQs of 100 and 120. What is your eyeball estimate of the proportion with IQs of 120 or higher?
Look at Figure 6.10. It is a more formal version of your sketch, giving additional IQ scores on the X axis. The proportion of the population with IQs of 120 or higher is shaded. The z score that corresponds with an IQ of 120 is
Table C shows that the proportion beyond z � 1.33 is .0918. Thus, you expect a proportion of .0918, or 9.18 percent, of the population to have an IQ of 120 or higher. Because the size of an area under the curve is also a probability statement about the events in that area, there are 9.18 chances in 100 that any randomly selected person will have an IQ of 120 or above. Figure 6.11 shows the proportions just determined.
z � 120 � 100
15 �
20
15 � 1.33
m 1s 2s 3s1s�2s�3s�
100 115 130 145857055 120
?
F I G U R E 6 . 1 0 Theoretical distribution of IQ scores
100 120
.4082 .0918
F I G U R E 6 . 1 1 Proportion of the population with an IQ of 120 or higher
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Table C gives the proportions of the normal curve for positive z scores only. However, because the distribution is symmetrical, knowing that .0918 of the population has an IQ of 120 or higher tells you that .0918 has an IQ of 80 or lower. An IQ of 80 has a z score of �1.33.
Questions of “How Many”
You can answer questions of “how many” as well as questions of proportions using the normal distribution. Suppose 500 first-graders are entering school. How many would be expected to have IQs of 120 or higher? You just found that 9.18 percent of the population would have IQs of 120 or higher. If the population is 500, then calculating 9.18 percent of 500 gives you the number of children. Thus, (.0918)(500) � 45.9. So 46 of the 500 first-graders would be expected to have an IQ of 120 or higher.
There are 19 more normal curve problems for you to do in the rest of this chapter. Do you want to maximize your chances of working every one of them correctly the first time? Here’s how. For each problem, start by sketching a normal curve. Read the problem and write the givens and the unknowns on your curve. Estimate the answer. Apply the z-score formula. Compare your answer with your estimate; if they don’t agree, decide which is in error and make any changes that are appropriate. Confirm your answer by checking the answer in the back of the book. (I hope you decide to go for 19 out of 19!)
error detection Sketching a normal curve is the best way to understand a problem and avoid errors. Draw vertical lines above the scores you are interested in. Write in proportions.
P R O B L E M S
6.11. For many school systems, an IQ of 70 indicates that the child may be eligible for special education. What proportion of the general population has an IQ of 70 or less?
6.12. In a school district of 4000 students, how many would be expected to have IQs of 70 or less?
6.13. What proportion of the population would be expected to have IQs of 110 or higher?
6.14. Answer the following questions for 250 first-grade students. a. How many would you expect to have IQs of 110 or higher? b. How many would you expect to have IQs lower than 110? c. How many would you expect to have IQs lower than 100?
Separating a Population into Two Proportions
Instead of starting with an IQ score and calculating proportions, you can work backward and answer questions about scores if you are given proportions. For example, what IQ score is required to be in the top 10 percent of the population?
My picture of this problem is shown as Figure 6.12. I began by sketching a more or less bell-shaped curve and writing in the mean (100). Next, I separated the “top 10
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percent” portion with a vertical line. Because I need to find a score, I put a question mark on the score axis.
With a picture in place, you can finish the problem. The next step is to look in Table C under the column “area beyond z” for .1000. It is not there. You have a choice between .0985 and .1003. Because .1003 is closer to the desired .1000, use it.9 The z score that corresponds to a proportion of .1003 is 1.28. Now you have all the information you need to solve for X.
To begin, solve the basic z-score formula for X:
Multiplying both sides by s produces
Adding m to both sides isolates X. Thus, when you need to find a score (X) associated with a particular proportion of the normal curve, the formula is
Returning to the 10 percent problem and substituting numbers for the mean, the z score, and the standard deviation, you get
Therefore, the minimum IQ score required to be in the top 10 percent of the population is 119.
� 119 1IQs are usually expressed as whole numbers. 2
� 119.2
� 100 � 19.20
X � 100 � 11.28 2 115 2
X � m � 1z 2 1s 2
1z 2 1s 2 � X � m
z � X � m
s
F I G U R E 6 . 1 2 Sketch of a theoretical distribution of IQ scores divided into an upper 10 percent and a lower 90 percent
9 You might use interpolation (a method to determine an intermediate score) to find a more accurate z score for a proportion of .1000. This extra precision (and labor) is unnecessary because the final result is rounded to the nearest whole number. For IQ scores, the extra precision does not make any difference in the final answer.
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µ 1σ 2σ 3σ1σ–2σ–3σ–
58 70 82 94463422 ?
.3333 .6667
Lower third
F I G U R E 6 . 1 3 Distribution of scores on a math achievement exam
Here is a similar problem. Suppose a mathematics department wants to restrict the remedial math course to those who really need it. The department has the scores on the math achievement exam taken by entering freshmen for the past 10 years. The scores on this exam are distributed in an approximately normal fashion, with m � 58 and s � 12. The department wants to make the remedial course available to those students whose mathematical achievement places them in the bottom third of the freshman class. The question is: What score will divide the lower third from the upper two-thirds? Sketch your picture of the problem and check it against Figure 6.13.
With a picture in place, the next step is to look in column C of Table C to find .3333. Again, such a proportion is not listed. The nearest proportion is .3336, which has a z value of �.43. (This time you are dealing with a z score below the mean, where all z scores are negative.) Applying z � �.43, you get
Using the theoretical normal curve to establish a cutoff score is efficient. All you need are the mean, the standard deviation, and confidence in your assumption that the scores are distributed normally. The empirical alternative for the mathematics department is to sort physically through all scores for the past 10 years, arrange them in a frequency distribution, and calculate the score that separates the bottom one-third.
P R O B L E M S
6.15. Mensa is an organization of people who have high IQs. To be eligible for membership, a person must have an IQ “higher than 98 percent of the population.” What IQ is required to qualify?
� 52.84 � 53 points
� 58 � 5.16
� 58 � 1�.43 2 112 2
X � m � 1z 2 1s 2
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6.16. The mean height of American women aged 20–29 is 64.3 inches, with a standard deviation of 2.5 inches (Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006, 2005). a. What height divides the tallest 5 percent of the population from the
rest? b. The minimum height required for women to join the U.S. Army is
58 inches. What proportion of the population is excluded? *6.17. The mean height of American men aged 20–29 is 69.7 inches, with a
standard deviation of 3.0 inches (Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006, 2005). a. The minimum height required for men to join the U.S. Army is 60
inches. What proportion of the population is excluded? b. What proportion of the population is taller than Napoleon
Bonaparte, who was 5�2�? 6.18. The weight of many manufactured items is approximately normally
distributed. For new U.S. pennies, the mean is 3.11 grams and the standard deviation is 0.05 gram (Youden, 1962). a. What proportion of all new pennies would you expect to weigh
more than 3.20 grams? b. What weights separate the middle 80 percent of the pennies from
the lightest 10 percent and the heaviest 10 percent?
Proportion of a Population between Two Scores
Table C in Appendix C can also be used to determine the proportion of the population between two scores. For example, IQ scores that fall in the range from 90 to 110 are often labeled “average.” What proportion of the population falls in this range? Figure 6.14 is a picture of the problem.
11090
?
F I G U R E 6 . 1 4 The normal distribution showing the IQ scores that define the “average” range
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In this problem you must add an area on the left of the mean to an area on the right of the mean. First you need z scores that correspond to the IQ scores of 90 and 110:
The proportion of the distribution between the mean and z � .67 is .2486, and, of course, the same proportion is between the mean and z � �.67. Therefore, (2)(.2486) � .4972 or 49.72 percent. So approximately 50 percent of the population is classified as “average,” using the “IQ � 90 to 110” definition.
What proportion of the population would be expected to have IQs between 70 and 90? Figure 6.15 illustrates this question. There are two approaches to this problem. One is to find the area from 100 to 70 and then subtract the area from 90 to 100. The other way is to find the area beyond 90 and subtract from it the area beyond 70. I’ll illustrate with the second approach. The corresponding z scores are
The area beyond z � �.67 is .2514, and the area beyond z � �2.00 is .0228. Subtracting the second proportion from the first, you find that .2286 of the population has an IQ in the range of 70 to 90.
P R O B L E M S
*6.19. The distribution of 800 test scores in an introduction to psychology course was approximately normal, with m � 35 and s � 6. a. What proportion of the students had scores between 30 and 40?
z � 90 � 100
15 � �.67 and z �
70 � 100
15 � �2.00
z � 110 � 100
15 �
10
15 � .67
z � 90 � 100
15 �
�10
15 � �.67
90
?
70
F I G U R E 6 . 1 5 The normal distribution illustrating the area bounded by IQ scores of 90 and 70
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Theoretical Distributions Including the Normal Distribution ■ 137
b. What is the probability that a randomly selected student would score between 30 and 40?
6.20. Now that you know the proportion of students with scores between 30 and 40, would you expect to find the same proportion between scores of 20 and 30? If so, why? If not, why not?
6.21. Calculate the proportion of scores between 20 and 30. Be careful with this one; drawing a picture is especially advised.
6.22. How many of the 800 students would be expected to have scores between 20 and 30?
Extreme Scores in a Population
The extreme scores in a distribution are important in many statistical applications. Most often extreme scores in either direction are of interest. For example, many applications focus on the extreme 5 percent of the distribution. Thus, the upper percent and the lower
percent receive attention. Turn to Table C in Appendix C and find the z score that separates the extreme percent of the curve from the rest. (Of course, the z score associated with the lowest percent of the curve will have a negative value.) Please memorize the z score you just looked up. This number will turn up many times in future chapters.
Here is an illustration. What two heart rates (beats per minute) separate the middle 95 percent of the population from the extreme 5 percent? Figure 6.16 is my sketch of the problem. According to studies summarized by Milnor (1990), the mean heart rate for humans is 71 beats per minute (bpm) and the standard deviation is 9 bpm. To find the two scores, use the formula X � m � (z)(s). Using the values given, plus the z score you memorized, you get the following:
Upper score Lower score
X � m � (z)(s) X � m � (z)(s)
� 71 � (1.96)(9) � 71 � (1.96)(9)
� 71 � 17.6 � 71 � 17.6
� 88.6 or 89 bpm � 53.4 or 53 bpm
212
212
212
212
F I G U R E 6 . 1 6 Sketch showing the separation of the extreme 5 percent of the population from the rest
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138 ■ Chapter 6
Thus, 95 percent of the population is expected to have pulse rates between 53 and 89, which leaves 5 percent of the population above 89 or below 53.
clue to the future The idea of finding scores and proportions that are extreme in either direction will come up again after Chapter 7. In particular, the extreme 5 percent and the extreme 1 percent are important.
P R O B L E M S
6.23. What two IQ scores separate the extreme 1 percent of the population from the middle 99 percent? Set this problem up using the “extreme 5 percent” example as a model.
6.24. What is the probability that a randomly selected person has an IQ higher than 139 or lower than 61?
6.25. Look at Figure 6.9 and suppose that the union leadership decided to ask for $0.85 per hour as a minimum wage. For those 185,822 workers, the mean was $0.99 with a standard deviation of $0.17. If $0.85 per hour was established as a minimum, how many workers would get raises?
6.26. Look at Figure 6.8 and suppose that a timber company decided to harvest all trees 8 inches DBH (diameter breast height) or larger from a 100-acre tract. On a 1-acre tract there were 199 trees with m � 13.68 and s � 4.83. How many trees would be expected to be harvested from 100 acres?
Comparison of Theoretical and Empirical Answers
You have been using the theoretical normal distribution to find probabilities and to calculate scores and proportions of IQs, wages, heart rates, and other measures. Earlier in this chapter, I claimed that if the empirical observations are distributed like a normal curve, accurate predictions can be made. A reasonable question is: How accurate are all these predictions I’ve just made? A reasonable answer can be fashioned from a comparison of the predicted proportions (from the theoretical curve) and the actual proportions (computed from empirical data). Figure 6.7 is based on 261 IQ scores of fifth-grade public school students. You worked through examples that produced proportions of people with IQs higher than 120, lower than 90, and between 90 and 110. These actual proportions can be compared with those predicted from the normal distribution. Table 6.2 shows these comparisons.
As you can see by examining the Difference column of Table 6.2, the accuracy of the predictions ranges from excellent to not so good. Some of this variation can be explained by the fact that the mean IQ of the fifth-grade students was 101 and the standard deviation 13.4. Both the higher mean (101, compared with 100 for the normal curve) and the lower standard deviation (13.4, compared with 15) are due to the systematic exclusion
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Theoretical Distributions Including the Normal Distribution ■ 139
of children with very low IQ scores from regular public schools. Thus, the actual proportion of students with IQs lower than 90 is less than predicted, which is because our school sample is not representative of all 10- to 11-year-old children.
Although IQ scores are distributed approximately normally, many other scores are not. Karl Pearson recognized this, as have others. Theodore Micceri (1989) made this point again in an article titled, “The Unicorn, the Normal Curve, and Other Improbable Creatures.” Caution is always in order when you are using theoretical distributions to make predictions about empirical events. However, don’t let undue caution prevent you from getting the additional understanding that statistics offers.
Other Theoretical Distributions
In this chapter you learned a little about rectangular distributions and binomial distributions and quite a bit about normal distributions. Later in this book you will encounter other distributions such as the t distribution, the F distribution, and the chi square distribution. In addition to the distributions in this book, mathematical statisticians have identified others, all of which are useful in particular circumstances. Some have interesting names such as the Poisson distribution; others have complicated names such as the hypergeometric distribution. In every case, however, a distribution is used because it provides reasonably accurate probabilities about particular events.
P R O B L E M S
6.27. For human infants born weighing 5.5 pounds or more, the mean gestation period is 268 days, which is just less than 9 months. The standard deviation is 14 days (McKeown and Gibson, 1951). What proportion of the gestation periods are expected to last 10 months or longer (300 days)?
6.28. The height of residential door openings in the United States is 6�8�. Use the information in problem 6.17 to determine the number of men among 10,000 who have to duck to enter a room.
6.29. An imaginative anthropologist measured the stature of 100 hobbits (using the proper English measure of inches) and found these values:
�X � 3600 �X 2 � 130,000
Assume that the heights of hobbits are normally distributed. Find m and s and answer the following questions.
TABLE 6.2 Comparison of predicted and actual proportions
Predicted from Calculated from IQs normal curve actual data Difference
Higher than 120 .0918 .0920 .0002 Lower than 90 .2514 .2069 .0445 Between 90 and 110 .4972 .5249 .0277
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140 ■ Chapter 6
a. The Bilbo Baggins Award for Adventure is 32 inches tall. What proportion of the hobbit population is taller than the award?
b. Three hundred hobbits entered a cave that had an entrance 39 inches high. The orcs chased them out. How many hobbits could exit without ducking?
c. Gandalf is 46 inches tall. What is the probability that he is a hobbit? 6.30. Please review the objectives at the beginning of the chapter. Can you do
what is asked?
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 6 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, a workshop, and more. The workshop is z scores, a Statistics Workshop. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and problems that require calculation and interpretation.
KEY TERMS Asymptotic (p. 126) Binomial distribution (p. 122) Empirical distribution (p. 119) Extreme scores (p. 137) Inflection point (p. 126)
Normal distribution (p. 125) Probability (p. 120) Rectangular distribution (p. 121) Theoretical distribution (p. 120) z score (p. 126)
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chapter 7 Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 7
After studying the text and working the problems, you should be able to:
1. Define random sample and obtain one if you are given a population of data
2. Define and identify biased sampling methods
3. Distinguish between random samples and the more common research samples
4. Define sampling distribution and sampling distribution of the mean
5. Discuss the Central Limit Theorem
6. Calculate a standard error of the mean either from s and N or from sample data
7. Describe the effect of N on the standard error of the mean
8. Use the z-score formula to find the probability that a sample mean or a sample mean more extreme was drawn from a population with a specified mean
9. Describe the t distribution
10. Explain when to use the t distribution rather than the normal distribution
11. Calculate, interpret, and graphically display confidence intervals about sample means
PLEASE BE ESPECIALLY attentive to SAMPLING DISTRIBUTIONS, a concept that is at the heart of inferential statistics. The subtitle of your book, “Tales of Distributions,” is a reference to sampling distributions; every chapter after this one is about some kind of sampling distribution. Thus, you might consider this paragraph to be a SUPERCLUE to the future.
Here is a progression of ideas that lead to what a sampling distribution is and how it is used. In Chapter 2 you studied frequency distributions of scores. If those scores
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are distributed normally, you can use z scores to determine the probability of the occurrence of any particular score (Chapter 6). Now imagine a frequency distribution, not of scores but of statistics, each calculated from separate samples. This distribution has a form and if it is normal, you could use z scores to determine the probability of the occurrence of any particular value of the statistic. A distribution of sample statistics is called a sampling distribution.
As I’ve mentioned several times, statistical techniques can be categorized as descriptive and inferential. This is the first chapter that is entirely about inferential statistics, which, as you probably recall, are methods that take chance factors into account when samples are used to reach conclusions about populations. To take chance factors into account, you must understand sampling distributions and what they tell you. As for samples, I’ll describe methods of obtaining them and some of the pitfalls. Thus, this chapter covers topics that are central to inferential statistics.
Here is a story with an inferential statistics problem embedded in it. The problem can be solved using techniques presented in this chapter.
Late one afternoon, two students were discussing the average family income of students on their campus.
“Well, the average family income for college students is $73,000, nationwide,” said the junior, looking up from a book (Pryor et al., 2005). “I’m sure the mean for this campus is at least that much.”
“I don’t think so,” the sophomore replied. “I know lots of students who have only their own resources or come from pretty poor families. I’ll bet you a dollar the mean for students here at State U. is below the national average.”
“You’re on,” grinned the junior. Together the two went out with a pencil and pad and asked ten students how much their
family income was. The mean of these ten answers was $65,000. Now the sophomore grinned. “I told you so; the mean here is $8000 less than the national
average.” Disappointed, the junior immediately began to review their procedures. Rather quickly,
a light went on. “Actually, this mean of $65,000 is meaningless—here’s why. Those ten students aren’t representative of the whole student body. They are late-afternoon students, and several of them support themselves with temporary jobs while they go to school. Most students are supported from home by parents who have permanent and better-paying jobs. Our sample was no good. We need results from the whole campus or at least from a representative sample.”
To get the results from the whole student body, the two went the next day to the director of the financial aid office, who told them that family incomes for the student body are not public information. Sampling, therefore, was necessary.
After discussing their problem, the two students sought the advice of a friendly statistics professor. The professor explained how to obtain a random sample of students and suggested that 40 replies would be a practical sample size. Forty students, selected randomly, were identified. After three days of phone calls, visits, and callbacks, the 40 responses produced a mean of $69,900, or $3100 less than the national average.
“Pay,” demanded the sophomore. “OK, OK, . . . here!” Later, the junior began to think. What about another random sample and its mean? It
would be different and it could be higher. Maybe the mean of $69,900 was just bad luck, just a chance event.
Shortly afterward, the junior confronted the sophomore with thoughts about repeated sampling. “How do we know that the random sample we got told us the truth about the
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population? Like, maybe the mean for the entire student body is $73,000. Maybe a sample with a mean of $69,900 would occur just by chance fairly often. I wonder what the chances are of getting a sample mean of $69,900 from a population with a mean of $73,000?”
“Well, that statistics professor told us that if we had any more questions to come back and get an explanation of sampling distributions. In the meantime, why don’t I just apply my winnings toward a couple of ice cream cones.”
The two statistical points of the story are that random samples are good (the junior paid off only after the results were based on a random sample) and that uncertainty about random samples can be reduced if you know about sampling distributions.
This chapter is about getting a sample, drawing a conclusion about the population the sample came from, and knowing how much faith to put in your conclusion. Of course, there is some peril in this. Even the best methods of sampling produce variable results. How can you be sure that the sample you use will lead to a correct decision about its population? Unfortunately, you cannot be absolutely sure.
To use a sample is to agree to accept some uncertainty about the results.
Fortunately, a sampling distribution allows you to measure the uncertainty. On the one hand, if a great deal of uncertainty exists, the sensible thing to do is to say you are uncertain. On the other hand, if there is very little uncertainty, the sensible thing to do is to reach a conclusion about the population, even though there is a small risk of being wrong. Reread this paragraph; it is important.
In this chapter, the first three sections are about samples. Following that, sampling distributions are explained and one method of drawing a conclusion about a population mean is presented. In the final sections, I will explain the t distribution, which is a sampling distribution. The t distribution is used to calculate a confidence interval about the sample mean, a statistic that provides information about a population mean.
Random Samples
When it comes to finding out about a population, the best sample is a random sample. In statistics, random refers to the method used to obtain the sample. Any method that allows every possible sample of size N an equal chance to be selected produces a random sample. Random does not mean haphazard or unplanned. To obtain a random sample, you must do the following:
1. Define the population. That is, explain what numbers (scores) are in the population.
2. Identify every member of the population.1
3. Select numbers (scores) in such a way that every sample has an equal probability of being selected.
To illustrate, I will use the population of scores in Table 7.1, for which m � 9 and s � 2. Using these 20 scores allows us to satisfy requirements 1 and 2. As for requirement 3, I’ll describe two methods of selecting numbers so that all the possible samples have an equal probability of being selected. For this illustration, N � 8.
Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals ■ 143
1 Technically, the population consists of the measurements of the members and not the members themselves.
random sample Subset of a population chosen so that all samples of the specified size have an equal probability of being selected.
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One method of getting a random sample is to write each number in the population on a slip of paper, put the 20 slips in a box, jumble them around, and draw out eight slips. The numbers on the slips are a random sample. This method works fine if the slips are all the same size, they are jumbled thoroughly, and the population has only a few members. If the population is large, this method is tedious.
A second (usually easier) method of selecting a random sample is to use a table of random numbers, such as Table B in Appendix C. To use the table, you must first assign an identifying number to each of the scores in the population. See Table 7.2. The population scores do not have to be arranged in any order. Each score in the population is identified by a two-digit number from 01 to 20.
Now turn to Appendix C, Table B. Pick an intersection of a row and a column. Any haphazard method will work; close your eyes and put your finger on a spot. Suppose you found yourself at row 80, columns 15–19 (page 382). Find that place. Reading horizontally, the digits are 82279. You need only two digits to identify any member of your population, so you might as well use the first two (columns 15 and 16), which give you 8 and 2 (82). Unfortunately, 82 is larger than any of the identifying numbers, so it doesn’t match a score in the population, but at least you are started. From this point you can read two-digit numbers in any direction—up, down, or sideways—but the decision should be made before you look at the numbers. If you decide to read down, you find 04. The identifying number 04 corresponds to a score of 13 in Table 7.2, so 13 becomes the first number in the sample. The next identifying number is 34, which again does not correspond to a population score. Indeed, the next ten numbers are too large. The next usable ID number is 16, which places an 8 in the sample. Continuing the search, you reach the bottom of the table. At this point you can go in any direction; I moved to the right and started back up the two outside columns (18 and 19). The first number, 83, was too large, but the next identifying number, 06, corresponded to an 8, which went
144 ■ Chapter 7
TABLE 7.1 20 scores used as a population; M � 9, S � 2
9 7 11 13 10 8 10 6 8 8 10 12 9 10 5 8 9 6 10 11
TABLE 7.2 Assignment of identifying numbers to a population of scores
ID ID number Score number Score
01 9 11 10 02 7 12 12 03 11 13 9 04 13 14 10 05 10 15 5 06 8 16 8 07 10 17 9 08 6 18 6 09 8 19 10 10 8 20 11
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into the sample. Next, a 15 and a 20 identified population scores of 5 and 11 for the sample. The next number that is between 01 and 20 is 15, but it has already been used, so it should be ignored. The identifying numbers 18, 02, and 14 match scores in the population of 6, 7, and 10. Thus, the random sample of eight consists of these scores: 13, 8, 8, 5, 11, 6, 7, and 10.
P R O B L E M
*7.1. A random sample is supposed to yield a statistic similar to the population parameter. Find the mean of the random sample of eight numbers selected in the text.
What is this table of random numbers? In Table B (and in any set of random numbers), the probability of occurrence of any digit from 0 to 9 at any place in the table is the same: .10. Thus, you are just as likely to find 000 as 123 or 397. Incidentally, you cannot generate random numbers out of your head. Certain sequences begin to recur, and (unless warned) you will not include enough repetitions like 000 and 555. If warned, you produce too many.
Here are some suggestions for using a table of random numbers efficiently.
1. In the list of population scores and their ID numbers, check off the ID number when it is chosen for the sample. This helps to prevent duplications.
2. If the population is large (more than 50), it is more efficient to get all the identifying numbers from the table first. As you select them, put them in some rough order to help prevent duplications. After you have all the identifying numbers, go to the population to select the sample.
3. If the population has exactly 100 members, let 00 be the identifying number for 100. By doing this, you can use two-digit identifying numbers, each one of which matches a population score. This same technique works for populations of 10 or 1000 members.
Random sampling has two uses. (1) It is the best method of sampling if you want to generalize to a population. The two sections that follow, biased samples and research samples, both address the issue of generalizing from the sample to the population. (2) As an entirely separate use, random sampling is the mathematical basis for creating sampling distributions, which are central to inferential statistics.
P R O B L E M S
7.2. Draw a random sample of 10 from the population in Table 7.1. Calculate X�.
7.3. Draw a random sample with N � 12 from the following scores:
76 47 81 70 67 80 64 57 76 81
68 76 79 50 89 42 67 77 80 71
91 72 64 59 76 83 72 63 69
78 90 46 61 74 74 74 69 83
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Biased Samples
A biased sample is one obtained by a method that systematically underselects or overselects from certain groups in the population. Thus, with a biased sampling technique, every sample of a given size does not have an equal opportunity of being selected. With biased sampling techniques, you are much more likely to get an unrepresentative sample than you are with random sampling.
At times, conclusions based on mailed questionnaires are suspect because the sampling methods were biased. Usually an investigator defines the population, identifies each member, and mails the questionnaire to a randomly selected sample. Suppose that 60 percent of the recipients respond. Can valid results for the population be based on the questionnaires returned? Probably not. There is good reason to suspect that the 60 percent who responded are different from the 40 percent who did not. Thus, although the population is made up of both kinds of people, the sample reflects only one kind. Therefore, the sample is biased. The probability of bias is particularly high if the questionnaire elicits feelings of pride or despair or disgust or apathy in some of the recipients.
A famous case of a biased sample occurred in a poll that was to predict the results of the 1936 election for president of the United States. The Literary Digest (a popular magazine) mailed 10 million “ballots” to those on its master mailing list, a list of more than 10 million people compiled from “all telephone books in the U.S., rosters of clubs, lists of registered voters,” and other sources. More than 2 million “ballots” were returned and the prediction was clear: Alf Landon by a landslide over Franklin Roosevelt. As you may have learned, the actual results were just the opposite; Roosevelt got 61 percent of the vote.
From the 10 million who had a chance to express a preference, 2 million very interested persons had selected themselves. This 2 million had more than its proportional share of those who were disgruntled with Roosevelt’s depression-era programs. The 2 million ballots were a biased sample; the results were not representative of the population. In fairness, it should be noted that the Literary Digest used a similar master list in 1932 and predicted the popular vote within 1 percentage point.2
Obviously, researchers want to avoid biased samples; random sampling seems like the appropriate solution. The problem, however, is step 2 on page 143. For almost all research problems, it is impossible to identify every member of the population.
What do practical researchers do when they cannot obtain a random sample?
Research Samples
Fortunately, the problem I have posed is not a serious one. For researchers whose immediate goal is to generalize their results directly to a population, techniques besides random sampling produce results that mirror the population in question. Such nonrandom (though carefully controlled) samples are used by a wide variety of people and organizations. The public opinion polls reported by Gallup, Lou Harris, and the Roper organization are based on carefully selected nonrandom samples. ASCAP, the
146 ■ Chapter 7
2 See the Literary Digest, August 22, 1936, and November 14, 1936.
biased sample Sample selected in such a way that not all samples from the population have an equal chance of being chosen.
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musicians’ union, samples the broadcasts of the almost 12,000 U.S. radio stations and then distributes royalties to members based on sample results. Inventory procedures in large retail organizations rely on sampling. What you know about your blood is based on an analysis of a small sample. (Thank goodness!) And what you think about your friends and family is based on just a sample of their behavior.
Fortunately, the immediate goal of most researchers is not to generalize to a larger population, but to determine whether two (or more) treatments produce different outcomes. Their experiments seldom, if ever, involve random samples. Instead, they use convenient, practical samples. If the researchers find a difference, they conduct the experiment again, perhaps varying the independent or dependent variable. If several experiments produce a coherent pattern of differences, the researchers and their colleagues conclude that the differences are general, even though no random samples were used at any time. Most of the time, they are correct. For these researchers, the representativeness of their samples is not of immediate concern.
P R O B L E M S
7.4. Suppose a large number of questionnaires about educational accomplish- ments are mailed out. Do you think that some recipients will be more likely to return the questionnaire than others? Which ones? If the sample is biased, will it overestimate or underestimate the educational accom- plishments of the population?
7.5. Sometimes newspapers sample opinions of the local population by printing a “ballot” and asking readers to mark it and mail it in. Evaluate this sampling technique.
7.6. Consider as a population the students at State U. whose names are listed alphabetically in the student directory. Are the following samples biased or random? a. Every fifth name on the list b. Every member of the junior class c. 150 names drawn from a box that contains all the names in the
directory d. One name chosen at random from the directory e. A random sample from those taking the required English course
7.7. Explain why researchers do not use random samples. How are they able to generalize their results?
Sampling Distributions
A sampling distribution is always the sampling distribution of a particular statistic. Thus, there is a sampling distribution of the mean, a sampling distribution of the variance, a sampling distribution of the range, and so forth. Here is a description of an empirical sampling distribution of a statistic.
Think about many random samples (each with the same N ) all drawn from the same population. The same statistic (for example, the mean) is calculated for
Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals ■ 147
sampling distribution Theoretical distribution of a statistic based on all possible random samples drawn from the same population
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each sample. All of these statistics are arranged into a frequency distribution and graphed as a frequency polygon. The mean and the standard deviation of the frequency distribution are calculated. Now, imagine that the frequency polygon is a normal curve. If the distribution is normal and you have its mean and standard deviation, you can calculate z scores and find probabilities associated with particular values of the statistic.
The sampling distributions that textbooks provide so you can work problems are theoretical distributions derived from formulas rather than empirical ones. These theoretical distributions are similar, though, because they give you the probability associated with particular values of a statistic.
Sampling distributions are so important that statisticians have special names for their mean and standard deviation. The mean of a sampling distribution is called the expected value and the standard deviation is called the standard error.3 I will not have much more to say about expected value, but if you continue your study of statistics, you
will encounter it. The standard error, however, will be used many times in this text.
To conclude, a sampling distribution is the theoretical distribution of a statistic based on random samples of size N. Sampling distributions are used by all who use inferential statistics, regardless of the nature of their research samples. If you want to see what different sampling distributions look like, peek ahead to Figure 7.3, Figure 7.5, Figure 10.4, and Figure 13.1.
clue to the future In inferential statistics, decisions are made after comparing actual research outcomes to outcomes predicted by a sampling distribution.
The Sampling Distribution of the Mean
Let’s turn to a particular sampling distribution, the sampling distribution of the mean. Remember the population of 20 scores that you sampled from earlier in this chapter? For problem 7.2, you drew a sample of 10 and calculated the mean. For almost every sample in your class, the mean was different. Each, however, was an estimate of the population mean.
My example problem in the section on random sampling used N � 8; my one sample produced a mean of 8.50. Now, think about drawing 200 samples with N � 8 from the population of Table 7.1 scores, calculating the 200 means, and constructing a frequency polygon. You may already be thinking, “That’s a job for a computer.” Right. The result is Figure 7.1.
Look at Figure 7.1. Notice how nicely centered the sampling distribution is about the population mean of 9.00. Most of the sample means (X�’s) are fairly close to the population parameter, m.
148 ■ Chapter 7
3 In this and in other statistical contexts, the term error means deviations or random variation. The word error is left over from the 19th century, when random variation was referred to as the “normal law of error.” Of course, error sometimes means mistake, so you will have to be alert to the context when this word appears (or you may make an error).
expected value The mean value of a random variable over an infinite number of samplings.
standard error Standard deviation of a sampling distribution.
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The characteristics of a sampling distribution of the mean are:
1. Every sample is drawn randomly from a specified population. 2. The sample size (N ) is the same for all samples. 3. The number of samples is very large. 4. The mean X� is calculated for each sample.4 5. The sample means are arranged into a frequency distribution.
I hope that when you looked at Figure 7.1, you were at least suspicious that it might be the ubiquitous normal curve. It is. Now you are in a position that educated people often find themselves in: What you learned in the past, which was how to use the normal curve for scores (X), can be used for a different problem—describing the relationship between X� and m.
Of course, the normal curve is a theoretical curve, and I presented you with an empirical curve that only appears normal. I would like to let you prove for yourself that the form of a sampling distribution of the mean is a normal curve, but, unfortunately, that requires mathematical sophistication beyond that assumed for this course. So I will resort to a time-honored teaching technique—an appeal to authority.
Central Limit Theorem
The authority I appeal to is mathematical statistics, which proved a theorem called the Central Limit Theorem:
For any population of scores, regardless of form, the sampling distribution of the mean approaches a normal distribution as N (sample size) gets larger.
Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals ■ 149
7.50
10
20
30
40
50
60
7.88 8.25 8.63 9.00
Sample means
Fr eq
ue nc
y
9.38 9.75 10.13 10.50
F I G U R E 7 . 1 Empirical sampling distribution of 200 means from the population in Table 7.1. For each sample mean, N � 8.
4 To create a sampling distribution of a statistic other than the mean, substitute that statistic at this step.
Central Limit Theorem The sampling distribution of the mean approaches a normal curve as N gets larger.
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Furthermore, the sampling distribution of the mean has a mean (the expected value) equal to m and a standard deviation (the standard error) equal to
This appeal to authority resulted in a lot of information about the sampling distribution of the mean. To put this information into list form:
1. The sampling distribution of the mean approaches a normal curve as N increases
2. For a population with a mean, m, and a standard deviation, s, a. The mean of the sampling distribution (expected value) � m b. The standard deviation of the sampling distribution (standard error) �
Here are two final points of terminology:
1. The expected value of the mean is symbolized E(X�) 2. The standard error of the mean is symbolized
The most remarkable thing about the Central Limit Theorem is that it works regardless of the form of the original distribution. Figure 7.2 shows two populations and three sampling distributions from each population. On the left is a rectangular distribution of playing cards (from Figure 6.1) and on the right is the bimodal distribution of number choices (from Figure 6.5). Three sampling distributions of the mean (for N � 2, 8, and 30) are below their populations. The take-home message of the Central Limit Theorem is that, regardless of the form of a distribution, the form of the sampling distribution of the mean approaches normal if N is large enough.
How large must N be for the sampling distribution of the mean to be normal? The traditional answer is 30 or more. However, if the population itself is symmetrical, then sampling distributions of the mean will be normal with N’s much smaller than 30. In contrast, if the population is severely skewed, N’s of more than 30 will be required.
Finally, the Central Limit Theorem does not apply to all sample statistics. Sampling distributions of the median, standard deviation, variance, and correlation coefficient are not normal distributions. The Central Limit Theorem does apply to the mean, which is a most important and popular statistic. (In a frequency count of all statistics, the mean is the mode.)
P R O B L E M S
7.8. The standard deviation of a sampling distribution is called the _________ and the mean is called the __________.
7.9. a. Write the steps needed to construct an empirical sampling distribution of the range.
b. What is the name of the standard deviation of this sampling distribution?
c. Think about the expected value of the range compared to the population range. Write a statement about the relationship.
sX�
s2N
s>1N. 150 ■ Chapter 7
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7.10. Describe the Central Limit Theorem in your own words. 7.11. In Chapter 5 you learned how to use a regression equation to predict a
score (Ŷ ) if you are given an X score. Ŷ is a statistic, so naturally it has a sampling distribution with its own standard error. What can you conclude if the standard error is very small? Very large?
Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals ■ 151
Ace 7 King
Fr eq
ue nc
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1 5 10
Fr eq
ue nc
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Population
Ace 7 King
Fr eq
ue nc
y
1 5 10
Fr eq
ue nc
y
Number choicesPlaying cards
Sampling distribution N � 8
4.6 7 9.4
Fr eq
ue nc
y
4.5 5.9 7.3
Fr eq
ue nc
y
4.6 7 9.4
Fr eq
ue nc
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4.5 5.9 7.3
Fr eq
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Sampling distribution N � 2
Sampling distribution N � 30
F I G U R E 7 . 2 Populations of playing cards and number choices. Sampling distributions from each population with sample sizes of N � 2, N � 8, and N � 30.
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Calculating the Standard Error of the Mean
Calculating the standard error of the mean is fairly simple. I will illustrate with an example that you will use again. For the population of scores in Table 7.1, s is 2. For a sample size of eight, the standard error of the mean is
The Effect of Sample Size on the Standard Error of the Mean
As you can see by looking at the formula for the standard error of the mean, becomes smaller as N gets larger. Figure 7.3 shows four sampling distributions of the mean, all based on the population of numbers in Table 7.1. The sample sizes are 2, 4, 8, and 16. A sample mean of 10 is included in all four figures as a reference point. Notice that, as N increases, a sample mean of 10 becomes less and less likely. The importance of sample size will become more apparent as your study progresses.
Determining Probabilities about Sample Means
To summarize where we are at this point: Mathematical statisticians have produced a mathematical invention, the sampling distribution. One particular sampling distribution, the sampling distribution of the mean, is a normal curve, they tell us. Fortunately, having worked problems in Chapter 6 about normally distributed scores, we are in a position to check this claim about normally distributed means.
One check is fairly straightforward, given that I already have the 200 sample means from the population in Table 7.1. To make this check, I will determine the proportion of sample means that are above a specified point, using the theoretical normal curve (Table C in Appendix C). I can then compare this theoretical proportion to the proportion of the 200 sample means that are actually above the specified point. If the two numbers are similar, I have evidence that the normal curve can be used to answer questions about sample means.
The z score for a sample mean drawn from a sampling distribution with mean m and standard error is
Any sample mean will do for this comparison; I will use 10.0. The mean of the population is 9.0 and the standard error (for N � 8) is 0.707. Thus,
By consulting Table C, I see that the proportion of the curve above a z value of 1.41 is .0793. Figure 7.4 shows the sampling distribution of the mean for N � 8. Sample means are on the horizontal axis; the .0793 area above X� � 10 is shaded.
z � X� � m
s X�
� 10.0 � 9.0
0.707 � 1.41
z � X� � m
s X�
s>1N
sX�
� 218 � 22.828 � 0.707sX� � s1N
152 ■ Chapter 7
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Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals ■ 153
21 3–1–2–3
21 3–1–2–3
.2389
.1587
N � 2, s
X � 1.41
N � 4, s
X � 1.00
21 3–1–2–3
.0793
N � 8, s
X � 0.71
21
9 10 m
3–1–2–3
.0228
N � 16, s
X � 0.50
F I G U R E 7 . 3 Sampling distributions of the mean for four different sample sizes. All samples are drawn from the population in Table 7.1. Note how a sample mean of 10 becomes rarer and rarer as sX� becomes smaller.
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How accurate is this theoretical prediction of .0793? When I looked at the distribution of sample means that I used to construct Figure 7.1, I found that 13 of the 200 had means of 10 or more, a proportion of .0650. Thus, the theoretical prediction is off by less than percent. That’s not bad; the normal curve model passes the test.5
P R O B L E M S
*7.12. When the population parameters are known, the standard error of the mean is The following table gives four s values and four N values. For each combination, calculate and enter it in the table.
s
N 1 2 4 8
1 4
16 64
7.13. On the basis of the table you constructed in problem 7.12, write a precise verbal statement about the relationship between and N.
7.14. To reduce to one-fourth its size, you must increase N by how much?
7.15. For the population in Table 7.1, and for samples with N � 8, what proportion of the sample means will be 8.5 or less?
7.16. For the population in Table 7.1, and for samples with N � 16, what proportion of the sample means will be 8.5 or less? 10 or greater?
sX�
sX�
sX�
sX� � s>1N.
112
154 ■ Chapter 7
5 As you might suspect, the validity of the normal curve model for the sampling distribution of the mean has been established with a mathematical proof rather than an empirical check.
10.49.78.37.66.9
.0793
9.0 10
Sample means
11.1
F I G U R E 7 . 4 Theoretical sampling distribution of the mean from the population in Table 7.1. For each sample, N � 8.
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7.17. As you know from the previous chapter, for IQs: m � 100 and s � 15. What is the probability that a first-grade classroom of 25 students who are chosen randomly from the population will have a mean IQ of 105 or greater? 90 or less?
7.18. Now you are in a position to return to the story of the two students at the beginning of this chapter. Find, for the junior, the probability that a sample of 40 from a population with m � $73,000 and s � $20,000 would produce a mean of $69,900 or less. Write an interpretation.
Using your answer to problem 7.18, the junior might say to the sophomore,
“ . . . and so, the mean of $69,900 isn’t a trustworthy measure of the population. The standard deviation is large, and with N � 40, samples can bounce all over the place. Why, if the real mean for our campus is the same as the $73,000 national average, we would expect about one-sixth of all our random samples of 40 students to have means of $69,900 or less.”
“Yeah,” said the sophomore, “but that if is a big one. What if the campus mean is really $69,900? Then the sample we got was right on the nose. After all, a sample mean is an unbiased estimator of the population parameter.”
“I see your point. And I see mine, too. It seems like either of us could be correct. That leaves me uncertain about the real campus parameter.”
“Me, too. Let’s go get another ice cream cone.”
Not all statistical stories end with so much uncertainty (or calories). However, I said that one of the advantages of random sampling is that you can measure the uncertainty. You measured it, and there was a lot. Remember, if you agree to use a sample, you agree to accept some uncertainty about the results.
Constructing a Sampling Distribution When S Is Not Available
Let’s review what you just did. You answered some questions about sample means by relying on a table of the normal curve. Your justification for saying that sample means are distributed normally was the Central Limit Theorem. The Central Limit Theorem always applies when the sample size is adequate and you know s, both of which were true for the problems you worked. For those problems, you were given s or calculated it from the population data you had available.
In the world of empirical research, however, you often do not know s and you don’t have population data to calculate it. Because researchers are always inventing new dependent variables, an unknown s is common. Without s, the justification for using the normal curve evaporates. What to do if you don’t have s? Can you suggest something?
One solution is to use ŝ as an estimate of s. (Was that your suggestion?) This was the solution used by researchers about a century ago. They knew that ŝ was only an estimate and that the larger the sample, the better the estimate. Thus, they chose problems for which they could gather huge samples. (Remember Karl Pearson and Alice Lee’s data on the 1376 pairs of father–daughter heights?) Very large samples produce an ŝ that is identical to s, for all practical purposes.
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Other researchers, however, could not gather that much data. One of those we remember today is W. S. Gosset (1876–1937), who worked for Arthur Guinness, Son & Co., a brewery headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Gosset had majored in chemistry and mathematics at Oxford, and his job at Guinness was to make scientifically based recommendations about brewing. Many of these recommendations depended on sample data.
Gosset was familiar with the normal curve and the strategy of using large samples to accurately estimate s. Unfortunately, though, his samples were small. Gosset (and other statisticians) knew that such small-sample ŝ values were not accurate estimators of s and thus the normal curve could not be relied on for accurate probabilities.
Gosset’s solution was to work out the mathematics of distributions based on ŝ. He found that the distribution depended on the sample size, with a different distribution for each N. These distributions make up a family of curves that have come to be called the t distribution.6 The t distribution is an important tool for those who analyze data. I will use it for confidence interval problems in this chapter and for four other kinds of problems in later chapters.
The t Distribution
The different curves that make up the t distribution are distinguished from one another by their degrees of freedom. Degrees of freedom (abbreviated df ) range from 1 to �.
Knowing the degrees of freedom for your data tells you which t distribution to use.7
Determining the correct number of degrees of freedom for a particular problem can become fairly complex. For the problems in this chapter, however, the formula is simple: df � N � 1. Thus, if the sample consists of 12 members, df � 11. In later chapters I will give you a
more thorough explanation of degrees of freedom (and additional formulas). Figure 7.5 is a picture of three t distributions. Their degrees of freedom are 2, 9,
and �. You can see that as the degrees of freedom increase, less and less of the curve is in the tails. Note that the t values on the horizontal axis are quite similar to the z scores used with the normal curve.
The t Distribution Table
Look at Table D (page 386), the t distribution table. The first column shows degrees of freedom, ranging from 1 to �. Degrees of freedom are determined by an analysis of the problem that is to be solved. There are three rows across the top of the table; the row you use depends on the kind of problem you are working on. In this chapter, use the top row because the problems are about confidence intervals. Each column is
156 ■ Chapter 7
6 Gosset spent several months in 1906–07 studying with Karl Pearson in London. It was during this period that the t distribution was developed. 7 Traditionally, the t distribution is written with a lowercase t. A capital T is used for another distribution (covered in Chapter 14) and for standardized test scores. However, because some computer programs do not print lowercase letters, t becomes T on some printouts (and often in text based on that printout). Be alert.
t distribution Theoretical distribution used to determine probabilities when s is unknown.
degrees of freedom Concept in mathematical statistics that determines the distribution that is appropriate for sample data.
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associated with probability (which can be converted to a percent). The body of the table contains t values. Table D is used most frequently to find the probability associated with a particular t value.8
Table D differs in several ways from the normal curve table you have been using. In the normal curve table, the z scores are in the margin and the probability figures are in the body of the table. In Table D, the t values are in the body of the table and the probability figures are in the headings at the top. In the normal curve table, there are hundreds of probability figures and in Table D there are only six. These six are the ones commonly used by researchers.
Dividing a Distribution into Portions
Look at Figure 7.6, which shows separated versions of the three distributions in Figure 7.5. Each distribution is divided into a large middle portion and smaller tail portions. In all three curves in Figure 7.6, the middle portion is 95 percent and the other 5 percent is divided evenly between the two tails.
Notice that the t values that separate equal portions of the three curves are different. The fewer the df, the larger the t value that is required to separate out the extreme 5 percent of the curve.
The t values in Figure 7.6 came from Table D. Look at Table D for the 9 df row. Now look in the 95% confidence interval column. The t value at the intersection is 2.26, the number used in the middle curve of Figure 7.6.
Finally, look at the top curve in Figure 7.6. When df � �, the t scores that separate the middle 95 percent from the extreme 5 percent are �1.96 and �1.96. You have seen these numbers before. In fact, �1.96 are the z scores you used in the preceding chapter to find heart rates that characterize the extreme 5 percent of the population. (See Figure 6.16.) Thus, a t distribution with df � � is a normal curve. In summary, as df increases, the t distribution approaches the normal distribution.
Your introduction to the t distribution is in place. After working the problems that follow, you will be ready to calculate confidence intervals.
Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals ■ 157
1 2 31�2�3� 0 4 54�5�
df � �
df � 9
df � 2
t values
F I G U R E 7 . 5 Three different t distributions
8 For data with a t value intermediate between two tabled values, be conservative and use the t value associated with the smaller df.
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P R O B L E M S
7.19. Fill in the blanks in the statements with “t” or “normal.” a. There is just one __________ distribution, but there are many
__________ distributions. b. Given a value of �2.00 on the horizontal axis, a __________
distribution has a greater proportion to the right than does a __________ distribution.
158 ■ Chapter 7
2.262.26� 0
1.961.96� 0
4.304.30� 0
df � �
2.5% 95% 2.5%
df � 9
2.5% 95% 2.5%
df � 2
2.5% 95% 2.5%
t values
t values
t values
F I G U R E 7 . 6 Three t distributions showing the t values that enclose 95 percent of the cases
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c. The __________ distribution has a larger standard deviation than does the __________ distribution.
7.20. To know which t distribution to use, determine __________. 7.21. Who invented the t distribution? For what purpose?
Confidence Interval about a Sample Mean
A confidence interval is an inferential statistic that uses sample data to establish two limits, between which the population parameter is expected (with a specified degree of confidence) to be. Commonly chosen degrees of confidence are 95 percent and 99 percent. In this chapter the parameter of interest is the mean, m. Thus, the limits capture, with a particular degree of confidence, the population mean.
clue to the future Analyzing data with confidence intervals is increasingly popular among behavioral and medical scientists. Confidence intervals are used again in Chapter 9.
To find the lower and upper limits of a confidence interval about a population mean, use the formulas
where X� is the mean of the sample from the population ta is the value from the t distribution table for a particular a value
is the standard error of the mean, calculated from a sample
The formula for is quite similar to the formula for :
where ŝ is the standard deviation of the sample (using N � 1). A confidence interval is useful for evaluating quantitative claims such as those
made by manufacturers. For example, some lightbulb manufacturers claim that their 60-watt bulbs last for 1000 hours. On the average, is this true? One way to answer the question is to gather data on the number of hours 60-watt bulbs burn. The following are fictitious data:
N � 16
�X � 15,600 �X2 � 15,247,500
sX� � ŝ2N
sX�sX�
sX�
UL � X� � ta 1sX� 2
LL � X� � ta 1sX� 2
Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals ■ 159
confidence interval Range of scores that is expected, with specified confidence, to capture a parameter.
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160 ■ Chapter 7
P R O B L E M
*7.22. For the data on the lives of 60-watt light bulbs, calculate the mean (X�), the standard deviation (ŝ), and the standard error of the mean ( ).
You can calculate a 95 percent confidence interval about the sample mean in problem 7.22 and use it to evaluate the claim that bulbs last 1000 hours. With N � 16, df � N � 1 � 15. The t value in Table D for a 95 percent confidence interval with df � 15 is 2.131. Using the answers you found in problem 7.22,
Thus, you are 95 percent confident that the interval of 948.36 to 1001.64 hours contains the true mean lighting time of 60-watt bulbs. The advertised claim of 1000 hours is in the interval, but just barely. A reasonable interpretation is to recognize that samples are changeable, variable things and that you do not have good evidence showing that the lives of bulbs are shorter than claimed. But because the interval almost does not capture the advertised claim, you might have an incentive to gather more data.
To obtain a 99 percent or a 90 percent confidence interval, use the t values under those headings in Table D.
error detection The sample mean is always in the exact middle of any confidence interval.
As another example, normal body temperature is commonly given as 98.6°F. In Chapters 2, 3, and 4, you worked with data based on actual measurements (Mackowiak, Wasserman, and Levine, 1992) that showed that average temperature is less than 98.6°F. Is it true that we have been wrong all these years? Or, perhaps the study’s sample mean is within the expected range of sample means taken from a population with a mean of 98.6°F. A 99 percent confidence interval will help in choosing between these two alternatives. The summary statistics are:
N � 40
�X � 3928.0 �X2 � 385,749.24
These summary statistics produce the following values:
The next task is to find the appropriate t value in Table D. With 39 df be conservative and use 30 df. Look under the heading for a 99 percent confidence interval. Thus, t99 (30 df ) � 2.75. The 99 percent confidence limits about the sample mean are:
UL � X� � ta 1sX� 2 � 98.2 � 2.75 10.112 2 � 98.5°F
LL � X� � ta 1sX� 2 � 98.2 � 2.75 10.112 2 � 97.9°F
df � 39
sX� � 0.112°F
ŝ � 0.710°F
X� � 98.2°F
UL � X� � ta 1sX� 2 � 975 � 2.131 112.5 2 � 1001.64 hours
LL � X� � ta 1sX� 2 � 975 � 2.131 112.5 2 � 948.36 hours
sX�
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What conclusion do you reach about the 98.6°F standard? We have been wrong all these years. On the basis of actual measurements, you can be 99 percent confident that normal body temperature is between 97.9°F and 98.5°F.9 98.6°F is not in the interval.
In summary, confidence intervals for population means produce an interval statistic (lower and upper limits) that is destined to contain the population mean 95 percent of the time (or 99 or 90). Whether or not a particular confidence interval contains the unknowable m is uncertain, but you have control over the degree of uncertainty.
Confidence Intervals Illustrated
The concept of confidence intervals has been known to be troublesome. Here is another explanation of confidence intervals, this time with a picture.
Look at Figure 7.7, which has these features:
■ A population of scores (top curve)10
■ A sampling distribution of the mean when N � 25 (small curve) ■ Twenty 95 percent confidence intervals based on random samples (N � 25)
from the population
On each of the 20 horizontal lines, the endpoints represent the lower and upper limits, and the filled circles show the mean. As you can see, nearly all the confidence intervals have “captured” m. One has not. Find it. Does it make sense to you that 1 out of 20 of the 95 percent confidence intervals does not contain m?
Adding Confidence Intervals to Graphs
As you know from reading textbooks and articles, a bar graph that shows two or more means that appear different conveys the idea that the means really are different. That is, it never occurs to most of us that the observed difference could be due to the chance differences that go with sampling. However, if confidence intervals are added, they direct our attention to the degree of chance fluctuation that is expected for sample means.
Figure 7.8 is a bar graph of the Chapter 3 puberty data for females and males. In addition to the two means (12.75 years and 14.75 years), 95 percent confidence intervals are indicated by lines (often called bars) that extend in either direction from the means. On the left side of Figure 7.8, look at the extent of the confidence interval for females. The sample mean of the males is not within the confidence interval calculated for the females. (Use a straightedge to assure yourself, if necessary.) Thus, you can be more than 95 percent confident that the interval that estimates the population mean of the females does not include the sample mean of the males. In short, these confidence intervals provide assurance that the difference in the two means is due not to differences that go with sampling, but to a difference in the population means.
Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals ■ 161
9 C. R. A. Wunderlich, a German investigator in the mid-19th century, was influential in establishing 98.6°F (37°C) as the normal body temperature. 10 It is not necessary that the population be normal.
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162 ■ Chapter 7
1�2�3� 1 2 3
Population of scores
Sampling distribution of the mean, N � 25
m
20 confidence intervals based on 20 random samples from the population
F I G U R E 7 . 7 Twenty 95 percent confidence intervals, each calculated from a random sample of 25 from a normal population. Each sample mean is represented by a dot.
Females N = 8
Males N = 16
10
12
14
16
A ge
( ye
ar s)
95% confidence interval
F I G U R E 7 . 8 Puberty data for females and males (means and confidence intervals)
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Categories of Inferential Statistics
Two of the major categories of inferential statistics are confidence intervals and hypothesis testing. A confidence interval establishes an interval within which a population parameter is expected to lie (with a certain degree of confidence).
The other category, hypothesis testing, allows you to use sample data to test a hypothesis about a population parameter. The result is a yes/no decision. Hypothesis testing is a topic in each of the remaining chapters in this book.
P R O B L E M S
7.23. A social worker conducted an 8-week assertiveness training workshop. Afterward, the 14 clients took the Door Manifest Assertiveness Test, which has a national mean of 24.0. Use the data that follow to construct a 95 percent confidence interval about the sample mean. Write an interpretation about the effectiveness of the workshop.
24 25 31 25 33 29 21
22 23 32 27 29 30 27
7.24. Airplane manufacturers use only slow-burning materials. For the plastic in coffee pots the maximum burn rate is 4 inches per minute. Raytheon Aircraft randomly sampled from a case of 120 Krups coffee pots and obtained burn rates of 1.20, 1.10, and 1.30 inches per minute. Calculate a 99.9 percent confidence interval and write an interpretation that tells about using Krups coffee makers in airplanes.
7.25. This problem will give you practice in constructing confidence intervals and in discovering how to reduce their size (without sacrificing confidence). Smaller confidence intervals tell you the value of m more precisely. a. How wide is the 95 percent confidence interval about a sample
mean when ŝ � 4 and N � 4? b. How much smaller is the 95 percent confidence interval about a
sample mean when N is increased fourfold to 16 (ŝ remains 4)? c. Compared to your answer in part a, how much smaller is the
95 percent confidence interval about a sample mean when N remains 4 and ŝ is reduced to 2?
7.26. In Figure 7.7, the 20 lines that represent confidence intervals vary in length. What aspect of the sample causes this variation?
7.27. Figure 7.7 showed 95 percent confidence intervals for N � 25. Imagine a graphic with confidence intervals based on N � 100. a. How many of the 20 intervals are expected to capture m? b. Will the confidence intervals be wider or narrower? By how much?
7.28. Figure 7.7 showed 95 percent confidence intervals. Imagine that the lines are 90 percent confidence intervals. a. How many of the 20 intervals are expected to capture m? b. Will the confidence intervals be wider or narrower?
Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals ■ 163
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7.29. Use a ruler to estimate the lower and upper limits of the confidence intervals in Figure 7.8.
7.30. In the accompanying figure, look at the curve of performance over trials, which is generally upward except for the dip at trial 2. Is the dip just a chance variation, or is it a reliable, nonchance drop? By indicating the lower and upper confidence limits for each mean, a graph can convey at a glance the reliability that goes with each point. Calculate a 95 percent confidence interval for each mean. Pencil in the lower and upper limits for each point on the graph. Write a sentence explaining the dip at trial 2.
164 ■ Chapter 7
Trials
1 2 3 4
X� 8 6 14 16 ŝ 5 5 5 5 N 25 25 25 25
7.31. Here’s a problem you probably were expecting. Review the objectives at the beginning of the chapter. You are using this valuable, memory- consolidating technique, aren’t you?
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 7 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, three workshops, and more. The three Statistics Workshops are Sampling Distribution, Central Limit Theorem, and Standard Error. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens
1 2 3 4
Trials
4
8
12
16
20
M ea
n pe
rf or
m an
ce
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of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and problems that require calculation and interpretation.
KEY TERMS
Samples, Sampling Distributions, and Confidence Intervals ■ 165
Biased sample (p. 146) Central Limit Theorem (p. 149) Confidence interval (p. 159) Degrees of freedom (p. 156) Expected value (p. 148) Random sample (p. 143) Research sample (p. 146)
Sampling distribution (p. 147) Sampling distribution of the mean
(p. 148) Standard error (p. 148) Standard error of the mean (pp. 152,
159) t distribution (p. 156)
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166
YOU ARE IN the midst of material on inferential statistics, which, as you probably
recall, is a technique that allows you to use sample data to help you make
decisions about populations. In the last chapter you studied and worked
problems on confidence intervals. Those confidence intervals allowed you to
decide something about the size of the mean of an unmeasured population.
The next chapter, Chapter 8, covers the basics of null hypothesis statistical
testing (NHST), a more widely used inferential statistics technique. NHST
techniques result in a yes/no decision about a population parameter. The decision
about the population parameter is based on a probability that is obtained from a
sampling distribution.
In Chapter 8 you test hypotheses about population means and population
correlation coefficients. In Chapter 9 you test hypotheses about the difference
between the means of two populations and also calculate confidence intervals
about the difference between sample means. In both of these chapters you
determine probabilities by using t distributions. Also, both chapters include the
effect size index d, the descriptive statistic you learned about in Chapter 4.
One of the most important uses of statistics is to analyze data from
experiments. Chapter 9 discusses the basics of simple experiments.
trans ssage to hypothesis testing
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chapter 8 Hypothesis Testing and Effect Size: One-Sample Designs
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 8
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Explain the procedure called null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST)
2. Define the null hypothesis in words
3. Define the three alternative hypotheses in words
4. Define a, significance level, rejection region, and critical value
5. Use a one-sample t test and the t distribution to decide if a sample mean came from a population with a hypothesized mean, and write an interpretation
6. Decide if a sample r came from a population in which the correlation between the two variables is zero, and write an interpretation
7. Explain what rejecting the null hypothesis means and what retaining the null hypothesis means
8. Distinguish between Type I and Type II errors
9. Interpret the meaning of p in the phrase p � .05
10. Describe the difference between a one-tailed and a two-tailed statistical test
11. Calculate and interpret an effect size index for a one-sample experiment
THIS CHAPTER INTRODUCES null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST). In the social, behavioral, and biological sciences, NHST is used more frequently than any other inferential statistics technique. Every chapter from this point on assumes that you can use the concepts of null hypothesis statistical testing. I suggest that you resolve now to achieve an understanding of NHST.
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null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST) Process that produces probabilities that are accurate when the null hypothesis is true.
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Let’s begin by looking in on our two students from Chapter 7, the ones who gathered family income data. As we catch up with them, they are hanging out at the Campus Center, sharing a bag of Doritos® tortilla chips, nacho cheese flavor. The junior picks up the almost empty bag, shakes the remaining contents into the outstretched hand of the sophomore, and says,
“Hmmm, the bag says it had 269.3 grams in it.” “Hummph. I doubt it,” complained the suspicious sophomore. “Oh, I don’t think they would cheat us,” replied the genial junior, “but I’m surprised
that they can measure chips that precisely.” “Well, let’s find out,” said the sophomore. “Let’s buy a fresh package, find a scale, and
get an answer.” “OK, but maybe we ought to buy more than one package,” said the junior, thinking
ahead.
While our two investigators go off to buy chips and secure a scale, let’s examine what is going on. The Frito-Lay® company claims that their package contains 269.3 grams of tortilla chips. Of course, we know that the claim cannot be true for every package because there is always variation in the real world. A reasonable interpretation is that the company claims that their packages on average contain 269.3 grams of chips.
Now, let’s put our story into a more general context. A claim is made that these bags contain 269.3 grams of chips. Data can be gathered to test the claim. Any conclusion about the claim will be based on sample data, so there will be some uncertainty, but as you learned in the previous chapter, uncertainty can be measured and if there isn’t much, you can state a conclusion and your degree of uncertainty. As will become apparent, the logic used in NHST applies not just to Doritos tortilla chips but to claims and comparisons on topics that range from anthropology and business to zoology and zymurgy.
P R O B L E M
8.1. NHST is an acronym that stands for what phrase?
The Logic of Null Hypothesis Statistical Testing (NHST)
I will tell the story of NHST in general terms, but also present the Doritos problem side-by-side as a specific example. NHST always begins with a claim about a parameter. For claims about a population mean, the symbol is m0. In the case of the Frito-Lay company, it claims that the mean weight of bags of Doritos tortilla chips is 269.3 grams. Thus, in formal terms the company claims that m0 � 269.3 grams. Of course, the population of weights of the bags has an actual mean, which may or may not be equal to 269.3 grams. The symbol for this unknown population mean is m1. With a sample of weights and NHST, you may be able to reach a conclusion about m1.
NHST does not result in an exact value for m1 or even a confidence interval that captures m1. Rather, NHST results in a conclusion about the relationship between m1
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and m0. In Table 8.1, the possible relationships between m1 and m0 are shown on the left; their applications to the Doritos example are on the right. Table 8.1 covers all of the logical possibilities of the relationship between m1 and m0. The two means are either equal to each other (1) or they are not equal to each other (2).
NHST is a procedure that allows, if the data permit, strong statements of support for the hypothesis of difference (2). However, NHST cannot result in strong support for the hypothesis of equality (1), regardless of how the data come out. The logic that NHST uses is somewhat roundabout. Researchers (much like the suspicious sophomore) usually believe that the hypothesis of difference is correct. To get support for the hypothesis of difference, the hypothesis of equality must be discredited. Fortunately, the hypothesis of equality produces predictions about outcomes. NHST tests these predictions against actual outcomes.
If the hypothesis of equality is true, sample means of 269.3 grams are more likely than larger values or smaller values. Some values are so far from 269.3 that they are very unlikely. Now suppose that the actual observations did produce a sample mean that was far from 269.3 (and thus, very unlikely according to the predictions of the hypothesis of equality). Because of this failure to predict, the hypothesis of equality is discredited.
To capture this logic with a different set of words, let’s begin with the actual outcome. If this outcome is unlikely when the hypothesis of equality is true, we can reject the hypothesis of equality. With the hypothesis of equality removed, the only hypothesis left is the hypothesis of difference. This paragraph and the two previous paragraphs deserve marks in the margin. Reread them now and again later.
At this point, it will be helpful to have those data from the two students who bought more bags of chips and weighed them. Let’s listen in again.
“I’m glad we went ahead and bought eight bags. The leftovers from this experiment are delicious.”
“OK, we’ve got the eight measurements, but what statistics do we need? The mean, of course. Anything else?”
“Knowing about variability always helps my understanding. Let’s calculate a standard deviation.”
“OK, let’s see, the mean is 270.675 grams and the standard deviation is 0.523 gram. How about that! The mean is more than what the company claims,” said the surprised sophomore. “Surely they wouldn’t deliberately put in more than 269.3 grams?”
“I don’t know, but look at that tiny standard deviation,” said the junior. “It’s only about a half a gram, which is less than a 50th of an ounce. They put almost exactly the same amount in every bag!”
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TABLE 8.1 The general case of the relationship between M1 and M0 and its application to the Doritos example
General case The Doritos example
1. m1 � m0 The average weight of the chips is 269.3 grams, which is hypothesis of equality what the company claims
2. m1 � m0 The average weight of the chips is not 269.3 grams hypothesis of difference
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At this point the data have changed the question from whether the company was cheating to whether the company might be deliberately overfilling the bags. The alternative to the overfilling hypothesis is that sample means of 270.675 grams or more are common—such means are just examples of the normal fluctuation that goes with production. NHST may be able to resolve this issue by providing the exact probability of obtaining sample means equal to or greater than 270.675 grams from a population with a mean of 269.3 grams (for samples with N � 8). What follows is a repeat of the logic of NHST, but this version includes technical terms.
For any null hypothesis statistical test, there is a null hypothesis (symbolized H0). The null hypothesis is always a statement about a parameter (or parameters). It always includes an equals mark. For problems in this chapter, the null hypothesis comes from some claim about how things are. In the Doritos problem, the null hypothesis is that m0 � m1 � 269.3 grams. Thus, H0: m0 � m1 � 269.3 grams.
Here’s how NHST provides an exact probability. NHST begins by tentatively assuming that the null hypothesis is true. We know that random samples (N � 8) from the population produce an array of sample means that center around 269.3 grams. Except for the means that are exactly 269.3, half will be greater and half will be less than 269.3 grams. If 269.3 is subtracted from each sample mean, the result is a distribution of differences, centered around zero. This distribution is a sampling distribution of differences.
Once you have a sampling distribution, it can be used to determine the probability of obtaining any particular difference. The particular difference we are interested in is the difference between our sample mean and the null hypothesis mean, which is 1.375 grams. That is, 270.675 � 269.3 � 1.375 grams.
If the probability of a difference of 1.375 grams is very small when the null hypothesis is true, we have evidence that the null hypothesis is not correct and should
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N et W
t. 269.3g
Net Wt. 269.3g
Fi sh
er
Pe ar
so n
G os
se t
Net W t. 269
.3g
null hypothesis (H0) Hypothesis about a population or the relationship among populations.
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be rejected. If the probability is large, we have evidence that is consistent with the null hypothesis. Unfortunately, large probabilities are also consistent with hypotheses other than the null hypothesis.1 Large probabilities do not permit you to adopt or accept the null hypothesis, but only to retain it as one among many hypotheses that the data support. Here’s an important point: The probability that NHST produces is the probability of the data actually obtained, if the null hypothesis is true.
Central to the logic of NHST is the competition between a hypothesis of equality and a hypothesis of difference. The hypothesis of equality is called, as you already know, the null hypothesis. The hypothesis of difference is called the alternative hypothesis; its symbol is H1. If H0 is rejected, only H1 remains. Actually, for any NHST problem there are three possible alternative hypotheses. In practice, a researcher chooses one of the three H1’s before the data are collected. The choice of a specific alternative hypothesis helps determine the conclusions that are possible. The three alternative hypotheses for the Doritos data are:
H1: m1 � 269.3 grams. This alternative states that the mean of the population of Doritos weights is not 269.3 grams. It doesn’t specify whether the actual mean is greater than or less than 269.3 grams. If you reject H0 and accept this H1, you must examine the sample mean to determine whether its population mean is greater than or less than the one specified by H0.
H1: m1 � 269.3 grams. This alternative hypothesis states that the sample is from a population with a mean less than 269.3 grams.
H1: m1 � 269.3 grams. This alternative hypothesis states that the sample is from a population with a mean greater than 269.3 grams.
For the Doritos problem, the first alternative hypothesis, H1: m1 � 269.3 grams, is the best choice because it allows the conclusion that the Doritos bags contain more than or less than the company claims. The section on one-tailed and two-tailed tests later in this chapter gives you more information on choosing an alternative hypothesis.
In summary, the null hypothesis (H0) meets with one of two fates at the hands of the data. It may be rejected or it may be retained. Rejecting the null hypothesis provides strong support for the alternative hypothesis, which is a statement of greater than or less than. If H0 is retained, it is not proved as correct; it is simply retained as one among many possibilities. A retained H0 leaves you unable to choose between H0 and H1. You do, however, have the data you gathered. They are informative and helpful, even if they do not support a strong NHST conclusion.
clue to the future You just completed a section that explains reasoning that is at the heart of inferential statistics. This reasoning is important in every chapter that follows and in every effort to comprehend and explain statistics in the years that follow.
Hypothesis Testing and Effect Size: One-Sample Designs ■ 171
1 For example, hypotheses that specify that the difference between m1 and m0 is very small (but not zero) are supported by large probabilities.
alternative hypothesis (H1) Hypothesis about population parameters that is accepted if null hypothesis is rejected.
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P R O B L E M S
8.2. NHST techniques produce probability figures such as .20. What event has a probability of .20?
8.3. Is the null hypothesis a statement about a statistic or about a parameter? 8.4. Distinguish between the null hypothesis and the alternative hypothesis,
giving the symbol for each. 8.5. List the three alternative hypotheses in the Doritos problem using
symbols and numbers. 8.6. In your own words, outline the logic of null hypothesis statistical testing
using technical terms and symbols. 8.7. Agree or disagree: The students’ sample of Doritos weights is a random
sample.
Using the t Distribution for Null Hypothesis Statistical Testing
To get a probability figure for an NHST problem, you must have a sampling distribution. Fortunately for the Doritos problem, the sampling distribution that is appropriate is a t distribution and you already know about t distributions from your previous study. For the task at hand (testing the null hypothesis that m0 � 269.3 grams using a sample of eight), a t distribution with 7 df gives you correct probabilities. You may recall that Table D in Appendix C provides probabilities for 34 t distributions. Table D values and their probabilities are generated by a mathematical formula that assumes that the null hypothesis is true.
Figure 8.1 shows a t distribution with 7 df. It is a picture of the distribution of the mean weights of samples (N � 8) from a population with a mean weight of 269.3 grams. The numbers in Figure 8.1 are based on the assumption that the null hypothesis is true.
Examine Figure 8.1, paying careful attention to the three sets of values on the abscissa. The t values on the top line and the probability figures at the bottom apply to any problem that uses a t distribution with 7 df. Sandwiched between are differences between sample means and the hypothesized population mean—differences that are specific to the Doritos data.
In your examination of Figure 8.1, note the following characteristics:
1. The mean is zero. 2. As the size of the difference between the sample mean and the population
mean increases, t values increase. 3. As differences and t values become larger, probabilities become smaller. 4. As always, small probabilities go with small areas at each end of the
curve.
Using Figure 8.1, you can make a decision about the null hypothesis for the Doritos data. (Perhaps you have already anticipated the conclusion?) The difference between the mean weight of the sample and the advertised weight is 1.375 grams. This
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difference is not even shown on the distribution, so it must be extremely rare—if the null hypothesis is true. How rare is it?
Let’s take the rarest events shown and use them as a reference point. As seen in Figure 8.1, a difference as extreme as 1.000 gram or greater occurs with a probability of .0005. In addition, a difference as extreme as �1.000 or less occurs with the same probability, .0005. Adding these two probabilities together gives a probability of .001.2 Thus, the probability is .001 of getting a difference of �1.000 gram or greater. The difference found in the data (1.375 grams) is even more rare, so the p value of the data actually obtained is less than .001. Thus, if the null hypothesis is true, the probability of getting the difference actually obtained is less than 1 in 1000 (p � .001).
The reasonable thing to do is abandon (reject) the null hypothesis. With the null hypothesis gone, only the alternative hypothesis remains: H1: m1 � 269.3 grams. Knowing that the actual weight is not 269.3 grams, the next step is to ask whether it is greater than or less than 269.3 grams. The sample mean is greater, so a conclusion can be written: “The contents of Doritos bags weigh more than the company claims, p � .001.”
To summarize, we determined the probability of the data we observed if the null hypothesis is true. In this case, the probability is quite small. Rather than conclude that a very rare event occurred, we concluded that the null hypothesis is false. Table 8.2 summarizes the NHST technique (left column) and its application to the Doritos example (right column). Please study Table 8.2 now and mark it for review later.
Hypothesis Testing and Effect Size: One-Sample Designs ■ 173
Probability of the difference, or one more extreme, when H0 is true
Doritos difference values (X � m0)
01.422.373.505.41 ����t values
0.262.437.6471.000 ����
.10.025.005.0005
1.42 2.37 3.50 5.41
.262 .437 .647 1.000
.10 .025 .005 .0005
⎯
F I G U R E 8 . 1 A t distribution. The t values and probability figures are those that go with 7 df. The difference values apply only to the Doritos data.
2 I’ll explain this step in the section on one- and two-tailed tests.
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A Problem and the Accepted Solution
The hypothesis that the sample of Doritos weights came from a population with a mean of 269.3 grams was so unlikely (p � .001) that it was easy to reject the hypothesis. But what if the probability had been .01, or .05, or .25, or .50? The problem that this section addresses is where on the probability continuum you should change the decision from “reject the null hypothesis” to “retain the null hypothesis.”
It may already be clear to you that any solution will be an arbitrary one. Breaking a continuum into two parts often leaves you uncomfortable near the break. Nevertheless, those who use statistics have adopted a solution.
Setting Alpha (A) or Establishing a Significance Level
The widely accepted solution to the problem of where to break the continuum is to use the .05 mark. The choice of a probability value (whether at .05 or some
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TABLE 8.2 A summary of NHST and its application to the Doritos example
General statement of NHST for means Application of NHST to Doritos example
Recognize two possibilities for the population mean:
The null hypothesis, H0 The alternative hypothesis, H1
Assume for the time being that H0 is true.
Use a sampling distribution that shows the differences between sample means and the null hypothesis mean when H0 is true.
Gather sample data from the population. Calculate a mean, X�1.
Calculate the difference between the sample mean and the null hypothesis mean.
Using the sampling distribution, determine the probability of the difference that was actually observed (or one more extreme).
Small probability: Reject the null hypothesis.
If X�1 � m0, conclude that m1 � m0.
If X�1 � m0, conclude that m1 � m0. Large probability: Conclude that the data are consistent with the null hypothesis.
H0: m0 � 269.3 grams H1: m1 � 269.3 grams
Assume for the time being that the mean weight of all bags of chips is 269.3 grams.
The t distribution is appropriate.
X�Doritos � 270.675 grams
270.675 � 269.3 � 1.375 grams
p � .001
Reject the null hypothesis that m0 � 269.3 grams.
The mean weight of Doritos chips in bags is greater than the company’s claim of 269.3 grams.
Not applicable
Not applicable
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other figure) is called setting alpha (A). It is also called establishing a significance level.
In an experiment, the researcher sets a, gathers data, and uses a sampling distribution to find the probability (p) of such data. This p value is correct only when the null hypothesis is true. If p � a, reject H0. Thus, if a � .05 and p is .05 or less, reject H0. If a � .05 and p � .05, retain H0. Of course, if p � .03, or .01, or .001, reject H0. If the probability is .051 or greater, retain H0. When H0 is rejected, the difference is described as statistically significant. Sometimes, when the context is clear, this is shortened to simply “significant.” When H0 is retained (the difference is not significant), the abbreviation NS is often used.
In some research reports, an a level is not specified; only data- based probability values are given. Statistical software programs produce probabilities such as .0004, .008, or .049, which are described as significant. If tables are used to determine probabilities, such differences are identified as p � .001, p � .01, and p � .05. Regardless of how the results are reported, however, researchers view .05 as an important cutoff (Nelson, Rosenthal, and Rosnow, 1986). When .10 or .20 is used as an a level, a justification should be given.
Rejection Region
The rejection region is the area of the sampling distribution that includes all the differences that have a probability equal to or less than a. Thus, any event in the rejection region leads to rejection of the null hypothesis.3
In Figure 8.1 the rejection region is shaded (for a significance level of .05). Thus, t values more extreme than �2.37 lead to rejecting H0.
Critical Values
Most statistical tables do not provide you with probability figures for every outcome of a statistical test. What they provide are statistical test values that correspond to commonly chosen a values. These specific test values are called critical values.
I will illustrate critical values using the t distribution table (Table D in Appendix C). The t values in that table are called critical values when they are used in hypothesis testing. The a levels that researchers use are listed across the top in rows 2 and 3. Degrees of freedom are in column 1. Remember that if you have a df that is not in the table, it is conventional to use the next smaller df or to interpolate a t value that corresponds to the exact df.
The t values in the table separate the rejection region from the rest of the sampling distribution (sometimes referred to as the acceptance region). Thus, data-produced t values that are equal to or greater than the critical value fall in the rejection region, and the null hypothesis is rejected.
Figure 8.2 is a t distribution with 14 df. It shows that the critical value separates the rejection region from the rest of the distribution. I will indicate critical values with
Hypothesis Testing and Effect Size: One-Sample Designs ■ 175
3 Another term for rejection region is critical region.
alpha (A) Probability of a Type I error.
significance level Probability (a) chosen as the criterion for rejecting the null hypothesis.
statistically significant Difference so large that chance is not a plausible explanation for the difference.
NS Difference is not significant.
rejection region Area of a sampling distribution that corresponds to test statistic values that lead to rejection of the null hypothesis.
critical value Number from a sampling distribution that determines whether the null hypothesis is rejected.
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an expression such as t.05 (14 df ) � 2.145. This expression indicates the sampling distribution that was used (t), a level (.05), degrees of freedom (14), and critical value from the table (2.145, for a two-tailed test).
P R O B L E M S
8.8. True or false? Sampling distributions used for hypothesis testing are based on the assumption that H0 is false.
8.9. What is a significance level? What is the largest significance level you can use without giving a justification?
8.10. Circle all phrases that go with events that are in the rejection region of a sampling distribution.
p is small
Retain the null hypothesis
Accept H1 Middle section of the sampling distribution
8.11. Use Table D to find critical values for two-tailed tests for these values. a. a level of .01; df � 17 b. a level of .001; df � 46 c. a level of .05; df � �
The One-Sample t Test
Some students suspect that it is not necessary to construct an entire sampling distribution such as the one in Figure 8.1 each time there is a hypothesis to test. You may be such a student and, if so, you are correct. The conventional practice is
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0 2.145–2.145Critical values
Rejection region .025
Rejection region .025
F I G U R E 8 . 2 A t distribution with 14 df. For A � .05 and a two-tailed test, critical values and the rejection region are illustrated.
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to analyze the data using the one-sample t test. The formula for the one-sample t test is
df � N � 1
where X� is the mean of the sample m0 is the hypothesized mean of the population
is the standard error of the mean
For the chip data, the question to be answered is whether the Frito-Lay company is justified in claiming that bags of Doritos tortilla chips weigh 269.3 grams. The null hypothesis is that the mean weight of the chips is 269.3 grams. The alternative hypothesis is that the mean weight is not 269.3 grams. A sample of eight bags produced a mean of 270.675 grams with a standard deviation (using N � 1) of 0.523 gram. To test the hypothesis that the sample weights are from a population with a mean of 269.3 grams, you should calculate a t value using the one-sample t test. Thus,
To interpret a t value of 7.44 with 7 df, turn to Table D and find the appropriate critical value. For a levels for two-tailed tests, go down the .05 column until you reach 7 df. The critical value is 2.365. The t test produced a larger value (7.44), so the difference observed (1.375 grams) is statistically significant at the .05 level. To find out if 7.44 is significant at an even lower a level, move to the right, looking for a number that is greater than 7.44. There isn’t one. The largest number is 5.408, which is the critical value for an a level of .001. Because 7.44 is greater than 5.408, you can reject the null hypothesis at the .001 level.
The last step is to write an informative conclusion that tells the story of the variable that was measured. Here’s an example: “The mean weight of the eight Doritos bags was 270.675 grams, which is significantly greater than the company’s claim of 269.3 grams, p � .001.”
A good interpretation is more informative than simply, “the null hypothesis was rejected, p � .05.” A good interpretation always:
1. Uses the terms of the experiment 2. Tells the direction of the difference
The algebraic sign of the t in the t test is ignored when you are finding the critical value for a two-tailed test. Of course, the sign tells you whether the sample mean is greater or less than the null hypothesis mean—an important point in any statement of the results.
I want to address two additional issues about the Doritos conclusion; both have to do with generalizability. The first issue is the nature of the sample: It most certainly was not a random sample of the population in question. Because of this, any conclusion about the population mean is not as secure as it would be for a random sample. How much less secure is it? I don’t really know, and inferential statistics provides me with no guidelines on this issue. So, I state both my conclusion (contents weigh more than
t � X� � m0
sX� �
X� � m0 ŝ>1N � 270.675 � 269.30.523>18 � 7.44; 7 df
sX�
t � X� � m0
sX� ;
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one-sample t test Statistical test of the hypothesis that a sample with mean X� came from a population with mean m.
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company claims) and my methods (nonrandom sample, N � 8) and then see whether this conclusion will be challenged or supported by others with more or better data. (I’ll just have to wait to see who responds to my claim.)
The other generalizability issue is whether the conclusion applies to other-sized bags of Doritos, to other Frito-Lay products, or to other manufacturers of tortilla chips. These are good questions but, again, inferential statistics does not give any guidelines. You’ll have to use aids such as your experience, library research, correspondence with the company, or more data gathering.
Finally, I want to address the question of the usefulness of the one-sample t test. The t test is useful for checking manufacturers’ claims (where an advertised claim provides the null hypothesis), comparing a sample to a known norm (such as an IQ score of 100), and comparing behavior against a “no error” standard (as used in studies of lying or visual illusions). In addition to its use in analyzing data, the one-sample t test is probably the simplest example of hypothesis testing (an important consideration when you are being introduced to the topic).
P R O B L E M
8.12. What are the two characteristics of a good interpretation?
An Analysis of Possible Mistakes
To some forward-thinking students, the idea of adopting an a level of 5 percent seems preposterous. “You gather the data,” they say, “and if the difference is large enough, you reject H0 at the .05 level. You then state that the sample came from a population with a mean other than the hypothesized one. But in your heart you are uncertain. Hey, perhaps a rare event happened.”
This line of reasoning is fairly common. Many thoughtful students take the next step. “For me, I won’t use the .05 level. I’ll use an a level of 1 in 1 million. That way I can reduce the uncertainty.”
It is true that adopting a .05 a level leaves some room for mistaking a chance difference for a real difference. It is probably clear to you that lowering the a level (to a probability such as .01 or .001) reduces the probability of this kind of mistake. Unfortunately, lowering the a level increases the probability of a different kind of mistake.
Look at Table 8.3, which shows the two ways to make a mistake. Cell 1 shows the situation when the null hypothesis is true and you reject it. Your sample data and hypothesis testing have produced a mistake—a mistake called a Type I error. However, if H0 is true and you retain it, you have made a correct decision (cell 2).
Now, suppose that the null hypothesis is actually false (the second column). If, on the basis of your sample data, you reject H0, you have made a correct decision (cell 3).
Finally, if the null hypothesis is false and you retain it (cell 4), you have made a mistake—a mistake called a Type II error.
Let’s attend first to a Type I error. The probability of a Type I error is a, and you control a when you adopt a significance level. If the data
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Type II error Failure to reject a null hypothesis that is false.
Type I error Rejection of a null hypothesis when it is true.
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produce a p value that is less than a, you reject H0 and conclude that the difference observed is statistically significant. If you reject H0, (and H0 is true) you make a Type I error, but the probability of this error is controlled by your choice of a level. Note that rejecting H0 is wrong only when the null hypothesis is true.
Now for a Type II error. A Type II error is possible only if you retain the null hypothesis. If the null hypothesis is false and you retain it, you have made a Type II error. The probability of a Type II error is symbolized by bb (beta).
Controlling a by setting a significance level is straightforward; determining the value of b is much more complicated. For one thing, a Type II error requires that the sample be from a population that is different from the null hypothesis population. Naturally, the more different the two populations are, the more likely you are to detect it and, thus, the lower b is.
In addition, the values of a and b are inversely related. As a is reduced (from, say, .05 to .01), b goes up. To explain, suppose you insist on a larger difference between means before you say the difference is “not chance.” (You reduce a.) In this case, you will be less able to detect a small, real, nonchance difference. (b goes up.) The following description further illustrates the relationship between a and b.
Figure 8.3 shows two populations. The population on the left has a mean m0 � 10; the one on the right has a mean m1 � 14. An investigator draws a large sample
Hypothesis Testing and Effect Size: One-Sample Designs ■ 179
TABLE 8.3 Type I and Type II errors*
True situation in the population
H0 true H0 false
Reject H0 1. Type I error 3. Correct decision
Retain H0 2. Correct decision 4. Type II error
* In this case, error means mistake.
Decision made on the basis of
sample data
beta (B) Probability of a Type II error.
10 14
m0 m1
The null hypothesis population
Population from which sample is drawn
F I G U R E 8 . 3 Frequency distribution of scores when H0 is false
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from the population on the right and uses it to test the null hypothesis H0: m0 � 10. In the real world of data, every decision carries some uncertainty, but in this textbook example, the correct decision is clear: Reject the null hypothesis.
The actual decision, however, will be made by evaluating the difference between the sample mean X� and the mean specified by the null hypothesis, m0 � 10.
Now, let’s suppose that the sample produced a mean of 14. That is, the sample tells the exact truth about its population. Under these circumstances, will the hypothesis- testing procedure produce a correct decision?
Figure 8.4 shows the sampling distribution for this problem. As you can see, if the 5 percent a level is used (all the blue areas), a difference of 4 falls in the rejection region. Thus, if a � .05, you will correctly reject the null hypothesis. However, if a 1 percent a level is used (the dark shaded areas only), a difference of 4 does not fall in the rejection region. Thus, if a � .01, you will not reject H0. This failure to reject the false null hypothesis is a Type II error.
At this point, I can return to the discussion of setting the a level. The suggestion was: Why not reduce the a level to 1 in 1 million? From the analysis of the potential mistakes, you can answer that when you lower the a level so you reduce the chance of a Type I error, you increase b, the probability of a Type II error. More protection from one kind of error increases the liability to another kind of error. Most who use statistics adopt an a level (usually at .05) and let b fall where it may.
To summarize, some uncertainty always goes with a conclusion based on statistical evidence. A famous statistics textbook put it this way, “If you agree to use a sample, you agree to accept some uncertainty about the results.”
The Meaning of p in p a .05
The symbol p (as in p � .05) is quite common in data-based investigations, regardless of the topic of investigation. p deserves a special section.
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0 2 4 62�4�6�
Differences between X and 10⎯
F I G U R E 8 . 4 A sampling distribution from the population on the left in Figure 8.3
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Every statistical test such as the t test has its own sampling distribution. A sampling distribution shows the probability of various sample outcomes when the null hypothesis is true. Thus, p is always the probability of the statistical test value when H0 is true. If your t test gives you p � .05, it means that the sample results you actually got or results more extreme occur fewer than 5 times in 100 when the null hypothesis is true.
There are a number of interpretations of p that might seem correct, but they are not. To illustrate, here are some cautions about the meaning of p.
■ p is not the probability that H0 is true ■ p is not the probability of a Type I error ■ p is not the probability that the data are due to chance ■ p is not the probability of making a wrong decision
Perhaps the best thing for beginners to do is to memorize a definition of p and use it (or close variations) in the interpretations they write. In statistics, p is the probability of the data obtained, if the null hypothesis is true. To be just a little more technical, p is the probability of the statistical test value.
What about the situation when the null hypothesis is false? Statisticians address this situation under the topic of power. There is a short discussion of power in the next chapter.
One-Tailed and Two-Tailed Tests
As mentioned earlier, researchers choose, before the data are gathered, one of three possible alternative hypotheses. The choice of an alternative hypothesis determines the conclusions that are possible after the statistical analysis is finished. Here’s the general expression of these alternative hypotheses and the conclusions they allow you:
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Two-tailed test:
One-tailed tests:
H1: m1 � m0. The population means differ, but no direction of the difference is specified. Conclusions that are possible: The sample is from a population with a mean less than that of the null hypothesis or the sample is from a population with a mean greater than that of the null hypothesis.
H1: m1 � m0. Conclusion that is possible: The sample is from a population with a mean less than that of the null hypothesis.
H1: m1 � m0. Conclusion that is possible: The sample is from a population with a mean greater than that of the null hypothesis.
If you want to have two different conclusions available to you—that the sample is from a population with a mean less than that of the null hypothesis or that the sample is from a population with a mean greater than that of the null hypothesis—you must have a rejection region in each tail of the sampling distribution. Such a test is called a two-tailed test of significance for reasons that should be obvious from Figure 8.4 and Figure 8.2.
two-tailed test of significance Statistical test for a difference in population means that can detect positive and negative differences.
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If your only interest is in showing (if the data will permit you) that the sample comes from a population with a mean greater than that of the null hypothesis or from a population with a mean less than that of the null hypothesis, you should conduct a one-tailed test of significance, which puts all of the rejection region into one tail of the sampling distribution. Figure 8.5 illustrates this for a t distribution with 30 df.
The probability figures for two-tailed tests are in the second row of Table D (p. 386); probability figures for one-tailed tests are in row 3.
For most research situations, a two-tailed test is the appropriate one. The usual goal of a researcher is to discover the way things actually are, and a one-tailed test does not allow you to discover, for example, that the populations are exactly reversed from the way you expect them to be. Researchers always have expectations (but they sometimes get surprised).
In many applied situations, however, a one-tailed test is appropriate. Some new procedure, product, or person, for example, is being compared to an already existing standard. The only interest is in whether the new is better than the old; that is, only a difference in one direction will produce a decision to change. In such a situation, a one-tailed test seems appropriate.
I chose a two-tailed test for the Doritos data because I wanted to be able to conclude that the Frito-Lay company was giving more than they claimed or that they were giving less than they claimed. Of course, the data would have their say about the conclusion, but either outcome would be informative.
I’ll end this section on one- and two-tailed tests by telling you that statistics instructors sometimes smile or even laugh at the subtitle of this book. The phrase “tales of distributions” brings to mind “tails of the distribution.”
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0 1 2 31–2–3–
t values 1.70
.05
F I G U R E 8 . 5 A one-tailed test of significance, with A � .05, df � 30. The critical value is 1.70.
one-tailed test of significance Statistical test that can detect a positive difference in population means, or a negative difference, but not both.
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P R O B L E M S
8.13. Distinguish between a and p. 8.14. What is a Type II error? 8.15. Suppose the actual situation is that the sample comes from a
population that is not the one hypothesized by the null hypothesis. If the significance level is .05, what is the probability of making a Type I error? (Careful on this one.)
8.16. Suppose a researcher chooses to use a � .01 rather than .05. What is the effect on the probability of Type I and Type II errors?
8.17. The following table has blanks for you to fill in. Look up critical values in Table D, decide if H0 should be rejected or retained, and give the probability figure that characterizes your confidence in that decision. Check the answer for each line when you complete it. (Be careful not to peek at the next answer.) I designed this table so that some common misconceptions will be revealed—just in case you acquired one.
a Two-tailed or Critical t-test Reject H0 or p N level one-tailed test? value value retain H0? value
a. 10 .05 Two _______ 2.25 _______ _______ b. 20 .01 One _______ 2.57 _______ _______ c. 35 .05 Two _______ 2.03 _______ _______ d. 6 .001 Two _______ 6.72 _______ _______ e. 24 .05 One _______ 1.72 _______ _______ f. 56 .02 Two _______ 2.41 _______ _______
8.18. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) has one scale that measures paranoia (a mistaken belief that others are out to get you). The population mean on the paranoia scale is 50. Suppose 24 police officers filled out the inventory, producing a mean of 54.3. Write interpretations of these t-test values. a. t � 2.10 b. t � 2.05
8.19. A large mail-order company with ten distribution centers had an average return rate of 5.3 percent. In an effort to reduce this rate, a set of testimonials was included with every shipment. The return rate was reduced to 4.9 percent. Write interpretations of these t-test values. a. t � 2.10 b. t � 2.50
*8.20. Head Start is a program for preschool children from educationally disadvantaged environments. Head Start began in 1964, and the data that follow are representative of early research on the effects of the program.
A group of children participated in the program and then enrolled in first grade. They took an IQ test, the national norm of which was 100. Perform a t test on the data. Begin your work by stating the null
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hypothesis and end by writing a conclusion about the effects of the program.
�X � 5250 �X2 � 560,854 N � 50
8.21. Odometers measure automobile mileage. How close to the truth is the number that is registered? Suppose 12 cars traveled exactly 10 miles (measured by surveying) and the following mileage figures were recorded by the odometers. State the null hypothesis, choose an alternative hypothesis, perform a t test, and write a conclusion.
9.8 10.1 10.3 10.2 9.9 10.4 10.0 9.9 10.3 10.0 10.1 10.2
*8.22. The NEO PI-R is a personality test. The E stands for extraversion, one of the personality characteristics the test measures. The population mean for the extraversion test is 50. Suppose 13 people who were successful in used car sales took the test and produced a mean of 56.10 and a standard deviation of 10.00. Perform a t test and write a conclusion.
Effect Size Index
Null hypothesis statistical testing addresses the question of whether the population a sample comes from is different from the population specified by the null hypothesis. The question of how different the two populations are is answered by an effect size index. Many effect size indexes have been developed (see Kirk, 2005), but d, which you studied in Chapter 4 (pages 76–79), is probably the most widely used. For the one- sample t test, the formula for d is
where X� is the mean of the sample m0 is the mean specified by the null hypothesis ŝ is the standard deviation of the sample
The denominator ŝ is an estimate of s. For data sets where s is known, use s. However, for the more common research situation in which s is not known, use ŝ.
Positive values of d indicate a sample mean that is larger than the hypothesized mean; negative values of d indicate that the sample mean was smaller than m0. Can you recall the guidelines that help you evaluate the absolute size of d (Cohen, 1969)? Widely adopted by researchers, they are:
Small effect d � 0.20
Medium effect d � 0.50
Large effect d � 0.80
In problem 8.20 you concluded that the Head Start program has a statistically significant effect on the IQs of preschool children. You found that the mean IQ of
d � X� � m0
ŝ
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children in the program (105) was significantly higher than 100. But how big is this effect? The statistic d provides an answer. Knowing that s � 15 for IQ tests, you get
An effect size index of .33 indicates that the effect of Head Start is midway between a small effect and a medium effect.
P R O B L E M S
8.23. Calculate the effect size index for the students’ Doritos data (page 169) and interpret it using the conventions that researchers use.
8.24. In problem 8.22 you found that people who are successful in used car sales have significantly higher extraversion scores than those in the general population. What is the effect size index for those data and is the effect small, medium, or large?
8.25. In Chapters 2 and 7 you worked with data on normal body temperature. You found that the mean body temperature was 98.2°F rather than the conventional 98.6°F. The standard deviation for those data was 0.7°F. Calculate an effect size index and interpret it.
Other Sampling Distributions
You have been learning about the sampling distribution of the mean. There are times, though, when the statistic necessary to answer a researcher’s question is not the mean. For example, to find the degree of relationship between two variables, you need a correlation coefficient. To determine whether a treatment causes more variable responses, you need a standard deviation. And, as you know, proportions are commonly used statistics. In each of these cases (and indeed, for any statistic), researchers often use the basic hypothesis-testing procedure you have just learned. Hypothesis testing always involves a sampling distribution of the statistic.
Where do you find sampling distributions for statistics other than the mean? In the rest of this book you will encounter new statistics and new sampling distributions. Tables E–L in Appendix C represent sampling distributions from which probability figures can be obtained. In addition, some statistics have sampling distributions that are t distributions or normal curves. Still other statistics and their sampling distributions are covered in other books.
Along with every sampling distribution comes a standard error. Just as every statistic has its sampling distribution, every statistic has its standard error. For example, the standard error of the median is the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the median. The standard error of the variance is the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the variance. Worst of all, the standard error of the standard deviation is the standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the standard deviation. If you follow that sentence, you probably understand the definition of standard error quite well.
d � X� � m0 s
� 105 � 100
15 � 0.33
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The next step in your exploration of sampling distributions will be brief, though useful and (probably) interesting. The t distribution will be used to answer a question about correlation coefficients.
Using the t Distribution to Test the Significance of a Correlation Coefficient
In Chapter 5 you learned to calculate a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, a descriptive statistic that indicates the degree of relationship between two variables in a bivariate distribution. This section is on testing the statistical significance of correlation coefficients. NHST is used to test the hypothesis that a sample-based r came from a population with a parameter coefficient of .00.
The present-day symbol for the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient of a population is r (rho). The null hypothesis that is being tested is
H0: r � .00
The alternative hypothesis is
H1: r � .00 (a two-tailed test)
For r � .00, the sampling distribution of r is a t distribution with a mean of .00. The standard error of r is The test statistic for a sample r is a t value calculated from the formula
clue to the future Note that the formula for the t test of a correlation coefficient has the same form as that of the t test for a sample mean. This form, which you will see again, shows a difference between a statistic and a parameter, divided by the standard error of the statistic.
An algebraic manipulation of the formula above produces a formula that is easier to use with a calculator:
df � N � 2, where N � number of pairs
This test is the first of several instances in which you will find a t value whose df is not one less than the number of observations. For testing the null hypothesis H0: r � .00, df � N � 2. (Having fulfilled my promise to explain one- and two-tailed tests, I hope you will accept my promise to explain degrees of freedom more fully in the next chapter.)
Do you remember your work with correlation coefficients in Chapter 5?4 Think about a sample r � �.40. How likely is a sample r � �.40 if the population r � .00?
t � 1r 2BN � 21 � r2;
t � r � r
sr
sr � 1 11 � r 2 2 > 1N � 2 2 .
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4 If not, take a few minutes to review.
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Does it help to know that the coefficient is based on a sample of 22 pairs? Let’s answer these questions by testing the value r � �.40 against r � .00, using a t test. Applying the formula for t, you get
df � N � 2 � 22 � 2 � 20
Table D shows that, for 20 df, a t value of �2.09 (two-tailed test) is required to reject the null hypothesis. The t value obtained for r � �.40, where N � 22, is less than the tabled t, so the null hypothesis is retained. That is, a coefficient of �.40 would be expected by chance alone more than 5 times in 100 from a population in which the true correlation is zero.
In fact, for N � 22, the value r � �.43 is required for significance at the .05 level, and r � �.54 at the .01 level. As you can see, even medium-sized correlations can be expected by chance alone for samples as small as 22 when the null hypothesis is true. Most researchers strive for N’s of 50 or more for correlation problems.
The critical values under “a level for two-tailed test” in Table D are ones that allow you to reject the null hypothesis if the sample r is a large positive coefficient or a large negative one.
P R O B L E M
8.26. Determine whether the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients are significantly different from .00. a. r � .62; N � 10 c. r � .50; N � 15 b. r � �.19; N � 122 d. r � �.34; N � 64
Here is a thought problem. Suppose you have a summer job in an industrial research laboratory testing the statistical significance of hundreds of correlation coefficients based on varying sample sizes. An a level of .05 has been adopted by the management, and your task is to determine whether each coefficient is “significant” or “not significant.” How can you construct a table of your own, using Table D and the t formula for testing the significance of a correlation coefficient, that will allow you to label each coefficient without working out a t value for each? Imagine or sketch out your answer.
The table you mentally designed already exists. One version is reproduced in Table A in Appendix C. The a values of .10, .05, .02, .01, and .001 are included there. Use Table A in the future to determine whether a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient is significantly different from .00, but remember that this table is based on the t distribution.
As you might expect, SPSS not only calculates r values, but tests them as well. Table 5.5 shows the correlation between SAT verbal and SAT math scores (.694) and the probability of such a correlation coefficient, if the population r is zero (.056).
A word of caution is in order about testing r’s other than .00. The sampling distributions for r values other than .00 are not t distributions. Also, if you want to
t � 1r 2B N � 21 � r 2 � 1�.40 2B 22 � 21 � 1�.40 2 2 � �1.95
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know whether the difference between two sample-based coefficients is statistically significant, you should not use a t distribution because it will not give you correct probabilities. Fortunately, if you have questions that can be answered by testing these kinds of hypotheses, you won’t find it difficult to understand the instructions given in intermediate-level texts such as Howell (2007, p. 259).
This chapter has introduced you to two uses of the t distribution:
1. To test a sample mean against a hypothesized population mean 2. To test a sample correlation coefficient against a hypothesized population
correlation coefficient of .00
The t distribution has other uses, too, and it has been important in the history of statistics.
Here is a little more background on W. S. Gosset, who invented the t distribution so he could assess probabilities in experiments conducted by the Guinness brewery. Gosset was one of a small group of scientifically trained employees who developed ways for the Guinness Company to improve its products.
Gosset wanted to publish his work on the t distribution in Biometrika, a journal founded in 1901 by Francis Galton, Karl Pearson, and W. R. F. Weldon. However, at the Guinness Company there was a rule that employees could not publish (the rule there, apparently, was publish and perish). Because the rule was designed to keep brewing secrets from escaping, there was no particular ferment within the company when Gosset, in 1908, published his new mathematical distribution under the pseudonym “Student.” The distribution later came to be known as “Student’s t.” (No one seems to know why the letter t was chosen. E. S. Pearson surmises that t was simply a “free letter”; that is, no one had yet used t to designate a statistic.) Gosset worked for the Guinness Company all his life, so he continued to use the pseudonym “Student” for his publications in mathematical statistics. Gosset was devoted to his company, working hard and rising through the ranks. He was appointed head brewer a few months before his death in 1937.5
Why .05?
The story of how science and other disciplines came to adopt .05 as the arbitrary point separating differences attributed to chance from those not attributed to chance is not usually covered in textbooks. The story takes place in England at the turn of the century.
It appears that the earliest explicit rule about a was in a 1910 article by Wood and Stratton, “The Interpretation of Experimental Results,” which was published in the Journal of Agricultural Science. Thomas B. Wood, the principal editor of this journal, advised researchers to take “30:1 as the lowest odds which can be accepted as giving practical certainty that a difference . . . is significant” (Wood and Stratton, 1910, p. 438). “Practical certainty” meant “enough certainty for a practical farmer.” A consideration of the circumstances of Wood’s journal provides a plausible explanation of his advice to researchers.
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5 For a delightful account of “That Dear Mr. Gosset,” see Salsburg (2001). Also see “Gosset, W. S.” in Dictionary of National Biography, 1931–1940 (London: Oxford University Press, 1949), or see McMullen and Pearson (1939, pp. 205–253).
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As the 20th century began, farmers in England were doing quite well. For example, Biffen (1905) reported that wheat production averaged 30 bushels per acre compared to 14 in the United States, 10 in Russia, and 7 in Argentina. Politically, of course, England was near the peak of its influence.
In addition, a science of agriculture was beginning to be established. Practical scientists, with an eye on increased production and reduced costs, conducted studies of weight gains in cattle, pigs, and sheep; amounts of dry matter in milk and mangels (a kind of beet); and yields of many grains. In 1905, the Journal of Agricultural Science was founded so these results could be shared around the world. Conclusions were reached after calculating probabilities, but the researchers avoided or ignored the problem created by probabilities between .01 and .25.
Wood’s recommendation in his “how to interpret experiments” article was to adopt an a level that would provide a great deal of protection against a Type I error. (Odds of 30:1 against the null hypothesis convert to p � .0323.) A Type I error in this context would be a recommendation that, when implemented, did not produce improvement. I think that Wood and his colleagues wanted to be sure that when they made a recommendation, it would be correct.
A Type II error (failing to recommend an improvement) would not cause much damage; farmers would just continue to do well (though not as well as they might). A Type I error, however, would, at best, result in no agricultural improvement and in a loss of credibility and support for the fledgling institution of agriculture science.
To summarize my argument, it made sense for the agricultural scientists to protect themselves and their institution against Type I errors. They did this by not making a recommendation unless the odds were 30:1 against a Type I error.
When tables were published as an aid to researchers, probabilities such as .10, .05, .02, and .01 replaced odds (e.g., Fisher, 1925). So 30:1 (p � .0323) gave way to .05. Those tables were used by researchers in many areas besides agriculture, who appear to have adopted .05 as the most important significance level.
P R O B L E M S
8.27. In Chapter 5 you encountered data for 11 countries on per capita cigarette consumption and the male death rate from lung cancer 20 years later. The correlation coefficient was .74. After consulting Table A, write a response to the statement, “The correlation is just a fluke; chance is the likely explanation for this correlation.”
8.28. One of my colleagues gathered data on the time students spent on a midterm examination and their grade. The X variable is time and the Y variable is examination grade. Calculate r. Use Table A to determine if it is statistically significant.
�X � 903 �X2 � 25,585 �XY � 46,885
�Y � 2079 �Y2 � 107,707 N � 42
8.29. In addition to weighing Doritos chips, I weighed six Snickers candy bars manufactured by Mars, Inc. Test the company’s advertised claim that the net weight of a bar is 58.7 grams by performing a t test on the
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following data, which are in grams. Find d. Write a conclusion about Snickers bars.
59.1 60.0 58.6 60.2 60.8 62.1
8.30. When people choose a number between 1 and 10, the mean is 6. To investigate the effects of subliminal (below threshold) stimuli on behavior, a researcher embedded many low numbers (1 to 3) in a video clip. Each number appeared so briefly that it couldn’t consciously be seen. Afterward the participants were asked to “choose a number between 1 and 10.” Analyze the data with a t test and an effect size index. Write an interpretation.
7 1 6 2 9 3 8 4 7 5 4
8 2 9 8 7 5 4 2 3 6 4
6 8 4 5 6 2 1 4 7 7 8
8 4 8 5 7 6 6
8.31. Please review the objectives at the beginning of the chapter. Can you do them?
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 8 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, two workshops, and more. The two Statistics Workshops are Hypothesis Testing and Single-Sample t Test. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and problems that require calculation and interpretation.
KEY TERMS
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Alpha (a) (p. 175) Alternative hypothesis (H1) (p. 171) Beta (b) (p. 179) Correlation coefficient (p. 186) Critical value (p. 175) Effect size index (d ) (p. 184) NS (p. 175) Null hypothesis (H0) (p. 170) Null hypothesis statistical testing
(NHST) (p. 167)
One-sample t test (p. 177) One-tailed test of significance (p. 182) p (p. 180) Rejection region (p. 175) Significance level (p. 175) Statistically significant (p. 175) t distribution (p. 172) Two-tailed test of significance (p. 181) Type I error (p. 178) Type II error (p. 178)
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chapter 9 Hypothesis Testing, Effect Size, and Confidence Intervals: Two-Sample Designs
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 9
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Describe the logic of a simple experiment
2. Explain null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST) for two samples
3. Explain some of the reasoning for determining degrees of freedom
4. Distinguish between independent-samples designs and paired-samples designs
5. Calculate t-test values for both independent-samples designs and paired- samples designs and write interpretations
6. Distinguish between statistically significant results and important results
7. Calculate and interpret an effect size index
8. Calculate confidence intervals for both independent-samples designs and paired-samples designs and write interpretations
9. List and explain assumptions for using the t distribution
10. Define power and explain the factors that affect power
IN CHAPTER 8YOU learned to use null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST) to answer questions about a population when data from one sample are available. In this chapter, the same hypothesis-testing reasoning is used, but you have data from two samples.
Two-sample NHST is used frequently to analyze data from experiments. One of the greatest benefits of studying statistics is that it helps you understand experiments and the experimental method. The experimental method is probably our most powerful
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method of finding out about natural phenomena. Besides being powerful, experiments can be interesting. They can answer such questions as:
■ If you were lost at sea would you rather have a pigeon or a person searching for you?
■ Does the removal of 20 percent of the cortex of the brain have an effect on the memory of tasks learned before the operation?
■ Can you reduce people’s ability to solve a problem by educating them?
In this chapter I discuss the simplest kind of experiment and then show you how the logic of null hypothesis statistical testing, which you studied in the preceding chapter, can be expanded to answer questions like those above.
A Short Lesson on How to Design an Experiment
The basic ideas of a simple two-group experiment are not very complicated.
The logic of an experiment: Start with two equivalent groups. Treat them exactly alike except for one thing. Measure both groups. Attribute any statistically significant difference between the two to the one way in which they were treated differently.
This summary of an experiment is described more fully in Table 9.1. The question that the experiment in Table 9.1 sets out to answer is: What is the effect of Treatment A on a person’s ability to perform task Q? In formal statistical terms, the question is: For task Q scores, is the mean of the population of those who have had Treatment A different from the mean of the population of those who have not had Treatment A?
To conduct this experiment, a group of participants is identified and two samples are assembled. These samples should be (approximately) equivalent. Treatment A is
then administered to one group (generically called the experimental group) but not to the other group (generically called the control group). Except for Treatment A, both groups are treated exactly the same way; that is, extraneous variables are held constant or balanced out for the two groups. Both groups perform task Q, and the mean score for each group is calculated.
The two sample means almost surely will differ. The question is whether the difference is due to Treatment A or is just the usual chance difference that would be expected of two samples from the same population. This question can be answered by applying the logic of NHST.
This generalized example has an independent variable with two levels (Treatment A and no Treatment A) and one dependent variable (scores on task Q). The word treatment is recognized by all experimentalists; it refers to different levels of the independent variable. The experiment in Table 9.1 has two treatments.
In many experiments, it is obvious that there are two populations of participants to begin with—for example, a population of men and a population of women. The question, however, is whether they are equal on the dependent variable.1
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1 Two samples from one population are the same statistically as two samples from two identical populations.
experimental group Group that receives treatment in an experiment and whose dependent-variable scores are compared to those of a control group.
control group No-treatment group to which other groups are compared.
treatment One value (or level) of the independent variable.
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In some experimental designs, participants are randomly assigned to treatments by the researcher. In other designs, the researcher uses a group of participants who have already been “treated” (for example, being males or being children of alcoholic parents). In either of these designs, the methods of inferential statistics are the same, although the interpretation of the first kind of experiment is usually less open to attack.2
The experimental procedure is versatile. Experiments have been used to decide a wide variety of issues such as how much sugar to use in a cake recipe, what kind of tea tastes the best, whether a drug is useful in treating cancer, and the effect of alcoholic parents on the personality of their children.
The raison d’être3 of experiments is to be able to tell a story about the universal effect of one variable on a second variable. All the work with samples is just a way to
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TABLE 9.1 Summary of a Simple Experiment
Key words Tasks for the researcher
Population A population of participants
d f
Assignment Randomly assign one-half of Randomly assign one-half of available participants to the available participants to the experimental group. control group.
b b
Independent Give Treatment A to participants Withhold Treatment A from variable in experimental group. participants in control group.
b b
Dependent Measure participants’ behavior Measure participants’ behavior variable on task Q. on task Q.
b b
Descriptive Calculate mean score on task Q, Calculate mean score on task Q, statistics
f d
Descriptive Calculate effect size index, d. statistics
b
Inferential Compare and using a hypothesis-testing statistic. statistics Reject or retain the null hypothesis.
b
Interpretation Write a conclusion about the effect of Treatment A on task Q scores.
X�cX�e
X�c.X�e.
2 I am bringing up an issue that is beyond the scope of this statistics book. Courses with titles such as “Research Methods” and “Experimental Design” address the interpretation of experiments in more detail. 3 Raison d’être means “reason for existence.” (Ask someone who can pronounce French phrases to teach you this one. If you already know how to pronounce the phrase, use it in conversation to identify yourself as someone to ask.)
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get evidence to support the story, but samples, of course, have chance built into them. NHST takes chance factors into account when the story is told.
NHST: The Two-Sample Example
Once the data are gathered, analysis follows. The NHST technique is a popular one among researchers, although it has been criticized (see Dillon, 1999; Nickerson, 2000; Spatz, 2000.) NHST with two samples is quite similar to NHST with one sample, which you studied in Chapter 8. In fact, the logic is identical. (See pages 168–171 for a review.) Here is the logic of NHST for a two-sample experiment.
In a well-designed, well-executed experiment, all imaginable results are included in this statement: Either Treatment A has an effect or it does not have an effect. Begin by making a tentative assumption that Treatment A does not have an effect. Gather data. Using a sampling distribution based on the assumption that Treatment A has no effect, find the probability of the data obtained. If the probability is low, abandon your tentative assumption and draw a strong conclusion: Treatment A has an effect.4 If the probability is not low, your analysis does not permit you to make strong statements regarding Treatment A.
The outline that follows combines the logic of hypothesis testing with the language of an experiment:
1. Begin with two logical possibilities, the null hypothesis, H0, and an alternative hypothesis, H1. H0 is a hypothesis of equality about parameters. H1 is a hypothesis of difference, again about parameters.
H0: Treatment A does not have an effect; that is, the mean of the population of scores of those who receive Treatment A is equal to the mean of the population of scores of those who do not receive Treatment A. The difference between population means is zero. In statistical language:
H0: mA � mno A or H0: mA � mno A � 0
H1: Treatment A does have an effect; that is, the mean of the population of scores of those who receive Treatment A is not equal to the mean of the population of scores of those who do not receive Treatment A. The alternative hypothesis, which should be chosen before the data are gathered, can be two-tailed or one-tailed. The alternative hypothesis consists of one of the three H1’s that follow.
Two-tailed alternative: H1: mA � mno A
The two-tailed alternative hypothesis says that Treatment A has an effect, but it does not indicate whether the treatment improves or disrupts performance on task Q. A two-tailed test allows either conclusion.
One-tailed alternatives: H1: mA � mno A H1: mA � mno A
194 ■ Chapter 9
4 Always tell whether the treatment raises scores or lowers scores.
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The first one-tailed alternative hypothesis allows you to conclude that Treatment A increases scores. However, no outcome of the experiment can lead to the conclusion that Treatment A produces lower scores than no treatment. The second alternative hypothesis permits a conclusion that Treatment A reduces scores, but not that it increases scores.
2. Tentatively assume that Treatment A has no effect (that is, assume H0). If H0 is true, the two samples will be alike except for the usual chance variations in samples.
3. Decide on an a level. (Usually, a � .05.) 4. Choose an appropriate statistical test. For a two-sample experiment, a t test
is appropriate. Calculate a t-test value. 5. Compare the calculated t-test value to the critical value for a. (Use Table D
in Appendix C.) 6. If the data-based t-test value is greater than the critical value from the table,
reject H0. If the data-based t-test value is less than the critical value, retain H0. 7. Calculate an effect size index (d ). 8. Write a conclusion that is supported by the data analysis. Your conclusion
should describe how any differences in the dependent variable means are related to the two levels of the independent variable.
As you know from the previous chapter, sample means from a population are distributed as a t distribution. It is also the case that the differences between sample means, each drawn from the same population, are distributed as a t distribution.5
Researchers sometimes are interested in statistics other than the mean, and they often have more than two samples in an experiment. These situations call for sampling distributions that will be covered later in this book—sampling distributions such as F, chi square, U, and the normal distribution. NHST can be used for these situations as well. The only changes in the preceding list are in steps 4, 5, and 6, starting with “Choose an appropriate test.” I hope that you will return to this section for review when you encounter new sampling distributions. If this seems like a good idea, mark this page.
P R O B L E M S
9.1. In your own words, outline a simple experiment. 9.2. What procedure is used in the experiment described in Table 9.1 to
ensure that the two samples are equivalent before treatment? 9.3. For each experiment that follows, identify the independent variable and
its levels. Identify the dependent variable. State the null hypothesis in words. a. A psychologist compared the annual income of people with high
Satisfaction With Life Scale scores to the income of those with low SWLS scores.
b. A sociologist compared the numbers of years served in prison by those convicted of robbery and those convicted of embezzlement.
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5 Differences are distributed as t, if the assumptions discussed near the end of this chapter are true.
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c. A physical therapist measured flexibility after 1 week of treatment and again after 6 weeks of treatment for 40 patients.
9.4. In your own words, outline the logic of NHST for a two-group experiment.
9.5. What is the purpose of an experiment, according to your textbook?
Degrees of Freedom
In your use of the t distribution so far, you found degrees of freedom using rule-of- thumb techniques: N � 1 for a one-sample t test, and N � 2 when you determine whether a correlation coefficient r is significantly different from .00. Now it is time to explain degrees of freedom more thoroughly.
The “freedom” in degrees of freedom refers to the freedom of a number to have any possible value. If you are asked to pick two numbers and there are no restrictions, both numbers are free to vary (take any value) and you have two degrees of freedom. If a restriction, such as �X � 0, is imposed, then one degree of freedom is lost because of that restriction; that is, when you now pick the two numbers, only one of them is free to vary. As an example, if you choose 3 for the first number, the second number must be �3. Because of the restriction that �X � 0, the second number is not free to vary. In a similar way, if you are to pick five numbers with a restriction that �X � 0, you have four degrees of freedom. Once four numbers are chosen (say, �5, 3, 16, and 8), the last number (�22) is determined.
The restriction that �X � 0 may seem to you to be an “out-of-the-blue” example and unrelated to your earlier work in statistics, but some of the statistics you calculated have such a restriction built in. For example, when you found , as required in the formula for the one-sample t test, you used some algebraic version of
The built-in restriction is that �(X � X�) is always zero and, in order to meet that requirement, one of the X’s is determined. All X’s are free to vary except one, and the degrees of freedom for is N � 1. Thus, for the problem of using the t distribution to determine whether a sample came from a population with a mean m0, df � N � 1. Walker (1940) summarized this reasoning by stating: “A universal rule holds: The number of degrees of freedom is always equal to the number of observations minus the number of necessary relations obtaining among these observations.” A necessary relationship for is that �(X � X�) � 0.
Another approach to explaining degrees of freedom is to emphasize the parameters that are being estimated by statistics. The rule for this approach is that df is equal to the number of observations minus the number of parameters that are estimated with a sample statistic. In the case of , 1 df is subtracted because X� is used as an estimate of m.sX�
sX�
sX�
sX� � ŝ2N � B
© 1X � X� 2 2
N � 12N
sX�
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Now, let’s turn to your use of the t distribution to determine whether a correlation coefficient r is significantly different from .00. The test statistic was calculated using the formula
The r in the formula is a linear correlation coefficient, which is based on a linear regression line. The formula for the regression line is
There are two parameters in the regression formula, a and b. Each of these parameters costs one degree of freedom, so the df for testing the significance of correlation coefficients is N � 2.
These explanations of df for the one-sample t test and for testing the significance of r will prepare you for the reasoning I will give for determining df when you analyze two-group experiments.
Paired-Samples Designs and Independent-Samples Designs
An experiment with two groups can be either a paired-samples design or an independent-samples design. For either design, the appropriate statistical test is a t test. However, the two different designs require different formulas for calculating the t test, so you must decide what kind of design you have before you analyze the data.
In a paired-samples (or paired-scores) design, each dependent- variable score in one treatment is matched or paired with a particular dependent-variable score in the other treatment. This pairing is based on some logical reason for matching up two scores and not on the size of the scores. In an independent-samples design, there is no reason to pair up the scores in the two groups.
You cannot tell the difference between the two designs just by knowing the independent variable and the dependent variable. And, after the data are analyzed, you cannot tell the difference from the t-test value or from the interpretation of the experiment. To tell the difference, you must know whether scores in one group are paired with scores in a second group.
clue to the future Most of the rest of this chapter will be organized around independent-samples and paired-samples designs. In Chapters 10 and 12 the procedures you will learn are appropriate for only independent samples. The design in Chapter 11 is a paired-samples design with more than two levels of the independent variable. Three-fourths of Chapter 14 is also organized around these two designs.
Ŷ � a � bX
t � 1r 2B N � 21 � r 2
Hypothesis Testing, Effect Size, and Confidence Intervals: Two-Sample Designs ■ 197
paired-samples design Experimental design in which scores from each group are logically matched.
independent-samples design Experimental design with samples whose dependent-variable scores cannot logically be paired.
t test Test of a null hypothesis that uses t distribution probabilities.
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Paired-Samples Design
The paired-samples design is a favorite of researchers if their materials permit.6 The logical pairing required for this design can be created three ways: natural pairs, matched pairs, and repeated measures. Fortunately, the arithmetic of calculating a t-test value is the same for all three.
Natural pairs In a natural pairs investigation, the researcher does not assign the participants to one group or the other; the pairing occurs naturally, prior to the investigation. Table 9.2 identifies one way in which natural pairs may occur in family relationships—fathers and sons. In such an investigation, you might ask whether fathers are shorter than their sons
(or more religious, or more racially prejudiced, or whatever). Notice, though, that it is easy to decide that these are paired-samples data: There is a logical pairing of the scores by family. Pairing is based on membership in the same family.
Matched pairs In some situations, the researcher has control over the ways pairs are formed and matches can be arranged. One method is for two participants to be paired on the basis of similar scores on a pretest that is related to the dependent variable. This ensures that the two groups are fairly equivalent at the beginning of the experiment.
For example, in an experiment on the effect of hypnosis on problem solving, participants might initially be paired on the basis of IQ scores. IQ scores are known to be related to problem-solving ability. One member of each pair is randomly assigned to the hypnosis group (they solve problems while hypnotized) or the control group (they solve problems without hypnosis). If the two groups differ in problem-solving ability, you have some assurance that it wasn’t due to IQ because the pairing produced groups equivalent in IQ.
Another variation of matched pairs is the split-litter technique used with animal subjects. A pair from a litter is selected, and one individual is put into each group. In this way, the genetics and prenatal conditions are matched for the two groups. The same technique has been used in human experiments with twins or siblings. Gosset’s barley experiments
used this design; Gosset started with two similar subjects (adjacent plots of ground) and assigned them at random to one of two treatments.
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TABLE 9.2 Illustration of a paired-samples design
Height (in.) Height (in.) Father X Son Y
Michael Smith 74 Mike, Jr. 74 Christopher Johnson 72 Chris, Jr. 72 Matthew Williams 70 Matt, Jr. 70 Joshua Jones 68 Josh, Jr. 68 Daniel Brown 66 Dan, Jr. 66 David Davis 64 Dave, Jr. 64
6 Other terms for this design are correlated samples, matched groups, within subject, repeated measures, related samples, dependent samples, and split plots.
natural pairs Paired-samples design in which pairing occurs without intervention by the researcher.
matched pairs Paired-samples design in which individuals are paired by the researcher before the experiment.
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A third example of the matched-pairs technique occurs when a pair is formed during the experiment. Two subjects are “yoked” so that what happens to one, happens to the other (except for the independent and dependent variables). For example, if the procedure allows an animal in the experimental group to get a varying amount of food (or exercise or punishment), then that same amount of food (or exercise or punishment) is administered to the “yoked” control subject.
The difference between the matched-pairs design and a natural-pairs design is that, with the matched pairs, the investigator can randomly assign one member of the pair to a treatment. In the natural-pairs design, the investigator has no control over assignment. Although the statistics are the same, the natural-pairs design is usually open to more interpretations than the matched-pairs design.
Repeated measures A third kind of paired-samples design is called a repeated- measures design because more than one measure is taken on each participant. This design may take the form of a before-and-after experiment. A pretest is given, some treatment is administered, and a post-test is given. The mean of the scores on the post-test is compared with the mean of the scores on the pretest to determine the effectiveness of the treatment. Clearly, two scores should be paired: the pretest and the post-test scores of each participant. In such an experiment, each person is said to serve as his or her own control.
For paired-samples designs, researchers typically label one level of the independent variable X and the other Y. The characteristic that distinguishes paired-samples designs from independent-samples designs is that there is a logical reason for each X score to be paired with its corresponding Y score. That is, the first score under treatment X is paired with the first score under treatment Y because the two scores are natural pairs, matched pairs, or repeated measures on the same subject.
Independent-Samples Design
The experiment outlined in Table 9.1 is an independent-samples design.7 In this design, researchers typically label the two levels of the independent variable X1 and X2. The distinguishing characteristic of an independent-samples design is that there is no reason to pair a score in one treatment (X1) with a particular score in the other treatment (X2).
In creating an independent-samples design, researchers often begin with a pool of participants and then randomly assign individuals to the groups. Thus, there is no reason to suppose that the first score under X1 should be paired with the first score under X2. Random assignment can be used with paired-samples designs, too, but in a different way. In a paired-samples design, one member of a pair is assigned randomly.
The basic difference between the two designs is that with a paired-samples design there is a logical reason to pair up scores from the two groups; with the independent- samples design there is not. Thus, in a paired-samples design, the two scores in the first row of numbers belong there because they come from two sources that are logically related.
Hypothesis Testing, Effect Size, and Confidence Intervals: Two-Sample Designs ■ 199
repeated measures Experimental design in which each subject contributes to more than one treatment.
7 Other terms used for this design are between subjects, unpaired, randomized, and uncorrelated.
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P R O B L E M S
9.6. Describe the two ways to state the rule governing degrees of freedom. 9.7. Identify each of the following as an independent-samples design or a
paired-samples design. For each, identify the independent variable and its levels and the dependent variable. Work all six problems before checking your answers. a. An investigator gathered many case histories of situations in which
identical twins were raised apart—one in a “good” environment and one in a “bad” environment. The group raised in the “good” environment was compared with that raised in the “bad” environment on attitude toward education.
*b. A researcher counted the number of aggressive encounters among children who were playing with worn and broken toys. Next, the children watched other children playing with new, shiny toys. Finally, the first group of children resumed playing with the worn and broken toys, and the researcher again counted the number of aggressive encounters. (For a classic experiment on this topic, see Barker, Dembo, and Lewin, 1941.)
c. Patients with seasonal affective disorder (a type of depression) spent 2 hours a day under bright artificial light. Before treatment the mean depression score was 20.0, and at the end of one week of treatment the mean depression score was 6.4.
d. One group was deprived of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep and the other was not. At the sleep lab, participants were paired and randomly assigned to one of the two conditions. When those in the deprivation group began to show REM, they were awakened, thus depriving them of REM sleep. The other member of the pair was then awakened for an equal length of time during non-REM sleep. The next day all participants filled out a mood questionnaire.
e. One group was deprived of REM sleep and the other was not. At the sleep lab, participants were randomly assigned to one of the two groups. When those in the deprivation group began to show REM, they were awakened, thus depriving them of REM sleep. The other participants were awakened during non-REM sleep. The next day all participants filled out a mood questionnaire.
f. Thirty-two freshmen applied for a sophomore honors course. Only 16 could be accepted, so the instructor flipped a coin for each applicant, with the result that 16 were selected. At graduation, the instructor compared the mean grade point average of those who had taken the course to the GPA of those who had not to see if the sophomore honors course had an effect on GPA.
The t Test for Independent-Samples Designs
When a t test is used to decide whether two populations have the same mean, the null hypothesis is
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H0: m1 � m2
where the subscripts 1 and 2 are assigned arbitrarily to the two populations. If this null hypothesis is true, any difference between two sample means is due to chance. The task is to establish an a level, calculate a t-test value, and compare that value with a critical value of t in Table D. If the t value calculated from the data is greater than the critical value (that is, less probable than a), reject H0 and conclude that the two samples came from populations with different means. If the data-based t value is not as large as the critical value, retain H0. I expect that this sounds familiar to you. For an independent-samples design, the formula for the t test is
The term is the standard error of a difference, and Table 9.3 shows formulas for calculating it. Use the formula at the top of the table when the two samples have an unequal number of scores. In the situation N1 � N2, the formula simplifies to those shown in the lower portion of Table 9.3. These formulas are called the pooled error by some statistical software.
The previous t-test formula is the “working formula” for the more general case in which the numerator is (X�1 � X�2) � (m1 � m2). For the cases in this book, the hypothesized value of m1 � m2 is zero, which reduces the general case to the working formula shown above. Thus, the t test, like many other statistical tests, consists of a difference between a statistic and a parameter divided by the standard error of the statistic.
The formula for degrees of freedom for independent samples is df � N1 � N2 � 2. Here is the reasoning. For each sample, the number of degrees of freedom is N � 1 because,
sX�1�X�2
t � X�1 � X�2
sX�1�X�2
Hypothesis Testing, Effect Size, and Confidence Intervals: Two-Sample Designs ■ 201
standard error of a difference Standard deviation of a sampling distribution of differences between means.
TABLE 9.3 Formulas for s–X1� –X2, the standard error of a difference, for independent-samples t tests
If
If
�R©X 1 2 � 1©X 1 2 2
N1 � ©X 2 2 �
1©X 2 2 2
N2 N1 1N2 � 1 2
� B a ŝ11N1 b 2
� a ŝ21N2 b
2
sX�1�X�2 � 2sX�12 � sX�2 2 N1 � N2:
sX�1�X�2 �R ° ©X 1 2 � 1©X 1 2 2
N1 � ©X 2 2 �
1©X 2 2 2
N2 N1 � N2 � 2
¢ a
1
N1 �
1
N2 b
N1 � N2:
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TABLE 9.4 Effort in kilograms for participants in the social psychology experiment
Group (X1) Alone (X2)
34 39 52 57 26 68 47 74 42 49 37 57 40
�X 278 344 �X 2 11,478 20,520 N 7 6 X� 39.71 57.33
Applying the t test gives
df � N1 � N2 � 2 � 7 � 6 � 2 � 11
� �17.62
B a 437.43 � 797.3311 b 10.31 2 �
�17.62
5.90 � �2.99
� 39.71 � 57.33
R ° 11,478 � 1278 2 2
7 � 20,520 �
1344 2 2
6
7 � 6 � 2
¢ a 1
7 �
1
6 b
t � X�1 � X�2
sX�1�X�2 �
X�1 � X�2
R ° ©X 1 2 � 1©X 1 2 2
N1 � ©X 2 2 �
1©X 2 2 2
N2 N1 � N2 � 2
¢ a 1
N1 �
1
N2 b
for each sample, a mean has been calculated with the restriction that �(X � X�) � 0. Thus, the total degrees of freedom is (N1 � 1) � (N2 � 1) � N1 � N2 � 2.
Let’s use the independent-samples design to analyze data that illustrate a classic social psychology phenomenon. The question is whether you work harder when you are part of a group or when you are alone. In the experimental setup, blindfolded participants were instructed to “pull as hard as you can on this rope.” Some participants thought they were part of a group and others thought they were pulling alone. In fact, all were pulling alone, and their effort (in kilograms) was recorded. (See Ingham et al., 1974, for a similar experiment.)
The null hypothesis is that group participation has no effect on effort. A two-tailed test is appropriate because we want to be able to detect any effect that group participation has, either to enhance or inhibit performance.
The scores of the participants and the t test are shown in Table 9.4. Because the N’s are unequal for the two samples, the longer formula for the standard error must
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be used. The t value for these data is �2.99, a negative value. For a two-tailed test, always use the absolute value of t. Thus, |�2.99| � 2.99.
To evaluate a data-based t value of 2.99 with 11 df, you need a critical value from Table D. Begin by finding the row with 11 df. The critical value in the column for a two-tailed test with a� .05 is 2.201; that is, t.05(11) � 2.201. Thus, the null hypothesis can be rejected. Because 2.99 is also greater than the critical value at the .02 level (2.718), the results would usually be reported as “significant at the .02 level.”
An SPSS analysis of the data in Table 9.4 is shown in Table 9.5. Descriptive statistics for the two conditions in the experiment are in the upper panel; most of the output from the independent-samples t test is in the lower panel. In the lower panel, the first line, the one with 11 df, corresponds to the t test that I’ve provided the formulas for. The t value of �2.989 has a probability of .012.
The final step is to interpret the results. Stop for a moment and compose your interpretation of what this experiment shows. My version follows.
The experiment shows that participants exert less effort when working with a group than when working alone. Participants exerted significantly less effort pulling a rope when they thought they were part of a group (X� � 39.71 kg) than they did when they thought they were pulling alone (X� � 57.33 kg), p � .02. The phenomenon that people slack off when they are part of a group, compared to working alone, is called social loafing.
clue to the future The end result of statistical software programs is a p value. Such p values make critical values obsolete. If p � a, reject H0. If p � a, retain H0. Tables and their critical values are not needed.
Hypothesis Testing, Effect Size, and Confidence Intervals: Two-Sample Designs ■ 203
TABLE 9.5 SPSS output for independent-samples t test of the data in Table 9.4
Group Statistics
Std. Error Perception N Mean Std. Deviation Mean
Effort Group 7 39.7143 8.53843 3.22722 Alone 6 57.3333 12.62801 5.15536
Independent Samples Test
t-test for 95% Confidence Interval Equality of Means of the Difference
Sig. t df (2-tailed) Lower Upper
Effort Equal variances —2.989 11 .012 —30.59262 —4.64548 assumed Equal variances —2.897 8.588 .019 —31.47926 —3.75884 not assumed
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P R O B L E M S
*9.8. Imagine being lost at sea, bobbing around in an orange life jacket. The Coast Guard sends out two kinds of observers to spot you, fellow humans and pigeons. All observers are successful; the search time for each is given in the table in minutes. Decide on a one- or two-tailed test, analyze the data, and write a conclusion.
Fellow humans Pigeons
45 31 63 24 39 20
*9.9. Karl Lashley (1890–1958) studied how the brain stores memories. In one experiment, rats learned a simple maze. Afterward, they were anesthetized and for half the rats, 20 percent of the cortex of the brain was removed. For the other half, no brain tissue was removed (a sham operation). The rats recovered, and learned a maze. The number of errors was recorded. Name the independent variable, its levels, and the dependent variable. Analyze the data in the table and write a conclusion about the effect of a 20 percent loss of cortex on retention of memory for a simple maze.
Percent of cortex removed
0 20
�X 208 252 �X 2 1706 2212 N 40 40
9.10. A mail-order firm was considering a new software package that provides information on products (availability, history, cost, and so forth). To test the software, the next 17 new employees were randomly assigned to use the old or the new software. After training, each employee completed a search report on 40 products. Analyze the data, which are in minutes, and write a conclusion about the new software package.
New package Old package
4.3 6.3 4.7 5.8 6.4 7.2 5.2 8.1 3.9 6.3 5.8 7.5 5.2 6.0 5.5 5.6 4.9
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*9.11. Two sisters attend different universities. Each is sure that she has to compete with brighter students than her sister. They decide to settle their disagreement by comparing ACT admission scores of freshmen at the two schools. Suppose they bring you the following data and ask for an analysis. The N’s represent all freshmen for one year.
The U. State U.
X� 23.4 23.5 ŝ 3 3 N 8000 8000
The sisters agree to a significance level of .05. Begin by deciding whether to use a one-tailed or a two-tailed test. Calculate a t test and interpret your results. Be sure to carry several decimal places in your work on this problem.
The t Test for Paired-Samples Designs
The paired-samples t test has a familiar theme: a difference between means (X� � Y�) divided by the standard error of a difference ( ). The working formula for this t test is
I will explain each of these elements and then conclude with a discussion of degrees of freedom. I begin with , the standard error of a difference, which I will explain two ways. First, the definitional formula is
Compare this standard error of a difference to that for an independent-samples t test for equal N’s (lower portion of Table 9.3). The difference in the two procedures is the term . As you can see, when rXY � 0, this term becomes zero, and the standard error becomes the same as for independent samples.
Now, notice what happens to the formula when r � 0: The standard error of the difference is reduced. Reducing the size of the standard error increases the size of the t-test value. Whether this reduction increases the likelihood of rejecting the null hypothesis depends on the size of the reduction because, as will be explained, there are fewer degrees of freedom in a paired-samples design than in an independent- samples design.
Understanding the formula should help you better understand the difference between the two designs in this chapter. Unfortunately, this formula requires a number of separate calculations. A second formula, the direct difference method, is algebraically equivalent and much simpler.
sD� � 2sX� 2 � sY� 2 � 2rXY 1sX� 2 1sY� 2
�2rXY 1sX� 2 1sY� 2
sD� � 2sX� 2 � sY� 2 � 2rXY 1sX� 2 1sY� 2 sD�
t � X� � Y�
sD� �
D�
sD�
sD�
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As you know, in a paired-samples t test, the scores for one group (X ) are aligned with their partners in the other group (Y ). To calculate using the direct difference method, find the difference between each pair of scores, calculate the standard deviation of the difference scores, and divide the standard deviation by the square root of the number of pairs. The formula is
where D � X � Y N � number of pairs of scores ŝD � standard deviation of the difference scores
In my examples I use this direct difference method, but for one of the problems, you’ll need the definitional formula.
The numerator of the paired-samples t test is the difference between the means of the two samples. This value can be found by subtracting one mean from the other (X� � Y�) or by averaging the D values ( ). The null hypothesis for a paired-samples t test is H0: mX � mY � 0. Thus, the general case of the null hypothesis of the numerator is (X� � Y�) � (mX � mY).
With the elements explained, the working formula for a paired-samples t test is
where df � N � 1, and N � number of pairs. The degrees of freedom in a paired-samples t test is the number of pairs minus
one. Although each pair has two values, once one value is determined, the other is expected to be a similar value (not free to vary independently). In addition, another degree of freedom is subtracted when is calculated. This loss is similar to the loss of 1 df when is calculated.
Here is an example of a paired-samples design and a t-test analysis. Suppose you are interested in the effects of interracial contact on racial attitudes. You have a fairly reliable test of racial attitudes in which high scores indicate more positive attitudes. You administer the test one Monday morning to a multiracial group of fourteen 12-year-old girls who do not know one another but who have signed up for a weeklong community day camp. The campers then spend the next week taking nature walks, playing ball, eating lunch, swimming, making things, and doing the kinds of things that camp directors dream up to keep 12-year-old girls busy. On Saturday morning the girls are again given the racial attitude test. Thus, the data consist of 14 pairs of before-and-after scores. The null hypothesis is that the mean of the population of “after” scores is equal to the mean of the population of “before” scores or, in terms of the specific experiment, that a week of interracial contact has no effect on racial attitudes.
sX� sD�
t � X� � Y�
sD� �
D�
ŝD2N
D�
sD� � ŝD2N � R
©D2 � 1©D 2 2
N
N � 12N
sD�
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Suppose researchers obtain the data in Table 9.6. Using the sums of the D and D2
columns in Table 9.6, you can find :
Also, �D � �81, and N � 14. Thus, � �D/N � �81/14 � �5.78. Now you can find the t-test value:
df � N � 1 � 14 � 1 � 13
Because t.01(13 df ) � 3.012, a t value of 3.77 is significant beyond the .01 level; that is, p � .01. Because the “after” mean is greater than the “before” mean, conclude that racial attitudes were significantly more positive after camp than before.
An SPSS analysis of the data in Table 9.6 is in Table 9.7. The upper panel shows descriptive statistics of the racial attitudes of the girls before camp and after camp. The lower panel shows numbers you saw as you worked through the paired-samples t test of the difference; it confirms the t-test value of �3.77.
t � X� � Y�
sD� �
28.36 � 34.14
1.534 �
�5.78
1.534 � �3.77
D�
sD� � ŝD2N � 5.740214 � 1.534
ŝD �R ©D2 �
1©D 2 2
N
N � 1 �R
897 � 1�81 2 2
14
13 � 232.951 � 5.74 0
ŝD
Hypothesis Testing, Effect Size, and Confidence Intervals: Two-Sample Designs ■ 207
TABLE 9.6 Hypothetical data from a racial attitudes study
Racial attitude scores
Before After day camp day camp
Name* X Y D D2
Jessica 34 38 �4 16 Ashley 22 19 3 9 Brittany 25 36 �11 121 Amanda 31 40 �9 81 Samantha 27 36 �9 81 Sarah 32 31 1 1 Stephanie 38 43 �5 25 Jennifer 37 36 1 1 Elizabeth 30 30 0 0 Lauren 26 31 �5 25 Megan 16 34 �18 324 Emily 24 31 �7 49 Nicole 26 36 �10 100 Kayla 29 37 �8 64
Sum 397 478 �81 897 Mean 28.36 34.14
* The names are, in order, the 14 most common for baby girls in the United States in 1990 (www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi).
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error detection Deciding whether a study is a paired-samples or independent-samples design is difficult for many beginners. Here are two hints. If the two groups have different N’s, the design is independent samples. If N’s are equal, look at the top row of numbers and ask if they are on the top row together for a reason (such as natural pairs, matched pairs, or repeated measures). If yes, paired-samples design; if no, independent-samples design.
P R O B L E M S
9.12. Give a formula and definition for each symbol. a. ŝD b. D c. d. Y�
9.13. The accompanying table shows data based on the aggression and toys experiment described in problem 9.7b. Reread the problem, analyze the scores, and write a conclusion.
Before After
16 18 10 11 17 19 4 6 9 10
12 14
sD�
208 ■ Chapter 9
TABLE 9.7 Output of an SPSS paired-samples t test of the data in Table 9.6
Paired Samples Statistics
Std. Error Mean N Std. Deviation Mean
BeforeCamp 28.3571 14 5.94341 1.58844 AfterCamp 34.1429 14 5.72252 1.52941
Paired Samples Test
Paired Differences
95% Confidence
Std. Interval of
Std. Error the Difference
Sig. Mean Deviation Mean Lower Upper t df (2-tailed)
BeforeCamp - —5.78571 5.74026 1.53415 —9.10004 —2.47139 —3.771 13 .002 AfterCamp
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*9.14. When I first began statistical consulting, a lawyer asked me to analyze salary data for employees at a large rehabilitation center to determine if there was evidence of sex discrimination. At the center, men’s salaries were about 25 percent higher than women’s. To rule out explanations such as “more educated” and “more experienced,” a subsample of employees with bachelor’s degrees was separated out. From this group, men and women with equal experience were paired, resulting in an N of 16 pairs. Analyze the data. In your conclusion (which you can direct to the judge), explain whether education, experience, or chance could account for the observed difference. Note: You will have to think to set up this problem.
Women, X Men, Y
�X or �Y $204,516 $251,732 �X 2 or �Y 2 2,697,647,000 4,194,750,000 �XY 3,314,659,000
*9.15. Which do you respond faster to, a visual signal or an auditory signal? The reaction times (RT) of seven students were measured for both signals. Decide whether the study is an independent- or paired- samples design, analyze the data, and write a conclusion.
Auditory RT Visual RT (seconds) (seconds)
0.16 0.18 0.19 0.20 0.14 0.20 0.14 0.17 0.13 0.14 0.18 0.17 0.20 0.21
9.16. To study the effects of primacy and recency, two groups were chosen randomly from a large sociology class. Both groups read a two-page description of a person at work, which included a paragraph telling how the person had been particularly helpful to a new employee. For half of the participants the “helping” paragraph was near the beginning (primacy), and for the other half the “helping” paragraph was near the end (recency). Afterward, each participant wrote a paragraph describing the worker’s leisure activities. The dependent variable was the number of positive adjectives in the paragraph (words such as good, exciting, cheerful). Based on these data, write a conclusion about primacy and recency.
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Primacy Recency
0 1 6 6
10 8 8 4 5 4
9.17. Asthma is a reemerging health problem among children. In one experiment, a group whose attacks began before age 3 was compared with a group whose attacks began later (Mrazek, Schuman, and Klinnert, 1998). The dependent variable was the child’s score on the Behavioral Screening Questionnaire (BSQ), which was filled out by the mother. High BSQ scores indicate more problems. Analyze the difference between means and write a conclusion.
Onset of asthma
Before age 3 After age 6
X� 60 36 ŝ 12 6 N 45 45
Significant Results and Important Results
When I was a rookie instructor, I did some research with an undergraduate student, David Cervone, who was interested in hypnosis. We used two rooms in the library to conduct the experiment. When the results were analyzed, two of the groups were significantly different. One day, a librarian asked how the experiment had come out.
“Oh, we got some significant results,” I said. “I imagine David thought they were more significant than you did,” was the reply. At first I was confused. Why would David think they were more significant than
I would? Point oh-five was point oh-five. Then I realized that the librarian and I were using the word significant in two quite different ways. I was using significant in the statistical sense: The difference was a reliable one that would be expected to occur again if the study was run again. The librarian meant important. Of course, important is important, so let’s pursue the librarian’s meaning and ask about the importance of a difference.
First of all, if a difference is not statistically significant, its importance is questionable because such differences might reasonably be attributed to chance. If a difference is NS, you have no assurance that a second experiment will produce a similar difference.
If a difference is statistically significant, you have to go beyond NHST to decide if the difference is important. Arthur Irion (1976) captured this limitation of NHST
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(and the two meanings of the word significant) when he reported that his statistical test “reveals that there is significance among the differences although, of course, it doesn’t reveal what significance the differences have.”
In two problems that you worked, you found differences that were statistically significant. In problem 9.11 the difference in college ACT admissions scores between two schools was one-tenth of a point, which doesn’t qualify as important. In contrast, in problem 9.17 the big difference in children’s behavioral problems that depended on age of asthma onset seems like an important difference.
Thus, NHST tests a difference only for statistical significance. The next two sections will describe other statistics that help you decide about importance.
Effect Size Index
The effect size index, d, may help you decide whether a significant difference is important. You probably recall from Chapter 4 that the mathematical formula for d is
You may also recall that for the problems in Chapter 4 you were given s. In Chapter 8 you calculated ŝ to find d. In this chapter, you use ŝ again. The formula for ŝ, however, depends on whether the design is independent samples or paired samples.
Effect Size Index for Independent Samples
For independent-samples designs, the working formula for d is
The calculation of ŝ depends on whether or not the sample sizes are equal. When N1 � N2,
where N1 is the sample size for one group. In the case N1 � N2, you cannot find ŝ directly from . To find ŝ when
N1 � N2, use the formula
where df1 and df2 are the degrees of freedom (N � 1) for each of the two samples ŝ1 and ŝ2 are the sample standard deviations
The formula for for N1 � N2 (Table 9.3) does not include separate elements for ŝ1 and ŝ2. Thus, you have to calculate ŝ1 and ŝ2 from the raw data for each sample.
sX�1�X�2
ŝ � B ŝ12 1df1 2 � ŝ22 1df2 2df1 � df2
sX�1�X�2
ŝ � 2N1
2 1sX�1�X�2 2
d � X�1 � X�2
ŝ
d � m1 � m2 s
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Effect Size Index for Paired Samples
For paired samples, the working formula for d is
The formula for for paired samples is
where N is the number of pairs of participants. If you like to play algebra, you can use the formulas for the paired-samples case
to prove an equivalent rule for d, namely
which is a formula that often involves less work.
Interpretation of d
The conventions proposed by Cohen (1969) are commonly used to interpret d:
Small effect d � 0.20
Medium effect d � 0.50
Large effect d � 0.80
In studies that compare an experimental group to a control group, it is conventional to subtract the control group mean from the experimental group mean. Thus, if the treatment increases scores, d is positive; if the treatment reduces scores, d is negative.
To illustrate the interpretation of d, I calculated an effect size index for two problems that you have already worked. For both of these, the t test revealed a significant difference.
When you compared the ACT scores at two state universities (problem 9.11), you found that the mean for State U. freshmen (23.5) was significantly higher than the mean for freshmen at The U. (23.4). The standard error of the difference for this N1 � N2 study was 0.0474. Thus,
An effect size index of 0.03 is very, very small. Thus, although the difference between the two schools is statistically significant, the size of this difference seems to be of no consequence.
In problem 9.14 you found that there was a significant difference between the salaries of men and women. An effect size index will reveal whether this difference can be considered small, medium, or large.
d � X�1 � X�2
ŝ �
23.5 � 23.4
B80002 10.0474 2 �
0.1
3.00 � 0.03
d � t1N
ŝD � 2N 1sD� 2 ŝD
d � X� � Y�
ŝD
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An effect size index of 1.03 qualifies as large. Thus, the statistical analysis of these data, which includes a t test and an effect size index, supports the conclusion that sex discrimination was taking place and that the effect was large. In fact, on the basis of these and other considerations, the defendants agreed to an out-of-court settlement.
Establishing a Confidence Interval about a Mean Difference
Another way to measure the size of the effect that an independent variable has is to establish a confidence interval. You probably recall from Chapter 7 that a confidence interval establishes a range of values that captures a parameter with a certain degree of confidence. In this section the parameter that is being captured is the difference between population means, m1 � m2. Researchers usually choose 95 percent or 99 percent as the amount of confidence they want.
Confidence Intervals for Independent Samples
To find the lower and upper limits of the confidence interval about a mean difference for data from an independent-samples design, use these formulas:
Of course, X�1 and X�2 come from the two samples. The standard error of the difference, , is calculated using the appropriate formula from Table 9.3. The value for ta
comes from Table D. Look again at Table D. The top row of the table gives you commonly used confidence interval percents.
As an example, let’s return to problem 9.8, the time required by humans and pigeons to find a person lost at sea. The data produce a mean of 49 minutes for the three humans and 25 minutes for the three pigeons. The standard error of the difference,
is 7.895. For this example, let’s find the lower and upper limits of a 95 percent confidence interval about the true difference between humans and pigeons. The ta (4 df ) value from Table D for 95 percent confidence is 2.776. You get
The interpretation of this confidence interval is that we can expect, with 95 percent confidence, that the true difference between the people and the pigeons in the time required to find a person lost at sea is between 2.08 and 45.92 minutes.
Not only does a confidence interval about a mean difference tell you the size of the difference, but it also tests the null hypothesis in the process. The null hypothesis
UL � 1X�1 � X�2 2 � ta 1sX�1�X�2 2 � 149 � 25 2 � 2.776 17.895 2 � 45.92 minutes
LL � 1X�1 � X�2 2 � ta 1sX�1�X�2 2 � 149 � 25 2 � 2.776 17.895 2 � 2.08 minutes
sX�1�X�2 ,
sX�1�X�2
UL � 1X�1 � X�2 2 � ta 1sX�1�X�2 2
LL � 1X�1 � X�2 2 � ta 1sX�1�X�2 2
d � X� � Y�
sDˆ �
12,782.25 � 15,733.25
16 1718.44 2 �
�2951
2873.76 � �1.03
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is H0: m1 � m2 � 0. A 95 percent confidence interval gives you a lower limit for m1 � m2 and an upper limit for m1 � m2. If zero is not between the two limits, you can be 95 percent confident that the difference between m1 and m2 is not zero. This is equivalent to rejecting the null hypothesis at the .05 level. Because the interval for search time, 2.08 to 45.92 minutes, does not contain zero, you can reject the hypothesis that humans and pigeons take equal amounts of time to spot a person lost at sea. This is the conclusion you reached when you first worked problem 9.8.
Thus, one of the arguments for confidence intervals is that they do everything that hypothesis testing does, plus they give you an estimate of just how much difference there is between the two groups. When used as error bars on graphs of means, they are especially informative (Cumming and Finch, 2005).
Confidence Interval for Paired Samples
To find the confidence interval about a mean difference for paired-samples data, use these formulas:
Remember that with paired-samples data, df is N � 1, where N is the number of pairs of data.
Both the effect size index and confidence intervals about a mean difference are statistics that may help you decide about the importance of a difference that is statistically significant. If you are a little hazy in your understanding of confidence intervals about mean differences, it might help to reread the material in Chapter 7 that introduced confidence intervals.
SPSS routinely displays a confidence interval when you have it calculate a t test. Both Table 9.5 and Table 9.7 show a 95 percent confidence interval about the difference in sample means.
error detection For confidence intervals for either independent or paired samples, use a t value from Table D, not a t-test value calculated from the data.
P R O B L E M S
9.18. In an experiment teaching Spanish, the total physical response method produced higher test scores than the lecture–discussion method. A report of the experiment included the phrase “p � .01.” What event does the p refer to?
9.19. Write sentences that distinguish between a statistically significant difference and an important difference.
9.20. Problem 9.9 revealed that there was no significant loss in the memory of rats that had 20 percent of their cortex removed. Calculate the effect
UL � 1X� � Y� 2 � ta 1sD� 2
LL � 1X� � Y� 2 � ta 1sD� 2
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size index and write an interpretation that incorporates both the effect size index and the t test. Hint: My interpretation notes that the nonsignificant t test was based on 80 rats, which is a large sample.
9.21. In the example problem for the paired-samples t test (page 207), you found that a week of camp activities significantly improved racial attitudes. Calculate and interpret an effect size index for those data.
9.22. How does sleep affect memory? To find out, eight students learned a list of 10 nonsense words. For the next 4 hours, half of them slept and half engaged in daytime activities. Then each was tested on the list. The next day everyone learned a new list. Those who had slept did daytime activities and those who were awake the day before slept for 4 hours. Each recalled the new list. The table shows the number of words each person recalled under the two conditions. Establish a 95 percent confidence interval about the difference between the two means, and write an interpretation that includes a statement about the fate of the null hypothesis when a� .05. (Based on a 1924 study by Jenkins and Dallenbach.)
Asleep Awake
4 2 3 2 5 4 3 0 2 4 4 3 3 1 6 4
9.23. Twenty depressed patients were randomly assigned to two groups of ten. Each group spent 2 hours each day working and visiting at the clinic. One group worked in bright artificial light; the other did not. At the end of the study, the mean depression score for those who received light was 6; for those who did not, the mean score was 11. (High scores mean more depression.) The standard error of the difference was 1.20. Establish a 99 percent confidence interval about the mean difference and write an interpretation.
Reaching Correct Conclusions
In the section on the logic of NHST, you learned that the last step is to write a conclusion. For confidence intervals too, a conclusion is the last step. A good conclusion describes the relationship of the dependent variable to the independent variable and also indicates the strength of that relationship with p, d, or confidence interval values. Can you be sure that your conclusion is correct? Of course, with practice you can be sure that your written conclusion is correct for the probabilities that result. But are the probabilities correct? Are there considerations that should temper your description of the relationship
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of the dependent variable to the independent variable? The two subsections that follow give cautions about probabilities and the description of the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variable.
Nature of the Populations the Samples Come From
For an independent-samples t test, the two populations the samples come from should:
1. Be normally distributed 2. Have variances that are equal
The reason the populations should have these characteristics is that the probability figures in Table D were derived mathematically from populations that were normally distributed and had equal variances. What if you are uncertain about the characteristics of the populations in your own study? Are you likely to reach the wrong conclusion by using Table D?
There is no simple answer to this important question. Several studies suggest that the answer is no because the t test is a robust test. (Robust means that a test gives fairly accurate probabilities even when the populations do not have the assumed characteristics.) In actual practice, researchers routinely use t tests unless the data are clearly not normally distributed or the variances are not equal.
Control of Extraneous Variables
Extraneous variables are bad news when it comes time to draw conclusions. If a study has an uncontrolled extraneous variable, you cannot write a simple cause-and-effect conclusion relating the dependent variable to the independent variable.
The most common way for researchers to control for extraneous variables is to randomly assign available participants to treatment groups. Using random assignment creates two groups that are approximately equal on all extraneous variables.
Unfortunately, for many interesting investigations, random assignment is just not possible. Studies of gender, socioeconomic status, and age are examples. When random assignment isn’t possible, researchers typically use additional control groups and logic to reduce the number of extraneous variables.
When random assignment is used, researchers use words and phrases such as caused, produced, and responsible for to indicate the relationship between the dependent variable and the independent variable. When random assignment is not used, phrases such as related to, associated with, and correlated are used.
This section introduced three considerations that affect your confidence when you draw conclusions from an independent-samples t test. These three considerations are sometimes referred to as “assumptions.” The general topic “assumptions of the test” will be addressed again in later chapters.
To prepare you for the next section, remember that the probabilities the t distribution gives are for differences that occur when the null hypothesis is true. When those probabilities are correct and you use an a level of .05, you are assured that if you reject the null hypothesis, the probability that you’ve made a Type I error is .05 or less. Thus, you have good protection against making a mistake when the null hypothesis is true. However, what about when the null hypothesis is false?
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Statistical Power
The theme of this section is the same as that of the previous one: how to arrive at correct conclusions. Look again at Table 8.3 (page 179). Table 8.3 shows that you will be correct if you retain H0 when the null hypothesis is true, and that you will be correct if you reject H0 when the null hypothesis is false. Of course, rejecting H0 is what a researcher usually wants. When H0 is rejected, there is a clear-cut conclusion: The two populations are different. Statistical power is about making the correct decision when H0 is false.
When the null hypothesis is false, the probability is 1.00 that you will either make a correct decision or make a Type II error (see Table 8.3). As you may recall from Chapter 8, the probability of a Type II error is symbolized b (beta). Thus, 1 – b is the probability of a correct decision. For statisticians, power � 1 – b. Here are two equivalent word versions of this formula:
■ Power is the probability of not making a Type II error. ■ Power is the probability of a correct decision when the null
hypothesis is false.
Naturally, researchers want to maximize power. The three factors that affect the power of a statistical analysis are effect size, standard error, and a.
1. Effect size. The larger the effect size, the more likely that you will reject H0. For example, the greater the difference between the mean of the experimental group population and the mean of the control group population, the more likely that the samples will lead you to correctly conclude that the populations are different. Of course, determining effect size before the data are gathered is difficult, and experience helps.
2. Standard error of a difference. Look at the formulas for t on pages 201 and 205. You can see that as and get smaller, t gets larger and you are more likely to reject H0. Here are two ways you can reduce the size of the standard error:
a. Sample size. The larger the sample, the smaller the standard error of a difference. Figure 7.3 shows this to be true for the standard error of the mean; it is also true for the standard error of a difference. How big should a sample be? Cohen (1992) provides a helpful table (as well as a discussion of the other factors that affect power). Many times, of course, sample size is dictated by practical considerations—time, money, or availability of participants.
b. Sample variability. Reducing the variability in the sample data will produce a smaller standard error. You can reduce variability by using reliable measuring instruments, recording data correctly, being consistent, and, in short, reducing the “noise” or random error in your experiment.
3. Alpha. The larger a is, the more likely you are to reject H0. As you know, the conventional limit is .05. Values above .05 begin to raise doubts in readers’ minds, although there has been a healthy recognition in recent years of the arbitrary nature of the .05 rule. Researchers whose results come out with p � .08 (or near there) are very likely to remain convinced that a real difference exists and proceed to gather more data, expecting that the additional data will establish a statistically significant difference.
Actually incorporating these three factors into a power analysis is a topic covered in Chapter 16, which is on the Premium Website CD that accompanies this book, and
sD�sX�1�X�2
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power Power � 1 � b; the probability of rejecting a false null hypothesis.
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in intermediate textbooks.8 Researchers use a power analysis before gathering data to help decide how large N should be. In addition, a power analysis after the data are gathered and analyzed can help determine the value of an experiment in which the null hypothesis was retained.
I will close this section on power by asking you to imagine that you are a researcher directing a project that could make a Big Difference. (Because you are imagining this, the difference can be in anything you would like to imagine—the health of millions, the destiny of nations, your bank account, whatever.) Now suppose that the success or failure of the project hinges on one final statistical test. One of your assistants comes to you with the question, “How much power do you want for this last test?”
“All I can get,” you answer. If you examine the list of factors that influence power, you will find that there is
only one item that you have some control over and that is the standard error of a difference. Of the factors that affect the size of the standard error of a difference, the one that most researchers can best control is N. So, allocate plenty of power to important statistical tests—use large N’s.
P R O B L E M S
9.24. Your confidence that the probabilities are accurate for an independent- samples t test depends on certain assumptions. List them.
9.25. Using words, define statistical power. 9.26. List the four topics that determine the power of an experiment. [If you
can recall them without looking at the text, you know that you have been reading actively (and effectively).]
9.27. What is the effect of set (previous experience) on problem solving? In a classic experiment by Birch and Rabinowitz (1951), the problem was to tie together two strings (A and B in the illustration) that were suspended from the ceiling. The solution to the problem is to tie a weight to string A, swing it out, and then catch it on the return. The researcher supplied the weight (an electrical light switch) under one of two conditions. In one condition, participants had wired the switch into an electrical circuit and used it to turn on a light. In the other condition, participants had no experience with the switch. Does education (wiring experience) have an effect on the time required to solve the problem? State the null hypothesis, analyze the data in the accompanying table with a t test and an effect size index, and write a conclusion.
A B
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8 See Howell (2007, Chap. 8) or Aron, Aron, and Coups (2006, Chap. 6).
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Wired the switch into circuit No previous experience with switch
X� 7.40 minutes 5.05 minutes ŝ 2.13 minutes 2.31 minutes N 20 20
9.28. How does cell phone use affect driving performance? Strayer, Drews, and Johnston (2003) had undergraduates drive a high-fidelity automobile simulator (1) as their only task and (2) while engaged in a hands-free cell phone conversation. Participants applied the brake when the brake lights of the vehicle in front of them came on. The numbers that follow are reaction times in seconds. Analyze the data and write a conclusion about the effect of cell phone conversations on driving performance. Carry four decimals in your calculations.
No cell phone Cell phone
1.03 1.12 0.97 1.31 0.82 0.96 1.09 1.08 1.15 0.99 0.72 1.04 0.95 1.16 0.87 1.22
9.29. A French teacher tested the claim that “concrete, immediate experience enhances vocabulary learning.” Driving from the college into the city, he described in French the terrain, signs, distances, and so forth, which he recorded with a digital voice recorder. (“L’auto est sur le pont. Carrefour prochain est dangereux.”) For the next part of his investigation, his French II students were ranked from 1 to 10 in competence. The ten were divided in such a way that numbers 1, 4, 5, 8, and 9 listened to the record while riding to the city (concrete, immediate experience) and numbers 2, 3, 6, 7, and 10 listened to the record in the language laboratory. The next day each student took a 25-item vocabulary test; the number of errors was recorded. Think about the design, analyze the data, and write a conclusion about immediate, concrete experience.
#1 7 #2 7 #3 15 #4 7 #5 12
#6 22 #7 24 #8 12 #9 21 #10 32
9.30. When we speak, we convey not only information but emotional tone as well. Ambady et al. (2002) investigated the relationship between the emotional tone used by surgeons as they talked to patients and the surgeon’s history of being sued for malpractice. Audiotapes of the
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doctor’s conversations were filtered to remove high-frequency sounds, thus making the words unintelligible but leaving expressive features such as intonation, pitch, and rhythm. Judges rated the sounds for the emotional tone of dominance on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 being extremely dominant. The surgeons in this study had never been sued or had been sued twice. Analyze the scores and write an interpretation.
Malpractice suits
0 2
3 4 4 3 2 2 6 7 3 5 1 5 3 4 2 7
5
9.31. Skim over the objectives at the beginning of the chapter as a way to consolidate what you have learned.
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 9 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, a workshop, and more. The workshop is Independent Versus Repeated t Tests, a Statistics Workshop. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and problems that require calculation and interpretation.
KEY TERMS
220 ■ Chapter 9
alternative hypothesis (p. 194) assumptions (p. 216) confidence interval (p. 213) control group (p. 192) degrees of freedom (p. 196) effect size index (d ) (p. 211) experimental group (p. 192) important results (p. 210) independent-samples design (p. 197) matched pairs (p. 198)
natural pairs (p. 198) NHST (p. 194) null hypothesis (p. 194) paired-samples design (p. 197) power (p. 217) repeated measures (p. 199) standard error of a difference (p. 201) t test (p. 197) treatment (p. 192)
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What Would You Recommend? Chapters 6–9
It is time again for you to do a set of What would you recommend? problems. Your task is to choose an appropriate statistical technique from among the several you have learned in the previous four chapters. No calculations are necessary. Reviewing is permitted and even encouraged. For each problem that follows, (1) recommend a statistic that will either answer the question or make the comparison, and (2) explain why you recommend that statistic.
a. Do babies smile to establish communication with others or to express their own emotion? During 10-minute sessions in which the number of smiles was recorded, there was an audience for 5 minutes (a requirement for communication) and no audience for the other 5 minutes.
b. Imagine a social worker with a score of 73 on a personality inventory that measures gregariousness. The scores on this inventory are distributed normally with a population mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. How can you determine the percent of the population that is less gregarious than this social worker?
c. A psychologist conducted a workshop to help people improve their social skills. After the workshop, the participants filled out a personality inventory that measured gregariousness. (See problem b.) The mean gregariousness score of the participants was 55. What statistical test can help determine whether the workshop produced participants whose mean gregariousness score was greater than the population mean?
d. A sample of high school students takes the SAT test each year. The mean score for the students in a particular state is readily available. What statistical technique will give you a set of brackets that “captures” a population mean?
e. One interpretation of the statistical technique in problem d is that the brackets capture the state’s population mean. This interpretation is not correct. Why not?
f. In a sample of 50 undergraduates, there was a correlation of �.39 between disordered eating and self-esteem. How could you determine the likelihood of such a correlation coefficient if there is actually no relationship between the two variables?
g. Colleges and universities in the United States are sometimes divided into six categories: public universities, four-year public institutions, two-year public institutions, private universities, four-year private institutions, and two-year private institutions. In any given year, each category has a certain number of students. Which of the six categories does your institution belong to? How can you find the probability that a student, chosen at random, is from your category?
h. Half the school-age children in an experiment were placed on a diet high in sugar for three weeks and then switched to a low-sugar diet. The other half of the participants began on the low-sugar diet and then changed to the high-sugar diet. All children were assessed on cognitive and behavioral measures. [See Wolraich et al. (1994), who found no significant differences.]
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222
THE TRADITIONAL STATISTICAL analysis of a two-group experiment involves an
effect size index and a t test or a confidence interval. The statistical analysis of
experiments with more than two groups requires a more complex technique.
This more complex technique is called the analysis of variance (ANOVA for
short, pronounced uh-NOVE-uh). ANOVA is based on the very versatile concept
of assigning the variability in the data to various sources. (This often means that
ANOVA identifies the variables that produce changes in the scores.) ANOVA was
invented by Sir Ronald A. Fisher, an English biologist and statistician. Among
social and behavioral scientists, it is used more frequently than any other
inferential statistical technique.
So the transition this time is from a t test and its sampling distribution, the
t distribution, to ANOVA and its sampling distribution, the F distribution. In
Chapter 10 you will use ANOVA to compare means from independent-samples
designs that involve more than two treatments. Chapter 11 shows you how to
use ANOVA to compare means from a repeated-measures design that has more
than two treatments. In Chapter 12 the ANOVA technique is used to analyze
experiments with two independent variables, both of which may have two or
more levels of treatment.
The analysis of variance is a widely used statistical technique, and Chapters
10–12 are devoted to an introduction to its elementary forms. Intermediate and
advanced books explain more sophisticated (and complicated) analysis-of-
variance designs. [Howell (2007) is particularly accessible.]
trans ssage to more complex designs
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chapter 1 Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 1 0
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Identify the independent and dependent variables in a one-way ANOVA
2. Explain the rationale of ANOVA
3. Define F and explain its relationship to t and the normal distribution
4. Compute sums of squares, degrees of freedom, mean squares, and F for an ANOVA
5. Construct a summary table of ANOVA results
6. Interpret the F value for a particular experiment and explain what the experiment shows
7. Distinguish between a priori and post hoc tests
8. Use the Tukey Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) test to make all pairwise comparisons
9. List and explain the assumptions of ANOVA
10. Calculate and interpret d and f, effect size indexes
IN THIS CHAPTER you will work with the simplest analysis of variance design, a design called one-way ANOVA. (ANOVA stands for analysis of variance. Remember, a variance is just a squared standard deviation.) The one in one-way means that the experiment has one independent variable. One-way ANOVA is used to find out if there are any differences among three or more population means.1 Experiments with more than two treatment levels are common in all disciplines that use statistics. Here are some examples, each of which is covered in this chapter:
1. People with phobias received treatment using one of four methods. Afterward, the group means were compared to
223
1 As will become apparent, ANOVA can also be used when there are just two groups.
analysis of variance An inferential statistics technique for comparing means, comparing variances, and assessing interactions.
one-way ANOVA Statistical test of the hypothesis that two or more population means in an independent- samples design are equal.
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determine which method of therapy was most effective in reducing fear responses.
2. Four different groups learned a new task. A different schedule of reinforcement was used by each group. Afterward, persistence in doing the task was measured.
3. Suicide rates were compared for countries that represented low, medium, and high degrees of modernization.
Except for the fact that these experiments have more than two groups, they are like those you analyzed in Chapter 9. There is one independent and one dependent variable. The null hypothesis is that the population means are the same for all groups. The subjects in each group are independent of the subjects in the other groups. The only difference is that the independent variable has more than two levels. To analyze the differences among three or more means, use a one-way ANOVA.2
In example 1, the independent variable is method of treatment, and it has four levels. The dependent variable is fear responses. The null hypothesis is that the four methods are equally effective in reducing fear responses—that is, H0: m1 � m2 � m3 � m4.
P R O B L E M
*10.1. For examples 2 and 3, identify the independent variable, the number of levels of the independent variable, the dependent variable, and the null hypothesis.
Although this chapter does not have “hypothesis testing” or “effect size” in the title (as did the two previous chapters on t tests), ANOVA is an NHST technique, and effect size indexes will be calculated.
A common first reaction to the task of determining if there is a difference among three or more population means is to compute t tests on all possible pairs of sample means. For three populations, three t tests are required (X�1 vs. X�2, X�1 vs. X�3, and X�2 vs. X�3). For four populations, six tests are needed.3 This multiple t-test approach will not work (and not just because doing lots of t tests is tedious). Here’s why:
Suppose you have 15 samples that all come from the same population. (Because there is just one population, the null hypothesis is clearly true.) These 15 sample means will vary from one another as a result of chance factors. Now suppose you perform every possible t test (all 105 of them), retaining or rejecting each null hypothesis at the .05 level. How many times would you reject the null hypothesis?
The answer is about five. When the null hypothesis is true (as in this example) and a is .05, 100 t tests will produce about five Type I errors.
Now, let’s move from this theoretical analysis to the reporting of the experiment. Suppose you conducted a 15-group experiment, computed 105 t tests, and found five
224 ■ Chapter 10224 ■ Chapter 1
2 The ANOVA technique for analyzing a paired-samples design is covered in Chapter 11. 3 The formula for the number of combinations of n things taken two at a time is [n(n � 1)]/2.
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significant differences. If you then pulled out those five and said they were reliable differences (that is, differences not due to chance), people who understand the preceding two paragraphs would realize that you don’t understand statistics (and would recommend that your manuscript not be published). You can protect yourself from such a disaster if you use some other statistical technique—one that keeps the overall risk of a Type I error at an acceptable level (such as .05 or .01).
Sir Ronald A. Fisher (1890–1962) developed such a technique. Fisher did brilliant work in genetics, but it has been overshadowed by his fundamental work in statistics. In genetics, it was Fisher who showed that Mendelian genetics is compatible with Darwinian evolution. (For a while after 1900, genetics and evolution were in opposing camps.) And, among other contributions, Fisher showed how a recessive gene can become established in a population.
In statistics, Fisher invented ANOVA, the topic of this chapter and the next two. He also discovered the exact sampling distribution of r (1915), developed a general theory of estimation, and wrote the book on statistics. (Statistical Methods for Research Workers was first published in 1925 and went through 14 editions and several translations by 1973.)
Before getting into biology and statistics in such a big way, Fisher worked for an investment company for 2 years and taught in a private school for 4 years. For biographical sketches, see Field (2005b), Edwards (2001), Yates (1981), or Hald (1998, pp. 734–739).
Rationale of ANOVA
The question that ANOVA addresses is whether the populations that the samples come from have the same m. If the answer is no, then at least one of the populations has a different m. I’ve grouped the rationale of ANOVA into subsections on null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST) and the F distribution.
Null Hypothesis Statistical Testing (NHST)
1. The populations you are comparing (the different treatments) may be exactly the same or one or more of them may have a different mean. These two descriptions cover all the logical possibilities and are, of course, the null hypothesis (H0) and the alternative hypothesis (H1).
2. Tentatively assume that the null hypothesis is correct. If the populations are all the same, any differences among sample means will be the result of chance.
3. Choose a sampling distribution that shows the probability of various differences among sample means when H0 is true. For more than two sample means, use the sampling distribution that Fisher invented, which is now called the F distribution.
4. Obtain data from the populations you are interested in. Perform calculations on the data using the procedures of ANOVA until you have an F value.
5. Compare your calculated F value to the critical value of F in the sampling distribution (F distribution). From the comparison you can
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determine the probability of obtaining the data you did, if the null hypothesis is true.
6. Come to a conclusion about H0. If the probability is less than a, reject H0. With H0 eliminated, you are left with H1. If the probability is greater than a, retain H0, leaving you with both H0 and H1 as possibilities.
7. Tell the story of what the data show. If you reject H0 when there are three or more treatments, a conclusion about the relationships of the specific groups requires further data analysis. If you retain H0, you have your data, but no clear-cut conclusion about H0 and H1.
I’m sure that the ideas in this list are more than somewhat familiar to you. In fact, I suspect that your only uncertainties are about step 3, the F distribution, and step 4, calculating an F value. The next several pages will explain the F distribution and then what to do to get an F value from the data.
The F Distribution
The F distribution used in ANOVA is yet another sampling distribution. Like the t distribution and the normal distribution, it gives the probability of various outcomes
when all samples come from identical populations (the null hypothesis is true). The concepts of ANOVA and the F distribution are not simple. Understanding them will take careful study now and review later. You should mark this section and reread it later.
F is a ratio of two numbers. The numerator is a variance and the denominator is a variance. When the null hypothesis is true, the variances are equal. To put this in symbol form:
When the two variances are equal, the value of F is one. Of course, the two s2’s are parameters, and parameters are never available in sample-based research. Each s2 must be estimated with a statistic, ŝ2.
Fisher’s insight was to calculate ŝ2 for the numerator with a formula that is accurate (on the average) when the null hypothesis is true but is too large (on the average) when the null hypothesis is false. The denominator, however, is calculated with a formula that is accurate (on the average) regardless of whether the null hypothesis is true or false.
Thus, when the null hypothesis is true, Fisher’s ANOVA produces an F value that is approximately one. When the null hypothesis is false, ANOVA produces an F that is greater than one. The sampling distribution of F allows you to determine whether a particular F value is so large that the null hypothesis should be rejected. I’ll explain more about the F ratio using both algebra and graphs.
An algebraic explanation of the F ratio Begin with the idea that each level (treatment) of the independent variable produced a group of scores. Assume that the null hypothesis is true.
Numerator
1. For each treatment level, calculate a sample mean.
F � s2
s2
226 ■ Chapter 10226 ■ Chapter 1
F distribution Theoretical sampling distribution of F values.
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2. Using the treatment means as data, calculate a standard deviation. This standard deviation of treatment means is an acquaintance of yours, the standard error of the mean, .
3. Remember that . Squaring both sides gives . Multiplying both sides by N and rearranging give .
4. is, of course, an estimator of s2.
Thus, starting with a null hypothesis that is true and a set of treatment means, you can obtain an estimate of the variance of the populations that the samples come from.
Notice that the accuracy of this estimate of s2 depends on the assumption that the samples are all drawn from the same population. If one or more samples come from a population with a larger or smaller mean, the treatment means will vary more, and ŝ2 will overestimate s2.
Denominator
The formula for ŝ2 in the denominator is based on the fact that each sample variance is an independent estimate of the population variance.4 An average of these independent estimators produces a more reliable estimate of s2. This denominator of the F ratio has a special name, the error term. (It is also referred to as the error estimate and as the residual error.) One important point about the error term is that it is an unbiased estimate of s2 even if the null hypothesis is false.5
To summarize the algebra of the F ratio, one student described it as “the variance of the means divided by the mean of the variances.” If the treatment means all come from the same population, their variance will be small. If they come from different populations, their variance will be larger. The standard of comparison is the population variance itself.
Finally, here are two additional terms. They are widely used because they are descriptive of the process that goes into the numerator and the denominator of the F ratio. Because the estimate of s2 in the numerator is based on variation among the treatment means, the numerator is referred to as the between-treatments estimate or between-groups estimate. At least two groups are needed to find a between-treatments estimate. The estimate of s2 in the denominator (the error term) is referred to as the within-treatments estimate or within-groups estimate because any one group by itself can produce a statistic that is an estimate of the population variance. That is, the estimate can be obtained from within one group.
A graphic explanation of the F ratio The three graphs that follow (Figures 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3) also help explain the F ratio. Each figure shows three treatment populations (A, B, and C). Each population produces a sample and its sample mean (X�A, X�B, or X�C). In Figure 10.1 and Figure 10.3, the null hypothesis is true; in Figure 10.2, the null hypothesis is false.
Figure 10.1 shows three treatment populations that are identical. Each population produced a sample whose mean is projected onto a dependent-variable line at the
ŝ 2 ŝ 2 � NsX�2
sX� 2 � ŝ 2>NsX� � ŝ>1NsX�
Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification ■ 227
4 As will be explained later, one of the assumptions of ANOVA is that the populations the samples are from have variances that are equal. 5 Just a reminder: Error in statistics means random variation.
error term Variance due to factors not controlled in the experiment.
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bottom of the figure. Note that the three means are fairly close together. Thus, a variance calculated from these three means will be small. This is a between-treatments estimate, the numerator of the F ratio.
In Figure 10.2, the null hypothesis is false. The mean of Population C is greater than that of Populations A and B. Look at the projection of the sample means onto the dependent-variable line. A variance calculated from these sample means will be larger than the one for the means in Figure 10.1. By studying Figures 10.1 and 10.2, you can convince yourself that the between-treatments estimate of the variance (the numerator of the F ratio) is larger when the null hypothesis is false.
Figure 10.3 is like Figure 10.1 in that the null hypothesis is true, but in Figure 10.3, the population variances are larger. Because of the larger population variance, the sample means are likely to be more variable (as shown by the larger spaces between the sample mean projections at the bottom).
So, a large between-treatments estimate may be due to a false null hypothesis (Figure 10.2) or to population variances that are large (Figure 10.3). To distinguish between the two situations, divide by the population variance (the error term). In Figure 10.2, the small population variance produces an F ratio greater than 1.00. In Figure 10.3, the larger population variance produces an F ratio of about 1.00. Thus, the F ratio is large when H0 is false and about 1.00 when H0 is true.
Table F One of Fisher’s central tasks while developing ANOVA was to determine the sampling distribution of the ratio that today we call F. Part of the problem was that
228 ■ Chapter 10228 ■ Chapter 1
⎯
⎯
⎯
XA
XB
XC
Dependent-variable score (X )
Population from which Treatment A came
Population from which Treatment B came
Population from which Treatment C came
F I G U R E 1 0 . 1 H0 is true. All three treatment groups are from identical populations. Not surprisingly, samples from those populations produce means that are similar. (Note that the points are close together on the X axis.)
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Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification ■ 229
there is a sampling distribution of between-treatments variances (the numerator) and a sampling distribution of error terms (the denominator). As a result, for one particular between-treatment variance, there is an array of error term values. For all the other between-treatment variances, the array of error terms are possible. As it turns out, both numerator and denominator values are identified by their degrees of freedom. Thus, there is an F value that goes with 3 df in the numerator and 20 df in the denominator, and a different F for 3 df and 21 df (and a different one for 2 df and 21 df, and so forth).
In 1934, George W. Snedecor of Iowa State University compiled these ratios into tables that provided critical values for a � .05 and a � .01. He named the ratio F in honor of Fisher (who had been a visiting professor at Iowa in 1931). Table F in Appendix C (to be explained later) gives you the critical values of F that you need for ANOVA problems.
Figure 10.4 shows two of the many F curves. As you can see on the abscissa, their F values range from 0 to greater than 4. For the solid curve (df � 10, 20), 5 percent of the curve has F values equal to or greater than 2.35. Notice that both curves are skewed, which is typical of F curves.
I’d like for you to be aware of the relationships among the normal distribution, the t distribution, and the F distribution. There is just one normal distribution, but t and F are each a family of curves, characterized by degrees of freedom. As you already know (page 157), a t distribution with df � � is a normal curve. The F
XA
XB
XC
Dependent-variable score (X )
Population from which Treatment A came
Population from which Treatment B came
Population from which Treatment C came
F I G U R E 1 0 . 2 H0 is false. Two treatment groups are from identical populations. A third group is from a population with a larger mean. The sample means show more variability than those in Figure 10.1.
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distributions that have 1 df in the numerator are directly related to the t distributions in Table C of Appendix C. The relationship is that F � t 2. And to conclude, an F distribution with � df in the numerator and � df in the denominator is a normal distribution.
Fisher and Gosset were friends for years, each respectful of the other’s work [Fisher’s daughter reported their correspondence (Box, 1981)]. Fisher recognized that
230 ■ Chapter 10230 ■ Chapter 1
XA
XB
XC
Dependent-variable score (X)
Population from which Treatment A came
Population from which Treatment B came
Population from which Treatment C came
F I G U R E 1 0 . 3 H0 is true. All three treatment groups are from identical populations. Because the populations have larger variances than those in Figure 10.1, the sample means show more variability; that is, the arrow points are spaced farther apart
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Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification ■ 231
the Student’s t test was really a ratio of two measures of variability and that such a concept was applicable to experiments with more than two groups.6
P R O B L E M S
10.2. Suppose three sample means came from a population with m � 100 and a fourth from a population with a smaller mean, m � 50. Will the between-treatments estimate of variability be larger or smaller than the between-treatments estimate of variability of four means drawn from a population with m � 100?
10.3. Define F using parameters. 10.4. Describe the difference between the between-treatments estimate of
variance and the within-treatments estimate. 10.5. In your own words, explain the rationale of ANOVA. Identify the two
components that combine to produce an F value. Explain what each of these components measures, both when the null hypothesis is true and when it is false.
10.6. Interpret the meaning of the following F values for the experiments described in examples 1 and 3 on the first pages of this chapter. a. A very small F value for example 1 b. A very large F value for example 3
1 2 3 4
df = 10, 20
df = 3, 20
F values 2.35
F I G U R E 1 0 . 4 Two F distributions, showing their positively skewed nature
6 That is,
� a range
standard error of a difference between means �
a measure of variability between treatments
a measure of variability within treatments
t � X�1 � X�2
sX�1�X�2
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More New Terms
Sum of squares In the “Clue to the Future” on page 65 you read that parts of the formula for the standard deviation would be important in future chapters. That future is now. The numerator of the basic formula for the standard deviation, �(X � X�)2, is the sum of squares (abbreviated SS). So, SS � � (X � X�)2. A
more complete name for sum of squares is “sum of the squared deviations.”
Mean square Mean square (MS) is the ANOVA term for a variance, ŝ2. The mean square is a sum of squares divided by its degrees of freedom.
Grand mean The grand mean (GM) is the mean of all scores; it ignores the fact that the scores come from different groups (treatments).
tot A subscript tot (total) after a symbol means that the symbol stands for all such numbers in the experiment; �Xtot is the sum of all X scores.
t The subscript t after a symbol means that the symbol applies to a treatment group; for example, � (�Xt )2 tells you to sum the scores in each group, square
each sum, and then sum these squared values. Nt is the number of scores in one treatment group.
K K is the number of treatments in the experiment. K is the same as the number of levels of the independent variable.
F test An F test is the outcome of an analysis of variance.
clue to the future In this chapter and the next two you will work problems with several sets of numbers. Unless you are using a computer, you will need the sum, the sum of squares, and other values for each set. Most calculators produce both the sum and the sum of squares with just one entry of each score. If you know how (or take the time to learn) to exploit your calculator’s capabilities, you can spend less time on statistics problems and make fewer errors as well.
Sums of Squares
Analysis of variance is called that because the variability of all the scores in an experiment is assigned to two or more sources. In the case of simple analysis of variance, just two sources contribute all the variability seen among the scores. One source is the variability between treatments, and the other source is the variability within the scores of each treatment. The sum of these two sources is equal to the total variability.
Now that you have studied the rationale of ANOVA, it is time to do the calculations. Table 10.1 shows fictional data from an experiment in which there were
232 ■ Chapter 10232 ■ Chapter 1
sum of squares (SS) Sum of the squared deviations from the mean.
mean square (MS) The variance; a sum of squares divided by its degrees of freedom.
grand mean (GM) The mean of all scores, regardless of treatment.
F test Test of the statistical significance of differences among means, or variances, or of an interaction.
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three treatments for patients with psychological disorders. The independent variable was drug therapy. Three levels of the independent variable were used—Drug A, Drug B, and Drug C. The dependent variable was the number of psychotic episodes each patient had during the therapy period.
In this experiment (and in all one-way ANOVAs), the null hypothesis is that the populations are identical. In terms of treatment means in the drug experiment, H0: mA � mB � mC. If the null hypothesis is true, the differences among the numbers of psychotic episodes for the three treatment groups is due to sampling fluctuation and not to the drugs administered.
In this particular experiment, the researcher believed that Drug C would be better than Drug A or B, which were in common use. In this case, better means fewer psychotic episodes. A researcher’s belief is often referred to as the research hypothesis. This belief is not ANOVA’s alternative hypothesis, H1. The alternative hypothesis in ANOVA is that one or more populations are different from the others. No greater than or less than is specified.
Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification ■ 233
TABLE 10.1 Computation of sums of squares of fictional data from a drug study
Drug A Drug B Drug C
XA XA 2 XB XB
2 XC XC 2
9 81 9 81 4 16 8 64 7 49 3 9 7 49 6 36 1 1 5 25 5 25 1 1
� 29 219 27 191 9 27 X� 7.25 6.75 2.25
Check: SStreat � SSerror � SStot; 60.667 � 24.250 � 84.917
� 8.750 � 8.750 � 6.750 � 24.250
SSerror � � c�X 2t � 1�Xt 2 2
Nt d � a219 �
292
4 b � a191 �
272
4 b � a27 �
92
4 b
� 210.25 � 182.25 � 20.25 � 352.083 � 60.667
� 292
4 �
272
4 �
92
4 �
652
12
SSdrugs � � c 1�Xt 2 2
Nt d �
1�X tot 2 2
Ntot
SStot � �X 2tot � 1�X tot 2 2
Ntot � 437 �
652
12 � 84.917
�X 2tot � 219 � 191 � 27 � 437
�X tot � 29 � 27 � 9 � 65
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The first step in any data analysis is to calculate descriptive statistics. No doubt the researcher would be pleased to see in Table 10.1 that the mean number of psychotic episodes for Drug C is less than those for Drugs A and B. An ANOVA can determine if the reduction is statistically significant and an effect size index tells how big the reduction is. The first step in an ANOVA is to calculate the sum of squares, which is illustrated in Table 10.1.
First, please focus on the total variability as measured by the total sum of squares (SStot). As you will see, you are already familiar with SStot. To find SStot, subtract the grand mean from each score, square these deviation scores, and sum them:
To compute SStot, use the algebraically equivalent raw-score formula:
which you may recognize as the numerator of the raw-score formula for ŝ. To calculate SStot, square each score and sum the squared values to obtain �X 2tot. Next, the scores are summed and the sum squared. That squared value is divided by the total number of scores to obtain (�Xtot )2/Ntot. Subtraction of (�Xtot )2/Ntot from �X 2tot yields the total sum of squares. For the data in Table 10.1,
Thus, the total variability of all the scores in Table 10.1 is 84.917 when measured by the sum of squares. This total comes from two sources: the between-treatments sum of squares and the error sum of squares. Each of these can be computed separately.
The between-treatments sum of squares (SStreat) is the variability of the group means from the grand mean of the experiment, weighted by the size of the group:
SStreat is more easily computed by the raw-score formula:
This formula tells you to sum the scores for each treatment group and then square the sum. Each squared sum is then divided by the number of scores in its group. These values (one for each group) are then summed, giving you � [(�Xt)2/Nt]. From this sum is subtracted the value (�Xtot)2/Ntot, a value that was obtained previously in the computation of SStot.
Although the general case of an experiment is described in general terms such as treatment and SStreat, a specific experiment is described in words specific to itself. For the experiment in Table 10.1, that word is drugs. Thus,
SStreat � © c 1©Xt 2 2
Nt d �
1©X tot 2 2
Ntot
SStreat � © 3Nt 1X�t � X�gm 2 2 4
SStot � ©X 2tot � 1©X tot 2 2
Ntot � 437 �
652
12 � 84.917
SStot � ©X tot2 � 1©X tot 2 2
Ntot
SStot � © 1X � X�gm 2 2
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Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification ■ 235
The other source of variability is the error sum of squares (SSerror), which is the sum of the variability within each of the groups. SSerror is defined as
or the sum of the squared deviations of each score from the mean of its treatment group added to the sum of the squared deviations from all other groups for the experiment. As with the other SS values, one arrangement of the arithmetic is easiest. For SSerror, it is
This formula tells you to square each score in a treatment group and sum them (�Xt2). Subtract from this a value that you obtain by summing the scores, squaring the sum, and dividing by the number of scores in the group: (�Xt)2/Nt. For each group, a value is calculated, and these values are summed to get SSerror. For the data in Table 10.1,
Please pause and look at what is happening in calculating the sums of squares, which is the first step in any ANOVA problem. The total variation (SStot) is found by squaring every number (score) and adding them up. From this total, you subtract (�Xtot)2/Ntot. In a similar way, the variation that is due to treatments is found by squaring the sum of each treatment and dividing by Nt, adding these up, and then subtracting the same component you subtracted before, (�Xtot)2/Ntot. This factor,
is sometimes referred to as the correction factor and is found in all ANOVA analyses. Finally, the error sum of squares is found by squaring each number within a treatment group and subtracting that group’s correction factor. Summing the differences from all the groups gives you SSerror.
Another way of expressing these ideas is to say that SSerror is the variation within the groups and SStreat is the variation between the groups. In a one-way ANOVA, the total variability (as measured by SStot) consists of these two components, SStreat and SSerror. So,
Thus, 60.667 � 24.250 � 84.917 for the drug experiment. This relationship is shown graphically in Figure 10.5 as a flowchart and as a pie chart.
SStreat � SSerror � SStot
1©X tot 2 2
Ntot
� a219 � 292
4 b � a191 �
272
4 b � a27 �
92
4 b � 24.250
SSerror � © c©Xt 2 � 1©Xt 2 2
Nt d
SSerror � © c©Xt 2 � 1©Xt 2 2
Nt d
SSerror � © 1X 1 � X�1 2 2 � © 1X 2 � X�2 2 2 � p � © 1XK � X�K 2 2
� 292
4 �
272
4 �
92
4 �
652
12 � 60.667
SSdrugs � © c 1©Xt 2 2
Nt d �
1©X tot 2 2
Ntot
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236 ■ Chapter 10
error detection 1. Sums of squares are always positive numbers or zero. 2. Always use the check SStot � SStreat � SSerror. This check, however, will
not catch errors made in summing the scores (�X) or in summing the squared scores (�X)2.
P R O B L E M S
*10.7. Here are three groups of numbers. This problem and the ones that use this data set are designed to illustrate some relationships and to give you practice calculating ANOVA values. To begin, show that SStreat � SSerror � SStot.
X1 X2 X3
5 6 12 4 4 8 3 2 4
*10.8. Emile Durkheim (1858–1917), a founder of sociology, believed that modernization produced social problems such as suicide. He compiled data from several European countries and published Suicide (1897/1951), a book that helped establish quantification in social science disciplines. The data in this problem were created so that the conclusion you reach will mimic that of Durkheim (and present-day sociologists).
On variables such as electricity consumption, newspaper circulation, and gross national product, 13 countries were classified as to their degree of modernization (low, medium, or high). The numbers in the table are annual suicide rates per 100,000 persons. For the data in the table, name the independent variable, the number of levels it has, and the dependent variable. Compute SStot, SSmod, and SSerror.
236 ■ Chapter 1
SStot (84.917)
SSerror (24.250)
SStreat (60.667)
SStot (84.917)
SSerror (24.250)
SStreat (60.667)
F I G U R E 1 0 . 5 SStreat � SSerror � SStot
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Degree of modernization
Low Medium High
4 17 20 8 10 22 7 9 19 5 12 9
14
*10.9. The best way to cure phobias is known. Bandura, Blanchard, and Ritter (1969) conducted an experiment that provided individuals with one of four treatments for their intense fear of snakes. One group worked with a model—a person who handled a 4-foot king snake and encouraged others to imitate her. One group watched a film of adults and children who enjoyed progressively closer contact with a king snake. A third group received desensitization therapy, and a fourth group served as a control, receiving no treatment. The numbers of snake-approach responses after treatment are listed in the table. Name the independent variable and its levels. Name the dependent variable. Compute SStot, SStreat, and SSerror.
Model Film Desensitization Control
29 22 21 13 27 18 17 12 27 17 16 9 21 15 14 6
Mean Squares and Degrees of Freedom
After you calculate SS, the next step in an ANOVA is to find the mean squares. A mean square is simply a sum of squares divided by its degrees of freedom. It is an estimate of the population variance, s2, when the null hypothesis is true.
Each sum of squares has a particular number of degrees of freedom associated with it. In a one-way classification, the df are dftot, dftreat, and dferror. The relationship among degrees of freedom is the same as that among sums of squares:
dftot � dftreat � dferror
The formula for dftot is Ntot � 1. The dftreat is the number of treatment groups minus one (K � 1). The dferror is the sum of the degrees of freedom for each group [(N1 � 1) � (N2 � 1) � ��� � (NK � 1)]. If there are equal numbers of scores in the K groups, the formula for dferror reduces to K(Nt � 1). A little algebra will reduce this still further:
dferror � K(Nt � 1) � KNt � K
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However, KNt � Ntot, so dferror � Ntot � K. This formula for dferror works whether or not the numbers in all groups are the same. In summary,
dftot � Ntot � 1
dftreat � K � 1
dferror � Ntot � K
error detection dftot � dftreat � dferror. Degrees of freedom are always positive numbers.
Mean squares are found using the following formulas:7
For the data in Table 10.1,
Now, returning to the drug problem and calculating mean squares,
Notice that although SStreat � SSerror � SStot and dftreat � dferror � dftot, mean squares are not additive; that is, MStreat � MSerror � MStot.
Calculation and Interpretation of F Values Using the F Distribution
The next two steps in an ANOVA are to calculate an F value and to interpret it using the F distribution.
The F Test: Calculation
You learned earlier that F is a ratio of two estimates of the population variance. MStreat is an estimate based on the variability between groups. MSerror is an estimate based on the variances within the groups. The F test is the ratio:
MSerror � SSerror dferror
� 24.250
9 � 2.694
MSdrugs � SSdrugs
dfdrugs �
60.667
2 � 30.333
Check: dftreat � dferror � dftot; 2 � 9 � 11 dferror � Ntot � K � 12 � 3 � 9
dfdrugs � K � 1 � 3 � 1 � 2
MSerror � SSerror dferror
where dferror � Ntot � K
MStreat � SStreat dftreat
where dftreat � K � 1
238 ■ Chapter 10238 ■ Chapter 1
7 MStot is not used in ANOVA; only MStreat and MSerror are calculated.
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Every F value has two degrees of freedom associated with it. The first is the df associated with MStreat (the numerator) and the second is the df associated with MSerror (the denominator). For the data in Table 10.1,
F Value: Interpretation
The next question is: What is the probability of obtaining F � 11.26 if all three samples come from populations with the same mean? If that probability is less than a, then the null hypothesis should be rejected.
Turn now to Table F in Appendix C, which gives the critical values of F when a� .05 and when a� .01. Across the top of the table are degrees of freedom associated with the numerator (MStreat). For the data in Table 10.1, dfdrugs � 2, so 2 is the column you want. The rows of the table show degrees of freedom associated with the denominator (MSerror). In this case, dferror � 9, so look for 9 along the side. The tabled value for 2 and 9 df is 4.26 at the .05 level (lightface type) and 8.02 at the .01 level (boldface type). If the F value from the data is as great as or greater than the tabled value, reject the null hypothesis. If the F value from the data is not as great as the tabled value, the null hypothesis must be retained.
Because 11.26 � 8.02, you can reject the null hypothesis at the .01 level. The three samples do not have a common population mean. At least one of the drugs produced scores (psychotic episodes) that were different from the rest.
At this point, your interpretation must stop. An ANOVA does not tell you which of the population means is different from the others. Such an interpretation requires an additional statistical analysis, which is covered later in this chapter.
It is customary to present all of the calculated ANOVA statistics in a summary table. Table 10.2 is an example. Look at the right side of the table under p (for probability). The notation “p � .01” is shorthand for “the probability is less than 1 in 100 of obtaining treatment means as different as the ones actually obtained, if, in fact, the samples all came from identical populations.”
Sometimes Table F does not contain an F value for the df in your problem. For example, an F with 2, 35 df or 4, 90 df is not tabled. When this happens, be conservative; use the F value that is given for fewer df than you have. Thus, the proper
F � MSdrugs
MSerror �
30.333
2.694 � 11.26; df � 2, 9
F � MStreat MSerror
Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification ■ 239
TABLE 10.2 Summary table of ANOVA for data in Table 10.1
Source SS df MS F p
Drugs 60.667 2 30.333 11.26 �.01 Error 24.250 9 2.694 Total 84.917 11 F.01(2, 9 df ) � 8.02
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240 ■ Chapter 10240 ■ Chapter 1
F values for those two examples would be based on 2, 34 df and 4, 80 df, respectively.8
Schedules of Reinforcement— A Lesson in Persistence
Persistence is shown when you keep on trying even though the rewards are scarce or nonexistent. It is something that seems to vary a great deal from person to person, from task to task, and from time to time. What causes this variation? What has happened to lead to such differences in people, tasks, and times?
Persistence can often be explained if you know how frequently reinforcement (rewards) occurred in the past. I will illustrate with data produced by pigeons, but the principles illustrated hold for other forms of life, including students and professors.
The data in Table 10.3 are typical results from a study of schedules of reinforcement. A hungry pigeon is taught to peck at a disk on the wall. A peck produces food according to a schedule the experimenter set up. For some pigeons every peck produces food—a continuous reinforcement schedule (crf). For other birds every other peck produces food—a fixed-ratio schedule of 2:1 (FR2). A third group of pigeons get food after every fourth peck—an FR4 schedule. Finally, for a fourth group, eight pecks are required to produce food—an FR8 schedule. After all groups receive 100 reinforcements, no more food is given (extinction begins). Under such conditions pigeons will continue to peck for a while and then stop. The dependent variable is the number of minutes a bird continues to peck (persist) after the food stops. As you can see in Table 10.3, three groups had five birds and one had seven.
Table 10.3 shows the raw data and the steps required to get the three SS figures and the three df figures. Work through Table 10.3 now. When you finish, examine the summary table (Table 10.4), which continues the analysis by giving the mean squares, F test, and the probability of such an F.
An SPSS output of a one-way ANOVA on the data in Table 10.3 results in a summary table much like that of Table 10.4, except that the treatment name Schedules is replaced with a generic Between Groups and the error term is labeled Within Groups. In addition, SPSS produces a specific p figure, .000 (which means �.0005), rather than �.01.
When an experiment produces an F with a probability value less than .05, a conclusion is called for. Here it is: “The schedule of reinforcement used during learning has a significant effect on the persistence of responding during extinction. It is unlikely that the four samples have a common population mean.”
You might feel unsatisfied with this conclusion. You might ask which groups differ from the others, or which groups are causing that “significant difference.” Good questions. You will find answers in the next section, but first, here are a few problems to reinforce what you learned in this section.
8 The F distribution may be used to test hypotheses about variances as well as hypotheses about means. To determine the probability that two sample variances came from the same population (or from populations with equal variances), form a ratio with the larger sample variance in the numerator. The resulting F value can be interpreted with Table F. The proper df are N1 � 1 and N2 � 1 for the numerator and denominator, respectively. For more information, see Kirk (1999, p. 430).
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Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification ■ 241
TABLE 10.4 Summary table of ANOVA analysis of the schedules of reinforcement study
Source SS df MS F p
Schedules 202.473 3 67.491 17.16 6.01 Error 70.800 18 3.933 Total 273.273 21 F.05(3, 18) � 3.16 F.01(3, 18) � 5.09
TABLE 10.3 Partial analysis of the data for the number of minutes to extinction after four schedules of reinforcement during learning
Schedule of reinforcement during learning
crf FR2 FR4 FR8
3 5 8 10 5 7 12 14 6 9 13 15 2 8 11 13 5 11 10 11
10 6
� X 21 56 54 63 � X2 99 476 598 811 X� 4.2 8.0 10.8 12.6 N 5 7 5 5
dferror � Ntot � K � 22 � 4 � 18
dfschedules � K � 1 � 4 � 1 � 3
dftot � Ntot � 1 � 22 � 1 � 21
� 70.800
� a99 � 121 2 2
5 b � a476 �
156 2 2
7 b � a598 �
154 2 2
5 b � a811 �
163 2 2
5 b
SSerror � � c�X 2t � 1�Xt 2 2
Nt d
SSschedules � � c 1�Xt 2 2
Nt d �
1©X tot 2 2
Ntot � 121 2 2
5 � 156 2 2
7 � 154 2 2
5 � 163 2 2
5 � 1194 2 2
22 � 202.473
SStot � �X 2tot � 1�X tot 2 2
Ntot � 1984 �
1194 2 2
22 � 1984 � 1710.727 � 273.273
�X 2tot � 99 � 476 � 598 � 811 � 1984
�X tot � 21 � 56 � 54 � 63 � 194
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P R O B L E M S
10.10. Suppose your analysis produced F � 2.56 with 5, 75 df. How many treatment groups are in your experiment? What are the critical values for the .05 and .01 levels? What conclusion should you reach?
10.11. Here are two more questions about those raw numbers you found sums of squares for in problem 10.7. a. Perform an F test and compose a summary table. Look up the
critical value of F and make a decision about the null hypothesis. Write a sentence explaining what the analysis has shown.
b. Perform an F test using only the data from group 2 and group 3. Perform a t test on these same two groups.
*10.12. Perform an F test on the modernization and suicide data in problem 10.8 and write a conclusion.
*10.13. Perform an F test on the data from Bandura and colleagues’ phobia treatment study (problem 10.9). Write a conclusion.
Comparisons among Means
A significant F by itself tells you only that it is not likely that the samples have a common population mean. Usually you want to know more, but exactly what you want to know often depends on the particular problem you are working on. For example, in the schedules of reinforcement study, many would ask which schedules are significantly different from others (all pairwise comparisons). Another question might be whether there are sets of schedules that do not differ among themselves but do differ from other sets. In the drug study, the focus of interest is the new experimental drug. Is it better than either of the standard drugs or is it better than the average of the standards? This is just a sampling of the kinds of questions that can be asked.
Questions such as these are answered by analyzing the data using specialized statistical tests. As a group, these tests are referred to as multiple-comparisons tests. Unfortunately, no one multiple-comparisons method is satisfactory for all questions. In fact, not even three or four methods will handle all questions satisfactorily.
The reason there are so many methods is that specific questions are best answered by tailor-made tests. Over the years, statisticians have developed many tests for specific situations, and each test has something to recommend it. For an excellent chapter on the tests and their rationale, see Howell (2007, “Multiple Comparisons Among Treatment Means”).
With this background in place, here is the plan for this elementary statistics book. I will discuss the two major categories of tests subsequent to ANOVA (a priori and post hoc) and then cover one post hoc test (the Tukey HSD test).
A Priori and Post Hoc Tests
A priori tests require that you plan a limited number of tests before gathering the data. A priori means “based on reasoning, not on immediate observation.” Thus, for a priori tests, you must choose the groups to compare when you design the experiment.
242 ■ Chapter 10242 ■ Chapter 1
multiple-comparisons test Tests for statistical significance between treatment means or combination of means.
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Post hoc tests can be chosen after the data are gathered and you have examined the means. Any and all differences for which a story can be told are fair game for post hoc tests. Post hoc means “after this” or “after the fact.”
The necessity for two kinds of tests is evident if you think again about the 15 samples that were drawn from the same population. Before the samples are drawn, what is your expectation that two randomly chosen means will be significantly different if tested with an independent- samples t test? About .05 is a good guess. Now, what if the data are drawn, the means compiled, and you then pick out the largest and the smallest means and test them with a t test? What is your expectation that these two will be significantly different? Much higher than .05, I would suppose. Thus, if you want to make comparisons after the data are gathered (and keep a at .05), then larger differences should be required before a difference is declared “not due to chance.”
The preceding paragraphs should give you a start on understanding that there is a good reason for having more than one statistical test to answer questions subsequent to ANOVA. For this text, however, I have confined us to just one test, a post hoc test named the Tukey Honestly Significant Difference test.
The Tukey Honestly Significant Difference Test
For many research problems, the principal question is:Are any of the treatments different from the others? John W. Tukey (pronounced “too-key”) designed a test to answer this question when N is the same for all samples.A Tukey Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) test pairs each sample mean with every other mean, a procedure called pairwise comparisons. For each pair, the Tukey HSD test tells you if one sample mean is significantly larger than the other.
When Nt is the same for all samples, the formula for HSD is
where
Nt � the number in each treatment; the number that an X� is based on
The critical value against which HSD is compared is found in Table G in Appendix C. Turn to Table G. Critical values for HSD.05 are on the first page; those for HSD.01 are on the second. For either page, enter the row that gives the df for the MSerror from the ANOVA. Go over to the column that gives K for the experiment.
If the HSD you calculated from the data is equal to or greater than the number at the intersection in Table G, reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the two means are significantly different. Finally, describe the direction of the difference using the names of the independent and dependent variables.
I will illustrate the Tukey HSD test by doing pairwise comparisons on the three groups in the drug experiment (Tables 10.1 and 10.2). The three separate pairwise comparisons can be done in any order, but there is a strategy that may save some arithmetic. The trick is to pick a difference between means of intermediate size and
sX� � BMSerrorNt HSD �
X�1 � X�2 sX�
Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification ■ 243
a priori test Multiple-comparisons test that must be planned before examination of the data.
post hoc test Multiple-comparisons test that is appropriate after examination of the data.
Tukey Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) Test Significance test for all possible pairs of treatments in a multi- treatment experiment.
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test that difference first. If this difference proves to be significant, then all larger differences also will be significant. If this difference fails to reach significance, then all smaller differences also will be not significant. This trick always works if the sample sizes are equal, but it may not work if the sample sizes are not equal, an exception pointed out to me by an undergraduate user of an earlier edition of this book.
In the drug study, there are three means and so there will be three comparisons. The “mean difference of intermediate size” is the difference between the experimental drug (C) and a standard drug (B):
Because 5.48 is greater than the tabled value for HSD at the .01 level (HSD.01 � 5.43), you can conclude that the experimental drug (C) is significantly better than Drug B at reducing psychotic episodes (p � .01). Because the difference between Drug C and Drug A is even greater than the difference between Drugs C and B, you can also conclude that the experimental drug is significantly better than Drug A in reducing psychotic episodes, p � .01. (The HSD value for this comparison is 6.09.)
One comparison remains, the comparison between the two standard drugs, A and B:
Because HSD.05 � 3.95, you can conclude that this study does not provide evidence of the superiority of Drug B over Drug A.
SPSS calculates HSD tests when Tukey is selected from among the post hoc comparisons available with a one-way ANOVA. Table 10.5 shows the output for the drug study data in Table 10.1. Each comparison of a pair is printed twice, and 95 percent confidence intervals are provided for each mean difference. Note that the mean differences of 4.50 and 5.00 are significant (p � .009 and p � .005) and that the mean difference of 0.50 is not (p � .904).
HSD � 7.25 � 6.7522.694>4 � 0.500.821 � 0.61
HSD � X�B � X�C
sX� �
6.75 � 2.2522.694>4 � 4.500.821 � 5.48
244 ■ Chapter 10244 ■ Chapter 1
TABLE 10.5 SPSS output of Tukey HSD tests for the drug study
Multiple Comparisons Dependent Variable: Episodes Tukey HSD
Mean Difference Std.
95% Confidence Interval
(I) Drug (J) Drug (I-J) Error Sig. Lower Bound Upper Bound
A B .50000 1.16070 .904 —2.7407 3.7407 C 5.00000* 1.16070 .005 1.7593 8.2407
B A —.50000 1.16070 .904 —3.7407 2.7407 C 4.50000* 1.16070 .009 1.2593 7.7407
C A —5.00000* 1.16070 .005 —8.2407 —1.7593 B —4.50000* 1.16070 .009 —7.7407 —1.2593
*The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.
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Tukey HSD when Nt’s are not equal The Tukey HSD test was developed for studies in which the Nt’s are equal for all groups. Sometimes, despite the best of intentions, unequal Nt’s occur. A modification in the denominator of HSD produces a statistic that can be tested with the values in Table G. The modification, recommended by Kramer (1956) and shown to be accurate (R. A. Smith, 1971), is
SPSS calculations of Tukey HSD values use this formula when N’s are unequal.
Tukey HSD and ANOVA
In the analysis of an experiment, it has been common practice to calculate an ANOVA and then, if the F value is significant, conduct Tukey HSD tests. Mathematical statisticians (see Zwick, 1993) have shown, however, that this practice fails to detect real differences (the procedure is too conservative). So, if the only thing you want to know from your data is whether any pairs of treatments are significantly different, then you may calculate the Tukey HSD test without first showing that the ANOVA produced a significant F. Other multiple comparisons tests besides HSD, however, do require that an initial ANOVA produce a significant F. So, for the beginning statistics student, I recommend that you learn both ANOVA and Tukey HSD and apply them in that order.
P R O B L E M S 10.14. Distinguish between the two categories of multiple-comparisons
tests: a priori and post hoc. 10.15. For Durkheim’s modernization and suicide data (problems 10.8
and 10.12), make all possible pairwise comparisons and write a conclusion telling what the data show.
10.16. For the schedules of reinforcement data, make all possible pairwise comparisons and write a conclusion about reinforcement schedules and persistence.
*10.17. For the data on treatment of phobias (problems 10.9 and 10.13), compare the best treatment with the second best, and the poorest treatment with the control group. Write a conclusion about the study.
Assumptions of the Analysis of Variance
Reaching conclusions by analyzing data with an ANOVA is fairly straightforward. But are there any behind-the-scenes requirements? Of course.
Two of the requirements are about the populations the samples come from. If these “requirements” (assumptions) are met, you are assured that the probability figures of .05 and .01 are correct for the F values in the body of Table F. If the third “requirement” is met, cause-and-effect conclusions are supported.
1. Normality. The dependent variable is assumed to be normally distributed in the populations from which samples are drawn. In some areas of research populations are
sX� � BMSerror2 a 1N1 � 1N2 b
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known to be skewed, and researchers in those fields may decide that ANOVA is not appropriate for their data analysis. However, unless there is a reason to suspect that populations depart severely from normality, the inferences made from the F test will probably not be affected. ANOVA is robust. (It gives correct probabilities even when the populations are not exactly normal.) Where there is suspicion of a severe departure from normality, however, use the nonparametric method explained in Chapter 14.
2. Homogeneity of variance. The variances of the dependent-variable scores for each of the populations are assumed to be equal. Figures 10.1, 10.2, and 10.3, which were used to illustrate the rationale of ANOVA, show populations with equal variances. Several methods of testing this assumption are presented in advanced texts such as Winer, Brown, and Michels (1991), Kirk (1995), and Howell (2007). When variances are grossly unequal, the nonparametric method discussed in Chapter 14 may be called for.
3. Random assignment. Random assignment distributes the effect of extraneous variables equally over all levels of the independent variable. Using random assignment provides strong support for a conclusion that a significant difference between means is caused by a difference in levels of the independent variable.
I hope these assumptions seem familiar to you. They are the same as those you learned for the t distribution in Chapter 9. This makes sense; t is the special case of F when there are two samples.
Effect Size Index
The important question, Are the populations different? can be answered with an NHST F test. The equally important question, Are the differences large, medium, or small? requires an effect size index.
Values for d, the effect size index covered in Chapters 4, 8 and 9, can be calculated for any two pairs of treatments in a one-way ANOVA design. The formula is
where For the schedules of reinforcement example in Table 10.3, what size effect does
changing from an FR4 to an FR8 schedule have on persistence? Calculating d for the two groups,
Based on the convention that d values of 0.20, 0.50, and 0.80 correspond to small, medium, and large effect sizes, conclude that changing a schedule of reinforcement from FR4 to FR8 has a large effect on persistence.
Many other indexes of effect size have been developed to use on ANOVA data. Most provide a measure of the overall magnitude that the levels of the independent variable have on the dependent variable. Examples include v 2 (omega squared), h 2
(eta squared), and f (lowercase). v 2 and h 2 are explained in Howell (2004, 2007), and Field (2005a). As for f,
d � XFR4 � XFR8
ŝerror �
10.8 � 12.613.933 � �0.91
ŝerror � 1MSerror. d �
X1 � X2 ŝerror
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To find f, estimators of streat and serror are required. The estimator of streat is symbolized by ŝtreat and is found using the formula
9
The estimator of serror is symbolized by ŝerror, and as you know, it is the square root of the error variance:
Using the drug data in Table 10.1, the calculation of f is
The next step is to interpret an f value of 1.31. Jacob Cohen, who promoted the awareness of effect size and also contributed formulas, provided guidance for judging f values as small, medium, and large (Cohen, 1969, 1992):
Small f � 0.10
Medium f � 0.25
Large f � 0.40
Thus, an f value of 1.31 indicates that the effect size in the drug study was just huge. (This is not surprising because textbook authors often manufacture fictional data so that an example will produce a large effect.)
As another example of a huge effect size index, the value of f for the distributions pictured in Figure 10.2 is about 1.2. The following set of problems provides an opportunity for you to apply all the ANOVA techniques you have studied.
P R O B L E M S
10.18. List the three assumptions of the analysis of variance. 10.19. For the data from Bandura and colleagues’ phobia treatment
experiment (problems 10.9, 10.13, and 10.17), find f and write a sentence of interpretation.
10.20. Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist, began to get an inkling of an idea in 1911. By 1921 he had developed, tested, and published his test, which measures motivation and personality. One of the several ways that the test is scored is to count the number of responses the test-taker gives (R scores). The data in the table are
f � BK � 1Ntot 1MStreat � MSerror 22MSerror � B
3 � 1
12 130.333 � 2.694 2
22.694 � 1.31
ŝerror � 2MSerror
ŝtreat � BK � 1Ntot 1MStreat � MSerror 2
f � streat
serror
Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification ■ 247
9 This formula is appropriate for an ANOVA with equal numbers of participants in each treatment group (Kirk, 1995, p. 181). For unequal N’s, see Cohen (1988, pp. 359–362).
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representative of those given by people with schizophrenia, depression, and those with no diagnosable disorder. Analyze the data with an F test and a set of Tukey HSDs. Determine d for the schizophrenia–depression comparison. Write a conclusion about Dr. Rorschach’s test.
Disorder
Schizophrenia Depression None
17 16 23 20 11 18 22 13 31 19 10 14 21 12 22 14 10 28 25 20
22
10.21. Many health professionals recommend that women practice monthly breast self-examination (BSE) to detect breast cancer in its early stages (when treatment is much more effective). Several methods are used to teach BSE. T. S. Spatz (1991) compared the method recommended by the American Cancer Society (ACS) to the 4MAT method, a method based on different learning styles that different people have. She also included an untrained control group. The dependent variable was the amount of information retained three months after training. Analyze the data in the table with an ANOVA, HSD tests, and f. Write a conclusion.
ACS 4MAT Control
�X 178 362 62 �X 2 2619 7652 1192 N 20 20 20
10.22. Common sense says that a valuable goal is worth suffering for. Is that the way it works? In a classic experiment in social psychology (Aronson and Mills, 1959), college women had to “qualify” to be in an experiment. The qualification activity caused severe embarrassment, mild embarrassment, or no embarrassment. After qualifying, the women listened to a recorded discussion, which was, according to the experimenters, “one of the most worthless and uninteresting discussions imaginable.” The dependent variable was the women’s rating of the discussion. Analyze the ratings using the techniques in this chapter (high scores � favorable ratings). Write an interpretation.
248 ■ Chapter 10248 ■ Chapter 1
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Degree of embarrassment
Severe Mild None
18 18 17 23 12 15 14 14 9 20 15 12 25 10 13
10.23. Look over the objectives at the beginning of the chapter. Can you do them?
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 10 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, a workshop, and more. The workshop is One-Way ANOVA, a Statistics Workshop. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and problems that require calculation and interpretation.
KEY TERMS
Analysis of Variance: One-Way Classification ■ 249
A priori test (p. 242) Alternative hypothesis (p. 225) Analysis of variance (p. 223) Assumptions of ANOVA (p. 245) Between-treatments estimate (p. 227) Degrees of freedom (p. 238) Effect size index, d (p. 246) Effect size index, f (p. 247) Error term (p. 227) F distribution (p. 226) F test (p. 232)
Grand mean (p. 232) Mean square (MS ) (p. 232) Multiple-comparisons test (p. 242) Null hypothesis (p. 225) NHST (p. 225) One-way ANOVA (p. 223) Post hoc test (p. 243) Sum of squares (SS) (p. 232) Summary table (p. 240) Tukey HSD test (p. 243) Within-treatment estimate (p. 227)
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chapt
Analysis of Variance: One-Factor Repeated Measures
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 1 1
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Describe the characteristics of a one-factor repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA)
2. For a one-factor repeated-measures ANOVA, identify the sources of variance and calculate their sums of squares, degrees of freedom, mean squares, and the F value
3. Interpret the F value from a one-factor repeated-measures ANOVA
4. Use a Tukey Honestly Significant Difference test to make pairwise comparisons
5. Distinguish between Type I and Type II errors
6. List and explain advantages and cautions that come with a one-factor repeated-measures ANOVA
IN CHAPTER 10 you studied analysis of variance (ANOVA), an NHST technique that helps you evaluate data from experiments that have more than two levels of the independent variable. The technique in Chapter 10, one-way ANOVA, is used when the treatment levels are independent of each other. You may have heard one-way
ANOVA referred to as one-factor ANOVA. In ANOVA terminology, factor is just a shorter term for independent variable. Thus, the “one- factor” label in this chapter’s title means that this ANOVA is for designs with one independent variable.
The one-way ANOVA described in Chapter 10 is the multilevel counterpart of the independent-samples t test. The multilevel counterpart of the paired-samples t test is a repeated-measures ANOVA. To analyze data with a paired-samples t test, you must have a reason to pair scores
250
factor Independent variable.
repeated-measures ANOVA Statistical technique for designs with repeated measures of subjects or groups of matched subjects
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from one treatment with scores from a second treatment— a reason other than that the scores are similar. The reason might be that the participants who made the scores are natural pairs, or matched pairs, or that the same participants contributed both scores (repeated measures). In a similar way, the scores in a repeated-measures ANOVA are grouped together for a reason. For an experiment with three levels of the independent variable, scores might be grouped together because they are natural triplets, or the three participants had similar scores on a pretest, or the three scores were all made by the same participant. The term “repeated measures” refers to all three of these ways to group scores together.
Thus, the title of this chapter indicates that it is about the ANOVA technique used to analyze data from multilevel experiments with one independent variable and whose scores can be grouped together for some logical reason.
As you may know, statistics terminology is not standardized across disciplines, primarily because terms that are quite descriptive in one field do not have much meaning in other fields. For example, in agriculture, the repeated-measures design is called a split-plot design. (When several plots are available for planting, each is split into subplots equal to the number of treatments. The yields of subplots are partly determined by the nature of the subplots, as well as by the treatments.) Two other names for the repeated-measures design are randomized blocks and subjects � treatments.
A Data Set
To begin your study of repeated-measures ANOVA, look at the data in Table 11.1. There are three levels of the factor (named simply X at this point). The mean score for each treatment is shown at the bottom of its column. Using the skills you learned in Chapter 10, estimate whether an F ratio for these data will be significant. Remember that F � MStreat /MSerror. Go ahead, stop reading and make your estimate. (If you also write down how you arrived at your estimates you can compare them to the analysis that follows.)
Here’s one line of thinking that might be expected from a person who remembers the lessons of Chapter 10:
Well, OK, let’s start with the means of the three treatments. They are pretty close together: 74, 75, and 78. Not much variability there. How about within each treatment? Uh-huh, scores range from 57 to 93 in the first column, so there is a good bit of variability there.
Analysis of Variance: One-Factor Repeated Measures ■ 251
TABLE 11.1 A repeated-measures data set
Levels of factor X
Subjects X1 X2 X3
S1 57 60 64 S2 71 72 74 S3 75 76 78 S4 93 92 96
X� 74 75 78
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Same story in the second and the third columns, too. There’s lots of variability within the groups, so MSerror will be large. Nope, I don’t think the F ratio will be very big. My guess is that F won’t be significant—that the means are not significantly different.
Most of us who teach statistics would say that this reasoning shows a good understanding of what goes into the F value in a one-way ANOVA. With a repeated- measures ANOVA, however, there is an additional consideration.
The additional consideration for the data in Table 11.1 is that each subject 1
contributed a score to each level of the independent variable. To explain, look at the second column, X2, which has scores of 60, 72, 76, and 92. The numbers are quite variable. But notice that some of this variability is predictable from the X1 scores. That is, low scores (such as 60) are associated with S1 (who had a low score of 57 on X1). Notice, too, that in column X3, S1 had a score of 64, the lowest in the X3 column. Thus, knowing that a score was made by S1, you can predict that the score will be low. Please do a similar analysis on the scores for the person labeled S4.
In a repeated-measures ANOVA, then, some of the variability of the scores within a level of the factor is predictable if you know which subject contributed the score. If you could remove the variability that goes with the differences between the subjects, you could reduce the variability within a level of the factor.
One way to reduce the variability between subjects is to use subjects who are alike. Although this would work well, finding people who are all alike is almost impossible. Fortunately, a repeated-measures ANOVA provides a statistical alternative that accomplishes the same goal.
One-Factor Repeated-Measures ANOVA: The Rationale
This paragraph gives an overview of the ideas behind a one-factor repeated-measures analysis. A repeated-measures ANOVA allows you to calculate and then discard the variability that comes from the differences between the subjects. The remaining variability in the data set is then partitioned into two components: one due to the differences between treatments (between-treatment variance) and another due to the inherent variability in the measurements (the error variance). These two variances are put into a ratio; the between-treatments variance is divided by the error variance. This ratio is an F value. The F ratio is a more sensitive measure of any differences that may exist among the treatments because the variability produced by differences among the subjects has been removed.
An Example Problem
The numbers in Table 11.1 can be used to illustrate the procedures for calculating a one-factor repeated-measures ANOVA. However, to include the important step of
252 ■ Chapter 11
1 “Participant” is usually preferable to “subject” when referring to people whose scores are analyzed in a behavioral science study. Statistical methods, however, are used by all manner of disciplines; dependent variable scores come from agricultural plots, production records, and Rattus norvegicus as well as from Homo sapiens. Thus, statistics books often use the more general term subjects.
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telling what the analysis shows, you must know what the independent and dependent variables are. The numbers in the table (the dependent variable) are scores on a multiple-choice test. The independent variable is the instruction given to those taking the multiple-choice test. The three levels of instruction are:
1. If you become doubtful about an item, always return to your first choice. 2. Write notes and comments about the items on the test itself. 3. No instructions.
Thus, the design compares two strategies and a control group.2 Do you use either of these strategies? Do you have an opinion about the value of either of these strategies? Perhaps you would be willing to express your opinion by deciding which of the columns in Table 11.1 represent which of the two strategies and which column represents the control condition (taking the test without instructions). (If you want to guess, do it now, because I’m going to label the columns in the next paragraph.)
The numbers in the X2 column represent typical multiple-choice test performances (control condition). The mean is 75. The X1 column shows scores when test-takers follow strategy 1 (go with your initial choice). The scores in column X3 represent performance when test-takers make notes on the test itself (though these notes are not graded in any way). Does either strategy have a significant effect on scores? A repeated- measures ANOVA will give you an answer.
Terminology for N
Two of the three subscripts of N in a one-factor repeated-measures ANOVA are ones that you have used before; one is new—Nk.
Ntot � total number of scores. In Table 11.1, Ntot � 12.
Nt � number of scores that receive one treatment. In Table 11.1, Nt � 4.
Nk � number of treatments. In Table 11.1, Nk � 3.
Sums of Squares
The first set of calculations in the analysis of test-taking strategies is of sums of squares. They are shown in the lower portion of Table 11.2. The upper portion of Table 11.2 is identical to Table 11.1, except that labels and sums have been added. I did not include columns of X 2 values like those in previous chapters. Line 2 in the sum of squares portion of the table shows the calculation of �X 2tot. The formula for SStot is the same as that for all ANOVA problems:
For the data in Table 11.2, SStot � 1754.667. SSsubjects is the variability due to differences between subjects. As you know, people
differ in their abilities when it comes to multiple-choice exams. These differences are
SStot � ©X 2tot � 1©X tot 2 2
Ntot
Analysis of Variance: One-Factor Repeated Measures ■ 253
2 By the way, should you be one of those people who find yourself taking multiple-choice tests from time to time, understanding this problem will reveal a strategy for improving your score on such exams.
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reflected in the different row totals. The sum of one subject’s scores (a row total) is symbolized �Xk. This sum depends on the number of treatments, which is symbolized Nk. The general formula for SSsubjects is
Work through the calculations in Table 11.2 that lead to the conclusion SSsubjects � 1712.000. Perhaps you have already noted that 1712 is a big portion of the total sum of squares.
SStreat is the variability that is due to differences among the strategies the subjects used; that is, SStreat is the variability due to the independent variable. The sum of the
SSsubjects � © c 1©Xk 2 2
Nk d �
1©X tot 2 2
Ntot
254 ■ Chapter 11
TABLE 11.2 A repeated-measures ANOVA that compares two test-taking strategies and a control condition (same data set as Table 11.1)
Strategies
Use first Subjects choice Control Write notes �Xs
S1 57 60 64 181 S2 71 72 74 217 S3 75 76 78 229 S4 093 092 096 281 �Xt 296 300 312 908 X� 74 75 78
dferror � 1Nt � 1 2 1Nk � 1 2 � 13 2 12 2 � 6
dfstrategies � Nk � 1 � 3 � 1 � 2
dfsubjects � Nt � 1 � 4 � 1 � 3
dftot � Ntot � 1 � 12 � 1 � 11
� 1754.667 � 1712.000 � 34.667 � 8.000
SSerror � SStot � SSsubjects � SSstrategies
� 68,740.000 � 68,705.333 � 34.667
SSstrategies � © c 1©Xt 2 2
Nt d �
1©Xtot 2 2
Ntot �
2962
4 �
3002
4 �
3122
4 �
9082
12
� 70,417.333 � 68,705.333 � 1712.000
SSsubjects � © c 1©Xk 2 2
Nk d �
1©Xtot 2 2
Ntot �
1812
3 �
2172
3 �
2292
3 �
2812
3 �
9082
12
SStot � �X 2tot � 1�X tot 2 2
Ntot � 70,460 � 68,705.333 � 1754.667
�X 2tot � 572 � 602 � p � 922 � 962 � 70,460
�X tot � 296 � 300 � 312 � 908
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scores for one treatment level is �Xt. This sum depends on the number of subjects in that treatment, Nt. The general formula for SStreat is
For the analysis in Table 11.2, the generic term treatments has been replaced with the term specific to these data: strategies. As you can see, SSstrategies � 34.667.
SSerror is the variability that remains in the data when the effects of the other identified sources have been removed. To find SSerror, calculate
SSerror � SStot � SSsubjects � SStreat
For these data, SSerror � 8.000.
P R O B L E M S
11.1. You just worked through three SS values for a repeated-measures ANOVA. But is it a repeated-measures design? (I gave no description of the procedures.) Describe a way to form groups to create a repeated- measures design.
11.2. Figure 10.5 is a graphic that shows how SStot is partitioned into its components. Construct a graphic that shows the partition of the components of sums of squares in a one-factor repeated-measures ANOVA.
Degrees of Freedom, Mean Squares, and F
After you calculate sums of squares, the next step is to determine their degrees of freedom. Degrees of freedom for one-way repeated-measures ANOVA follow the general rule: number of observations minus one.
In general: For the strategy study:
dftot � Ntot � 1 dftot � 12 � 1 � 11
dfsubjects � Nt � 1 dfsubjects � 4 � 1 � 3
dftreat � Nk � 1 dfstrategies � 3 � 1 � 2
dferror � (Nt � 1)(Nk � 1) dferror � (3)(2) � 6
As is always the case for ANOVAs, mean squares are found by dividing a sum of squares by its df. With mean squares in hand, you can form any appropriate F ratios. Because the usual purpose of this design is to provide a more sensitive test of the treatment variable, Fstrategies is the only F to calculate. Thus, there is no need to calculate MSsubjects.
MSerror � SSerror dferror
� 8.000
6 � 1.333
MSstrategies � SSstrategies
dfstrategies �
34.667
2 � 17.333
SStreat � © c 1©Xt 2 2
Nt d �
1©X tot 2 2
Ntot
Analysis of Variance: One-Factor Repeated Measures ■ 255
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To find F, divide MSstrategies by the error term:
The now familiar ANOVA summary table is the conventional way to present the results of an analysis of variance. Table 11.3 shows the analysis that assessed strategies for taking multiple-choice exams.
Interpretation of F
The F from the data (13.00) is greater than F.01 from the table (10.92), which allows you to conclude that the three strategies do not have a common population mean. Such a statement, of course, doesn’t answer the obvious question: Should I use or avoid either of these strategies?
With this question in mind, look at the means of each of the strategies in Table 11.2. What pairwise comparison is the most interesting to you?
Tukey HSD Tests
The one pairwise comparison that I’ll do for you is the comparison between the Write notes strategy and the Control group. The formula for a Tukey HSD is the same as the one you used in Chapter 10:
where
Nt � the number of scores in each treatment; the number that an X� is based on
Applying the formula to the data for the Write notes strategy and the Control group, you get
HSDwrite v. cont � 78 � 7521.333>4 � 30.577 � 5.20; p 6 .05
sX� � BMSerrorNt HSD �
X�1 � X�2 sX�
F � MSstrategies
MSerror �
17.333
1.333 � 13.003
256 ■ Chapter 11
TABLE 11.3 ANOVA summary table for the multiple-choice strategy study
Source SS df MS F p
Subjects 1712.000 3 Strategies 34.667 2 17.333 13.00 �.01 Error 8.000 6 1.333 Total 1754.667 11
F.05(2, 6 df ) � 5.14 F.01(2, 6 df ) � 10.92
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The critical value of HSD at the .05 level for three groups and a dferror � 6 is 4.34. Because the data-produced HSD is greater than the critical value of HSD, conclude that making notes on a multiple-choice exam produces a significantly better score.3
OK, now it is time for you to put into practice what you have been learning.
P R O B L E M S
11.3. Many studies show that interspersing rest between practice sessions (spaced practice) produces better performance than a no-rest condition (massed practice). Most studies use short rests, such as minutes or hours. Bahrick et al. (1993), however, studied the effect of weeks of rest. Thirteen practice sessions of learning the English equivalents of foreign words were interspersed with rest periods of 2, 4, or 8 weeks. The scores (percent of recall) for all four participants in this study are in the accompanying table. Analyze the data with a one-factor repeated- measures ANOVA, construct a summary table, perform Tukey HSD tests, and write an interpretation.
Rest interval (weeks)
Subject 2 4 8
1 40 50 58 2 58 56 65 3 44 70 69 4 57 61 74
11.4. Using the data in Table 11.2 and a Tukey HSD, compare the scores of those who returned to their first choice to those of the control group.4
Type I and Type II Errors
In problem 11.3 you reached the conclusion that an 8-week rest between practice sessions is better than a 2-week rest. Could this conclusion be in error? Of course it could be, although it isn’t very likely. But suppose the conclusion is erroneous. What kind of a statistical error is it: a Type I error or a Type II error?
In problem 11.4 you compared the strategy of return to your initial choice to the control condition. You did not reject the null hypothesis. If this conclusion is wrong, then you’ve made an error. Is it a Type I error or a Type II error?
Perhaps these two review questions have accomplished their purpose—to provide you with a spaced practice trial in your efforts to learn about Type I and Type II errors. As a reminder, a Type I error is rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true. A Type II
Analysis of Variance: One-Factor Repeated Measures ■ 257
3 For confirmation, see McKeachie, Pollie, and Speisman (1955). 4 This comparison is based on data presented by Benjamin, Cavell, and Shallenberger (1984).
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error is failing to reject a false null hypothesis. (To review, see pages 178–180 and 217–218.)
Some Behind-the-Scenes Information about Repeated-Measures ANOVA
Now that you can analyze data from a one-factor repeated-measures ANOVA, you are ready to appreciate something about what is really going on when you perform this statistical test. I’ll begin by addressing the fundamental issue in any ANOVA: partitioning the variance.
Think about SStot. You may recall that the definitional formula for SStot is �(X � X�gm)2. When you calculate SStot, you get a number that measures how variable the scores are. If the scores are all close together, SStot is small. (Think this through. Do you agree?) If the scores are quite different, SStot is large. (Agree?)
Regardless of the amount of total variance, an ANOVA divides it into separate, independent parts. Each part is associated with a different source.
Look again at the raw scores in Table 11.2. Some of the variability in those scores is associated with different subjects. You can see this in the row totals—there is a lot of variability from S1 to S2 to S3 to S4; that is, there is variability between the subjects.
Now, focus on the variability within the subjects. That is, look at the variability within S1. S1’s scores vary from 57 to 60 to 64. S2’s scores vary from 71 to 72 to 74. Where does this variability within a subject come from? Clearly, treatments are implicated because, as treatments vary from the first to the second to the third column, scores increase.
But the change in treatments doesn’t account for all the variation. That is, for S1 the change in treatments produced a 3-point or 4-point increase in the scores, but for S2 the change in treatments produced only a 1-point or 2-point increase, going from the first to the third treatment. Thus, the change from the first treatment to the third is
not consistent; although an increase usually comes with the next treatment, the change isn’t the same for each subject. This means that some of the variability within a subject is accounted for by the treatments, but not all. The variability that remains in the data in Table 11.2 is used to calculate an error term. It is sometimes called the residual variance.
Advantages of Repeated-Measures ANOVA
With repeated-measures ANOVA there is a reason the scores in each row belong together. That reason might be that the subjects were matched before the experiment began, that the subjects were “natural triplets” or “natural quadruplets,” or that the same subject contributed all the scores in one row.
When the same subjects are used for all levels of the independent variable there is a savings of time and effort. To illustrate, it takes time to recruit participants, give explanations, and provide debriefing. So, if your study has three levels of the independent variable, and each person can participate in all three conditions, you can probably save two-thirds of the time it takes to recruit, explain, and debrief. Clearly, a repeated-measures design can be more efficient.
258 ■ Chapter 11
residual variance Variability due to unknown or uncontrolled variables; error term.
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What about statistical power? You may recall that the more powerful the statistical test, the more likely it will reject a false null hypothesis (see pages 217–218). Any procedure that reduces the size of the error term (MSerror) will produce a larger F ratio. When the between-subjects variability is removed from the analysis, the error term is reduced, making a repeated-measures design more powerful. To summarize, two of the advantages of a repeated-measures ANOVA are efficiency and power.
Cautions about Repeated-Measures ANOVA
The previous section, titled “Advantages of . . . ,” leads good readers to respond internally with “OK, disadvantages is next.” Well, this section gives you three cautions that go with repeated-measures ANOVAs. To address the first, work the problem that follows.
P R O B L E M
11.5. One of the following experiments does not lend itself to a repeated- measures design using the same participants in every treatment. Figure out which one and explain why. a. You want to design an experiment to find out the physiological
effects of meditation. Your plan is to measure oxygen consumption one hour before meditation, during meditation, and one hour after a meditation session.
b. A friend, interested in the treatment of depression, wants to compare drug therapy, interpersonal therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and a placebo drug using Beck Depression Inventory scores as a dependent variable.
The first caution about repeated-measures ANOVA is that it may not be useful if one level of the independent variable continues to affect the participant’s response in the next treatment condition (a carryover effect). Now, there is no problem with the experiment in problem 11.5a because there is no reason to expect that measuring oxygen consumption before meditation will carry over and affect consumption at a later time. However, in problem 11.5b, the effect of therapy is long lasting and will affect depression scores at a later time. (To use a repeated-measures ANOVA on problem 11.5b, some method of matching patients could be used.)
Having cautioned you about carryover effects, I must mention that sometimes you want and expect carryover effects. For example, to evaluate a workshop, you might give the participants a pretest, a test after the workshop, and a follow-up test 6 months later. The whole issue is carryover effects, and a repeated-measures ANOVA is the statistical test to use to measure these effects.
The second caution is that the levels of the independent variable must be chosen by the researcher (a fixed-effects model) rather than being selected randomly from a number of possible levels. This requirement is commonly met in behavioral science experiments. For the random effects model, see Howell (2007, Chapter 14) or Kirk (1995, Chapter 7).
Analysis of Variance: One-Factor Repeated Measures ■ 259
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The third caution that goes with repeated-measures ANOVA is one that goes with all NHST techniques—the caution about the assumptions of the test. In deriving formulas for statistical tests, mathematical statisticians begin by assuming that certain characteristics of the population are true. If the populations the samples come from have these characteristics, the probability figures that the tests produce are exact. If the populations don’t have these characteristics, the accuracy of the p values is not assured. For this chapter’s repeated-measures ANOVA, the only familiar assumption is that the populations are normally distributed. Other assumptions are covered in advanced statistics courses.
P R O B L E M S
11.6. What are three cautions about using the repeated-measures ANOVA in this chapter?
11.7. What is a carryover effect? *11.8. Many college students are familiar with meditation exercises. One
question about meditation that has been answered is: Are there physiological effects? The data that follow are representative of answers to this question. These data on oxygen consumption (in cubic centimeters per minute) are based on Wallace and Benson’s article in Scientific American (1972). Analyze the data. Include HSD tests and an interpretation that describes the effect of meditation on oxygen consumption.
Oxygen consumption (cc/min)
Before During After Subjects meditation meditation meditation
S1 175 125 180 S2 320 290 315 S3 250 210 250 S4 270 215 260 S5 220 190 240
11.9. In problem 11.8 you drew three conclusions based on HSD tests. Each could be wrong. For each conclusion, identify what type of error is possible.
11.10. Most of the problems in this book are already set up for you in tabular form. Researchers, however, usually begin with fairly unorganized raw scores in front of them. For this problem, study the data until you can arrange it into a usable form.
The data are based on the report of Hollon, Thrase, and Markowitz (2002), who compared three kinds of therapy for depression with a control group. I have given you characteristics that allow you to match up a group of four subjects for each row. The dependent variable is Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scores
260 ■ Chapter 11
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recorded at the end of treatment. The lower the score, the less the depression. Begin by identifying the independent variable. Study the data until it becomes clear how to set up the analysis. Analyze the data and write a conclusion.
Female, age 20 BDI � 10 Drug therapy Male, age 30 BDI � 9 Interpersonal therapy Female, age 45 BDI � 16 Drug therapy Female, age 20 BDI � 11 Interpersonal therapy Female, age 20 BDI � 8 Cognitive-behavioral therapy Female, age 20 BDI � 18 Placebo Female, age 45 BDI � 10 Cognitive-behavioral therapy Male, age 30 BDI � 10 Drug therapy Male, age 30 BDI � 15 Cognitive-behavioral therapy Female, age 45 BDI � 24 Placebo Female, age 45 BDI � 16 Interpersonal therapy Male, age 30 BDI � 21 Placebo
11.11. Look over the objectives at the beginning of the chapter. Can you do them?
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 11 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, and more. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and problems that require calculation and interpretation.
KEY TERMS
Analysis of Variance: One-Factor Repeated Measures ■ 261
Assumptions (p. 260) Carryover effects (p. 259) Degrees of freedom (p. 255) Error sum of squares (p. 255) Factor (p. 250) F value (p. 256) Mean squares (p. 255)
Partitioning the variance (p. 258) Repeated-measures ANOVA (p. 250) Residual variance (p. 258) Subjects sum of squares (p. 254) Treatment sum of squares (p. 255) Tukey HSD (p. 256) Type I and Type II errors (p. 257)
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chapt
Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 1 2
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Define the terms factorial design, factor, cell, main effect, and interaction
2. Name the sources of variance in a factorial design
3. Compute sums of squares, degrees of freedom, mean squares, and F values in a factorial design
4. Determine whether or not F values are significant
5. Interpret an interaction
6. Interpret main effects when the interaction is not significant
7. Make pairwise comparisons between means with Tukey HSD tests
8. List the assumptions required for a factorial design ANOVA
CHAPTERS 10 AND 11 covered the concepts, procedures, and interpretation of a popular NHST technique: analysis of variance (ANOVA). Those two chapters
explained ANOVAs that have one factor. This chapter explains a design for experiments that have two or more factors. ANOVAs with two or more factors are factorial ANOVAs. An attractive feature of factorial ANOVAs is that they not only give you an NHST test for each of the separate factors, but they also tell you about the interaction between the factors.
Three chapters in this book are on the analysis of variance. No other NHST technique gets as much space from me or as much time from you.
This emphasis reflects its importance and widespread use. When I surveyed 50 consecutive empirical articles in recent issues of Psychological Science, I found that 68 percent used some form of ANOVA at least once in analyzing the data. Of those that used ANOVA, 91 percent used a factorial ANOVA. Among behavioral scientists, ANOVA is the most widely used inferential statistics technique and factorial ANOVA is its most popular version.
262
factor Independent variable.
factorial ANOVA Experimental design with two or more independent variables.
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Here is a review of designs covered in Chapters 9 though 11, using factorial terminology, to help prepare you for factorial ANOVA and its bonus information, the interaction.
In Chapter 9 you learned to analyze data from a two-group experiment, schematically shown in Table 12.1. There is one independent variable, Factor A, with data from two levels, A1 and A2. For the t test, the question is whether X�A1 is significantly different from X�A2. You learned to determine this for both independent and paired-samples designs.
In Chapters 10 and 11 you learned to analyze data from a two-or-more-treatment experiment, schematically shown in Table 12.2 for a four-treatment design. There is one independent variable, Factor A, with data from four levels, A1, A2, A3, and A4. The question is whether the four treatment means could have come from populations with identical means. The ANOVA technique covered in Chapter 10 is for independent- samples designs. The technique for samples that are matched in some fashion (repeated measures) is explained in Chapter 11.
Factorial Design
A factorial design has two or more factors, each of which has two or more levels. In a factorial design, every level of a factor occurs with every level of the other factor(s). The technique I explain in this chapter is for independent samples.1 Table 12.3 illustrates this design. One factor (Factor A) has three levels (A1, A2, and A3) and the other factor (Factor B) has two levels (B1 and B2).
Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design ■ 263
TABLE 12.2 Illustration of a four-treatment design that can be analyzed with an F test
Factor A
A1 A2 A3 A4
Scores on the Scores on the Scores on the Scores on the dependent variable dependent variable dependent variable dependent variable
X�A4X �
A3X �
A2X �
A1
TABLE 12.1 Illustration of a two-treatment design that can be analyzed with a t test
Factor A
A1 A2
Scores on the Scores on the dependent variable dependent variable
X�A2X �
A1
1 Advanced textbooks such as Howell (2007) and Kirk (1995) discuss the analysis of factorial repeated- measures designs and three-or-more-factor designs.
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Table 12.4 shows the NHST tests that are explained in Chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12 organized according to whether the tests are for independent samples or related samples. Related samples is a general term that includes pairing, matching, and repeated measures. Studying Table 12.4 now will help you put this chapter’s topic into the matrix of what you already know.
Factorial Design Notation
Factorial designs are identified with a shorthand notation such as “2 � 3” (two by three) or “3 � 5.” The general term is R � C (Rows � Columns). The first number is the number of levels of one factor; the second number is the number of levels of the other factor. Thus, the design in Table 12.3 is a 2 � 3 design. Assignment of a factor
to a row or column is arbitrary; Table 12.3 could also be rearranged into a 3 � 2 table.
Table 12.3 has six cells. The participants in each cell are treated differently. Participants in the upper left cell are given treatment A1
264 ■ Chapter 12
cell Scores that receive the same combination of treatments.
TABLE 12.3 Illustration of a 2 � 3 factorial design
Factor A
A1 A2 A3
Cell A1B1 Cell A2B1 Cell A3B1
B1 Scores on the Scores on the Scores on the dependent dependent dependent variable variable variable
Factor B Cell A1B2 Cell A2B2 Cell A3B2
B2 Scores on the Scores on the Scores on the dependent dependent dependent variable variable variable
X�A3X �
A2X �
A1
X�B2
X�B1
TABLE 12.4 Catalog of statistical tests arranged by kind of design
Independent variables Design of experiment
and number of levels Independent samples Related samples
One IV, 2 levels Independent-samples t test Paired-samples t test (Chapter 9) (Chapter 9)
One IV, 2 or more levels One-way ANOVA (Chapter 10) One-factor repeated-measures ANOVA (Chapter 11)
Two IVs, each with Factorial ANOVA (Chapter 12) 2 or more levels
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and treatment B1; that cell is identified as Cell A1B1. Participants in the lower right cell are given treatment A3 and treatment B2, and that cell is called Cell A3B2.
Factorial Design Information
A factorial ANOVA gives you two kinds of information. First, it gives you the same information that you would get from two separate one-factor ANOVAs. Look again at Table 12.3. A factorial ANOVA can determine the probability of obtaining means such as X�A1, X�A2, and X�A3 from identical populations. The same factorial ANOVA can determine the probability of X�B1 and X�B2, if the null hypothesis is true. These comparisons, which are like one-factor ANOVAs, are called main effects.
In addition, a factorial ANOVA helps you decide whether the two factors interact with each other to affect scores on the dependent variable. An interaction between two factors means that the effect that one factor has on the dependent variable depends on which level of the other factor is being administered.
The experiment in Table 12.3 would have an interaction if the difference between Level B1 scores and Level B2 scores depended on whether you looked at the A1 column, the A2 column, or the A3 column. To expand on this, each of the three columns represents an experiment that compares B1 to B2. If there is no interaction, then the difference between B1 scores and B2 scores will be the same for all three experiments. If there is an interaction, however, the difference between B1 and B2 will depend on whether you are examining the experiment at A1, at A2, or at A3.
Factorial Design Examples
Perhaps a couple of factorial design examples will help. The first has an interaction; the second doesn’t. Suppose several students are sitting in a dormitory lounge one Monday discussing the big party they all went to on Saturday. There is lots of disagreement; some loved the party, while others just shrug. Now, imagine that everyone gets quantitative and rates the party on a scale from 1 to 10. The resulting numbers are quite variable. Why are they so variable?
One tactic for explaining variability is to give reasons that help explain the variability. For example, some people were at the party with one special person and others were there with several friends. Perhaps that helps explain some of the variability. Also, there were two kinds of activities at the party, talking and playing games. Perhaps some of the variability in ratings depends on the activity people engaged in. With two variables identified (number of companions and activities) and the ratings of the party (the dependent variable), you have the makings of a factorial ANOVA.
In Table 12.5, locate the two factors, companions and activities. Each factor has two levels, so this is a 2 � 2 factorial design. The numbers in the cells are the mean ratings of the party by those in that cell.
The cell means in Table 12.5 show an interaction between the two factors. Those who went to the party with one companion rated it highly if they talked, but poorly if they played games. For those who went with several companions, the effect was just the opposite; talking resulted in low ratings and games resulted in high ratings.
Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design ■ 265
main effect Significance test of the deviations of the mean levels of one independent variable from the grand mean.
interaction When the effect of one independent variable on the dependent variable depends on the level of another independent variable.
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To return to the definition of an interaction, the effect of the number of companions depends on which column you look at. In the talk column, being with one companion results in a higher rating than being with several, but in the games column, being with one companion results in a lower rating than being with several.
As a second example, let’s take a different Monday group who attended the same party where the activities were talking and playing games. In this second group, there were two personality types, shy and outgoing.
Table 12.6 shows the mean party ratings for this second group. The shy people gave the party a low rating if they talked and a slightly higher rating if they played games. Outgoing people show the same pattern as you look from talk to games—ratings go up slightly. The data in Table 12.6 show no interaction because the effect that personality type has on ratings does not depend on the type of activity. Although there is no interaction, there is an effect of personality—outgoing people rated the party higher than shy people.
P R O B L E M S
12.1. Use R � C notation to identify the following factorial designs. *a. Men and women worked complex problems at either 7:00 A.M. or
7:00 P.M. b. Three methods of teaching Chinese were used with 4-year-olds and
8-year-olds. c. Four strains of mice were infected with three types of virus.
266 ■ Chapter 12
TABLE 12.5 Illustration of a factorial design with an interaction (The numbers are mean ratings of a party.)
Activity
Talk Games
One 8 3 Companions
Several 3 8
TABLE 12.6 Illustration of a factorial design with no interaction (The numbers are mean ratings of a party.)
Activity
Talk Games
Shy 2 3 Personality
Outgoing 7 8
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d. (This one is a little different.) Four varieties of peas were grown with three amounts of fertilizer in soil of low, medium, or high acidity.
12.2. Group together the designs that have the same number of factors. a. Paired t test b. Independent t test c. One-way ANOVA with four treatments d. A 2 � 4 factorial ANOVA e. Repeated-measures ANOVA with three conditions
12.3. Group together the designs that have an independent variable with two levels. a. Paired t test b. Independent t test c. One-way ANOVA with four treatments d. A 2 � 4 factorial ANOVA e. Repeated-measures ANOVA with three conditions
12.4. In your own words, define an interaction. 12.5. Make up an outcome for problem 12.1a that has an interaction.
Main Effects and Interaction
A two-way factorial ANOVA produces three statistical tests: two main effects and one interaction. That is, a factorial ANOVA gives you a test for Factor A and a separate test for Factor B. The test for the interaction (symbolized AB) tells you whether the scores for the different levels of Factor A depend on the levels of Factor B.
An Example That Does Not Have an Interaction
Table 12.7 shows a 2 � 3 factorial ANOVA. The numbers in the cells are cell means. I’ll use Table 12.7 to illustrate how to examine a table of cell means and how to look for the two main effects and the interaction.
Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design ■ 267
TABLE 12.7 Illustration of a 2 � 3 factorial design with no interaction (The number in each cell is the mean of the scores in the cell. N is the same for each cell.)
Factor A
A1 A2 A3 Factor B means
B1 10 20 60 30 Factor B
B2 50 60 100 70
Factor A means 30 40 80 Grand mean 50
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Main effects Begin by looking at the margin means for Factor B (B1 � 30, B2 � 70). The B main effect gives the probability of obtaining means of 30 and 70 if both samples came from identical populations. Using this probability you can decide whether the null hypothesis H0: mB1 � mB2 should be rejected or not.
The A main effect gives you the probability of getting means of A1, A2, and A3 (30, 40, and 80) if mA1 � mA2 � mA3. Again, this probability can result in a rejection or a retention of the null hypothesis.
Notice that a comparison of B1 to B2 satisfies the requirements for an experiment (page 192) in that, except for being treated with either B1 or B2, the groups are alike. That is, Group B1 and Group B2 are alike in that both groups have equal numbers of participants who received A1 (and also A2 and A3). Whatever the effect of receiving A1, it will occur as much in the B1 group as it does in the B2 group; B1 and B2 differ only in their levels of Factor B. This same line of reasoning about comparing A1, A2, and A3 also satisfies the requirements for an experiment.
Interaction To check for an interaction, begin by looking at the two cell means in the A1 column of Table 12.7. Changing from B1 to B2 increases the mean score by 40 points (10 to 50). Now look at level A2. There is an increase of 40 points. The same increase is also found at level A3. Thus, the effect of changing levels of Factor B does not depend on Factor A; the 40-point effect is the same, regardless of the level of A.
In a similar way, if you start with the B1 row, you see that there is a mean increase of 10 points and then 40 points as you move from A1 to A2 to A3. This same change is found in the B2 row (an increase of 10 points and then an increase of 40 points). Thus, the effect of changing levels of Factor A does not depend on Factor B; the change is the same regardless of which level of B you look at.
An Example That Has an Interaction
Table 12.8 shows a 2 � 3 factorial design in which there is an interaction between the two independent variables. The main effect of Factor A is seen in the margin means along the bottom. The average effect of a change from A1 to A2 to A3 is to reduce the mean score by 10 (55 to 45 to 35). But look at the cells. For B1, the effect of changing from A1 to A2 to A3 is to increase the mean score by 10 points. For B2, the effect is to
268 ■ Chapter 12
TABLE 12.8 Illustration of a 2 � 3 factorial design with an interaction between factors (The number in each cell is the mean of the scores within that cell. N is the same for each cell.)
Factor A
A1 A2 A3 Factor B means
B1 10 20 30 20 Factor B
B2 100 70 40 70
Factor A means 55 45 35 Grand mean 45
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decrease the score by 30 points. These data have an interaction because the effect of one factor depends on which level of the other factor you administer.
Let’s apply our definitional analysis of an interaction: What is the effect of changing from B1 to B2 for Treatment A1 in Table 12.8? The effect is to increase the mean score 90 points. How about for A2? In condition A2, the mean increase is 50 points. And for A3, the mean increase from B1 to B2 is only 10 points. The effect of Factor B depends on the level of Factor A you are examining.2
To examine Table 12.8 for main effects, look at the margin means. A main effect for Factor B tests the hypothesis that the mean of the population of B1 scores is identical to the mean of the population of B2 scores. A main effect for Factor A gives the probability that the three means (55, 45, and 35) came from populations with a common mean.3
Graphs of Factorial ANOVA Designs
Because graphs are so helpful, the cell means of factorial ANOVA data are often presented as either a line graph or a bar graph. In both cases, the dependent variable is on the Y axis and one of the independent variables is on the X axis. The other independent variable is identified in the legend.
Figure 12.1 shows a line graph of the cell means in Table 12.7. Factor A is plotted on the X axis. Factor B is plotted as two separate curves, B1 and B2. Note that the two
Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design ■ 269
A1 A2 A3
Level of Factor A
20
40
60
80
100 M
ea n
sc or
e on
de pe
nd en
t v ar
ia bl
e
B2
B1
F I G U R E 1 2 . 1 Line graph of data in Table 12.7. Parallel lines indicate there is no interaction.
2 The concept of interaction is not easy to grasp. Usually, a presentation of the same concept in different words helps. After you finish the chapter, two good sources for additional explanations are Howell (2004, pp. 409–411) and an encyclopedia entry, Aiken and West (2005). 3 A factorial ANOVA actually compares each margin mean to the grand mean, but for interpretation purposes I’ve described the process as a comparison of margin means.
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curves are parallel, which is a characteristic of factorial data with no interaction. Of course, you cannot determine the statistical significance of an interaction for sure just by looking at a graph of the means, because means are subject to sampling variability. A statistical test of the interaction is required.
In a similar way, you cannot determine the significance of main effects just by looking at a graph, but an examination encourages helpful estimates. For example, in Figure 12.1 the B1 curve is well below the B2 curve, which suggests that the main effect for Factor B may be significant. Turning to Factor A, there are three levels to compare. The A1 mean is the mean of the two points, A1B1 and A1B2. Thus, the A1 mean is about 30. In a similar way, you can estimate the A2 mean and the A3 mean. These three means, 30, 40, and 80, seem quite different, which suggests that Factor A might prove to be statistically significant.
Figure 12.2 is a bar graph of the same data (Table 12.7). With bar graphs, comparing the pattern of the heights of the bars allows you to estimate the significance of the interaction and the main effects. For the interaction, the pattern of the stair steps in the three Factor A cells is identical, so the bar graph indicates there is no interaction. To assess the main effect of Factor B, judge the average height of the B1 bars and the average height of the B2 bars. The B1 bars are shorter, so we can estimate that Factor B may be significant. Comparing the three levels of Factor A is about as difficult with a bar graph as it is with a line graph; the mean of the two A1 conditions must be compared to the mean of the A2 conditions and to the A3 conditions. Please make those comparisons yourself.
Figure 12.3 shows two graphs of the data in Table 12.8 in which there is an interaction. The line graph in the left panel has curves that are not parallel, which indicates an interaction. Factor B appears to be significant, because the B1 curve is always below the B2 curve. Factor A appears to be not significant because the three means appear to be about the same, although there is some decrease from A1 to A2 to A3.
Examining the bar graph in the right panel of Figure 12.3, you can see that the stair step pattern of the three B1 measures (going up) is not the pattern in the three B2 measures (going down). Different patterns indicate there may be a significant interaction. Looking at main effects, the B1 bars on the left are shorter than the B2 bars on the right; Factor B appears to be significant. The difficult-to-assess Factor A with its three levels shows three means that are similar.
270 ■ Chapter 12
Level of Factor A
20
100
D ep
en de
nt -v
ar ia
bl e
m ea
n
40
60
80
A1 A2 A3
B1
B2
F I G U R E 1 2 . 2 Bar graph of data in Table 12.7. There is no interaction.
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For additional graphing examples, let’s return to the ratings of the party described previously in the chapter. For the first group of partygoers, there was an interaction between the two factors, companions and activities. Figure 12.4 shows a line graph and a bar graph of the cell means in Table 12.5. The line graph shows decidedly unparallel lines; they form an X, which is a strong indication of an interaction. The main effect of companions is not significant; both means are 5.5. Likewise, the main effect of activities isn’t significant; both means are 5.5. For the bar graph in the right panel, an interaction is clearly indicated because the pattern of steps on the left is reversed on the right.
For the second group of partygoers (Table 12.6), the factors were personality and activities. The cell means are graphed in Figure 12.5. The line graph has two parallel lines, which indicate there is no interaction. The main effect of personality may be significant because the two means are so different (2.5 and 7.5). The main effect of activities does not appear to be significant; the means are similar (4.5 and 5.5). The bar graph indicates there is no interaction because the pattern of steps on the left is repeated on the right. As for main effects, personality makes a big difference, but the average of talk and games produces similar means.
Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design ■ 271
2
10
Pa rt
y ra
tin g
(m ea
n)
4
6
8
Games
Talk
Pa rt
y ra
tin g
(m ea
n)
Companions
2
10
4
6
8
One Several
Games
Talk
Companions
One Several
F I G U R E 1 2 . 4 Line graph and bar graph of party ratings in Table 12.5 (shows interaction).
Levels of Factor A
20
100
M ea
n sc
or e
on
de pe
nd en
t v ar
ia bl
e
40
60
80
B1
B2 M
ea n
sc or
e on
de
pe nd
en t v
ar ia
bl e
Levels of Factor A
20
100
40
60
80
A1 A2 A3
B2 B1
A1 A2 A3
F I G U R E 1 2 . 3 Line graph and bar graph of cell means in Table 12.8. Both graphs show the interaction.
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clue to the future When the interaction is statistically significant, the interpretation of the main effects may not be as straightforward as I have indicated. Be alert for this issue later in the chapter.
P R O B L E M S
12.6. What is a main effect? 12.7. Descriptions of four studies follow (i–iv). High scores indicate better,
or positive, outcomes. For each study, work five problems (a–e). a. Graph the cell means, using a line graph or bar graph as indicated. b. Decide whether an interaction appears to be present. State that an
interaction does or does not appear to be present. Interactions, like main effects, are subject to sampling variations.
c. Explain how the two factors interact or do not interact. d. For problems with no interaction, decide whether either main effect
appears to be significant. e. Explain the main effects in those problems that do not show an
interaction. i. The dependent variable for this ANOVA is attitude scores.
Attitudes were expressed toward card games and computer games by the young and the old. Graph as a bar graph.
Factor A (age)
A1 A2 (young) (old)
Factor B B1 (cards) 50 75 (games) B2 (computer) 75 50
ii. This is a study of the effect of the dose of a new drug on three types of schizophrenia. The dependent variable is scores on a competency test. Use a line graph.
272 ■ Chapter 12
2
10
Pa rt
y ra
tin g
(m ea
n)
4
6
8
Games
Talk
Pa rt
y ra
tin g
(m ea
n)
Personality
2
10
4
6
8
Shy Outgoing
Games Talk
Personality
Shy Outgoing
F I G U R E 1 2 . 5 Line graph and bar graph of party ratings in Table 12.6 (no interaction).
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A (diagnosis)
A1 A2 A3 (disorganized) (catatonic) (paranoid)
B1 (small) 5 10 70 B (dose) B2 (medium) 20 25 85
B3 (large) 35 40 100
iii. The dependent variable is the score on a test that measures self-consciousness. Use a bar graph.
A (grade)
A1 A2 A3 (5th grade) (9th grade) (12th grade)
B1 (short) 10 30 20B (height) B2 (tall) 5 60 30
iv. The dependent variable is attitude toward lowering the taxes on profits from investments. Graph as a line graph.
A (socioeconomic status)
A1 A2 A3 (low) (middle) (high)
B1 (men) 10 35 60 B (gender) B2 (women) 15 35 55
A Simple Example of a Factorial Design
As you read the following story, identify the dependent variable and the two independent variables (factors).
The semester was over. A dozen students who had all been in the same class were talking about what a bear of a test the comprehensive final exam had been. Competition surfaced.
“Of course, I was ready. Those of us who major in natural science disciplines just study more than you humanities types.”
“Poot, poot, and balderdash,” exclaimed one of the humanities types, who was a sophomore.
A third student said, “Well, there are some of both types in this group; let’s just gather some data. How many hours did each of you study for that exam?”
“Wait a minute,” exclaimed one of the younger students. “I’m a natural science type, but this is my first term in college. I didn’t realize how much time I would need to cover the readings. I don’t want my score to pull down my group’s tally.”
“Hmmm,” mused the data-oriented student. “Let’s see. Look, some of you are in your first term and the rest of us have had some college experience. We’ll just take experience into account. Maybe the dozen of us will divide up evenly.”
Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design ■ 273
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This story establishes the conditions for a 2 � 2 factorial ANOVA. One of the factors is area of interest; the two levels are natural science and humanities. The other factor is previous experience in college; the two levels are none and some. The dependent variable is hours of study for a comprehensive final examination. In explaining this example, I will add the specific terms of the experiment to the AB terminology I’ve used so far. Interpretations should use the terms of the experiment.
It probably won’t surprise you to find out that when I created a data set to go with this story, the dozen did divide up evenly—there were three students in each of the four cells. The data are shown in Table 12.9. The first step to do in a factorial ANOVA is to calculate for each cell �X, the mean, and �X 2.
P R O B L E M
12.8. Perform a preliminary analysis on the data in Table 12.9. Graph the cell means using the technique that you prefer. What is your opinion about whether the interaction is significant? Give your opinion about each of the main effects.
274 ■ Chapter 12
TABLE 12.9 Scores, cell means, and summary statistics for the study time data
Previous college experience (Factor A)
Some (A1) None (A2)
X X2 X X2
12 144 8 64 11 121 7 49 10 100 7 49
�Xcell � 33 �Xcell � 22 �XB1 � 55 �X2cell � 365 �X2cell � 162 �X2B1 � 527
X�cell � 11.00 X�cell � 7.3333 X�B1 � 9.1667
Natural 12 144 10 100 science 10 100 9 81
(B2) 9 81 8 64
�Xcell � 31 �Xcell � 27 �XB2 � 58 �X2cell � 325 �X2cell � 245 �X2B2 � 570
X�cell � 10.3333 X�cell � 9.00 X�B2 � 9.6667
�XA1 � 64 �XA2 � 49 �Xtot � 113 �X2A1 � 690 �X
2 A2
� 407 �X2tot � 1097 X�A1 � 10.6667 X�A2 � 8.1667 X�gm � 9.4167
Humanities (B1)
Major (Factor B)
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Sources of Variance and Sums of Squares
Remember that in Chapter 10 you identified three sources of variance in the one-way analysis of variance: (1) the total variance, (2) the between-treatments variance, and (3) the error variance. In a factorial design with two factors, the same sources of variance can be identified. However, the between-treatments variance, which is called the between-cells variance in factorial ANOVA, is further partitioned into three components. These are the two main effects and the interaction. That is, of the variability among the four cell means in Table 12.9, some can be attributed to the A main effect, some to the B main effect, and the rest to the AB interaction. Calculation of the sums of squares is shown in Table 12.10. I’ll explain each step in the text.
Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design ■ 275
TABLE 12.10 Sums of squares and computation check for the study time data
Check:
Check: SScells � SSerror � SStot; 23.5833 � 9.3333 � 32.9167
� 2 � 0.6667 � 4.6667 � 2 � 9.3333
� a 365 � 133 22
3 b � a162 �
122 2 2
3 b � a325 �
131 2 2
3 b � a245 �
127 2 2
3 b
SSerror � � c�X 2cell � 1�X cell 2 2
Ncell d
SScells � SSA � SSB � SSAB; 23.5833 � 18.7501 � 0.7501 � 4.0831
� 4.0836
� 110.3333 � 10.6667 � 9.6667 � 9.4167 22 � 19.00 � 8.1667 � 9.6667 � 9.4167 2 2 4
� 3 3 111.00 � 10.6667 � 9.1667 � 9.4167 2 2 � 17.3333 � 8.1667 � 9.1667 � 9.4167 2 2 � 1X�A1B2 � X�A1 � X�B2 � X�gm 2
2 � 1X�A2B2 � X �
A2 � X �
B2 � X �
gm 2 2 4
SSAB � Ncell 3 1X�A1B1 � X �
A1 � X �
B1 � X �
gm 2 2 � 1X�A2B1 � X
� A2 � X
� B1 � X
� gm 2
2
� 504.1667 � 560.6667 � 1064.0833 � 0.7501
SSmajor � 1�XB1 2
2
NB1 � 1�XB2 2
2
NB2 � 1�X tot 2 2
Ntot � 155 2 2
6 � 158 2 2
6 � 1113 2 2
12
� 682.6667 � 400.1667 � 1064.0833 � 18.7501
SSexperience � 1�XA1 2
2
NA1 � 1�XA2 2
2
NA2 � 1�X tot 2 2
Ntot � 164 2 2
6 � 149 2 2
6 � 1113 2 2
12
� 363 � 161.3333 � 320.3333 � 243 � 1064.0833 � 23.5833
SScells � � c 1�X cell 2 2
Ncell d �
1�X tot 2 2
Ntot � 133 2 2
3 � 122 2 2
3 � 131 2 2
3 � 127 2 2
3 � 1113 2 2
12
SStot � �X 2tot � 1�X tot 2 2
Ntot � 1097 �
1113 2 2
12 � 1097 � 1064.0833 � 32.9167
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Total sum of squares Calculating the total sum of squares will be easy for you because it is the same as SStot in a one-way ANOVA and a one-factor repeated-measures ANOVA. Defined as �(X � X�gm)2, SStot is the sum of the squared deviations of each score in the experiment from the grand mean of the experiment. To compute SStot, use the formula
For the study time data (Table 12.10),
Between-cells sums of squares To find the main effects and interaction, first find the between-cells sum of squares and then partition it into its component parts. SScells is defined as �[Ncell(X�cell � X�gm)2]. A “cell” in a factorial ANOVA is a group of participants treated alike; for example, humanities majors with no previous college experience constitute a cell.
The computational formula for SScells is similar to that for a one-way analysis:
For the study time data (Table 12.10),
After SScells is obtained, it is partitioned into its three components: the A main effect, the B main effect, and the AB interaction.
Main effects sum of squares The sum of squares for each main effect is somewhat like a one-way ANOVA. The sum of squares for Factor A ignores the existence of Factor B and considers the deviations of the Factor A means from the grand mean. Thus,
where NA1 is the total number of scores in the A1 cells. For Factor B,
Computational formulas for the main effects are like formulas for SStreat in a one-way design:
SSA � 1©XA1 2
2
NA1 � 1©XA2 2
2
NA2 � 1©X tot 2 2
Ntot
SSB � NB1 1X �
B1 � X �
gm 2 2 � NB2 1X
� B2 � X
� gm 2
2
SSA � NA1 1X �
A1 � X �
gm 2 2 � NA2 1X
� A2 � X
� gm 2
2
SScells � 133 2 2
3 � 122 2 2
3 � 131 2 2
3 � 127 2 2
3 � 1113 2 2
12 � 23.5833
SScells � © c 1©X cell 2 2
Ncell d �
1©X tot 2 2
Ntot
SStot � 1097 � 1113 2 2
12 � 32.9167
SStot � ©X 2tot � 1©Xtot 2 2
Ntot
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And for the study time data (Table 12.10),
The computational formula for the B main effect simply substitutes B for A in the previous formula. Thus,
For the study time data (Table 12.10),
error detection SScells, SSA, and SSB are calculated by adding a series of terms and then subtracting
, which is sometimes called the correction factor. The numerators of the
terms that are added are equal to (�Xtot)2. The denominators of the terms that are added are equal to Ntot.
Interaction sum of squares To find the sum of squares for the interaction, use this formula:
For the study time data (Table 12.10),
SSAB � 3[(11.00 � 10.6667 � 9.1667 � 9.4167) 2
� (7.3333 � 8.1667 � 9.1667 � 9.4167)2
� (10.3333 � 10.6667 � 9.6667 � 9.4167)2
� (9.00 � 8.1667 � 9.6667 � 9.4167)2]
� 4.0836
Because SScells contains only the components SSA, SSB, and the interaction SSAB, you can also obtain SSAB by subtraction:
SSAB � SScells � SSA � SSB
For the study time data (Table 12.10),
SSAB � 23.5833 � 18.7501 � 0.7501 � 4.0831
� 1X�A1B2 � X �
A1 � X �
B2 � X �
gm 2 2 � 1X�A2B2 � X
� A2 � X
� B2 � X
� gm 2
2 4
SSAB � Ncell 3 1X�A1B1 � X �
A1 � X �
B1 � X �
gm 2 2 � 1X�A2B1 � X
� A2 � X
� B1 � X
� gm 2
2
1©X tot 2 2
Ntot
SSmajor � 155 2 2
6 � 158 2 2
6 � 1113 2 2
12 � 0.7501
SSB � 1©XB1 2
2
NB1 � 1©XB2 2
2
NB2 � 1©Xtot 2 2
Ntot
SSexperience � 164 2 2
6 � 149 2 2
6 � 1113 2 2
12 � 18.7501
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278 ■ Chapter 12
SSA = 18.7501
SSB = 0.7501 SSAB = 4.0831
SSerror = 9.3333SSA (18.7501)
SSB (0.7501)
SStot (32.9167)
SStot (32.9167)
SSAB (4.0831)
SScells (23.5833)
SSerror (9.3333)
F I G U R E 1 2 . 6 The partition of sums of squares in a factorial ANOVA problem
Error sum of squares The error variability is due to the fact that participants treated alike differ from one another on the dependent variable. Because all were treated the same, this difference must be due to uncontrolled variables or random variation. SSerror for a 2 � 2 design is defined as
In words, SSerror is the sum of the sums of squares for each cell in the experiment. The computational formula is
For the study time data (Table 12.10),
As in a one-way ANOVA, the total variability in a factorial ANOVA is composed of two components: SScells and SSerror. Thus,
23.5833 � 9.3333 � 3.9167
As you read earlier, SScells can be partitioned among SSA, SSB, and SSAB in a factorial ANOVA. Thus,
23.5833 � 18.7501 � 0.7501 � 4.0831
These relationships among sums of squares in a factorial ANOVA are shown graphically in Figure 12.6.
� a325 � 131 2 2
3 b � a245 �
127 2 2
3 b � 9.3333
SSerror � a365 � 133 2 2
3 b � a162 �
122 2 2
3 b
SSerror � © c©X 2cell � 1©X cell 2 2
Ncell d
� © 1XA2B2 � X�A2B2 2 2
SSerror � © 1XA1B1 � X�A1B1 2 2 � © 1XA2B1 � X�A2B1 2
2 � © 1XA1B2 � X�A1B2 2 2
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Did you notice that the direct calculation of SSAB produced 4.0836 but that the value obtained by subtraction was 4.0831? The difference is due to rounding. By the time mean squares and an F test are calculated (in the next section), the difference disappears.
I’ll interrupt the analysis of the study time data now so that you may practice what you have learned about the sums of squares in a factorial ANOVA.
error detection One computational check for a factorial ANOVA is similar to that for the one-way classification: SScells � SSerror � SStot. A more complete version is SSA � SSB � SSAB � SSerror � SStot. As before, this check will not catch errors in calculating �X or �X2.
P R O B L E M S
*12.9. You know that women live longer than men. What about right- handed and left-handed people? Coren and Halpern’s review (1991) included data on both gender and handedness, as well as age at death. An analysis of the age-at-death numbers in this problem produces conclusions like those reached by Coren and Halpern.
Gender
Women Men
76 67 Left-handed 74 61
69 58 Handedness
82 76 Right-handed 78 72
74 68
a. Identify the design using R � C notation. b. Name the independent variables, their levels, and the dependent
variable. c. Calculate SStot, SScells, SSgender, SShandedness, SSAB, and SSerror.
*12.10. Clinical depression occurs in about 15 percent of the population. Many treatments are available. The data that follow are based on Hollon, Thrase, and Markowitz’s study (2002) comparing: (1) psychodynamic therapy, which uses free association and dream analysis to explore unconscious conflicts from childhood, (2) interpersonal therapy, which progresses through a three-stage treatment that alters the patient’s response to recent life events, and (3) cognitive-behavioral therapy, which focuses on changing the client’s thought and behavior patterns. The second factor in this data set is gender. The numbers are improvement scores for the 36 individuals receiving therapy.
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a. Identify the independent variables, their levels, and the dependent variable.
b. Identify the design using R � C notation. c. Calculate SStot, SScells, SStherapy, SSgender, SSAB, and SSerror.
Therapies
Psychodynamic Interpersonal Cognitive-behavioral
22 41 33 42 57 67 30 75 41Women 49 68 59 15 48 49 34 59 51
37 48 36 20 52 56 56 41 44Men 39 67 72 48 33 52 28 59 64
*12.11. Many experiments have investigated the concept of state-dependent memory. Participants learn a task in a particular state—say, under the influence of a drug or not under the influence of the drug. They recall what they have learned in the same state or in the other state. The dependent variable is recall score (memory). The data in the table are designed to illustrate the phenomenon of state-dependent memory. Calculate SStot, SScells, SSlearn, SSrecall, SSAB, and SSerror.
Learn with
Drug No drug
�X � 43 �X � 20 Drug �X2 � 400 �X2 � 100
Recall N � 5 N � 5
with �X � 25 �X � 57 No drug �X2 � 155 �X2 � 750
N � 5 N � 5
Degrees of Freedom, Mean Squares, and F Tests
Now that you are skilled at calculating sums of squares, you can proceed with the analysis of the study time data. Mean squares, as before, are sums of squares divided by their appropriate degrees of freedom. Formulas for degrees of freedom are:
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In general: For the study time data:
dftot � Ntot � 1 dftot � 12 � 1 � 11
dfA � A � 1 dfexperience � 2 � 1 � 1
dfB � B � 1 dfmajor � 2 � 1 � 1
dfAB � (A � 1) (B � 1) dfAB � (1)(1) � 1
dferror � Ntot � (A)(B) dferror � 12 � (2)(2) � 8
In these equations, A and B stand for the number of levels of Factor A and Factor B, respectively.
error detection Always use these checks:
dfA � dfB � dfAB � dferror � dftot
dfA � dfB � dfAB � dfcells
A mean square is always a sum of squares divided by its degrees of freedom. Mean squares for the study time data are
The F values are computed by dividing mean squares by the error mean square:
Results of a factorial ANOVA are usually presented in a summary table. Examine Table 12.11, the summary table for the study time data.
You now have three F values from the data. Each has 1 degree of freedom in the numerator and 8 degrees of freedom in the denominator. To find the probabilities of obtaining such F values if the null hypothesis is true, use Table F in Appendix C. Table F yields the following critical values: F.05(1, 8) � 5.32 and F.01(1, 8) � 11.26.
The next step is to compare the obtained F’s to the critical value F’s and then tell what your analysis reveals about the relationships among the variables. With factorial
FAB � MSAB MSerror
� 4.0831
1.1667 � 3.50
Fmajor � MSmajor
MSerror �
0.7501
1.1667 � 0.64
Fexperience � MSexperience
MSerror �
18.7501
1.1667 � 16.07
MSerror � SSerror dferror
� 9.3333
8 � 1.1667
MSAB � SSAB dfAB
� 4.0831
1 � 4.0831
MSmajor � SSmajor
dfmajor �
0.7501
1 � 0.7501
MSexperience � SSexperience
dfexperience �
18.7501
1 � 18.7501
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ANOVAs, you should first interpret the interaction F and then proceed to the F’s for the main effects. (As you continue this chapter, be alert for the explanation of why you should use this order.)
The interaction FAB (3.50) is less than 5.32, so the interaction between experience and major is not significant. Although the effect of experience was to increase study time by 50 percent for humanities majors and only about 15 percent for natural science majors, this interaction difference was not statistically significant. When the interaction is not significant, interpret each main effect as if it came from a one-way ANOVA.
The main effect for experience (Fexperience) is significant beyond the .01 level (16.07 � 11.26). The null hypothesis msome � mnone can be rejected. By examining the margin means (8.17 and 10.67), you can conclude that experienced students study significantly more than those without experience. Fmajor was less than 1, and F values less than 1 are never significant. Thus, these data do not provide evidence that students in either major study more than the others. For the problems that follow, complete the factorial ANOVAs that you began earlier.
P R O B L E M S
*12.12. For the longevity data in problem 12.9, plot the cell means with a bar graph. Compute df, MS, and F values. Arrange these in a summary table that footnotes appropriate critical values. Tell what the analysis shows.
*12.13. For the data on the effectiveness of therapies and gender in problem 12.10, plot the cell means using a line graph. Compute df, MS, and F values. Arrange these in a summary table and note the appropriate critical values. Tell what the analysis shows.
*12.14. For the data on state-dependent memory in problem 12.11, plot the cell means using a bar graph. Compute df, MS, and F values. Arrange these in a summary table and note the appropriate critical values.
Analysis of a 2 � 3 Design
Here’s a question for you. Read the question, take 10 seconds, and compose an answer. Who is taller, boys or girls?
A halfway good answer is “It depends.” A completely good answer gives the other variable that the answer depends on; for example, “It depends on the age of the boys and girls.”
282 ■ Chapter 12
TABLE 12.11 ANOVA summary table for the study time data
Source SS df MS F p
Experience (A) 18.7501 1 18.7501 16.07 6.01 Major (B) 0.7501 1 0.7501 0.64 7.05 AB 4.0831 1 4.0831 3.50 7.05 Error 9.3333 8 1.1667 Total 32.9167 11
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Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design ■ 283
TABLE 12.12 Data and summary statistics for height example
Gender (Factor A)
Male (A1) Female (A2)
XA1 X 2 A1
XA2 X 2 A2
Summary values
Age 6 (B1)
Sum Mean
Age 12 (B2)
Sum Mean
Age 18 (B3)
Sum Mean
Summary values
A ge
( Fa
ct or
B )
44 1936 45 2025 46 2116 47 2209
182 8286 45.50
56 3136 57 3249 59 3481 60 3600
232 13,466 58.00
66 4356 69 4761 72 5184 73 5329
280 19,630 70.00
�XA1 � 694 �X2A1 � 41,382
X�A1 � 57.83
44 1936 44 1936 46 2116 46 2116
180 8104 45.00
58 3364 60 3600 61 3721 63 3969
242 14,654 60.50
63 3969 65 4225 67 4489 69 4761
264 17,444 66.00
�XA2 � 686 �X2A2 � 40,202
X�A2 � 57.17
�XB1 � 362 �X 2B1 � 16,390
X�B1 � 45.25
�XB2 � 474 �X 2B2 � 28,120
X�B2 � 59.25
�XB3 � 544 �X 2B3 � 37,074
X�B3 � 68.00
�Xtot � 1380 �X 2tot � 81,584 X�gm � 57.50
Factorial ANOVA designs are often used when a researcher thinks that the answer to a question about the effect of variable A is “It depends on variable B.” As you may have already anticipated, the way to express this idea statistically is to talk about significant interactions.
The analysis that follows is for a 2 � 3 factorial design. The factor with two levels is gender: males and females. The second factor is age: 6, 12, and 18 years old. The dependent variable is height in inches.
I’ve constructed data that mirror fairly closely the actual situation for Americans. The data and the summary statistics are given in Table 12.12. Orient yourself to this table by noting the column headings and the row headings. Examine the six cell means and the five margin means. Note that N � 4 for each cell.
Next, examine Figure 12.7, which shows a line graph and a bar graph of the cell means. Make a preliminary guess about the significance of the interaction and the two main effects.
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Table 12.13 shows the calculation of the components of a factorial ANOVA. The headings in this table are familiar to you: sums of squares, degrees of freedom, mean squares, and F values. Work your way through each line in Table 12.13 now.
The results of a factorial ANOVA are presented as a summary table. Table 12.14 is the summary table for the height example. First, check the interaction F value. It is statistically significant.
Table 12.15 is an SPSS summary table from the factorial analysis of the height data. The lines labeled Gender, Age, and Gender*Age correspond to the factorial ANOVA analyses covered in this chapter.
Interpreting a Significant Interaction
Telling the story of a significant interaction in words is facilitated by referring to the graph of the cell means. Look at Figure 12.7. Boys and girls are about the same height at age 6, but during the next 6 years the girls grow faster, and they are taller at age 12. In the following 6 years, however, the boys grow faster, and at age 18 the boys are taller than the girls are. The question of whether boys or girls are taller depends on what age is being considered.
So, one way to interpret a significant interaction is to examine a graph of the cell means and describe the changes in the variables. Though a good start, this technique is just a beginning. A complete interpretation of interactions requires techniques that are beyond the scope of a textbook for elementary statistics. (To begin a quest for more understanding, see Rosnow and Rosenthal, 2005, for an explanation of residuals.)
Interpreting Main Effects When the Interaction Is Significant
When the interaction is not significant, the interpretation of a main effect is the same as the interpretation of the independent variable for a one-way ANOVA. However, when
284 ■ Chapter 12
H ei
gh t (
in ch
es )
Age (years)
45
65
50
55
60
6 12 18
70
Females
Males
H ei
gh t (
in ch
es )
Age (years)
45
65
50
55
60
6 12 18
70 Females
Males
F I G U R E 1 2 . 7 Line graph and bar graph of height data. An interaction is present.
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the interaction is significant, the interpretation of main effects becomes complicated. To illustrate the problem, consider the main effect of gender in Table 12.14. The simple interpretation of F � 0.59 is that gender does not have a significant effect on height. But clearly, that isn’t right! Gender is important, as the interpretation of the interaction revealed.
Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design ■ 285
TABLE 12.13 Calculation of the components of the 2 � 3 factorial ANOVA of height
Sums of squares
Check:
Check: 2152.000 � 82.000 � 2234.000
� 82.000
� a 14,654 � 1242 2 2
4 b � a 19,630 �
1280 2 2
4 b � a17,444 �
1264 2 2
4 b
� a 8286 � 1182 2 2
4 b � a8104 �
1180 2 2
4 b � a13,466 �
1232 2 2
4 b
SSerror � � c�X 2cell � 1�X cell 2 2
Ncell d
SScells � SSA � SSB � SSAB; 2152.000 � 2.667 � 2107.000 � 42.333
� 4 310.583 4 � 42.333
� 170.00 � 57.83 � 68.00 � 57.50 22 � 166.00 � 57.17 � 68.00 � 57.50 2 2 4
� 158.00 � 57.83 � 59.25 � 57.50 2 2 � 160.50 � 57.17 � 59.25 � 57.50 2 2
� 4 3 145.5 � 57.83 � 45.25 � 57.50 2 2 � 145.00 � 57.17 � 45.25 � 57.50 2 2
� 1X�A1B2 � X �
A1 � X �
B2 � X �
gm 2 2 � p � 1X�A2B3 � X�A2 � X�B3 � X�gm 2
2 4
SSAB � Ncell 3 1X�A1B1 � X �
A1 � X �
B1 � X �
gm 2 2 � 1X�A2B1 � X
� A2 � X
� B1 � X
� gm 2
2
SSage 1B2 � 1�XB1 2
2
NB1 � 1�XB2 2
2
NB2 � 1�XB3 2
2
NB3 � 1�Xtot 2 2
Ntot � 1362 2 2
8 � 1474 2 2
8 � 1544 2 2
8 � 11380 2 2
24 � 2107.000
SSgender 1A2 � 1�XA1 2
2
NA1 � 1�XA2 2
2
NA2 � 1�X tot 2 2
Ntot � 1694 2 2
12 � 1686 2 2
12 � 11380 2 2
24 � 2.667
� 1182 2 2
4 � 1180 2 2
4 � 1232 2 2
4 � 1242 2 2
4 � 1280 2 2
4 � 1264 2 2
4 � 11380 2 2
24 � 2152.000
SScells � � c 1�X cell 2 2
Ncell d �
1�X tot 2 2
Ntot
SStot � �X 2tot � 1�X tot 2 2
Ntot � 81,584 �
11380 2 2
24 � 2234.000
(continued)
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In a factorial ANOVA, the analysis of a main effect ignores the other independent variable. This causes no problems if there is no interaction, but it can lead to a faulty interpretation when the interaction is significant.
So, what should you do about interpreting a factorial ANOVA that has a significant interaction? First, interpret the interaction based on a graph of the cell means. Then for the main effects, you might (1) seek the advice of your instructor, (2) acknowledge that you don’t yet know the techniques needed for a thorough interpretation, or (3) study more advanced statistics textbooks (Kirk, 1995, pp. 383–389, or Howell, 2007, pp. 399–404).
Sometimes, however, a simple interpretation of a main effect is not misleading. The height data provide an example. The interpretation of the significant age effect is that age has an effect on height. In Figure 12.7 this effect is seen in an increase from age 6 to age 12 and another increase from age 12 to age 18. In situations like this, a conclusion such as “The main effect of age was significant, p � .01” is appropriate. For more explanation of this approach to interpreting main effects even though the interaction is significant, see Howell (2004, pp. 409–411).
286 ■ Chapter 12
TABLE 12.13 (Continued)
Degrees of freedom
F values
FAB � MSAB MSerror
� 21.167
4.556 � 4.65
Fage � MSage
MSerror �
1053.500
4.556 � 231.23
Fgender � MSgender
MSerror �
2.667
4.556 � 0.59
dftot � Ntot � 1 � 24 � 1 � 23
dferror � Ntot � 1A 2 1B 2 � 24 � 12 2 13 2 � 18
dfAB � 1A � 1 2 1B � 1 2 � 11 2 12 2 � 2
dfB � B � 1 � 3 � 1 � 2
dfA � A � 1 � 2 � 1 � 1
Mean squares
MSerror � SSerror dferror
� 82.000
18 � 4.556
MSAB � SSAB dfAB
� 42.333
2 � 21.167
MSage � SSage
dfage �
2107.000
2 � 1053.500
MSgender � SSgender
dfgender �
2.667
1 � 2.667
TABLE 12.14 ANOVA summary table for the height example
Source SS df MS F p
Gender (A) 2.667 1 2.667 0.59 �.05 Age (B) 2107.000 2 1053.500 231.23 �.01 AB 42.333 2 21.167 4.65 �.05 Error 82.000 18 4.556 Total 2234.000 23
F.05(2, 18 df ) � 3.55 F.01(2, 18 df ) � 6.01
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P R O B L E M S
12.15. These problems are designed to help you learn to interpret the results of a factorial experiment. For each problem (a) identify the independent variables, their levels, and the dependent variable, (b) fill in the rest of the summary table, and (c) interpret the results. i. A clinical psychologist investigates the relationship between
humor and aggression. The participant’s task is to think up as many captions as possible for four cartoons in 8 minutes. The psychologist simply counts the number of captions produced. In the psychologist’s latest experiment, a participant is either insulted or treated in a neutral way by an experimenter. Next, the participant responds to the cartoons at the request of either the same experimenter or a different experimenter. The cell means and the summary table are given.
Participant was
Insulted Treated neutrally
Same 31 18 Experimenter was
Different 19 17
Source df MS F p
A (treatments) 1 675.00 B (experimenters) 1 507.00 AB 1 363.00 Error 44 74.31
ii. An educational psychologist studied response bias. For example, a response bias occurs if the grade an English teacher puts on a
Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design ■ 287
TABLE 12.15 SPSS summary table for the 2 � 3 factorial analysis of height data
Tests of Between-Subjects Effects Dependent Variable: Height
Type III Sum Source of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Corrected Model 2152.000a 5 430.400 94.478 .000 Intercept 79350.000 1 79350.000 17418.293 .000 Gender 2.667 1 2.667 .585 .454 Age 2107.000 2 1053.500 231.256 .000 Gender*Age 42.333 2 21.167 4.646 .024 Error 82.000 18 4.556 Total 81584.000 24 Corrected Total 2234.000 23
aR Squared = .963 (Adjusted R Squared = .953)
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theme written by a tenth-grader is influenced by the student’s name or by the occupation of his father. For this particular experiment, the psychologist used a “high-prestige” name (David) and a “low-prestige” name (Elmer). In addition, she made up two biographical sketches that differed only in the occupation of the student’s father (research chemist or unemployed). The participants in this experiment read a biographical sketch and then graded a theme by that person using a scale of 50 to 100. The same theme was given to each participant.
Name
David Elmer
Research chemist 86 81 Occupation of father
Unemployed 80 88
Source df MS F p
A (names) 1 22.50 B (occupations) 1 2.50 AB 1 422.50 Error 36 51.52
iii. What teaching techniques can instructors use that may help students learn? One is to ask questions during lectures. A second is to conduct demonstrations during class. Of course, both could be used or neither used. An instructor who taught four sections of statistics covered the same material in each class using one of the four conditions. A comprehension test followed.
Questions
Used Not used
Used 89 81 Demonstrations
Not used 78 73
Source df MS F p
A (questions) 1 211.25 B (demonstrations) 1 451.25 AB 1 11.25 Error 76 46.03
12.16. Write an interpretation of your analysis of the data from the state-dependent memory experiment (problems 12.11 and 12.14).
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Comparing Levels within a Factor— Tukey HSD Tests
If the interaction in a factorial ANOVA is not significant, you can compare levels within a factor. Each main effect in a factorial ANOVA is like a one-way ANOVA; the question that remains after testing a main effect is: Are any of the levels of this factor significantly different from any others? You will be pleased to learn that the solution you learned for one-way ANOVA also applies to factorial ANOVA.
Of course, for some main effects you do not need a test subsequent to ANOVA; the F test on that main effect gives you the answer. This is true for any main effect with only two levels. Just like a t test, a significant F tells you that the two means are from different populations. Thus, if you are analyzing a 2 � 2 factorial ANOVA, you do not need a test subsequent to ANOVA for either factor.
When there are more than two levels of one factor in a factorial design, a Tukey HSD test can be used to test for significant differences between pairs of levels. There is one restriction, however, which is that the Tukey HSD test is appropriate only if the interaction is not significant.4
The HSD formula for a factorial ANOVA is the same as that for a one-way ANOVA:
where
Two of the terms need a little explanation. The means in the numerator are margin means. HSD tests the difference between two levels of a factor, so all the scores for one level are used to calculate that mean. The term Nt is the number of scores used to calculate a mean in the numerator (a margin N ).
I’ll illustrate HSD for factorial designs with the improvement scores in problems 12.10 and 12.13. The two factors were gender (two levels) and the kind of therapy used to treat depression (three levels). The interaction was not significant, so Tukey HSD tests on kind of therapy are appropriate. To refresh your recall, look at the data in problem 12.10 (pages 279–280).
Begin by calculating the three differences between treatment means:
Psychodynamic and interpersonal 35 � 54 � �19
Psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral 35 � 52 � �17
Interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral 54 � 52 � 2
The intermediate difference is �17, so it should be tested first. Because none of the three therapies is a “control” condition, the sign of the difference is not important.
HSD � X�P � X�C
sX� �
35 � 52
B17212 �
�17
3.786 � �4.49
sX� � BMSerrorNt HSD �
X�1 � X�2 sX�
Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design ■ 289
4 A nonsignificant interaction is a condition required by many a priori and post hoc tests.
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290 ■ Chapter 12
From Table G in Appendix C, HSD.01 is 4.46 for K � 3 and dferror � 30. Because 4.49 � 4.46, you can conclude that cognitive-behavioral therapy produced significantly greater improvement scores than psychodynamic therapy, p � .01.
The difference in psychodynamic and interpersonal therapy (19) is even greater than the difference between psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral therapy (17). Thus, conclude that the interpersonal therapy scores were significantly greater than those for psychodynamic therapy, p � .01.
The other difference is between interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral therapy:
Values of HSD that are less than 1.00 are never significant ( just like F ). Thus, there is no strong evidence that interpersonal therapy is better than cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Note that the value of , 3.786, is the same in both HSD problems. For factorial ANOVA problems such as those in this text (cells all have the same N ), always has the same value for every comparison.
Effect Size Indexes for Factorial ANOVA
The two effect size indexes that I discussed in Chapter 10, f and d, can be used with factorial designs if the interaction is not significant. For the depression therapy study, in which the interaction was not significant, the effect size index f for the therapy variable is
A value of 0.63 is well above the value of 0.40 that qualifies as a large effect size index (see page 247).
Calculations for d are made using column totals (for Factor A comparisons) or row totals (for Factor B comparisons). This disregard of the factor not under consideration is the same disregard found in the preceding section on calculating Tukey HSD values for factorial ANOVAs. How much difference is there between psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral therapy? The effect size index d provides an answer.
A d value of 1.35 is considerably greater than 0.80, the d value that indicates a large effect (see page 77).
d � X�I � X�2
ŝerror �
X�P � X�C2MSerror � �1712.599 � �1.35
f � BK � 1Ntot 1MStherapy � MSerror 22MSerror � B
3 � 1
36 11308.00 � 158.73 2
2158.73 � 0.63
sX� sX�
HSD � X�I � X�C
sX� �
54 � 52
B17212 �
2
3.786 � 0.53
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Restrictions and Limitations
I have emphasized throughout this book the limitations that go with each statistical test you learn. For the factorial analysis of variance presented in this chapter, the restrictions include the three that you learned for one-way ANOVA. If you cannot recall those three, reread the section near the end of Chapter 10, “Assumptions of the Analysis of Variance.” In addition to the basic assumptions of ANOVA, the factorial ANOVA presented in this chapter requires the following:
1. The number of scores in each cell must be equal. For techniques dealing with unequal N’s, see Kirk (1995) or Howell (2007).
2. The cells must be independent. This may be accomplished by randomly assigning a participant to only one of the cells. This restriction means that these formulas should not be used with any type of paired-samples or repeated-measures design.
3. The levels of both factors are chosen by the experimenter. The alternative is that the levels of one or both factors are chosen at random from several possible levels of the factor. The techniques of this chapter are used when the levels are fixed by the experimenter and not chosen randomly. For a discussion of fixed and random models of ANOVA, see Howell (2007) or Winer, Brown, and Michels (1991).
For a general discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of factorial ANOVA, see Kirk (1995).
P R O B L E M S
12.17. To use the techniques in this chapter for factorial ANOVA and have confidence about the p values, the data must meet six requirements. List them.
12.18. Two social psychologists asked freshman and senior college students to write an essay supporting recent police action on campus. (The students were known to be against the police action.) The students were given ten dollars, five dollars, one dollar, or 50 cents for their essay. Later, each student’s attitude toward the police was measured on a scale of 1 to 20. Perform an ANOVA, fill out a summary table, and write an interpretation of the analysis at this point. (See Brehm and Cohen, 1962, for a similar study ofYale students.) If appropriate, calculate HSDs for all pairwise comparisons. Write an overall interpretation of the results of the study.
Reward
$10 $5 $1 50¢
�X 73 83 99 110 Freshmen �X2 750 940 1290 1520
N 8 8 8 8 Students
�X 70 81 95 107 Seniors �X 2 820 910 1370 1610
N 8 8 8 8
Analysis of Variance: Factorial Design ■ 291
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292 ■ Chapter 12
12.19. The conditions that make for happy people have been researched by psychologists for a long time. The data that follow are based on a review of the literature by Diener and colleagues (1999). Participants were asked their marital status and how often they engaged in religious behavior. They also indicated how happy they were on a scale of 1 to 10. Analyze the data with a factorial ANOVA and, if appropriate, Tukey HSD tests.
Frequency of religious behavior
Never Occasionally Often
6 3 7 Married 2 7 8
4 5 9 Marital status
4 3 3 Unmarried 2 1 7
3 5 5
12.20. Review the objectives at the beginning of the chapter.
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 12 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, two workshops, and more. The workshops are Two-Way ANOVA and Factorial ANOVA in the Statistics Workshop section. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and problems that require calculation and interpretation.
KEY TERMS Assumptions (p. 291) Bar graph (p. 270) Between-cells sums of squares (p. 276) Cell (p. 264) Degrees of freedom (p. 280) Effect size index d (p. 290) Effect size index f (p. 290) Error sum of squares (p. 278) F tests (p. 280)
Factor (p. 262) Factorial ANOVA (p. 262) Interaction (p. 265) Line graph (p. 269) Main effect (p. 265) Mean squares (p. 280) Related samples (p. 264) Sums of squares (p. 275) Tukey HSD (p. 289)
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SO FAR IN your practice of null hypothesis statistical testing, you have used
three different sampling distributions. The normal curve is appropriate when
you know s (Chapter 7). When you don’t know s, you can use the t distribution
or the F distribution (Chapters 7–12) if the populations you are sampling from
have certain characteristics such as being normally distributed and having equal
variances. These tests are called parametric tests because they make assumptions
about parameters such as s2.
In the next two chapters, you will learn about statistical tests that require
neither knowledge of s nor that the data have the characteristics needed for
t and F tests. These tests are called nonparametric tests because they don’t
assume that populations are normally distributed or have equal variances. These
nonparametric NHST tests have sampling distributions that will be new to you.
They do, however, have the same purpose as those you have been working
with—providing you with the probability of obtaining the observed sample
results, if the null hypothesis is true.
In Chapter 13, Chi Square Tests, you will learn to analyze frequency count
data. These data result when observations are classified into categories and the
frequencies in each category are counted. In Chapter 14, More Nonparametric
Tests, you will learn four techniques for analyzing scores that are ranks or can be
reduced to ranks.
The techniques in Chapters 13 and 14 are often described as “less
powerful.” This means that if the populations you are sampling from have the
characteristics required for t and F tests, then a t or an F test is more likely than a
nonparametric test to reject H0 if it should be rejected. To put this same idea
another way, t and F tests have a smaller probability of a Type II error if the
population scores have the characteristics the tests require.
293
transitio ge to nonparametric statistics
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chapt
Chi Square Tests
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 1 3
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Identify the kind of data that require a chi square test for hypothesis testing
2. Distinguish between problems that require tests of independence and those that require goodness-of-fit tests
3. For tests of independence: State the null hypothesis and calculate and interpret chi square values
4. For goodness-of-fit tests: State the null hypothesis and calculate and interpret chi square values
5. Calculate a chi square value from 2 � 2 tables using the shortcut method
6. Calculate an effect size index for 2 � 2 chi square problems
7. Describe issues associated with chi square tests based on small samples
A SOCIOLOGY CLASS was deep into a discussion of methods of population control. As the class ended, the topic was abortion; it was clear that there was strong disagreement about using abortion as a method of population control. Both sides in the argument had declared that “educated people” supported their side. Two empirically minded students left the class determined to get actual data on attitudes toward abortion. They solicited the help of a friendly psychology professor, who encouraged them to distribute a questionnaire to his general psychology class. The questionnaire asked, “Do you consider abortion to be an acceptable or unacceptable method of population control?” The questionnaire also asked the respondent’s gender. The results were presented to the sociology class in tabular form:
Abortion is
Acceptable Unacceptable
Women 59 29 Men 15 37 � 74 66
53% 47%
294
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The general conclusion of the class was that college students were pretty evenly divided on this issue, 53 percent to 47 percent.
The attitude data, then, did not seem to indicate that “educated people” were clearly on one side or the other on this issue. The class discussion resumed, with personal opinions dominating, until an observant student said, “Look! Look at that table! The women are for abortion and the guys are against it. Look, 59 of the 88 women say ‘acceptable’—that’s 67 percent. But only 15 of the 52 guys say ‘acceptable’—that’s just 29 percent. There is a big gender difference here!”
“Maybe,” said another student, “and maybe not. That looks like a big difference, but maybe both groups really have the same attitude and the difference we see here is just the usual variation you find in samples.”
Do the two positions at the end of the story sound familiar? Indeed, the issue seems like one to resolve by comparing the sample results to a sampling distribution that shows what happens when the null hypothesis is true. In this case, the null hypothesis is that women and men do not differ in their attitudes. If this is true, how likely is it that two samples produce proportions of .67 and .29?1 A chi square analysis gives you a probability figure to help you decide. Thus, chi square is another NHST technique— one that leads you to reject or retain a null hypothesis.
Chi square (pronounced “ki,” as in kind, “square,” and symbolized x2) is a sampling distribution that gives probabilities about frequencies. Frequencies like those in the attitude–gender table are distributed approximately as chi square, so the chi square distribution provides the probabilities needed for decision making about the difference between the attitudes of women and men.
The characteristic that distinguishes chi square from the techniques in previous chapters is the kind of data. For t tests and ANOVA, the data consist of a set of scores such as IQs, attitudes, time, errors, and so forth. Each subject has one quantitative score.
With chi square, however, the data are frequency counts in categories. Each subject is observed and placed in one category. The frequencies of observations in categories are counted and the chi square test is calculated from the frequency counts. What a chi square analysis does is compare the observed frequencies of a category to frequencies that would be expected if the null hypothesis is true.
error detection To determine if chi square is appropriate, look at the data for one subject. If the subject has a quantitative score, chi square is not appropriate. If the subject is classified into one category among several, chi square may be appropriate.
Karl Pearson (1857–1936), of Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient fame, published the first article on chi square in 1900. Pearson wanted a way to measure the “fit” between data generated by a theory and data obtained from observations. Until
Chi Square Tests ■ 295
1 Casting the chi square problems in this chapter into proportions will help you in interpreting the results. However, this book does not cover chi square tests of proportions. For information on proportions, see Kirk, 1999, pp. 568–573.
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chi square was dreamed up, theory testers presented theoretical predictions and empirical data side by side, followed by a declaration such as “good fit” or “poor fit.”
The most popular theories at the end of the 19th century predicted that data would be distributed as a normal curve. Many data gatherers had adopted Quetelet’s position that measurements of almost any social phenomenon would be normally distributed if the number of cases was large enough. Pearson (and others) thought this was not true, and they proposed other curves. By inventing chi square, Pearson provided everyone with a quantitative method of choosing the curve of best fit.
Chi square turned out to be very versatile, being applicable to many problems besides curve-fitting ones. As a test statistic, it is used by psychologists, sociologists, health professionals, biologists, educators, political scientists, economists, foresters, and others. In addition to its use as a test statistic, the chi square distribution has come to occupy an important place in theoretical statistics. As further evidence of the importance of Pearson’s chi square, it was selected as one of the 20 most important discoveries of the 20th century (Hacking, 1984).
Pearson, too, turned out to be very versatile, contributing data and theory to both biology and statistics. He is credited with naming the standard deviation and seven other concepts in this textbook (David, 1995). He (and Galton and Weldon) founded the journal Biometrika to publicize and promote the marriage of biology and mathematics.2 In addition to his scientific efforts, Pearson was an advocate of women’s rights and the father of an eminent statistician, Egon Pearson.
As a final note, Pearson’s overall goal was not to be a biologist or a statistician. His goal was a better life for the human race. An important step in accomplishing this was to “develop a methodology for the exploration of life” (Walker, 1968, pp. 499–500).
The Chi Square Distribution and the Chi Square Test
The chi square distribution is a theoretical distribution, just as t and F are. Like them, as the number of degrees of freedom increases, the shape of the distribution changes. Figure 13.1 shows how the shape of the chi square distribution changes as degrees of
freedom change from 1 to 5 to 10. Note that x2, like the F distribution, is a positively skewed curve.
Critical values for x2 are given in Table E in Appendix C for a levels of .10, .05, .02, .01, and .001. Look at Table E.
The design of the x2 table is similar to that of the t table: a levels are listed across the top and each row shows a different df value. Notice, however, that with chi square, as degrees of freedom increase (looking down columns), larger and larger values of x2 are required to reject the null hypothesis. This is just the opposite of what occurs in the t and F distributions. This will make sense if you examine the three curves in Figure 13.1.
Once again, I will symbolize a critical value by giving the statistic (x2), the a level, df, and the critical value. Here’s an example (that you will see again): x2.05(1 df ) � 3.84.
296 ■ Chapter 13
2 In 1901 when Biometrika began, the Royal Society, the principal scientific society in Great Britain, accepted articles on biology and articles on mathematics, but they would not permit papers that combined the two. (See Galton, 1901, for a thinly disguised complaint against the establishment.)
chi square distribution Theoretical sampling distribution of chi square values.
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To calculate a chi square test value to compare to a critical value from Table E, use the formula
where O � observed frequency E � expected frequency
Obtaining the observed frequency is simple enough—count the events in each category. Finding the expected frequency is a bit more complex. Two methods can be used to determine the expected frequency. One method is used if the problem is a “test of independence” and another method is used if the problem is one of “goodness of fit.”
Chi Square as a Test of Independence
Probably the most common use of chi square is to test the independence of two variables. The null hypothesis for a chi square test of independence is that the two variables are independent—that there is no relationship between the two. If the null hypothesis is rejected, you can conclude that the two variables are related and then tell how they are related. Another word that is an opposite of independent is contingent. Tables arranged in the fashion of the one on page 294 are often referred to as contingency tables.
x 2 � © c 1O � E 2 2
E d
Chi Square Tests ■ 297
5 10 15 20
Value of χ2
df = 10
df = 5
df = 1
25
F I G U R E 1 3 . 1 Chi square distribution for three different degrees of freedom. Rejection regions at the .05 level are shaded.
chi square test NHST technique that compares observed frequencies to expected frequencies.
observed frequency Count of actual events in a category.
expected frequency Theoretical frequency derived from the null hypothesis.
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The contingency table data gathered by the empirically minded students had two variables, gender and attitude. The null hypothesis is that attitude and gender are independent—that knowing a person’s gender gives no clue to his or her attitude about abortion (and that knowing a person’s attitude gives no clue about gender). Rejecting the null hypothesis supports the alternative hypothesis, which is that the two variables are related—that knowing a person’s gender helps predict the person’s attitude.
Expected Values
A chi square test of independence requires observed values and expected values. Table 13.1 shows the observed values that you saw before. In addition, it includes the expected values (in parentheses). Expected frequencies are those that are expected if the null hypothesis is true. Please pay careful attention to the logic behind the calculation of expected frequencies.
Let’s start with an explanation of the expected frequency in the upper left corner, 46.51, the expected number of women who think abortion an acceptable means of population control. Of all the 140 subjects, 88 (row total) were women, so if you chose a subject at random, the probability that the person would be a woman is 88/140 � .6286.
In a similar way, of the 140 subjects, 74 (column total) thought that abortion was acceptable. Thus, the probability that a randomly chosen person would think that abortion is acceptable is 74/140 � .5286.
If you now ask what the probability is that a person chosen at random is both a woman and a person who thinks that abortion is acceptable, the answer is found by multiplying together the probability of the two separate events.3 Thus, (.6286)(.5286) � .3323.
Finally, you can find the expected frequency of such people by multiplying the probability of such a person by the total number of people. Thus, (.3323)(140) � 46.52. Notice what happens to the arithmetic when these steps are combined:
a 88
140 b a
74
140 b 1140 2 �
188 2 174 2
140 � 46.51
298 ■ Chapter 13
TABLE 13.1 Hypothetical data on attitudes toward abortion (Expected frequencies are in parentheses.)
Abortion is
Acceptable Unacceptable �
Women 59 (46.51) 29 (41.49) 88 Men 15 (27.49) 37 (24.51) 52 � 74 66 140
3 This is like determining the chances of obtaining two heads in two tosses of a coin. For each toss, the probability of a head is . The probability of two heads in two tosses is found by multiplying the two probabilities: See the section “A Binomial Distribution” in Chapter 6 for a review of this topic.
112 2 1 1 2 2 �
1 4 � .25.
1 2
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The slight difference in the two answers (46.52 vs. 46.51) is due to rounding. The second answer is the correct one even though I carried four decimal places in the first answer. (This serves as a lesson for those of you who value precision.)
Thus, the formula for the expected value of a cell is its row total, multiplied by its column total, divided by N.
In a similar way, the expected frequency of men with the attitude that abortion is unacceptable is the probability of a man times the probability of an attitude of unacceptable times the number of subjects. For each of the four cells, here are the calculations of the expected values:
With the expected values (E ) and observed values (O) in hand, you have what you need to calculate (O�E )2/E for each category. Table 13.2 shows a convenient way to arrange your calculations in a step-by-step fashion. The result is a x2 value of 19.14.
error detection For every chi square test, whether for independence or goodness of fit, the sum of the expected frequencies must equal the sum of the observed frequencies (�E � �O). For the expected frequencies in Table 13.2, �E � 46.51 � 27.49 � 41.29 � 24.51 � 140, and �O � 59 � 15 � 29 � 37 � 140.
Degrees of Freedom
Every x2 value is accompanied by its df. To determine the df for any R � C (rows by columns) table such as Table 13.1, use the formula (R � 1)(C � 1). In this case, (2 � 1)(2 � 1) � 1.
Here is the reasoning behind degrees of freedom for tests of independence. Consider the simplest case, a 2 � 2 table with the four margin totals fixed. How many of the four data cells are free to vary? The answer is one. Once a number is selected for any one of the cells, the numbers in the other three cells must have particular values in order to keep the margin totals the same. You can check this out for yourself by
152 2 174 2
140 � 27.49
152 2 166 2
140 � 24.51
188 2 174 2
140 � 46.51
188 2 166 2
140 � 41.49
Chi Square Tests ■ 299
TABLE 13.2 Calculation of X2 for the data in Table 13.1
(O � E )2
O E O � E (O � E )2 E
59 46.51 12.49 156.00 3.35 29 41.49 �12.49 156.00 3.76 15 27.49 �12.49 156.00 5.67 37 24.51 12.49 156.00 6.36
x2 � 19.14
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constructing a version of Table 13.1 that has empty cells and margin totals of (reading clockwise) 88, 52, 66, and 74. You are free to choose any number for any of the four cells, but once it is chosen, the rest of the cell numbers are determined. The general rule again is df � (R � 1)(C � 1), where R and C refer to the number of rows and columns.
Interpretation
To determine the significance of x2 � 19.14 with 1 df, look at Table E in Appendix C. In the first row, you will find that, if x2 � 10.83, the null hypothesis may be rejected at the .001 level of significance. Because the x2 value exceeds this, you can conclude that the attitudes toward abortion are influenced by gender; that is, gender and attitudes toward abortion in the population are not independent but related. By examining the proportions (.67 and .29), you can conclude that women are significantly more likely to consider abortion to be acceptable as a method of population control.
Table 13.3 shows the result of a chi square test on the data in Table 13.1 using an SPSS analysis that follows the path Descriptive Statistics and Crosstabs. The Pearson Chi-Square in the top row (19.140 with 1 df ) corresponds to the analysis you just studied. The .000 under Asymp. Sig. (2-sided) means p � .0005.
Shortcut for Any 2 � 2 Table
If you have a calculator and are analyzing a 2 � 2 table, the following shortcut will save you time. With this shortcut, you do not have to calculate the expected frequencies, which reduces calculating time by as much as half. Here is the general case of a 2 � 2 table:
Row totals
A B A � B
C D C � D
Column totals A � C B � D N
300 ■ Chapter 13
TABLE 13.3 SPSS Crosstabs chi square analysis of gender–abortion attitude table
Chi-Square Tests
Asymp. Sig. Exact Sig. Exact Sig. Value df (2-sided) (2-sided) (1-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 19.140b 1 .000 Continuity Correctiona 17.638 1 .000 Likelihood Ratio 19.585 1 .000 Fisher’s Exact Test .000 .000 Linear-by-Linear
Association 19.004 1 .000 N of Valid Cases 140
aComputed only for a 2 3 2 table b0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 24.51
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To calculate x2 from a 2 � 2 table, use the formula
The term in the numerator, AD � BC, is the difference between the cross-products. The denominator is the product of the four margin totals.
To illustrate the equivalence of the shortcut method and the method explained in the previous section, I will calculate x2 for the data in Table 13.1. Translating cell letters into cell totals produces A � 59, B � 29, C � 15, D � 37, and N � 140. Thus,
Both methods yield x2 � 19.14. A common error in interpreting a x2 problem is to tell less than you might. This
is especially the case when the shortcut method is used. For example, the statement “There is a relationship between gender and attitude on abortion, x2(1) � 19.14; p � .001” leaves unsaid the direction of the relationship. In contrast, “The attitude of women toward abortion as a method of population control is more favorable than the attitude of men, x2(1) � 19.14; p � .001” tells the reader not only that there is a relationship but also what the relationship is. So, don’t stop with a vague “There is a relationship.” Tell what the relationship is.
Effect Size Index for 2 � 2 Chi Square Data
Although a x2 test allows you to conclude that two variables are related, it doesn’t tell you the degree of relationship. To know the degree of relationship, you need an effect size index. f (written phi and pronounced “fee” by statisticians) is an effect size
index for chi square that works for 2 � 2 tables but not for larger tables. f is calculated with the formula
The interpretation of f is much like that of a correlation coefficient. f gives you the degree of relationship between the two variables in a chi square analysis. Thus, a value near 0 means that there is no relationship and a value near 1 means that there is an almost perfect relationship between the two variables.
Here are the guidelines for evaluating f coefficients:
Small effect f � 0.10
Medium effect f � 0.30
Large effect f � 0.50
For the abortion debate data,
f � Bx 2N � B19.14140 � 2.1367 � 0.37
f � Bx 2N
x 2 � 1140 2 3 159 2 137 2 � 129 2 115 2 4 2
188 2 152 2 174 2 166 2 � 19.14
x2 � N 1AD � BC 2 2
1A � B 2 1C � D 2 1A � C 2 1B � D 2
Chi Square Tests ■ 301
phi (F) Effect size index for a 2 � 2 chi square test of independence.
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Thus, for these manufactured data, there is a medium-sized relationship between gender and attitude.
P R O B L E M S
13.1. In the late 1930s and early 1940s an important sociology experiment took place in the Boston area. At that time 650 boys (median age �
years) participated in the Cambridge–Somerville Youth Study (named for the two economically depressed communities where the boys lived). The participants were randomly assigned to either a delinquency-prevention program or a control group. Boys in the delinquency-prevention program had a counselor and experienced several years of opportunities for enrichment. At the end of the study, police records were examined for evidence of delinquency among all 650 boys. Analyze the data in the table and write a conclusion.
Received program Control
Police record 114 101 No police record 211 224
13.2. A psychology student was interested in the effect of group size on the likelihood of joining an informal group. On one part of the campus, he had a group of two people looking intently up into a tree. On a distant part of the campus, a group of five stood looking up into a tree. Single passersby were classified as joiners or nonjoiners depending on whether they looked up for 5 seconds or longer or made some comment to the group. The data in the accompanying table were obtained. Use chi square techniques to determine whether group size had an effect on joining. (See Milgram, 1969.) Use the calculation method you did not choose for problem 13.1. Write a conclusion.
Group size
2 5
Joiners 9 26 Nonjoiners 31 34
13.3. You have probably heard that salmon return to the stream in which they hatched. According to the story, after years of maturing in the ocean, the salmon arrive at the mouth of a river and swim upstream, choosing at each fork the stream that leads to the pool in which they hatched. Arthur D. Hasler’s classic research investigated this homing instinct [reported in Hasler (1966) and Hasler and Scholz (1983)]. Here are two sets of data that he gathered.
1012
302 ■ Chapter 13
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a. These data help answer the question of whether salmon really do make consistent choices at the forks of a stream in their return upstream. Forty-six salmon were captured from the Issaquah Creek (just east of Seattle, Washington) and another 27 from its East Fork. All salmon were marked and released below the confluence of these two streams. All of the 46 captured in the Issaquah were recaptured there. Of the 27 originally captured in the East Fork, 19 were recaptured from the East Fork and 8 from the Issaquah. Use x2 to determine if salmon make consistent choices at the confluence of two streams. Calculate f and write an explanation of the results.
b. Hasler believed that the salmon were making the choice at each fork on the basis of olfactory (smell) cues. He thought that young salmon become imprinted on the particular mix of dissolved mineral and vegetable molecules in their home streams. As adults, they simply make choices at forks on the basis of where the smell of home is coming from. To test this, he captured 70 salmon from the two streams, plugged their nasal openings, and released the salmon below the confluence of the two streams. The fish were recaptured above the fork in one stream or the other. Analyze using chi square techniques and write a sentence about Hasler’s hypothesis.
Recapture site
Issaquah East Fork
Issaquah 39 12 Capture site
East Fork 16 3
13.4. Here are some data that I analyzed for an attorney. Of the 4200 white applicants at a large manufacturing facility, 390 were hired. Of the 850 black applicants, 18 were hired. Analyze the data and write a conclusion. Note: You will have to work on the data some before you set up the table.
Chi Square as a Test for Goodness of Fit
A chi square goodness-of-fit test allows an evaluation of a theory and its ability to predict outcomes. The formula is the same as that for a test of independence. Thus, both chi square tests require observed values and expected values. The expected values for a goodness-of-fit test, however, come from a hypothesis, theory, or model, rather than from calculations on the data itself as in tests of independence. With a goodness-of-fit test, you can determine whether or not there is a good fit between the theory and the data.
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goodness-of-fit test Chi square test that compares observed frequencies to frequencies predicted by a theory.
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In a chi square goodness-of-fit test, the null hypothesis is that the actual data fit the expected data. A rejected H0 means that the data do not fit the model—that is, the model is inadequate. A retained H0 means that the data are not at odds with the model. A retained H0 does not prove that the model, theory, or hypothesis is true, because other models may also predict such results. A retained H0 does, however, lend support for the model.
Where do hypotheses, theories, and models come from? At a very basic level, they come from our nature as human beings. Humans are always trying to understand things, and this often results in a guess at how things are. When these guesses are developed, supported, and discussed (and perhaps, published), they earn the more sophisticated label of hypothesis, theory, or model. Some hypotheses, theories, and models make quantitative predictions. Such predictions lead to expected frequencies. By comparing these predicted frequencies to observed frequencies, a chi square analysis provides a test of the theory.
The chi square goodness-of-fit test is used frequently in population genetics, where Mendelian laws predict offspring ratios such as 3:1, or 1:2:1, or 9:3:3:1. For example, the law (model) might predict that crossing two pea plants will result in three times as many seeds in the smooth category as in the wrinkled category (3:1 ratio). If you perform the crosses, you might get 316 smooth seeds and 84 wrinkled seeds, for a total of 400. How well do these actual frequencies fit the expected frequencies of 300 and 100? Chi square gives you a probability figure to help you decide if the data are consistent with the theory.
Although the mechanics of x2 require you to manipulate raw frequency counts (such as 316 and 84), you can best understand this test by thinking of proportions. Thus, 316 out of 400 and 84 out of 400 represent proportions of .79 and .21. How likely are such proportions if the population proportions are .75 and .25? Chi square provides you with the probability of obtaining the observed proportions if the theory is true. As a result, you have a quantitative way to decide “good fit” or “poor fit.”
In the genetics example, the expected frequencies were predicted by a theory. Sometimes, in a goodness-of-fit test, the expected frequencies are predicted by chance. In such a case, a rejected H0 means that something besides chance is at work. When you interpret the analysis, you should identify what that “something” is. Here is an example.
Suppose you were so interested in sex stereotypes and job discrimination that you conducted the following experiment, which is modeled after that of Mischel (1974). You make up four one-page resumes and four fictitious names—two female, two male. The names and resumes are randomly combined, and each participant is asked to read the resumes and “hire” one of the four “applicants” for a management trainee position. The null hypothesis tested is a “no discrimination” hypothesis. The hypothesis says that gender is not being used as a basis for hiring and therefore equal numbers of men and women will be hired. Thus, if the data cause the null hypothesis to be rejected, the hypothesis of “no discrimination” may be rejected.
Suppose you have 120 participants in your study, and they “hire” 75 men and 45 women. Is there statistical evidence that sex stereotypes are leading to discrimination? That is, given the hypothesized result of 60 men and 60 women, how good a fit are the observed data of 75 men and 45 women?
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Applying the x2 formula, you get
The number of degrees of freedom for this problem is the number of categories minus one. There are two categories here—hired men and hired women. Thus, 2 � 1 � 1 df. Looking in Table E, you find in row 1 that, if x2 � 6.64, the null hypothesis may be rejected at the .01 level. Thus, the model may be rejected.
The last step in data analysis (and perhaps the most important one) is to write a conclusion. Begin by returning to the descriptive statistics of the original data. Because 62.5 percent of the hires were men and 37.5 percent were women, you can conclude that discrimination in favor of men was demonstrated.
The term degrees of freedom implies that there are some restrictions. For both tests of independence and goodness of fit, one restriction is always that the sum of the expected events must be equal to the sum of the observed events; that is, �E � �O. If you manufacture a set of expected frequencies from a model, their sum must be equal to the sum of the observed frequencies. In our sex discrimination example, �O � 75 � 45 � 120 and therefore, �E must be 120, which it is (60 � 60).
P R O B L E M S
13.5. Using the data on wrinkled and smooth pea seeds on page 304, test how well the data fit a 3:1 hypothesis.
13.6. John B. Watson (1878–1958), the behaviorist, thought there were three basic, inherited emotions: fear, rage, and love (Watson, 1924). He suspected that the wide variety of emotions experienced by adults had been learned. Proving his suspicion would be difficult because “unfortunately there are no facilities in maternity wards for keeping mother and child under close observation for years.” So Watson attacked the apparently simpler problem of showing that the emotions of fear, rage, and love could be distinguished in infants. (He recognized the difficulty of proving that these were the only basic emotions, and he made no such claim.) Fear could be elicited by dropping the child onto a soft feather pillow (but not by the dark, dogs, white rats, or a pigeon fluttering its wings in the baby’s face). Rage could be elicited by holding the child’s arms tightly at its sides, and love by “tickling, shaking, gentle rocking, and patting,” among other things.
Here is an experiment reconstructed from Watson’s conclusions. A child was stimulated so as to elicit fear, rage, or love. An observer then looked at the child and judged the emotion the child was experiencing. Each judgment was scored as correct or incorrect—correct meaning that the judgment (say, love) corresponded to the stimulus (say, patting). Sixty observers made one judgment each, with the results shown in the accompanying table. To find the expected frequencies, think about the chance of being correct or incorrect when there are
x 2 � © c 1O � E 2 2
E d �
175 � 60 2 2
60 � 145 � 60 2 2
60 � 3.75 � 3.75 � 7.50
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three possible outcomes. Analyze the data with x2 and write a conclusion.
Correct Incorrect
32 28
Chi Square with More Than One Degree of Freedom
The x2 values you have found so far have been evaluated by comparing them to a chi square distribution with 1 df. In this section the problems require chi square distributions with more than 1 df. Some are tests of independence and some are goodness-of-fit problems.
Here’s a question for you. Suppose that for six days next summer you get a free vacation, all expenses paid. Which location would you choose for your vacation?
_____ City
_____ Mountains
_____ Seashore
I asked 78 students that question and found, not surprisingly, that different people chose different locations. The results I got from my sample follow:
Choice
City Mountains Seashore Total
9 27 42 78
A chi square analysis can test the hypothesis that all three of these locations are preferred equally. In this case, the null hypothesis is that, among those in the population, all three locations are equally likely as a first choice. Using sample data and a chi square test, you can reject or retain this hypothesis.
Think for a moment about the expected value for each cell in this problem. If each of the three locations is equally likely, then the expected value for a location is times the number of respondents; that is ( )(78) � 26.
The arrangement of the arithmetic for this x2 problem is a simple extension of what you have already learned. Look at the analysis in Table 13.4.
What is the df for the x2 value in Table 13.4? The margin total of 78 is fixed, so only two of the expected cell frequencies are free to vary. Once two are determined, the third is restricted to whatever value will equal 78. Thus, there are 3 � 1 � 2 df. For this design, the number of df is the number of categories minus 1. From Table E, for a � .001, x2 with 2 df � 13.82. Therefore, reject the hypothesis of independence and conclude that the students were responding in a nonchance manner to the questionnaire.
1 3
1 3
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One characteristic of x2 is its additive nature. Each (O � E)2/E value is a measure of deviation of the data from the model, and the finalx2 is simply the sum of these measures. Because of this, you can examine the (O � E)2/E values and see which deviations are contributing the most to x2. For the vacation preference data, it is a greater number of seashore choices and fewer city choices that make the final x2 significant. The mountain choices are about what would be predicted by the “equal likelihood” model.
Let’s move now to a more complicated example. Suppose you wanted to gather data on family planning from a variety of people. Your sample consists of high school students, college students, and businesspeople. Your family-planning question is, “A couple just starting a family this year should plan to have how many children?”
_____ 0 or 1
_____ 2 or 3
_____ 4 or more
As participants answer your question, you classify them as high school, college, or business types. Suppose you obtained the 275 responses that are shown in Table 13.5.
For this problem, you do not have a theory or model to tell you what the theoretical frequencies should be. The question is whether there is a relationship between attitudes toward family size and group affiliation. A chi square test of independence may answer this question. The null hypothesis is that there is no relationship—that is, that recommended family size and group affiliation are independent.
To get the expected frequency for each cell, assume independence (H0) and apply the reasoning explained earlier about multiplying probabilities:
192 2 1104 2
275 � 34.793
192 2 1130 2
275 � 43.491
192 2 141 2
275 � 13.716
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TABLE 13.4 Calculation of X2 for the vacation location preference data
(O � E )2
Locations O E O � E (O � E )2 E
City 9 26 �17 289 11.115 Mountains 27 26 1 1 0.038 Seashore 42 26 16 256 9.846
x2 � 20.999
TABLE 13.5 Recommended family size by those in high school, college, and business
Number of children
Subjects 0–1 2–3 4 or more �
High school 26 57 9 92 College 61 38 18 117 Business 17 35 14 66 � 104 130 41 275
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4 The statistical analysis of these data is straightforward; the null hypothesis is rejected. However, a flaw in the experimental design has two variables confounded, leaving the interpretation clouded. Because the three groups differ in both age and education, we are unsure whether the differences in attitude are related to only age, to only education, or to both of these variables. A better design would have groups that differed only on the age or only on the education variable.
TABLE 13.6 Calculation of X2 for the family planning data
(O � E )2
O E O � E (O � E )2 E
26 34.793 �8.793 77.317 2.222 57 43.491 13.509 182.493 4.196 9 13.716 �4.716 22.241 1.622
61 44.247 16.753 280.663 6.343 38 55.309 �17.309 299.602 5.417 18 17.444 0.556 0.309 0.018 17 24.960 �7.960 63.362 2.539 35 31.200 3.800 14.440 0.463 14 9.840 4.160 17.306 1.759
x2 � 24.579
These expected frequencies are incorporated into Table 13.6, which shows the calculation of the x2 value.
The df for a contingency table such as Table 13.5 is obtained from the formula
df � (R � 1)(C � 1)
Thus, df � (R � 1)(C � 1) � (3 � 1)(3 � 1) � 4. For df � 4, x2 � 18.46 is required to reject H0 at the .001 level. The obtained x
2
exceeds this value, so reject H0 and conclude that attitudes toward family size are related to group affiliation.4
By examining the right-hand column in Table 13.6, you can see that 6.343 and 5.417 constitute a large portion of the final x2 value. By working backward on those rows, you will discover that college students chose the 0–1 category more often than expected and the 2–3 category less often than expected. The interpretation then is that college students think that families should be smaller than high school students and businesspeople do.
There is an effect size index for chi square problems that have more than one degree of freedom. It was proposed by Harald Cramér and has been variously referred to as Cramer’s f, fc, and Cramer V. The formula and explanations are available in Aron, Aron, and Coups (2006, p. 566), and Howell (2007, p. 157).
166 2 1104 2
275 � 24.960
166 2 1130 2
275 � 31.200
166 2 141 2
275 � 9.840
1117 2 1104 2
275 � 44.247
1117 2 1130 2
275 � 55.309
1117 2 141 2
275 � 17.444
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P R O B L E M S
*13.7. Professor Stickler always grades “on the curve.” “Yes, I see to it that my grades are distributed as 7 percent A’s, 24 percent B’s, 38 percent C’s, 24 percent D’s, and 7 percent flunks,” he explained to a young colleague. The colleague, convinced that the professor is really a softer touch than he sounds, looked at Professor Stickler’s grade distribution for the past year. He found frequencies of 20, 74, 120, 88, and 38, respectively, for the five categories, A through F. Perform a x2 test for the colleague. What do you conclude about Professor Stickler?
13.8. Is problem 13.7 a problem of goodness of fit or of independence? *13.9. “Snake eyes,” a local gambler, let a group of sophomores know they
would be welcome in a dice game. After 3 hours the sophomores went home broke. However, one sharp-minded, sober lad had recorded the results on each throw. He decided to see if the results of the evening fit an “unbiased dice” model. Conduct the test and write a sentence summary of your conclusions.
Number of spots Frequency
6 195 5 200 4 220 3 215 2 190 1 180
13.10. Identify problem 13.9 as a test of independence or of goodness of fit. *13.11. Remember the controversy described in Chapter 1 over the authorship
of 12 of The Federalist papers? The question was whether they were written by Alexander Hamilton or James Madison. Mosteller and Wallace (1989) selected 48 1000-word passages known to have been written by Hamilton and 50 1000-word passages known to have been written by Madison. In each passage they counted the frequency of certain words. The results for the word by are shown in the table. Is by used with significantly different frequency by the two writers? Explain how these results help in deciding about the 12 disputed papers.
Rate per 1000 words Hamilton Madison
0–6 21 5 7–12 27 31 13–18 0 14
13.12. Is problem 13.11 one of independence or of goodness of fit?
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Small Expected Frequencies
The theoretical chi square distribution, which comes from a mathematical formula, is a continuous function that can have any positive numerical value. Chi square test statistics calculated from frequencies do not work this way. They change in discrete steps and, when the expected frequencies are very small, the discrete steps are quite large. It is clear to mathematical statisticians that, as the expected frequencies approach zero, the theoretical chi square distribution becomes a less and less reliable way to estimate probabilities. In particular, the fear is that such chi square analyses will reject the null hypothesis more often than warranted.
The question for researchers who analyze their data with chi square has always been: Those expected frequencies—how small is too small? For years the usual recommendation was that if an expected frequency was less than 5, a chi square analysis was suspect. A number of studies, however, led to a revision of the answer.
When df � 1
Several studies used a computer to draw thousands of random samples from known populations for which the null hypothesis was true, a technique called the Monte Carlo method. Each sample was analyzed with a chi square, and the proportion of rejections of the null hypothesis (Type I errors) was calculated. (If this proportion was approximately equal to a, the chi square analysis would be clearly appropriate.) The general trend of these studies has been to show that the theoretical chi square
distribution gives accurate conclusions even when the expected frequencies are considerably less than 5. Yates’s correction used to be recommended for 2 � 2 tables that had one expected frequency less than 5. The effect of the correction was to reduce the size of the obtained chi square. According to current thinking, Yates’s correction resulted in many Type II errors. Therefore, I do not recommend Yates’s correction for the
kinds of problems found in most research. (See Camilli and Hopkins, 1978, for an analysis of a 2 � 2 test of independence.)
When df b 1
When df � 1, the same uncertainty exists if one or more expected frequencies is small. Is the chi square test still advisable? Bradley and colleagues (1979) addressed some of the cases in which df � 1. Again, they used a computer to draw thousands of samples and analyzed each sample with a chi square test. The proportion of cases in which the null hypothesis was mistakenly rejected when a � .05 was calculated. Of course, if the test was working correctly, the proportion rejected should be .05. Nearly all the proportions were in the range of .03 to .06. Exceptions occurred when sample size was small (N � 20). The conclusion was that the chi square test gives fairly accurate probabilities if sample size is greater than 20.
An Important Consideration
Now, let’s back away from these trees we’ve been examining and visualize the forest that you are trying to understand. The big question, as always, is: What is the nature
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Yates’s correction Correction for a 2 � 2 chi square test that has one small expected frequency.
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of the population? The question is answered by studying a sample, which may lead you to reject or to retain the null hypothesis. Either decision could be in error. The concern of this section so far has been whether the chi square test is keeping the percentage of mistaken rejections (Type I errors) near an acceptable level (.05).
Because the big question is, What is the nature of the population? you should keep in mind the other error you could make: retaining the null hypothesis when it should be rejected (a Type II error). How likely is a Type II error when expected frequencies are small? Overall (1980) has addressed this question and his answer is “Very.”
Overall’s warning is that if the effect of the variable being studied is not huge, then small expected frequencies have a high probability of dooming you to make the mistake of failing to discover a real difference. You may recall that this issue was discussed in Chapter 9 under the topic of power.
How can this mistake be avoided? Use large N’s. The larger the N, the more power you have to detect any real differences. In addition, the larger the N, the more confident you are that the actual probability of a Type I error is your adopted a level.
Combining Categories
Combining categories is a technique that allows you to ensure that your chi square analysis will be more accurate. (It reduces the probability of a Type II error and keeps the probability of a Type I error close to a.) I illustrate this technique with some data from Chapter 6 on the normal distribution.
In Chapter 6 I claimed that IQ scores are distributed normally and offered as evidence a frequency polygon, Figure 6.7. I asked you simply to look at it and note that this empirical distribution appeared to fit the normal curve. (I was using the pre-1900 method of presenting evidence.) Now you are in a position to use a Pearson goodness-of-fit test to determine whether the scores are distributed as a normal curve. For that set of 261 IQ scores, the mean was 101 and the standard deviation was 13.4. The question this goodness-of-fit test answers is: Will a theoretical normal curve with a mean of 101 and a standard deviation of 13.4 fit the data graphed in Figure 6.7?
To find the expected frequency of each class interval, I constructed Table 13.7. The first three columns show the observed scores arranged into a grouped frequency distribution and the lower limit of each class interval. The z-score column shows the z score for the lower limit of the class interval, based on a mean of 101 and a standard deviation of 13.4. The next column was obtained by entering the normal curve table at the z score and finding the proportion of the curve above the z score. From this proportion I subtracted the proportion of the curve associated with class intervals with higher scores. (For example, from the proportion above z � 1.75, .0401, I subtracted .0166 to get .0235.) Finally, the proportion in the interval was multiplied by 261, the number of students, to get the expected frequency.
Now we have the ingredients necessary for a x2 test. The observed frequencies are in the second column. The frequencies expected if the data are distributed as a normal curve with a mean of 101 and a standard deviation of 13.4 are in the last column. I could combine these observed and expected frequencies into the now familiar (O � E )2/E formula, except that several categories have suspiciously small expected frequencies.
The solution to this problem is to combine some adjacent categories. If the top category becomes 125 and up, the expected frequency becomes 10.4 (4.3 � 6.1). In a
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similar fashion, by combining the bottom three categories with expected frequencies of 0.9, 1.6, and 3.8, the category of 74 and below has an expected frequency of 6.3.5
These combinations are shown in Table 13.8, a familiar x2 table with 12 categories. The x2 value is 7.98.
What is the df for this problem? This is a case in which df is not equal to the number of categories minus 1. The reason is that there is more than the usual one restriction on the expected frequencies. Usually, the requirement that �E � �O accounts for the loss of 1 df. For this problem, however, I also required that the mean and standard deviation of the expected frequency be equal to the observed mean and observed standard deviation. Thus, df in this case is the number of categories minus 3, and 12 � 3 � 9 df.
By consulting Table E in Appendix C, you can see that a x2 of 16.92 is required to reject the null hypothesis at the .05 level. The null hypothesis for a goodness-of-fit test is that the data do fit the model. Thus, to reject H0 in this case is to show that the data are not normally distributed. However, because the obtained x2 � 7.98 is less than the critical value of 16.92, the conclusion is that these data do not differ significantly from a normal curve model in which m � 101 and s � 13.4.
There are other situations in which small expected frequencies may be combined. For example, it is common in opinion surveys to have categories of “strongly agree,” “agree,” “no opinion,” “disagree,” and “strongly disagree.” If there are few respondents
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5 I have to confess that the guideline I used for how much combining to do was the old notion about not having expected frequencies of less than 5.
TABLE 13.7 IQ scores and expected frequencies for 261 fifth-grade students
Proportion of Expected Lower limit normal curve frequency
IQ scores Observed of class within class (261 � class interval frequency interval z Score interval proportion)
130 and up 4 129.5 2.13 .0166 4.3 125–129 5 124.5 1.75 .0235 6.1 120–124 18 119.5 1.38 .0437 11.4 115–119 19 114.5 1.01 .0724 18.9 110–114 25 109.5 0.63 .1081 28.2 105–109 28 104.5 0.26 .1331 34.7 100–104 36 99.5 �0.11 .1464 38.2
95–99 41 94.5 �0.49 .1441 37.6 90–94 31 89.5 �0.86 .1172 30.6 85–89 28 84.5 �1.23 .0856 22.3 80–84 14 79.5 �1.60 .0545 14.2 75–79 7 74.5 �1.98 .0309 8.1 70–74 4 69.5 �2.35 .0145 3.8 65–69 1 64.5 �2.72 .0061 1.6
64 and below 0 Below �2.72 .0033 0.9 Sum 261 1.0000 260.9
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who check the “strongly” categories, those who do might be combined with their “agree” or “disagree” neighbors—producing a table of three cells instead of five. The basic rule on combinations is that they must “make sense.” It wouldn’t make sense to combine the “strongly agree” and the “no opinion” categories in this example.
When You May Use Chi Square
1. Use chi square when the subjects in your study are identified by category rather than by a quantitative score. With chi square, the raw data are the number of subjects in each category.
2. To use chi square, each observation must be independent of other observations. (Independence here means independence of the observations and not independence of the variables.) In practical terms, independence means that each subject appears only once in the table (no repeated measures on one subject) and that the response of one subject is not influenced by the response of another subject.
3. Chi square conclusions apply to populations of which the samples are representative. Random sampling is one way to ensure representativeness.
error detection One check for independence is that N (the total number of observations in the analysis) must equal the number of subjects in the study.
Table 13.9 compares the characteristics of chi square tests of independence and goodness-of-fit tests. Study it.
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TABLE 13.8 Testing the goodness of fit of IQ data and a normal curve
IQ scores (O � E)2
class interval O E O � E (O � E)2 E
125 and up 9 10.4 �1.4 1.96 0.189 120–124 18 11.4 6.6 43.56 3.821 115–119 19 18.9 0.1 0.01 0.001 110–114 25 28.2 �3.2 10.24 0.363 105–109 28 34.7 �6.7 44.89 1.294 100–104 36 38.2 �2.2 4.84 0.127 95–99 41 37.6 3.4 11.56 0.307 90–94 31 30.6 0.4 0.16 0.005 85–89 28 22.3 5.7 32.49 1.457 80–84 14 14.2 �0.2 0.04 0.003 75–79 7 8.1 �1.1 1.21 0.149
74 and below 5 6.3 �1.3 1.69 0.268 � 261 260.9 x2 � 7.984
independent The occurrence of one event does not affect the outcome of a second event.
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P R O B L E M S
13.13. An early hypothesis about schizophrenia (a form of severe mental illness) was that it has a simple genetic cause. In accordance with the theory, one-fourth (a 1:3 ratio) of the offspring of a selected group of parents would be expected to be diagnosed as schizophrenic. Suppose that of 140 offspring, 19.3 percent were schizophrenic. Use this information to test the goodness of fit of a 1:3 model. Remember that a x2 analysis is performed on frequency counts.
13.14. How do goodness-of-fit tests and the tests of independence differ in obtaining expected values?
13.15. You may recall from Chapter 8 that I bought Doritos tortilla chips and Snickers candy bars to have data for problems. For this chapter I bought regular M&Ms. In a 1.69-ounce package I got 9 blues, 11 oranges, 17 greens, 8 yellows, 5 browns, and 7 reds. At the time I bought the package, Mars, Inc., the manufacturer, claimed that the population breakdown is 24 percent blue, 20 percent orange, 16 percent green, 13.3 percent yellow, 13.3 percent brown, and 13.3 percent red (www.mms.com/us/about /products/milkchocolate). Use a chi square test to evaluate Mars’s claim.
13.16. Suppose a friend of yours decides to gather data on sex stereotypes and job discrimination. He makes up ten resumes and ten fictitious names, five male and five female. He asks each of his 24 subjects to “hire” five of the candidates rather than just one. The data show that 65 men and 55 women are hired. He asks you for advice on x2. What would you say to your friend?
13.17. For a political science class, students gathered data for a supporters profile of the two candidates for senator, Hill and Dale. One student stationed herself at a busy intersection and categorized the cars turning left according to whether or not they signaled the turn and whose bumper sticker was displayed. After 2 hours, she left with the frequencies shown in the accompanying table. Test these data with a x2 test. Write a paragraph of explanation for the supporters profile that can be understood by students who haven’t studied statistics.
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TABLE 13.9 Comparison of chi square tests of independence and goodness of fit
Tests of independence Goodness-of-fit tests
Purpose Tests independence of two variables Tests adequacy of a theory Expected values Based on assumption of independence Derived from the theory Null hypothesis (H0) Variables are independent Data fit the theory
If H0 rejected Variables are related Theory is inadequate If H0 retained Supports independence Supports theory
Independent Required Required observations
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Begin the paragraph with appropriate details about how the data were gathered.
Signaled turn Sticker Frequency
No Hill 11 No Dale 2 Yes Hill 57 Yes Dale 31
13.18. A friend, who knows that you are almost finished with this book, comes to you for advice on a statistical analysis. He wants to know whether there is a significant difference between men and women. Examine the data that follow. What do you tell your friend?
Men Women
Mean score 123 206 N 18 23
13.19. Our political science student from problem 13.17 has launched a new experiment—to determine whether affluence is related to voter choice. This time she looks for yard signs for the two candidates and then classifies the houses as brick or one-story frame. Her reasoning is that the one-story frame homes represent less affluent voters in her city. Houses that do not fit the categories are ignored. After 3 hours of driving and three-fourths of a tank of gas, the frequency counts are as shown in the accompanying table. Analyze the data using your chi square techniques. Write a statement of the procedures and results, which can be used by the political science class in the voter profile.
Type of house Yard signs Frequency
Brick Hill 17 Brick Dale 88 Frame Hill 59 Frame Dale 51
13.20. When using x2 what is the proper df for each of the following tables? a. 1 � 4 b. 4 � 5 c. 2 � 4 d. 6 � 3
13.21. Please reread the chapter objectives. Can you do each one?
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ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 13 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, a workshop, and more. The Statistics Workshop is Chi-Square. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and problems that require calculation, graphs, and interpretation.
KEY TERMS
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Additive (p. 307) Chi square distribution (p. 296) Chi square test (x2) (p. 297) Contingency (p. 297) Degrees of freedom (pp. 299, 305, 312) Effect size index (f) (p. 301) Expected frequency (p. 297) Expected values (pp. 298, 304)
Frequency counts (p. 295) Goodness-of-fit test (p. 303) Independent (p. 313) Observed frequency (p. 297) Phi (f) (p. 301) Small expected frequencies (p. 310) Test of independence (p. 297) Yates’s correction (p. 310)
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chapter 1 More Nonparametric Tests
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 1 4
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. Describe the rationale of nonparametric statistical tests
2. Distinguish among designs that require a Mann–Whitney U test, a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test, a Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple- comparisons test, and a Spearman rs correlation coefficient
3. Calculate a Mann–Whitney U test for small or large samples and interpret the results
4. Calculate a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test for small or large samples and interpret the results
5. Calculate a Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons test and interpret the results
6. Calculate a Spearman rs correlation coefficient and test the hypothesis that the coefficient came from a population with a correlation of zero
TWO CHILD PSYCHOLOGISTS were talking shop over coffee one morning. (Much research begins with just such sessions.) The topic was intensive early training in athletics. Both were convinced that such training made the child less sociable as an adult, but one psychologist went even further. “I think that really intensive training of young kids is ultimately detrimental to their performance in the sport. Why, I’ll bet that, among the top ten men’s singles tennis players, those with intensive early training are not in the highest ranks.”
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t go that far,” said the second psychologist. “I think all that early intensive training is quite helpful.”
“Good. In fact, great. We disagree and we may be able to decide who is right. Let’s get the ground rules straight. For tennis players, how early is early and what is intensive?”
“Oh, I’d say early is starting by age 7 and intensive is playing every day for 2 or more hours.” 1
317
1 Because the phrase intensive early training can mean different things to different people, the second psychologist has provided an operational definition. An operational definition is a definition that specifies how the concept can be measured.
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“That seems reasonable. Now, let’s see, our population is ‘excellent tennis players’ and these top ten will serve as our representative sample.”
“Yes, indeed. What we would have among the top ten players would be two groups to compare. One had intensive early training, and the other didn’t. The dependent variable is the player’s rank. What we need is some statistical test that will tell us whether the difference in average ranks of the two groups is statistically significant.” 2
“Right. Now, a t test won’t give us an accurate probability figure because t tests assume that the population of dependent variable scores is normally distributed. A distribution of ranks is rectangular with each score having a frequency of 1.”
“I think there is a nonparametric test that is proper for ranks.”
My story is designed to highlight the reason that nonparametric tests exist: Some kinds of data do not meet the assumptions3 that parametric tests such as t tests and ANOVA are based on. Nonparametric statistical tests (sometimes called distribution-free tests) provide correct values for the probability of a Type I error regardless of the nature of
the populations the samples come from. As implied in the story, the tests in this chapter use ranks as the dependent variable.
The Rationale of Nonparametric Tests
Many of the reasoning steps in nonparametric statistics are already familiar to you— they are NHST steps. By this time in your study of statistics, you should be able to write two or three paragraphs about the null hypothesis, the alternative hypothesis, gathering data, using a sampling distribution to find the probability of such results when the null hypothesis is true, making a decision about the null hypothesis, and telling a story that the data support. (Can you do this?)
The only part of the hypothesis-testing rationale that is unique to the tests in this chapter is that the sampling distributions are derived from ranks rather than quantitative scores. Here’s an explanation of how a sampling distribution based on ranks might be constructed.
Suppose you drew two samples of equal size (for example, N1 � N2 � 10) from the same population.4 You then arranged all the scores from both samples into one overall ranking, from 1 to 20. Because the samples are from the same population, the sum of the ranks of one group should be equal to the sum of the ranks of the second group. In this case, the expected sum for each group is 105. (With a little figuring, you can prove this for yourself now, or you can wait for an explanation later in the chapter.)
Although the expected sum is 105, actual sampling from the population would also produce sums greater than 105 and less than 105. After repeated sampling, all the sums could be arranged into a sampling distribution, which would allow you to determine the likelihood of any sum (if both samples come from the same population).
If the two sample sizes are unequal, the same logic will work. A sampling distribution could be constructed that shows the expected variation in sums of ranks for one of the two groups.
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2 This is how the experts convert vague questionings into comprehensible ideas that can be communicated to others—they identify the independent and the dependent variables. 3 Two common assumptions are that the population distributions are normal and have equal variances. 4 As always, drawing two samples from one population is statistically the same as starting with two identical populations and drawing a random sample from each.
nonparametric tests Statistical techniques that do not require assumptions about the sampled populations.
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With this rationale in mind, you are ready to learn four new techniques. The first three are NHST methods that produce the probability of the data observed, if the null hypothesis is true. The fourth technique is a correlation coefficient for ranked data, symbolized rs . You will learn to calculate rs and then test the hypothesis that a sample rs came from a population with a correlation coefficient of .00.
The four nonparametric techniques in this chapter and their functions are listed in Table 14.1. In earlier chapters you studied parametric tests that have similar functions, which are listed on the right side of the table. Study Table 14.1 carefully now.
There are many other nonparametric statistical methods beside the four that you learn in this chapter. Sprent and Smeeton’s superb handbook Applied Nonparametric Statistical Methods (2001) covers many of these methods. Sprent and Smeeton’s book describes applications in fields such as road safety, space research, trade, and medicine, as well as in traditional academic disciplines.
Comparison of Nonparametric to Parametric Tests
In what ways are the nonparametric tests in this chapter similar to and in what ways are they different from parametric tests (such as t tests and ANOVA)? Here are the similarities:
■ The hypothesis-testing logic is the same for both nonparametric and parametric tests. Both tests yield the probability of the observed data, when the null hypothesis is true. As you will see, though, the null hypotheses of the two kinds of tests are different.
■ Both nonparametric and parametric tests require you to assign participants randomly to subgroups (or to sample randomly from the populations) if you want to make unambiguous cause-and-effect conclusions.
As for the differences:
■ Nonparametric tests do not require the assumptions about the populations that parametric tests require. For example, parametric tests such as t tests and
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TABLE 14.1 The function of some nonparametric and parametric tests
Function Nonparametric test Parametric test
Tests for a significant Mann–Whitney U test Independent-samples t test difference between two independent samples
Tests for a significant Wilcoxon matched-pairs Paired-samples t test difference between two signed-ranks T test paired samples
Tests for significant Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple- One-way ANOVA and Tukey differences among all comparisons test HSD tests possible pairs of independent samples
Describes the degree of Spearman rs correlation Pearson product-moment correlation between two coefficient correlation coefficient, r variables
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ANOVA produce accurate probabilities when the populations are normally distributed and have equal variances. Nonparametric tests do not assume the populations have these characteristics.
■ The null hypothesis for nonparametric tests is that the population distributions are the same. For parametric tests, the null hypothesis is usually that the population means are the same (H0: m1 � m2). Because distributions can differ in form, variability, central tendency, or all three, the interpretation of a rejection of the null hypothesis may not be quite so clear-cut after a nonparametric test.
Recommendations on how to choose between a parametric and a nonparametric test have varied over the years. Two of the issues involved in the debate are the (1) scale of measurement and (2) power of the tests.
In the 1950s and after, some texts recommended that nonparametric tests be used if the scale of measurement was nominal or ordinal. After a period of controversy this consideration was dropped. Later, it resurfaced. Currently, most researchers do not use a “scale of measurement” criterion when deciding between nonparametric and parametric tests.
The other issue, power, is also complicated. Power, you may recall, comes up when the null hypothesis should be rejected (see pages 217–218). A test’s power is the probability that the test will reject a false null hypothesis. It is clear to mathematical statisticians that if the populations being sampled from are normally distributed and have equal variances, then parametric tests are more powerful than nonparametric ones.
If the populations are not normal or do not have equal variances, then it is less clear what to recommend. Early work on this question showed that parametric tests were robust, meaning that they gave approximately correct probabilities even though populations were not normal or did not have equal variances. However, this robustness has been questioned. For example, Blair, Higgins, and Smitley (1980) showed that a nonparametric test (Mann–Whitney U ) is generally more powerful than its parametric counterpart (t test) for the nonnormal distribution they tested. Blair and Higgins (1985) arrived at a similar conclusion when they compared the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test to the t test. I am sorry to leave these issues without giving you specific advice, but no simple rule of thumb about superiority is possible except for one: If the data are ranks, use a nonparametric test.
clue to the future For each of the four tests in this chapter, you will have to understand the steps. Formulas aren’t available that permit a mechanical “plug in the raw numbers and grind out an answer” approach. Also, the interpretation of rank statistics requires that you know whether the rank of #1 is a good thing or a bad thing. To work and interpret nonparametric problems correctly, think your way through them.
P R O B L E M S
14.1. Name the test that is the nonparametric relative of an independent- samples t test. Name the relative of a paired-samples t test.
14.2. How are nonparametric tests different from parametric tests?
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14.3. Sketch out in your own words the rationale of nonparametric tests. 14.4. Two issues have dominated the discussion of how to choose between
nonparametric and parametric tests. What are they?
The Mann–Whitney U Test
The Mann–Whitney U test is a nonparametric test for data from an independent-samples design.5 Thus, it is the appropriate test for the child psychologists to use to test the difference in ranks of tennis players.
The Mann–Whitney U test produces a statistic, U, that is evaluated by consulting the sampling distribution of U. When U is calculated from small samples (both samples have 20 or fewer scores), the sampling distribution is Table H in Appendix C. Table H has critical values for sample sizes of 1 to 20. If the number of scores in one of the samples is greater than 20, the normal curve is used to evaluate U. With larger samples, a z score is calculated, and the values of �1.96 and �2.58 are used as critical values for a � .05 and a � .01.
Mann–Whitney U Test for Small Samples
To provide data to illustrate the Mann–Whitney U test, I made up the numbers in Table 14.2 about the intensive early training of the top ten male singles tennis players.
In Table 14.2 the players are listed by initials in the left column; the right column indicates that they had intensive early training (Nyes � N1 � 4) or that they did not
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5 The Mann–Whitney U test is identical to the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. Wilcoxon published his test first (1945), but when Mann and Whitney independently published a test based on the same logic (1947), they provided tables and a name for their statistic. Today researchers almost always call it the Mann–Whitney U test. The lesson: name your invention. (A hint of justice recently surfaced. The Encyclopedia of Statistics in Behavioral Science (2005) refers to the test as the Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test.)
TABLE 14.2 Early training of top ten male singles tennis players
Intensive Players Rank early training?
Y.O. 1 No U.E. 2 No X.P. 3 No E.C. 4 Yes T.E. 5 No D.W. 6 Yes O.R. 7 No D.S. 8 Yes H.E. 9 Yes R.E. 10 No
�Ryes � 4 � 6 � 8 � 9 � 27 �Rno � 1 � 2 � 3 � 5 � 7 � 10 � 28
Mann–Whitney U test Nonparametric test that compares two independent samples.
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(Nno � N2 � 6). Each player’s rank is shown in the middle column. At the bottom of the table, the ranks of the four yes players are summed (27), as are the ranks of the six no players (28).
The sums of the ranks are used to calculate two U values. The smaller of the two U values is used to enter Table H, which yields a probability figure. For the yes group, the U value is
For the no group, the U value is
error detection The sum of the two U values in a Mann–Whitney U test is equal to the product of (N1)(N2).
Applying the error detection hint to the tennis ranking calculations, you get 7 � 17 � 24 � (4)(6). The calculations check.
Now, please examine Table H. It appears on two pages. On the first page of the table, the lightface type gives the critical values for a levels of .01 for a one-tailed test and .02 for a two-tailed test. The numbers in boldface type are critical values for a� .005 for a one-tailed test and a� .01 for a two-tailed test. In a similar way, the sec- ond page shows larger a values for both one- and two-tailed tests. Having chosen the page you want, use N1 and N2 to determine the column and row for your problem. The commonly used two-tailed test with a � .05 is on this second page (boldface type).
Now, you can test the value U � 7 from the tennis data. From the conversation of the two child psychologists, it is clear that a two-tailed test is appropriate; they are interested in knowing whether intensive early training helps or hinders players. Because an a level was not discussed, you should do what they would do—see if the difference is significant at the .05 level and, if it is, see if it is also significant at some smaller a level. Thus, in Table H begin by looking for the critical value of U for a two-tailed test with a� .05. This number is on the second page in boldface type at the intersection of N1 � 4, N2 � 6. The critical value is 2.
With the U test, a small U value obtained from the data indicates a large difference between the samples. This is just the opposite from t tests, ANOVA, and chi square, in which large sample differences produce large t, F, and x2 values. Thus, for statistical significance with the Mann–Whitney U test, the obtained U value must be equal to or smaller than the critical value in Table H.
� 14 2 16 2 � 16 2 17 2
2 � 28 � 17
U � 1N1 2 1N2 2 � N2 1N2 � 1 2
2 � ©R2
� 14 2 16 2 � 14 2 15 2
2 � 27 � 7
U � 1N1 2 1N2 2 � N1 1N1 � 1 2
2 � ©R1
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For the tennis training example, because the U value of 7 is larger than the critical value of 2, you must retain the null hypothesis and conclude that there is no evidence from the sample that the distribution of players trained early and intensively is significantly different from the distribution of those without such training.
Although you can easily find a U value using the preceding method and quickly go to Table H and reject or retain the null hypothesis, it would help your understanding of this test to think about small values of U. Under what conditions would you get a small U value? What kinds of samples would give you a U value of zero?
By examining the formula for U, you can see that U � 0 when the members of one sample all rank lower than every member of the other sample. Under such conditions, rejecting the null hypothesis seems reasonable. By playing with formulas in this manner, you can move from the rote memory level to the understanding level.
Assigning Ranks and Tied Scores
Sometimes you may choose a nonparametric test for data that are not already in ranks.6 In such cases you have to rank the scores. Two questions often arise. Is the largest or the smallest score ranked 1, and what should I do about the ranks for scores that are tied?
You will find the answer to the first question to be very satisfactory. For the Mann–Whitney test, it doesn’t make any difference whether you call the largest or the smallest score 1. (This is not true for the test described next, the Wilcoxon T test.)
Ties are handled by giving all tied scores the same rank. This rank is the mean of the ranks the tied scores would have if no ties had occurred. For example, if a distribution of scores is 12, 13, 13, 15, and 18, the corresponding ranks are 1, 2.5, 2.5, 4, 5. The two scores of 13 would have been 2 and 3 if they had not been tied, and 2.5 is the mean of 2 and 3. As a slightly more complex example, the scores 23, 25, 26, 26, 26, 29 have ranks of 1, 2, 4, 4, 4, 6. Ranks of 3, 4, and 5 average out to be 4.
Ties do not affect the value of U if they are in the same group. If several ties involve both groups, a correction factor may be advisable.7
error detection Assigning ranks is tedious, and it is easy to make errors. Pay careful attention to the examples, and practice by assigning ranks yourself to all the problems.
Mann–Whitney U Test for Larger Samples
If one sample (or both samples) has 21 scores or more, the normal curve is used to assess U. A z test value is obtained by the formula
where U � the smaller of the two U values c � 0.5, a correction factor explained later
z � 1U � c 2 � mU
sU
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6 Severe skewness or populations with very unequal variances are often reasons for such a choice. 7 See Kirk (1999, p. 594) for the correction factor.
z test Statistical test that uses the normal curve as the sampling distribution.
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curve is a continuous function but the values of z that are possible in this formula are discrete.
Once again, an NHST formula has a familiar form: the difference between a statistic based on data (U � c) and the expected value of a parameter (mU) divided by a measure of variability, sU. After you have obtained z, critical values can be obtained from Table C, the normal curve table. For a two-tailed test, reject H0 if �z� � 1.96 ( a � .05). For a one-tailed test, reject H0 if z � 1.65 (a � .05). The corresponding values for a � .01 are z � 2.58 and z � 2.33.
Here is a problem for which the normal curve is necessary. An undergraduate psychology major was devoting a year to the study of memory. The principal independent variable was gender. Among her several experiments was one in which she asked the students in a general psychology class to write down everything they remembered that was unique to the previous day’s class, during which a guest had lectured. Students were encouraged to write down every detail they remembered. This class was routinely videotaped so it was easy to check each recollection for accuracy and uniqueness. Because the samples indicated that the population data were severely skewed, the psychology major chose a nonparametric test. (If you plot the scores in Table 14.3, you can see the skew.)
The scores, their ranks, and the statistical analysis are presented in Table 14.3. The z score of �2.61 led to rejection of the null hypothesis, so the psychology major returned to the original data and their means to interpret the results. Because the mean rank of the women, 15 (258 � 17), is greater than that of the men, 25 (603 � 24), and because higher ranks (those closer to 1) mean more recollections, she concluded that women recalled significantly more items than men did.
Her conclusion singles out central tendency for emphasis. On the average, women did better than men. The Mann–Whitney test, however, compares distributions. What our undergraduate has done is what most researchers who use the Mann–Whitney do: Assume that the two populations have the same form but differ in central tendency. Thus, when a significant U value is found, it is common to attribute it to a difference in central tendency.
Table 14.4 shows SPSS output for a Mann–Whitney U test of the gender–memory experiment. The upper panel gives N and mean rank for the two groups; the lower panel gives the z score for the difference in ranks and the probability of such a z score, if the null hypothesis is true. I don’t know why the SPSS z score (�2.62) is different from the formula-based z score (�2.61).
error detection Here are two checks you can make on your assignment of ranks. First, the last rank is the sum of the two N’s. In Table 14.3, N1 � N2 � 41, which is the lowest rank.
Second, when �R1 and �R2 are added, the sum is equal to N(N � 1)/2, where N is the total number of scores. In Table 14.3, 603 � 258 � 861 � (41)(42)/2.
sU � B 1N1 2 1N2 2 1N1 � N2 � 1 212 mU �
1N1 2 1N2 2
2
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TABLE 14.3 Numbers of items recalled by men and women, ranks, and a Mann–Whitney U test
Men (N � 24) Women (N � 17)
Items Items recalled Rank recalled Rank
70 3 85 1 51 6 72 2 40 9 65 4 29 13 52 5 24 15 50 7 21 16.5 43 8 20 18.5 37 10 20 18.5 31 11 17 21 30 12 16 22 27 14 15 23 21 16.5 14 24.5 19 20 13 26.5 14 24.5 13 26.5 12 28.5 11 30.5 12 28.5 11 30.5 10 33 10 33 10 33 9 35.5 �R2 � 258 9 35.5 8 37.5 8 37.5 7 39 6 40 3 41
�R1 � 603
z � 1U � c 2 � mU
sU �
105 � 0.5 � 204
37.79 � �2.61
sU � B 1N1 2 1N2 2 1N1 � N2 � 1 212 � B 124 2 117 2 142 212 � 37.79 mU �
1N1 2 1N2 2
2 � 124 2 117 2
2 � 204
U � 1N1 2 1N2 2 � N1 1N1 � 1 2
2 � �R1 � 124 2 117 2 �
124 2 125 2
2 � 603 � 105
From the information in the error detection box, you can see how I found the expected sum of 105 in the section on the rationale of nonparametric tests. That example had 20 scores, so the overall sum of the ranks is
Half of this total should be found in each group, so the expected sum of ranks of each group, both of which come from the same population, is 105.
120 2 121 2
2 � 210
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P R O B L E M S
14.5. Many studies show that noise affects cognitive functioning. The data that follow mirror the results of Hygge, Evans, and Bullinger (2002). One elementary school was near a noisy airport; the other was in a quiet area of the city. Fifth-grade students were given a difficult reading test at both schools under no-noise conditions. The errors of 17 students follow. Analyze the errors with a Mann–Whitney U test and write a conclusion about the effects of noise on reading.
Near airport 32 25 22 20 18 15 15 13
Quiet area 23 19 16 14 12 11 10 8 7
*14.6. A friend of yours is trying to convince a mutual friend that the ride is quieter in an automobile built by [Toyota or Honda (you choose)] than one built by [Honda or Toyota (no choice this time; you had just 1 degree of freedom—once the first choice was made, the second was determined)]. This friend has arranged to borrow six fairly new cars— three made by each company—and to drive your blindfolded mutual friend around in the six cars (labeled A–F) until a stable ranking for quietness is achieved. So convinced is your friend that he insists on adopting a � .01, “so that only the recalcitrant will not be convinced.”
As the statistician in the group, you decide that a Mann–Whitney U test is appropriate. However, being the type who thinks through the statistics before gathering experimental data, you look at the appropriate subtable in Table H and find that the experiment, as designed, is doomed to retain the null hypothesis. Write an explanation of why the experiment must be redesigned.
14.7. Suppose your friend in problem 14.6 arranged for three more cars, labeled the 9 cars A–I, changed a to .05, and conducted the “quiet”
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TABLE 14.4 Results of an SPSS Mann–Whitney U test of the gender–memory experiment data
Ranks
Gender N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks
ItemsRecalled Men 24 16.88 405.00 Women 17 26.82 456.00 Total 41
Test Statisticsa
ItemsRecalled
Mann–Whitney U 105.000 Wilcoxon W 405.000 Z �2.621 Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .009
aGrouping Variable: Gender
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test. The results are shown in the accompanying table. Perform a Mann–Whitney U test and write a conclusion.
Company Y Company Z Car ranks Car ranks
B 1 H 3 I 2 A 5 F 4 G 7 C 6 E 8
D 9
14.8. Grackles, commonly referred to as blackbirds, are hosts for a parasitic worm that lives in the tissue around the brain. To see if the incidence of this parasite was changing, 24 blackbirds were captured and the number of brain parasites in each bird was recorded. These data were compared with the infestation of 16 birds captured from the same place 10 years earlier. Analyze the data with a Mann–Whitney test and write a conclusion. Be careful and systematic in assigning ranks. Errors here are quite frustrating.
Present day
20 16 12 11 51 8 23 68 23 44 0 78
0 28 53 20 44 20 36 32 64 16 101 0
Ten years earlier
16 19 43 90 16 72 29 62
103 39 70 29 110 32 87 57
The Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks T Test
The Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test (1945) is appropriate for testing the difference between two paired samples. In Chapter 9 you learned of three kinds of paired-samples designs: natural pairs, matched pairs, and repeated measures (before and after). In each of these designs, a score in one group is logically paired with a score in the other group. If you are not sure of the difference between a paired-samples and an independent-samples design, you should review the explanations and problems in Chapter 9. Knowing the difference is necessary if you are to decide correctly between a Mann–Whitney U test and a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test.
The result of a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test is a T value,8 which is interpreted using critical values from Table J in Appendix C. Finding T involves some steps that are different from finding U.
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8 Be alert when you see a capital T in your outside readings; it has uses other than to symbolize the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test. Also note that this T is capitalized, whereas the t in the t test and t distribution is not capitalized except by some computer programs. Some writers avoid these problems by designating the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test with a W or a Ws.
Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test Nonparametric test that compares two paired samples.
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Table 14.5 provides you with a few numbers from a paired-samples design. Using Table 14.5, work through the following steps, which lead to a T value for a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T:
1. Find a difference, D, for every pair of scores. The order of subtraction doesn’t matter, but it must be the same for all pairs.
2. Using the absolute value for each difference, rank the differences. The rank of 1 is given to the smallest difference, 2 goes to the next smallest, and so on.
3. Attach to each rank the sign of its difference. Thus, if a difference produces a negative value, the rank for that pair is negative.
4. Sum the positive ranks and sum the negative ranks. 5. T is the smaller of the absolute values of the two sums.9
Here are two cautions about the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test: (1) It is the differences that are ranked, and not the scores themselves, and (2) a rank of 1 always goes to the smallest difference.
The rationale of the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test is that if there is no difference between the two populations, the absolute value of the negative sum should be equal to the positive sum, with all deviations being due to sampling fluctuations.
Table J shows the critical values for both one- and two-tailed tests for several a levels. To enter the table, use N, the number of pairs of subjects. Reject H0 when the obtained T is equal to or less than the critical value in the table. Like the Mann– Whitney test, the Wilcoxon T must be equal to or less than the tabled critical value if you are to reject H0.
To illustrate the calculation and interpretation of a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed- ranks T test, I’ll describe an experiment based on some early work of Muzafer Sherif (1935). Sherif was interested in whether a person’s basic perception could be influenced by others. The basic perception he used was a judgment of the size of the autokinetic effect. The autokinetic effect is obtained when a person views a stationary point of light in an otherwise dark room. After a few moments, the light appears to move erratically. Sherif asked his participants to judge how many inches the light moved.
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9 The Wilcoxon test is like the Mann–Whitney test in that you have a choice of two values for your test statistic. For both tests, choose the smaller value.
TABLE 14.5 Illustration of how to calculate T
Signed Pair Variable 1 Variable 2 D Rank rank
A 16 21 �5 2 �2 B 14 17 �3 1 �1 C 26 18 8 3 3 D 23 9 14 4 4
�(positive ranks) � 7 �(negative ranks) � �3
T � 3
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Under such conditions, judgments differ widely among individuals but they are fairly consistent for each individual.
In the first phase of Sherif’s experiment, participants worked alone. They estimated the distance the light moved and, after a few judgments, their estimates stabilized. These are the before measurements. Next, additional observers were brought into the dark room and everyone announced aloud their perceived movement. These additional observers were confederates of Sherif, and they always judged the movement to be somewhat less than that of the participant. Finally, the confederates left and the participant made another series of judgments (the after measurements). The perceived movements (in inches) of the light are shown in Table 14.6 for 12 participants.
Table 14.6 also shows the calculation of a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test. The before measurements minus the after measurements produce the D column. These D scores are then ranked by absolute size and the sign of the difference attached in the Signed ranks column. Notice that when D � 0, that pair of scores is dropped from further analysis and N is reduced by 1. The negative ranks have the smaller sum, so T � 4.
This T is less than the T value of 5 shown in Table J under a � .01 (two-tailed test) for N � 11. Thus, the null hypothesis is rejected. The after scores represent a distribution that is different from the before scores. Now let’s interpret the result using the terms of the experiment.
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TABLE 14.6 Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks analysis of the effect of peers on perception
Mean movement (in.)
Participant Before After D Signed ranks
1 3.7 2.1 1.6 4.5 2 12.0 7.3 4.7 10 3 6.9 5.0 1.9 6 4 2.0 2.6 �0.6 �3 5 17.6 16.0 1.6 4.5 6 9.4 6.3 3.1 8 7 1.1 1.1 0.0 Eliminated 8 15.5 11.4 4.1 9 9 9.7 9.3 0.4 2
10 20.3 11.2 9.1 11 11 7.1 5.0 2.1 7 12 2.2 2.3 �0.1 �1
�(positive) � 62 �(negative) � �4
T � 4 N � 11
Check: 62 � 4 � 66 and 11 112 2
2 � 66
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By examining the D column, you can see that all scores except two are positive. This means that, after hearing others give judgments smaller than their own, the participants saw the amount of movement as less. Thus, you may conclude (as did Sherif ) that even basic perceptions tend to conform to opinions expressed by others.
Table 14.7 shows the results of an SPSS Wilcoxon test of the autokinetic movement data in Table 14.6. Descriptive statistics are in the upper panel; a z-score test and its probability are in the lower panel. The probability figure of .010 is consistent with the statistical significance found for T � 4.
Tied Scores and D � 0
Ties among the D scores are handled in the usual way—that is, each tied score is assigned the mean of the ranks that would have been assigned if there had been no ties. Ties do not affect the probability of the rank sum unless they are numerous (10 percent or more of the ranks are tied). When there are numerous ties, the probabilities in Table J associated with a given critical T value may be too large. In this case, the test is described as too conservative because it may fail to ascribe significance to differences that are in fact significant (Wilcoxon and Wilcox, 1964).
As you already know from Table 14.6, when one of the D scores is zero, it is not assigned a rank and N is reduced by 1. When two of the D scores are tied at zero, each is given the average rank of 1.5. Each is kept in the computation; one is assigned a plus sign and the other a minus sign. If three D scores are zero, one is dropped, N is reduced by 1, and the remaining two are given signed ranks of �1.5 and �1.5. You can generalize from these three cases to situations with four, five, or more zeros.
330 ■ Chapter 14
TABLE 14.7 SPSS output of a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test of data in Table 14.6
Ranks
N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks
Before–After Negative Ranks 2a 2.00 4.00 Positive Ranks 9b 6.89 62.00 Ties 1c
Total 12
aBefore < After bBefore > After cBefore = After
Test Statisticsb
Before–After
Z �2.580a
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .010
aBased on negative ranks bWilcoxon Signed Ranks Test
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Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks T Test for Large Samples
When the number of pairs exceeds 50, the T statistic may be evaluated using the z test and the normal curve. The test statistic is
where T � smaller sum of the signed ranks c � 0.5
N � number of pairs
P R O B L E M S
14.9. A private consultant was asked to evaluate a job-retraining program. As part of the evaluation, she determined the income of 112 individuals before and after retraining. She found a T value of 4077. Complete the analysis and draw a conclusion. Be especially careful in wording your conclusion.
14.10. Six industrial workers were chosen for a study of the effects of rest periods on production. Output was measured for one week before the new rest periods were instituted and again during the first week of the new schedule. Perform an appropriate nonparametric statistical test on the results shown in the following table.
Output
Without With Worker rests rests
1 2240 2421 2 2069 2260 3 2132 2333 4 2095 2314 5 2162 2297 6 2203 2389
14.11. Undergraduates from Canada and the United States responded to a questionnaire on attitudes toward government regulation of business. High scores indicate a favorable attitude. Analyze the data in the accompanying table with the appropriate nonparametric test and write a conclusion.
sT � BN 1N � 1 2 12N � 1 224 mT �
N 1N � 1 2
4
z � 1T � c 2 � mT
sT
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Canada United States Canada United States
12 16 27 26 39 19 33 15 34 6 34 14 29 14 18 25 7 20 31 21
10 13 17 30 17 28 8 3
5 9
14.12. A professor gave his general psychology class a 50-item true/false test on the first day of class to measure the students’ beliefs about punishment, reward, mental breakdowns, and so forth—topics that would be covered during the course. Many items were phrased to represent a common misconception (“mental breakdowns are usually caused by defective genes”). At the end of the course, the same test was given again. High scores mean lots of misconceptions. Analyze the data and write a conclusion about the effect of the course on misconceptions.
Student Before After
1 18 4 2 14 14 3 20 10 4 6 9 5 15 10 6 17 5 7 29 16 8 5 4 9 8 8
10 10 4 11 26 15 12 17 9 13 14 10 14 12 12
14.13. A health specialist conducted an 8-week workshop on weight control during which all 17 of the people who completed the course lost weight. To assess the long-term effects of the workshop, she weighed the participants again 10 months later. The weight lost or gained is listed with a positive sign for those who continued to lose weight and a negative sign for those who gained some back. What can you conclude about the long-term effects of the workshop?
�5 24 0 13 9 6 �7 �3 2
�10 �16 7 12 �19 �4 8 15
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The Wilcoxon–Wilcox Multiple-Comparisons Test
So far in this chapter on the analysis of ranked data, you have covered both designs for the two-group case (independent and paired samples). The next technique is for data from three or more independent groups. This method allows you to compare all possible pairs of groups, regardless of the number of groups in the experiment. This is the nonparametric equivalent of a one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey HSD tests.10
The Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons test (1964) allows you to compare all possible pairs of treatments, which is like having a Mann–Whitney test on each pair of treatments. However, the Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons test keeps the a level at .05 or .01, regardless of how many pairs you have. Like the Mann–Whitney U test, this test requires independent samples.11 (Remember that Wilcoxon devised a test identical to the Mann–Whitney U test.)
To create a Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons test, begin by ordering the scores from the K treatments into one overall ranking. Then, within each sample, add the ranks, which gives a �R for each sample. Finally, for each pair of treatments, subtract one �R from the other, which gives a difference. Finally, compare the absolute size of the difference to a critical value in Table K.
The rationale of the Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons test is that when the null hypothesis is true, the various �R values should be about the same. A large difference indicates that the two samples came from different populations. Of course, the larger K is, the greater the likelihood of large differences by chance alone, and this is taken into account in the sampling distribution that Table K is based on.
The Wilcoxon–Wilcox test can be used only when the N’s for all groups are equal. A common solution to the problem of unequal N’s is to reduce the too-large group(s) by dropping one or more randomly chosen scores. A better solution is to conduct the experiment so that you have equal N’s.
The data in Table 14.8 represent the results of a solar collector experiment by two designer-entrepreneurs. These two had designed and built a 4-foot by 8-foot solar collector they planned to market, and they wanted to know the optimal rate at which to pump water through the collector. The rule of thumb for pumping is one-half gallon per hour per square foot of collector, so they chose values of 14, 15, 16, and 17 gallons per hour for their experiment. Starting with the reservoir full of water at 0ºC, the water was pumped for 1 hour through the collector and back to the reservoir. At the end of the hour, the temperature of the water in the reservoir was measured. Then the water was replaced with 0ºC water, the flow rate was changed, and the process repeated. The temperature measurements (to the nearest tenth of a degree) are shown in Table 14.8.
In Table 14.8 ranks are given to each temperature, ignoring the group the temperature is in. The ranks of all those in a group are summed, producing �R values that range from 20 to 84 for flow rates of 14 to 17 gallons per hour. Note that you can
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Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple- comparisons test Nonparametric test of all possible pairs from an independent- samples design.
10 The Kruskal–Wallis one-way ANOVA on ranks is a direct analogue of a one-way ANOVA. (See Howell, 2004, pp. 479–481, or Sprinthall, 2007, pp. 479–482. Unfortunately, tests that compare treatments (as the Tukey HSD does) are not readily available. 11 A nonparametric test for more than two related samples, the Friedman rank test for correlated samples, is explained in Howell (2004, pp. 481–483).
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confirm your arithmetic for the Wilcoxon–Wilcox test using the same checks you used for the Mann–Whitney U test. That is, the sum of the four group sums, 210, is equal to N(N � 1)/2, where N is the total number of observation (20). Also, the largest rank, 20, is equal to the total number of observations.
The next step is to make pairwise comparisons. With four groups, six pairwise comparisons are possible. The rate of 14 gallons per hour can be paired with 15, 16, and 17; the rate of 15 can be paired with 16 and 17; and the rate of 16 can be paired with 17. For each pair, a difference in the sum of ranks is found and the absolute value of that difference is compared with the critical value in Table K.
The upper half of Table K has critical values for a� .05; the lower half has values for a � .01. For the experiment in Table 14.8, where K � 4 and N � 5, the critical values are 48.1 (a � .05) and 58.2 (a � .01). To reject H0, a difference in rank sums must be equal to or greater than the critical values.
It is convenient (and conventional) to arrange the differences in rank sums into a matrix summary table. Table 14.9 is an example using the flow-rate data. The table
334 ■ Chapter 14
TABLE 14.9 Summary table for differences in the sums of ranks in the flow-rate experiment
Flow rates
14 15 16
15 15
Flow rates 16 51* 36
17 64** 49* 13
* p 6 .05; for a � .05, the critical value is 48.1 ** p 6 .01; for a � .01, the critical value is 58.2
TABLE 14.8 Temperature increases (°C) for four flow rates in a solar collector
Experimental conditions
14 gal/hr 15 gal/hr 16 gal/hr 17 gal/hr
Temp Rank Temp Rank Temp Rank Temp Rank
28.1 7 28.9 3 25.1 14 24.7 15 28.8 4 27.7 8.5 25.3 13 23.5 18 29.4 1 27.7 8.5 23.7 17 22.6 19 29.0 2 28.6 5 25.9 11 21.7 20 28.3 6 26.0 10 24.2 16 25.8 12
� (ranks) 20 35 71 84 Check: 20 � 35 � 71 � 84 � 210
N 1N � 1 2
2 �
20 121 2
2 � 210
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displays, for each pair of treatments, the difference in the sum of the ranks. Asterisks are used to indicate differences that exceed various a values. Thus, in Table 14.9, with a � .05, rates of 14 and 16 are significantly different from each other, as are rates of 15 and 17. In addition, a rate of 14 is significantly different from a rate of 17 at the .01 level. What does all this mean for our two designer-entrepreneurs? Let’s listen to their explanation to their old statistics professor.
“How did the flow-rate experiment come out, fellows?” inquired the kindly old gentleman. “OK, but we are going to have to do a follow-up experiment using different flow rates.
We know that 16 and 17 gallons per hour are not as good as 14, but we don’t know if 14 is optimal for our design. Fourteen was the best of the rates we tested, though. On our next experiment, we are going to test rates of 12, 13, 14, and 15.”
The professor stroked his beard and nodded thoughtfully. “Typical experiment. You know more after it than you did before, . . . but not yet enough.”
P R O B L E M S
14.14. Farmer Marc, a Shakespearean devotee, delivered a plea at the County Faire, asking three different groups to lend him unshelled corn. (Perhaps you can figure out how he phrased his plea.) The numbers of bushels offered by the farmers are listed. What can you conclude about the three groups?
Friends Romans Countrymen
25 14 8 31 18 15 17 10 11 22 16 7 27 9 13 29 10 12
14.15. Many studies have investigated methods of reducing anxiety and depression. I’ve embedded some of their conclusions in this problem. College students who reported anxiety or depression were randomly assigned to one of four groups: no treatment (NO), relaxation (RE), solitary exercise (SE), and group exercise (GE). The numbers are the students’ improvement scores after 10 weeks. Analyze the data and write a conclusion.
NO RE SE GE
10 14 12 22 8 10 27 32 3 21 23 20 0 10 20 28 7 15 17 22
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14.16. The effect of three types of leadership on group productivity and satisfaction was investigated.12 Groups of five children were randomly constituted and assigned an authoritarian, a democratic, or a laissez- faire leader. Nine groups were formed—three with each type of leader. The groups worked on various projects for a week. Measures of each child’s personal satisfaction were taken and pooled to give a score for each child. The data are presented in the accompanying table. Test all possible comparisons with a Wilcoxon–Wilcox test.
Authoritarian Democratic Laissez-faire
120 108 100 102 156 69 141 92 103 90 132 76
130 161 99 153 90 126 77 105 79 97 125 114
135 146 141 121 131 82 100 107 84 147 118 120 137 110 101 128 132 62
86 100 50
14.17. Given the summary data in the following table, test all possible comparisons. Each group had a sample of eight subjects.
Sum of ranks for six groups
Group 1 2 3 4 5 6 �R 196 281 227 214 93 165
14.18. List the tests presented so far in this chapter and the design for which each is appropriate. Be sure you can do this from memory.
Correlation of Ranked Data
Here is a short review of what you learned about correlation in Chapter 5.
1. Correlation requires a bivariate distribution (a logical pairing of scores). 2. Correlation is a method of describing the degree of relationship between two
variables—that is, the degree to which high scores on one variable are associated with low or high scores on the other variable.
336 ■ Chapter 14
12 For a summary of a similar classic investigation, see Lewin (1958).
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3. Correlation coefficients range in value from �1.00 (perfect positive) to �1.00 (perfect negative). A value of .00 indicates that there is no relationship between the two variables.
4. Statements about cause and effect may not be made on the basis of a correlation coefficient alone.
In 1901, Charles Spearman (1863–1945) was “inspired by a book by Galton” and began experimenting at a little village school in England. He thought there was a relationship between intellect (school grades) and sensory ability (detecting musical discord). Spearman worked to find a mathematical way to express the degree of this relationship. He came up with a coefficient that did this, although he later found that others were ahead of him in developing such a coefficient (Spearman, 1930).
Spearman’s name is attached to the coefficient that is used to show the degree of correlation between two sets of ranked data. He used the Greek letter r (rho) as the symbol for his coefficient. Later statisticians began to reserve Greek letters to indicate parameters, so the modern symbol for Spearman’s statistic has become rs , the s honoring Spearman. Spearman rs is a special case of the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient and is most often used when the number of pairs of scores is small (less than 20).
Actually, rs is a descriptive statistic that could have been introduced in the first part of this book. I waited until now to introduce it because rs is a rank-order statistic, and this is a chapter about ranks. The next section shows you how to calculate this descriptive statistic; determining the statistical significance of rs follows.
Calculation of rs The formula for rs is
where D � difference in ranks of a pair of scores N � number of pairs of scores
I started this chapter with speculation about male tennis players and a made-up data set. I will end it with speculation about female tennis players, but now I have actual data.
What is the progression in women’s professional tennis? Do they work their way up through the ranks, advancing their ranking year by year? Or do the younger players flash to the top and then gradually lose their ranking year by year? An rs might lend support to one of these hypotheses.
If a rank of 1 is assigned to the oldest player, a positive rs means that the older the player, the higher her rank (supporting the first hypothesis). A negative rs means that the older the player, the lower her rank (supporting the second hypothesis). A zero rs means no relationship between age and rank.
Table 14.10 shows the 12 top-ranked women tennis players after the U.S Open in 2006 and their age as a rank score among the ten (www.sonyericssonwtatour.com). The Spearman rs is .30. Thus, the descriptive statistic lends support for the “work your
rs � 1 � 6©D2
N 1N 2 � 1 2
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Spearman rs Correlation coefficient for degree of relationship between two variables measured by ranks.
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way up” hypothesis. But if we add NHST to our analysis, perhaps chance can be ruled out as an explanation for an rs of .30.
error detection For Spearman rs , first assign ranks to the scores and then find the differences. The Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test is different. For it, first find the differences and then assign ranks to the differences.
Testing the Significance of rs At this point in your studies, it is probably easy for you to imagine a sampling distribution of rs. It would consist of many rs values all calculated from samples taken from a population in which the correlation coefficient is zero. With such a sampling distribution you can determine the probability of any rs. If the probability of your sample rs is small, reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the relationship in the population that rs came from is not zero. You probably recall that you conducted this same test for a Pearson product-moment r in Chapter 8.
Table L in Appendix C gives the critical values for rs for the .05 and .01 levels of significance when the number of pairs is 16 or fewer. If the obtained rs is equal to or greater than the value in Table L, reject the null hypothesis. The null hypothesis is that the population correlation coefficient is zero.
For the tennis data in Table 14.10, rs � .30. Table L shows that a correlation of .587 (either positive or negative) is required for statistical significance at the .05 level for 12 pairs. Thus, a correlation of .30 is not statistically significant, which leaves you
338 ■ Chapter 14
TABLE 14.10 Top ten women tennis players, their rank in age, and the calculation of Spearman rs
Rank in Rank in Player tennis age D D2
Mauresmo (France) 1 3 �2 4 Henin-Hardenne (Belgium) 2 6 �4 16 Sharapova (Russia) 3 11 �8 64 Kuznetsova (Russia) 4 9 �5 25 Clijsters (Belgium) 5 8 �3 9 Dementieva (Russia) 6 5 1 1 Petrova (Russia) 7 7 0 0 Hingis (Switzerland) 8 4 4 16 Schnyder (Switzerland) 9 2 7 49 Vaidisova (Czech Republic) 10 12 �4 16 Safina (Russia) 11 10 �1 1 Davenport (USA) 12 1 11 121
� � 200
Source: www.sonyericssonwtatour.com
rs � 1 � 6�D2
N 1N 2 � 1 2 � 1 �
6 1200 2
12 1143 2 � 1 �
1200
1716 � 1 � 0.70 � .30
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without statistical support for either hypothesis. At this point, researchers usually gather more data, change their hypothesis, or move on to other problems.
Notice in Table L that rather large correlations are required for significance. As with r, not much confidence can be placed in low or moderate correlation coefficients that are based on only a few pairs of scores.
For samples larger than 16, test the significance of rs by using Table A. Note, however, that Table A requires df and not the number of pairs. The degrees of freedom for rs is N � 2 (the number of pairs minus 2), which is the same formula used for r.
When D � 0 and Tied Ranks
In calculating rs, you may get a D value of zero (as I did for Petrova in Table 14.10). Should a zero be dropped from further analysis as it is in a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test? You can answer this question by taking a moment to decide what D � 0 means in an rs correlation problem.
A zero means there is a perfect correspondence between the two ranks. If all differences were zero, the rs would be 1.00. Thus, differences of zero should not be dropped when calculating an rs.
The formula for rs that you are working with is not designed to handle ranks that are tied. With rs, ties are troublesome. A tedious procedure has been devised to overcome ties, but your best solution is to arrange your data collection so there are no ties. Sometimes, however, you are stuck with tied ranks, perhaps as a result of working with someone else’s data. Kirk (1999) recommends assigning average ranks to ties, as you did for the three other procedures in this chapter, and then computing a Pearson r on the data.
My Final Word
In the first chapter I said that the essence of applied statistics is to measure a phenomenon of interest, apply statistical techniques to the numbers that result, and write the story of the new understanding of the phenomenon. The question, What should we measure? was not raised in this book, but it is important nonetheless. Here is an anecdote by E. F. Shumacher (1979), an English economist, that highlights the issue of what to measure.
I will tell you a moment in my life when I almost missed learning something. It was during the war and I was a farm laborer and my task was before breakfast to go to yonder hill and to a field there and count the cattle. I went and I counted the cattle—there were always thirty-two— and then I went back to the bailiff, touched my cap, and said “Thirty-two, sir,” and went and had my breakfast. One day when I arrived at the field an old farmer was standing at the gate, and he said, “Young man, what do you do here every morning?” I said, “Nothing much. I just count the cattle.” He shook his head and said, “If you count them every day they won’t flourish.” I went back, I reported thirty-two, and on the way back I thought, Well, after all, I am a professional statistician, this is only a country yokel, how stupid can he get. One day I went back, I counted and counted again, there were only thirty-one. Well, I didn’t want to spend all day there so I went back and reported thirty-one. The bailiff was very angry. He said, “Have your breakfast and then we’ll go up there together.” And we went together and we searched the place and indeed, under a bush, was a dead beast. I thought to myself, Why have I been counting them all the time? I haven’t prevented this beast dying. Perhaps that’s what the farmer meant. They won’t flourish if you don’t look and watch the quality of each individual beast. Look him
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in the eye. Study the sheen on his coat. Then I might have gone back and said, “Well, I don’t know how many I saw but one looks mimsey.”
P R O B L E M S
14.19. For each situation described, tell whether you would use a Mann–Whitney test, a Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test, a Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons test, or an rs. a. A limnologist (a scientist who studies freshwater streams and lakes)
measured algae growth in a lake before and after the construction of a copper smelting plant to see what effect the plant had.
b. An educational psychologist compared the sociability scores of firstborn children with scores of their next-born brother or sister to see if the two groups differed in sociability.
c. A child psychologist wanted to determine the degree of relationship between eye–hand coordination scores obtained at age 6 and scores obtained from the same individuals at age 12.
d. A nutritionist randomly and evenly divided boxes of cornflakes cereal into three groups. One group was stored at 40°F, one group at 80°F, and one group alternated from day to day between the two temperatures. After 30 days, the vitamin context of each box was assayed.
e. The effect of STP gas treatment on gasoline mileage was assessed by driving six cars over a 10-mile course, adding STP, and then again driving over the same 10-mile course.
14.20. Fill in the cells of the table.
Reject H0 when statistic Symbol of Appropriate for is (greater, less)
statistic (if any) what design? than critical value?
Mann–Whitney test
Wilcoxon matched-pairs
signed-ranks test
Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-
comparisons test
14.21. Two members of the department of philosophy (Locke and Kant) were responsible for hiring a new professor. Each privately ranked from 1 to 10 the ten candidates who met the objective requirements (degree, specialty, and so forth). The rankings are shown in the table. Begin by writing an interpretation of a low correlation and a high correlation. Then calculate an rs and choose the correct interpretation.
340 ■ Chapter 14
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Candidates Locke Kant
A 7 8 B 10 10 C 3 5 D 9 9 E 1 1 F 8 7 G 5 3 H 2 4 I 6 6 J 4 2
14.22. Self-esteem is a widely discussed concept. (See Baumeister et al., 2003, for a review.) The two problems that follow are based on Diener, Wolsic, and Fujita (1995). a. The researchers measured participants’ self-esteem and then had
them judge their own physical attractiveness. Calculate rs and test for statistical significance.
Self-esteem scores 40 39 37 36 35 32 28 24 20 16 12 7
Self-judged attractiveness 97 99 100 93 59 88 83 96 90 94 70 78
b. As part of the same study, the researchers had others judge photographs of the participants for attractiveness. Calculate rs and write a conclusion that is based on both data sets in the problem.
Self-esteem scores 28 39 24 40 37 16 32 36 20 7 35 12
Other-judged attractiveness 28 43 26 37 29 49 54 25 40 34 60 31
14.23. With N � 16 and �D2 � 308, calculate rs and test its significance at the .05 level.
14.24. You are once again asked to give advice to a friend who comes to you for criticism of an experimental design. This friend has four pairs of scores obtained randomly from a population. Her intention is to calculate a correlation coefficient rs and decide whether there is any significant correlation in the population. Give advice.
14.25. One last time: Review the objectives at the beginning of the chapter.
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 14 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, you’ll find multiple-choice tutorial quizzes, flashcards of terms, and more. In addition, follow the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and problems that require calculation and interpretation.
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KEY TERMS
342 ■ Chapter 14
Assigning ranks (pp. 323, 328) D � 0 (pp. 330, 339) Distribution-free tests (p. 318) Mann–Whitney U test (p. 321) Nonparametric tests (p. 318) Operational definition (p. 317) Parametric tests (p. 319) Power (p. 320) Scales of measurement (p. 320)
Spearman rs (p. 337) T value (p. 327) Tied scores (pp. 323, 330, 339) U value (p. 332) Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks
T test (p. 327) Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons
test (p. 333) z test (pp. 323, 331)
What Would You Recommend? Chapters 10–14
Here is the last set of What would you recommend? problems. Your task is to choose an appropriate statistical technique from among the several you have learned in the previous five chapters. No calculations are necessary. For each problem that follows, (1) recommend a statistic that will either answer the question or make the comparison, and (2) explain why you recommend that statistic.
a. Systematic desensitization and flooding are the names of two techniques that help people overcome anxiety about specific behaviors. One anxiety-arousing behavior is strapping on a parachute and jumping out of an airplane. To compare the two techniques, researchers had military trainees experience one technique or the other. Later, at the time of the first five actual jumps, each trainee’s “delay time” was measured. (The assumption was that longer delay means more anxiety.) On the basis of the severely skewed distribution of delay times, each trainee was given a rank. What statistical test should be used to compare the two techniques?
b. Stanley Milgram researched the question, When do people submit to demands for compliance? In one experiment, participants were told to administer a shock to another participant, who was in another room. (No one was actually shocked in this experiment.) The experimenter gave directions to half the participants over a telephone; the other half received directions in person. The dependent variable was whether or not a participant complied with the directions.
c. Forensic psychologists study factors that influence people as they judge defendants in criminal cases. They often supply participants in their studies with fictitious “pretrial reports” and ask them to estimate the likelihood, on a scale of .00 to 1.00, that the defendant will be convicted. In one study the pretrial reports contained a photograph showing a person who was either baby-faced or mature-faced. In addition, half the reports indicated that the defendant was simply negligent in the alleged incident and half indicated that the defendant had been intentionally deceptive in the incident.
d. As part of a class project, two students administered a creativity test to undergraduate seniors. They also obtained each person’s rank in class. In what way could the two students determine the degree of relationship between the two variables?
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e. Suppose a theory predicts that the proportion of people who participate in a rather difficult exercise will drop by one-half each time the exercise is repeated. When the data were gathered, 100 people participated on the first day. On each of the next three occasions, fewer and fewer people participated. What statistical test could be used to arrive at a judgment about the theory?
f. Participants in an experiment were told to “remember what you hear.” A series of sentences followed. (An example was “The plumber slips $50 into his wife’s purse.”) Later, when the participants were asked to recall the sentences, one group was given disposition cues (such as “generous”), one was given semantic (associative) cues (such as “pipes”), and one was given no cues at all. Recall measures ranged between 0 and 100. The recall scores for the “no cues” condition were much more variable than those for the other two conditions. The researcher’s question was: Which of the three conditions produces the best recall?
g. To answer a question about the effect of an empty stomach on eating, investigators in the 1930s studied dogs that ate a normal-sized meal (measured in ounces). Because of a surgical operation, however, no food reached the stomach. Thirty minutes later, the dogs were allowed to eat again. The data showed that the dogs, on the average, ate less the second time (even though their stomachs were just as empty). At both time periods, the data were positively skewed.
h. College cafeteria personnel are often dismayed by the amount of food that is left on plates. One way to reduce waste is to prepare the food using a tastier recipe. Suppose a particular vegetable is served on three different occasions, and each time a different recipe is used. As the plates are cleaned in the kitchen, the amount of the vegetable left on the plate is recorded. How might each pair of recipes be compared to determine if one recipe has resulted in significantly less waste?
i. Many programs seek to change behavior. One way to assess the effect of a program is to survey the participants about their behavior, administer the program, and give the survey again. To demonstrate the lasting value of the program, however, follow-up data some months later are required. If the data consist of each participant’s three scores on the same 100-point survey (pretest, post-test, and follow-up), what statistical test is needed to determine the effect of the program?
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Choosing Tests and Writing Interpretations
O B J E C T I V E S F O R C H A P T E R 1 5
After studying the text and working the problems in this chapter, you should be able to:
1. List the descriptive and inferential statistical techniques that you studied in this book
2. Describe, using a table of characteristics or decision trees or both, the descriptive and inferential statistics that you studied in this book
3. Read the description of a study and identify a statistical technique that is appropriate for such data
4. Read the description of a study and recognize that you have not studied a statistical technique that is appropriate for such data
5. Given the statistical analysis of a study, write an interpretation of what the study reveals
THIS CHAPTER IS designed to help you consolidate the many bits and pieces of statistics that you have learned. It will help you, regardless of the number of chapters your course covered (as long as you completed through Chapter 9, Hypothesis Testing, Effect Size, and Confidence Intervals: Two-Sample Designs).
The first section of this chapter is a review of the major concepts of each chapter. The second section describes statistical techniques that you did not read about in this book. These two sections should help prepare you to apply what you have learned to the exercises in the last section of this chapter, which are designed to help you see the big picture of what you’ve learned.
A Review
If you have been reading for integration, the kind of reading in which you are continually asking the question, How does this stuff relate to what I learned before? you may have clearly in your head a major thread that ties this book together from Chapter 2 onward.
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The name of that thread is distributions. It is the importance of distributions that justifies the subtitle of this book, Tales of Distributions. I want to summarize explicitly some of what you have learned about distributions. I hope this will help you understand not only the material in this book, but also other statistical techniques that you might encounter in future courses or in future encounters with statistics.
In Chapter 2 you were confronted with a disorganized array of scores on one variable. You learned to organize those scores into a frequency distribution and graph the distribution. In Chapter 3 you learned about central tendency values and the variability of distributions—especially the standard deviation. Chapter 4 introduced the z score, effect size index, and boxplot, which are descriptive statistics that are useful for a Descriptive Statistics Report.
In Chapter 5, where you were introduced to bivariate distributions, you learned to express the relationship between variables with a Pearson correlation coefficient and, using a linear regression equation, predict scores on one variable from scores on another. In Chapter 6 you learned about the normal distribution and how to use means and standard deviations to find probabilities associated with distributions. In Chapter 7 you were introduced to the important concept of the sampling distribution.You used two sampling distributions, the normal distribution and the t distribution, to determine probabilities about sample means and to establish confidence intervals about a sample mean.
Chapter 8 presented you with the concept of null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST). You used the t distribution to test the hypothesis that a sample mean came from a population with a hypothesized mean, and you calculated an effect size index. In Chapter 9 you studied the design of a simple two-group experiment. You applied the NHST procedure to both independent-samples designs and paired-samples designs, using the t distribution as a source of probabilities. You calculated effect sizes and for a second time, found confidence intervals. In Chapter 10 you learned about still another sampling distribution (F distribution) that is used when there are two or more independent samples in an experiment. Chapter 11 covered the analysis of two or more repeated-measures samples. Chapter 12 discussed an even more complex experiment, one with two independent variables for which probability figures could be obtained with the F distribution.
Chapter 13 taught you to answer questions of independence and goodness of fit by using frequency counts and the chi square distribution. In Chapter 14 you analyzed data using nonparametric tests—techniques based on distributions that do not satisfy the assumptions that the dependent-variable scores be normally distributed and have equal variances.
Look back at the preceding paragraphs. You have learned a lot, even if your course did not cover every chapter. Allow me to offer my congratulations!
Future Steps
One short step you can take is to acknowledge that you are prepared to analyze data from a variety of sources and to write a Statistics Report. Similar to the Descriptive Statistics Report that you wrote for Chapter 4, a Statistics Report gives details about how the data were gathered, descriptive statistics (perhaps with graphs) that reveal the relationships between the variables, NHST test results, and an overall interpretation of the study.
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As for additional NHST techniques, several paths might be taken from here. One logical next step is to analyze an experiment with three independent variables. The three main effects and the several interactions are tested with an F distribution.
A second possibility is to study techniques for the analysis of experiments that have more than one dependent variable. Such techniques are called multivariate statistics. Many of these techniques are analogous to those you have studied in this book, except there are two or more dependent variables instead of just one. For example, Hotelling’s T 2 is analogous to the t test; one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is analogous to one-way ANOVA; and higher-order MANOVA is analogous to factorial ANOVA.
It turns out that the inferential statistics techniques described in this book and those mentioned in the previous paragraph are all special cases of a more general approach to finding relationships among variables. This approach, the General Linear Model, is
a topic in advanced statistics courses (and sometimes it is the topic). Finally, there is the task of combining the results of many separate
studies that all deal with the same topic. It is not unusual to have conflicting results among 10 or 15 or 50 studies, and researchers have been at the task of synthesizing since the beginning. This task is facilitated by a set of statistical procedures called meta-analysis.
What I’ve just described are advanced statistical techniques that are well established. As I mentioned in Chapter 1, however, statistics is a dynamic discipline; your future statistics studies will no doubt be influenced by the recent challenges to the central role of NHST in data analysis. For example, Killeen (2005) derived a new statistic to take the place of p, the probability of the data observed, if the null hypothesis is true. He proposed that data be analyzed using prep, the probability of replicating the effect if the experiment is conducted again. The statistic prep does not depend on a null hypothesis. By the end of 2006, researchers were regularly using prep in articles in Psychological Science, a leading psychology journal. For now, however, let’s finish this elementary statistics textbook with problems that help you consolidate what you have learned so far (especially the logic).
Choosing Tests and Writing Interpretations
In Chapter 1, I described the fourfold task of a statistics student:
1. Read a problem. 2. Decide what statistical procedure to use. 3. Perform that procedure. 4. Write an interpretation of the results.
Students tell me that the parts of this task they still need to work on at the end of the course are (2) deciding what statistical procedure to use and (4) writing an interpretation of the results.
Even though you may have some uncertainties, you are well on your way to being able to do all four tasks. What you may need at this point is exercises that help you “put it all together.” (Of course, an ice cream cone couldn’t hurt, either.) Pick and choose from the four exercises that follow; the emphasis is heavily on the side of deciding what statistical test to use.
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Chocolate!
meta-analysis A technique for reaching conclusions when the data consist of many separate studies done by different investigators.
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Exercise A: Reread all the chapters you have studied and all the tests and homework you have. If you choose to do this exercise (or part of it), spend most of your time on concepts that you recognize as especially important (such as NHST). It will take a considerable amount of time for you to do this—probably 8 to 16 hours. However, the benefits are great, according to students who have invested the time. A typical quote is “Well, during the course I would read a chapter and work the problems without too much trouble, but I didn’t relate it to the earlier stuff. When I went back over the whole book, though, I got the big picture. All the pieces do fit together.”
Exercise B: Construct a table with all the statistical procedures and their characteristics. List the procedures down the left side. I suggest column heads such as Description (brief description of procedure), Purpose (descriptive or inferential), Null hypothesis (parametric or nonparametric), Number of independent variables (if applicable), and so forth.
I’ve included my version of this table (Table 15.1), but please don’t look at what I’ve done until you have a copy of your own. However, after you have worked for a while on your own, it wouldn’t hurt to peek at the column heads I used.
Exercise C: Construct two decision trees. For the first one, show all the descriptive statistics you have learned. To begin, you might divide these statistics into categories of univariate and bivariate distributions. Under univariate, you might list the different categories of descriptive statistics you have learned and then, under those categories, identify specific descriptive statistics. Under bivariate, choose categories under which specific descriptive statistics belong.
The second decision tree is for inferential statistics. You might begin with the categories of NHST and confidence intervals, or you might decide to divide inferential statistics into the type of statistics analyzed (means, frequency counts, and ranks). Work in issues such as the number of independent variables, whether the design is related samples or independent samples, and other issues that will occur to you.
There are several good ways you might organize your decision trees. My versions are Figure 15.1 and Figure 15.2, but please don’t look at them now. Looking at the figures now would prevent you from going back over your text and digging out the information you learned earlier, which you now need for your decision trees. My experience has been that students who create their own decision trees learn more than those who are handed someone else’s. After you have your trees in hand, then look at mine.
Exercise D: Work the two sets of problems that follow. The first set requires you to decide what statistical test or descriptive statistic answers the question the investigator is asking. The second set requires you to interpret the results of an analyzed experiment. You will probably be glad that no number crunching is required for these problems. You won’t need your calculator or computer.
However, here is a word of warning. For a few of the problems, the statistical techniques necessary are not covered in this book. (In addition, perhaps your course did not cover all the chapters.) Thus, a part of your task is to recognize what problems you are prepared to solve and what problems would require digging into a statistics textbook.
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TABLE 15.1 Summary table for elementary statistics
Null No. of No. of Procedure (text page numbers) Purpose Description hypothesis IVs IV levels Design
Frequency distributions (Chapter 2) D Picture of raw data NA NA NA NA Boxplot (73) D Data picture that includes statistics NA NA 1, 2� NA Central tendency—Mean (41, 44, 50) D One number to represent all NA NA NA NA
Median (44, 45) D One number to represent all NA NA NA NA Mode (44, 46) D One number to represent all NA NA NA NA
Variability—Range (53) D Dispersion of scores NA NA NA NA Standard deviation (57, 63) D Dispersion of scores NA NA NA NA Variance (65) D Dispersion of scores NA NA NA NA Interquartile range (54) D Dispersion of scores NA NA NA NA
Outlier (74) D An extreme score NA NA NA NA z Score (70) D Relative position of one score NA NA NA NA Regression (110) D Linear equation; 2 variables NA NA NA Corr Correlation—Pearson r (92) D/I Degree of relationship; 2 variables P NA NA Corr
Spearman rs (338) D/I Degree of relationship; 2 variables NP NA NA Corr Confidence interval (159, 213, 214) D/I Limits around mean or mean difference P 1 NA Indep t test—One sample (177) I Test sample X� from pop. m P 1 NA Indep
Indep samples (201) I 2 sample X�’s; same m? P 1 2 Indep Paired samples (205) I 2 sample X�’s; same m? P 1 2 Rel Pearson r (186) I Test r from r � .00 P NA NA Corr
d—One sample (184) D Assess size of IV effect P 1 NA Indep Two indep samples (211) D Assess size of IV effect P 1 2 Indep Two paired samples (212) D Assess size of IV effect P 1 2 Rel ANOVA (246, 290) D Assess size of IV effect P 1 2 Indep
F test—Two variances (240) I 2 sample variances; same s2? P 1 2 Indep One-way ANOVA (239) I �2 sample X�’s; same m? P 1 2� Indep Repeated measures (256) I �2 sample X�’s; same m? P 1 2� Rel Factorial ANOVA (281) I 2 or more IVs plus interactions P 2� 2� Indep
f—One-way ANOVA (247) D Assess size of IV effect P 1 2� Indep Factorial ANOVA (296) D Assess size of IV effect P 1 2� Indep
Tukey HSD (243, 256, 289) I Tests all pairwise differences P 1 2 Indep Chi square—Goodness of fit (303) I Do data fit theory? NP NA NA Indep
Independence (297) I Are variables independent? NP NA NA Indep w: Chi square effect size (301) D Assess size of relationship NP NA NA Indep Mann–Whitney U (321) I 2 samples from same population? NP 1 2 Indep Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T (327) I 2 samples from same population? NP 1 2 Rel Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple comparisons (333) I Tests all pairwise differences NP 1 2� Indep
Key: Corr � Correlated Indep � Independent NP � Nonparametric D � Descriptive IV � Independent variable P � Parametric I � Inferential NA � Not applicable Rel � Related
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Purpose
Descriptive
Variability (interval/ratio)
Single score
One-way ANOVA (246)
One-sample t test (184)
Two-sample t test (211, 212)
Factorial ANOVA (290)
Standard deviation (57, 63)
Variance (65)
Range (53)
Outlier (74)
z score (70)
UnivariateBivariate
Mode (44, 46)
Median (44, 45)
Mean (41, 44, 50)
Mode (44, 46)
Mode (44, 46)
Median (44, 45)
Interval/RatioNominal
Central tendency
Ordinal
Line graph (36)
Graphs
Scatter- plot (87)
Linear regression (110)
Parametric
Pearson r (92)
Spearman rs (338)
Nonparametric
Interquartile range (54)
χ2
2�2 (301)
Frequency distribution graphs
Qualitative data
Bar graph (32)
Histogram (31)
Frequency polygon (31)
Quantitative data
Boxplot (73)
Graphs
Effect size
F I G U R E 1 5 . 1 Decision tree for descriptive statistics. (Text page numbers are in parentheses.)
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Purpose
Inferential
Confidence interval
About a mean (159)
Independent samples
Mann– Whitney U (321)
Wilcoxon matched- pairs signed- ranks T (327)
Wilcoxon– Wilcox multiple comparisons (333)
Paired samples
Independent samples
One-sample t test (177)
Paired t test (205)
Independent t test (201)
Paired samples
Related samples
Independent samples
One-way ANOVA (239)
Tukey HSD (243)
Repeated measures ANOVA (256)
Tukey HSD (256)
Independent samples
Test of independence
Goodness of fit
> Two levels of independent variable
Two levels of independent variable
Ranks (nonparametric)
Frequency counts (nonparametric)
≥ Two levels of independent variable
Factorial ANOVA (281)
Tukey HSD (289)
Two independent variables
Two levels of independent variable
One independent variable
Means (parametric)
One sample
χ2 (303)
χ2 (297)
Independent samples
Variances (parametric)
F test (240)
Null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST)
Type of data
About a mean difference (213, 214)
Quantitative (parametric)
F I G U R E 1 5 . 2 Decision tree for inferential statistics. (Text page numbers are in parentheses.)
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P R O B L E M S
Set A. Determine what descriptive statistic or inferential test is appropriate for each problem in this set.
15.1. A company has three separate divisions. Based on the capital invested, Division A made 10 cents per dollar, Division B made 20 cents per dollar, and Division C made 30 cents per dollar. How can the overall profit for the company be found?
15.2. Reaction time scores tend to be severely skewed. The majority of the responses are quick and there are diminishing numbers of scores in the slower categories. A student wanted to find out the effects of alcohol on reaction time, so he found the reaction time of each subject under both conditions—alcohol and no alcohol.
15.3. As part of a 2-week treatment for phobias, a therapist measured the general anxiety level of each client four times: before, after 1 week of treatment, at the end of treatment, and 4 months later.
15.4. “I want a number that will describe the typical score on this test. Most did very well, some scored in the middle, and a very few did quite poorly.”
15.5. The city park benches are 16.7 inches high. The mean distance from the bottom of the shoe to the back of the knee is 18.1 inches for women. The standard deviation is 0.70 inch. What proportion of the women who use the bench will have their feet dangle (unless they sit forward on the bench)?
15.6. A measure of dopamine (a neurotransmitter) activity is available for 14 acute schizophrenic patients and 14 chronic schizophrenic patients. Do acute and chronic schizophrenics differ in dopamine activity?
15.7. A large school district needs to know the range of scores within which they can expect the mean reading achievement score of their sixth- grade students. A random sample of 50 reading achievement scores is available.
15.8. Based on several large studies, a researcher knew that 40 percent of the public in the United States favored capital punishment, 35 percent were against it, and 25 percent expressed no strong feelings. The researcher polled 150 Canadians on this question to compare the two countries in attitudes toward capital punishment.
15.9. What descriptive statistic should be used to identify the most typical choice of major at your college?
15.10. A music-minded researcher wanted to express with a correlation coefficient the strength of the relationship between stimulus intensity and pleasantness. She knew that both very low and very high intensities are not pleasant and that the middle range of intensity produces the highest pleasantness ratings. Would you recommend a Pearson r? An rs?
15.11. A consumer testing group compared Boraxo and Tide to determine which got laundry whiter. White towels that had been subjected to a
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variety of filthy treatments were identified on each end and cut in half. Each was washed in either Boraxo or Tide. After washing, each half was tested with a photometer for the amount of light reflected.
15.12. An investigator wants to predict a male adult’s height from his length at birth. He obtains records of both measures from a sample of male military personnel.
15.13. An experimenter is interested in the effect of expectations and drugs on alertness. Each participant is given an amphetamine (stimulant) or a placebo (an inert substance). In addition, half in each group are told that the drug taken was a stimulant and half that the drug was a depressant. An alertness score for each participant is obtained from a composite of measures that included a questionnaire and observation.
15.14. A professor told a class that she found a correlation coefficient of .20 between the alphabetical order of a person’s last name and that person’s cumulative point total for 50 students in a general psychology course. One student in the class wondered whether the correlation coefficient was reliable; that is, would a nonzero correlation be found in other classes? How can reliability be determined without calculating an r on another class?
15.15. As part of a test for some advertising copy, a company assembled 120 people who rated four toothpastes. They read several ads (including the ad being tested). Then they rated all four toothpastes again. The data to be analyzed consisted of the number of people who rated Crest highest before reading the ad and the number who rated it highest after reading the ad.
15.16. Most lightbulb manufacturing companies claim that their 60-watt bulbs have an average life of 1000 hours. A skeptic with some skill as an electrician wired up sockets and timers and lighted 40 bulbs. The life of each bulb recorded automatically. Is the companies’ claim justified?
15.17. An investigator wondered whether a person’s education is related to his or her satisfaction in life. Both of these variables can be measured using a quantitative scale.
15.18. To find out the effect of a drug on reaction time, an investigator administered 0, 25, 50, or 75 milligrams to four groups of volunteer rats. The quickness of their response to a tipping platform was measured in seconds.
15.19. The experimenters (a man and a woman) staged 140 “shoplifting” incidents in a grocery store. In each case, the “shoplifter” (one experi- menter) picked up a carton of cigarettes in full view of a customer and then walked out. Half the time the experimenter was well dressed and half the time sloppily dressed. Half the incidents involved a male shoplifter and half involved a female. For each incident, the experimenters (with the cooperation of the checkout person) simply noted whether the shoplifter was reported or not.
15.20. A psychologist wanted to illustrate for a group of seventh-graders the fact that items in the middle of a series are more difficult to learn than
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those at either end. The students learned an eight-item series. The psychologist found the mean number of repetitions necessary to learn each of the items.
15.21. A nutritionist and an anthropologist gathered data on the incidence of cancer among 21 cultures. The incidence data were quite skewed, with many cultures having low numbers and the rest having various higher numbers. In eight of the cultures, red meat was a significant portion of the diet. For the other 13, diet consisted primarily of grains.
15.22. A military science teacher wanted to know if there was a relationship between the class rank of West Point graduates and their military rank in the service at age 45.
15.23. The boat dock operators at a lake sponsored a fishing contest. Prizes were to be awarded for the largest bass, crappie, and bream, and to the overall winner. The problem in deciding the overall winner is that the bass are by nature larger than the other two species of fish. Describe an objective way to find the overall winner that will be fair to all three kinds of contestants.
15.24. Yes is the answer to the question, Is psychotherapy effective? Studies comparing a quantitative measure of groups who did or did not receive psychotherapy show that the therapy group improves significantly more than the nontherapy group. What statistical technique will answer the question, How effective is psychotherapy?
Set B. Read each problem, look at the statistical analysis, and write an appropriate conclusion using the terms in the problem; that is, rather than saying, “The null hypothesis was rejected at the .05 level,” say, “Those with medium anxiety solved problems more quickly than those with high anxiety.”
For some of the problems, the design of the study has flaws. There are uncontrolled extraneous variables that would make it impossible to draw precise conclusions about the experiment. It is good for you to be able to recognize such design flaws, but the task here is to interpret the statistics. Thus, don’t let design flaws keep you from drawing a conclusion based on the statistic.
For all problems, use a two-tailed test with a � .05. If the results are significant at the .01 or .001 level, report that, but treat any difference that has a probability greater than .05 as not significant.
15.25. The interference theory of the serial position effect predicts that participants who are given extended practice will perform more poorly on the initial items of a series than will those not given extended practice. The mean numbers of errors on initial items are shown in the accompanying table. A t test with 54 df produced a value of 3.88.
Extended No extended practice practice
Mean number of errors 13.7 18.4
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15.26. A company that offered instruction in taking college entrance examinations correctly claimed that its methods “produced improvement that was statistically significant.” A parent with some skill as a statistician obtained the information the claim was based on (a one-sample t test) and calculated an effect size index. The effect size index was 0.10.
15.27. In a particular recycling process, the break-even point for each batch occurs when 54 kilograms of raw material remain as unusable foreign matter. An engineer developed a screening process that leaves a mean of 38 kilograms of foreign material. The upper and lower limits of a 95 percent confidence interval are 30 and 46 kilograms.
15.28. Four kinds of herbicides were compared for their weed-killing characteristics. Eighty plots were randomly but evenly divided, and one herbicide was applied to each. Because the effects of two of the herbicides were quite variable, the dependent variable was converted to ranks and a Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons test was used. The plot with the fewest weeds remaining was given a rank of 1. The summary table follows.
A B C (936.5) (316.5) (1186)
B (316.5) 620
C (1186) 249.5 869.5
D (801) 135.5 482.5 385
15.29. A developmental psychologist advanced a theory that predicted the proportion of children who would, during a period of stress, cling to their mother, attack the mother, or attack a younger sibling. The stress situation was set up and the responses of 50 children recorded. The x2 value was 5.30.
15.30. An experimental psychologist at a Veterans Administration hospital obtained approval from the Institutional Review Board to conduct a study of the efficacy of Cymbalta for treating depression. The experi- ment lasted 60 days, during which one group of depressed patients was given placebos, one was given a low dose of Cymbalta, and one was given a high dose. At the end of the experiment, the patients were observed by two outside psychologists who rated several behaviors such as eye contact, posture, verbal output, and activity for degree of depression. The ratings went into a composite score for each patient, with high scores indicating depression. The means were: placebo, 18.86; low dose, 10.34; and high dose, 16.21. An ANOVA summary table and two Tukey HSD tests are shown in the accompanying table.
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Source df F
Between treatments 2 21.60 Error 18
HSD (placebo vs. low) � 13.14 HSD (placebo vs. high) � 0.65
15.31. One sample of 16 third-graders had been taught to read by the “look–say” method. A second sample of 18 had been taught by the phonics method. Both were given a reading achievement test, and a Mann–Whitney U test was performed on the results. The U value was 51.
15.32. Sociologists make a profile of the attitudes of a group by asking each individual to rate his or her tolerance of people in particular categories. For example, members might be asked to assess, on a scale of 1–7, their tolerance of prostitutes, atheists, former mental patients, intellectuals, college graduates, and so on. The mean score for each category is then calculated and the categories are ranked from low to high. When 18 categories of people were ranked by a group of people who owned businesses and also by a group of college students, an rs of .753 between the rankings was found.
15.33. In a large high school, one group of juniors took an English course that included a 9-week unit on poetry. Another group of juniors studied plays during that 9-week period. Afterward, both groups completed a questionnaire on their attitudes toward poetry. High scores mean favorable attitudes. The means and variances are presented in the accompanying table. For the t test: t (78 df ) � 0.48. To compare the variances, an F test was performed: F (37, 41) � 3.62. (See footnote 8 in Chapter 10.)
Attitude toward poetry
Studied poetry Studied plays
Mean 23.7 21.7 Variance 51.3 16.1
15.34. Here is an example of the results of experiments that asked the question: Can you get more attitude change from an audience by presenting just one side of an argument and claiming that it is correct, or should you present both sides and then claim that one side is correct? In this experiment, a second independent variable was also examined: amount of education. The first table contains the mean change in attitude, and the second is the ANOVA summary table.
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Presentation
Amount of education One side Both sides
Less than 12 years 4.3 2.7 13� years 2.1 4.5
Source df F
Between presentations 1 2.01 Between education 1 1.83 Presentations � education 1 7.93 Error 44
15.35. A college student was interested in the relationship between handedness and verbal ability. She gave three classes of third-grade students a test of verbal ability that she had devised and then classified each child as right-handed, left-handed, or mixed. The obtained F value was 2.63.
Handedness
Left Right Mixed
Mean verbal ability score 21.6 25.9 31.3 N 16 36 12
15.36. As part of a large-scale study on alcoholism, alcoholics and nonalcoholics were classified according to when they were toilet- trained as children. The three categories were early, normal, and late. A x2 of 7.90 was found.
ADDITIONAL HELP FOR CHAPTER 15 Visit thomsonedu.com/psychology/spatz. At the Student Companion Site, click on the link to the Premium Website, which has an online study guide and dozens of multiple-choice and matching questions.
KEY TERMS Meta-analysis (p. 346) prep (p. 346)
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appendixes
A Arithmetic and Algebra Review 359
B Grouped Frequency Distributions and Central Tendency 373
C Tables 378
D Glossary of Words 399
E Glossary of Symbols 403
F Glossary of Formulas 405
G Answers to Problems 412
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appendix A
Arithmetic and Algebra Review
O B J E C T I V E S F O R A P P E N D I X A
After studying the text and working the problems, you should be able to:
1. Estimate answers
2. Round numbers
3. Find answers to problems with decimals, fractions, negative numbers, proportions, percents, absolute values, � signs, exponents, square roots, complex expressions, and simple algebraic expressions
Statistical Symbols
Although, as far as I know, there has never been a clinical case of neoiconophobia,1
some students show a mild form of this behavior. Symbols like , s, m, and � may cause a grimace, a frown, or a droopy eyelid. In severe cases, the behavior involves avoiding a statistics course entirely. I’m sure that you don’t have a severe case because you are still reading this textbook. Even so, if you are a typical beginning student in statistics, symbols like s, m, �, and X� are not very meaningful to you, and they may even elicit feelings of uneasiness. However, by the end of the course, you will know what these symbols mean and be able to approach them with an unruffled psyche— and perhaps even with joy.
Some of the symbols stand for concepts you are already familiar with. For example, the capital letter X with a bar over it, X�, stands for the mean or average. (X� is pronounced “mean” or sometimes “ex-bar.”) You already know about means. You just add up the scores and divide the total by the number of scores. This verbal instruction can be put into symbols: X� � �X/N. The Greek uppercase sigma (�) is the instruction to add, and X is the symbol for scores. X� � �X/N is something you already know about, even if you have not been using these symbols.
X�
359
1 An extreme and debilitating fear of new symbols.
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Pay careful attention to symbols. They serve as shorthand notations for the ideas and concepts you are learning. Each time a new symbol is introduced, concentrate on it, learn it, memorize its definition and pronunciation. The more meaning a symbol has for you, the better you understand the concepts it represents and, of course, the easier the course will be.
Sometimes I need to distinguish between two different s’s or two X’s. I use subscripts, and the results look like s1 and s2 or X1 and X2. In later chapters, subscripts other than numbers are used to identify a symbol. You will see both sX and . The point here is that subscripts are for identification purposes only; they never indicate multiplication. Thus, does not mean (s)(X�).
Two additional comments—to encourage and to caution you. I encourage you to do more in this course than just read the text, work the problems, and pass the tests, however exciting that may be. I hope you will occasionally get beyond this elementary text and read journal articles or short portions of other statistics textbooks. I will provide recommendations in footnotes at appropriate places. The word of caution that goes with this encouragement is that reading statistics texts is like reading a Russian novel—the same characters have different names in different places. For example, the mean of a sample in some texts is symbolized M rather than X�. There is even more variety when it comes to symbolizing the standard deviation. If you expect such differences, it will be less difficult for you to fit the new symbol into your established scheme of understanding.
Working Problems
This appendix covers the basic mathematical skills you need to work the problems in this course. This math is not complex. The highest level of mathematical sophistication is simple algebra.
Although the mathematical reasoning is not very complex, a good bit of arithmetic is required. To be good in statistics, you need to be good at arithmetic. A wrong answer is wrong whether the error is arithmetical or logical. For the beginning statistics student, the best way to prevent arithmetic errors is to use a calculator or a computer program.
Of course, even calculators can do more than simple arithmetic. Answers to many of the computational problems in this book can be found using a calculator with buttons for means, standard deviations, and correlation coefficients. By using a computer program, you can find numerical answers to all the computational problems. The question to ask yourself is: How can I use these aids so that I not only get the right answer but also understand what is going on and can tell the story that goes with my arithmetic? Your instructor will have some ideas about how to accomplish both goals.
Here is my advice. In the beginning, use a calculator to do the arithmetic for each part of a problem. Write down each step so you can see the progression from formula to final answer. When you know the steps and can explain them, use the special function keys (standard deviation, correlation, and so forth) to produce final answers directly from raw scores. Use computer programs when you understand a technique fairly well.
Most calculators produce values that are intermediate between raw scores and a final answer. For example, suppose a problem had three scores: 1, 2, and 3. For many techniques, you need to know the sum of the numbers (6) and the sum when each
sX�
sX�
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number is squared (14, which is 1 � 4 � 9). A calculator with a �� key or a stat function gives you both the sum of the numbers and the sum of the squares— with just one entry of each of the three numbers. This feature saves time and reduces errors.
This appendix is designed to refresh your memory of arithmetic and algebra. It is divided into two parts, a pretest and a review of fundamentals. The pretest gives you problems that are similar to those you have to work later in the course. Take the pretest and then check your answers against the answers in Appendix G. If you find that you made any mistakes, work through those sections of the review that explain the problems you missed.
As stated earlier, to be good at statistics, you must be good at arithmetic. To be good at arithmetic, you must know the rules and be careful in your computations. The rules follow the pretest; it is up to you to be careful in your computations.
Pretest
Estimating answers (Estimate whole-number answers to the problems.) A.1. (4.02)2 A.2. 1.935 � 7.89 A.3. 31.219 � 2.0593
Rounding numbers (Round numbers to the nearest tenth.) A.4. 6.06 A.5. 0.35 A.6. 10.348
Decimals
Add: A.7. 3.12 � 6.3 � 2.004 A.8. 12 � 8.625 � 2.316 � 4.2
Subtract: A.9. 28.76 � 8.91 A.10. 3.2 � 1.135
Multiply: A.11. 6.2 � 8.06 A.12. 0.35 � 0.162
Divide: A.13. 64.1 � 21.25 A.14. 0.065 � 0.0038
Fractions
Add: A.15. A.16.
Subtract: A.17. A.18.
Multiply: A.19. A.20.
Divide: A.21. A.22.
Negative numbers
Add: A.23. (�5) � 16 � (�1) � (�4) A.24. (�11) � (�2) � (�12) � 3
7 9 �
1 4
3 8 �
1 4
2 3 �
1 4 �
3 5
4 5 �
3 4
5 9 �
1 2
11 16 �
1 2
1 3 �
1 2
1 8 �
3 4 �
1 2
Arithmetic and Algebra Review ■ 361
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Subtract: A.25. (�10) � (�3) A.26. (�8) � (�2)
Multiply: A.27. (�5) � (�5) A.28. (�8) � (3)
Divide: A.29. (�10) � (�3) A.30. (�21) � 4
Percents and proportions A.31. 12 is what percent of 36? A.32. Find 27 percent of 84. A.33. What proportion of 112 is 21? A.34. A proportion .40 of the tagged birds were recovered. 150 were tagged in all.
How many were recovered?
Absolute value A.35. A.36.
� Problems A.37. A.38.
Exponents A.39. 42 A.40. 2.52 A.41. 0.352
Square roots A.42. A.43. A.44.
Complex problems (Round answers to two decimal places.)
A.45. A.46.
A.47. A.48.
A.49. A.50.
A.51. A.52.
A.53.
A.54. For the numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4: Find the sum and the sum of the squared numbers.
A.55. For the numbers 2, 4, and 6: Find the sum and the sum of the squared numbers.
Simple algebra (Solve for x.)
A.56. A.57.
A.58. A.59. 6 � 2
3 �
x � 9
5
20 � 6
2 � 4x � 3
14 � 8.5 x
� 0.5 x � 3
4 � 2.5
6 3 13 � 5 2 14 � 1 2 � 2 4
52 � 16 2 12 2
12 150 � 20 2 2
18 2 110 2 112 2 111 2
190 � 1252>5 2
5 � 1
13 2 14 2 � 16 2 18 2 � 15 2 16 2 � 12 2 13 2
14 2 14 � 1 2 a
3.6
1.2 b
2
� a 6.0
2.4 b
2
a 8 � 4
8 � 4 � 2 b a
1
8 �
1
4 b
18 � 6.5 2 2 � 15 � 6.5 2 2
2 � 1
15 � 3 2 2 � 13 � 3 2 2 � 11 � 3 2 2
3 � 1
3 � 4 � 7 � 2 � 5
5
20.09320.9329.30
13 � 9 �8 � 2 �
08�12 00�5 0
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Review of Fundamentals
This section gives you a quick review of the pencil-and-paper rules of arithmetic and simple algebra. I assume that you once knew all these rules but that refresher exercises will be helpful. Thus, there isn’t much explanation. To obtain basic explanations, ask a teacher in your school’s mathematics department to recommend one of the many “refresher” books that are available.
Definitions
Sum. The answer to an addition problem is called a sum. In Chapter 10 you calculate a sum of squares, a quantity that is obtained by adding together squared numbers.
Difference. The answer to a subtraction problem is called a difference. Much of what you learn in statistics deals with differences and how to explain them.
Product. The answer to a multiplication problem is called a product. Chapter 5 is about the product-moment correlation coefficient, which requires multiplication. Multiplication problems are indicated either by a � or by parentheses. Thus, 6 � 4 and (6)(4) call for the same operation.
Quotient. The answer to a division problem is called a quotient. The three ways to indicate a division problem are �, / (slash mark), and � (division line). Thus, 9 � 4, 9/4, and call for the same operation. It is a good idea to think of any common fraction as a division problem. The numerator is to be divided by the denominator.
Estimating Answers
It is a very good idea to just look at a problem and estimate the answer before you do any calculating. This is referred to as “eyeballing the data,” and Edward Minium captured its importance with Minium’s First Law of Statistics: “The eyeball is the statistician’s most powerful instrument.” (See Minium and King, 2002.)
Estimating keeps you from making gross errors such as misplacing a decimal point. For example, can be estimated as a little more than 6. If you estimate before you divide, you are likely to recognize that an answer of 63 or 0.63 is wrong.
The estimated answer to the problem (21)(108) is 2000 because (20)(100) � 2000. The problem (0.47)(0.20) suggests an estimated answer of 0.10 because (0.20) � 0.10. With 0.10 in mind, you are not likely to write 0.94 for the answer (which is 0.094). Estimating answers is also important if you are finding a square root. You can estimate that is about 10 because ; is about 1; is about 0.1.
To calculate a mean, eyeball the numbers and estimate the mean. If you estimate a mean of 30 for a group of numbers that are primarily in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, a calculated mean of 60 will arouse your suspicion that you have made an error.
Rounding Numbers
Find the number that is to be rounded up or not rounded up. If the number to its right is 5 or greater, increase the number by one. If the number to its right is less than 5, do
10.09311.0341100 � 10195 1 2
31.5 5
9 4
Arithmetic and Algebra Review ■ 363
very good idea Examine a statistics problem until you understand it well enough to estimate the answer.
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not change the number. These rules are built into most calculators. Here are some illustrations of these rules.
Rounding to the nearest whole number:
6.2 � 6 4.5 � 5
12.7 � 13 163.5 � 164
6.49 � 6 9.5 � 10
Rounding to the nearest hundredth:
13.614 � 13.61 12.065 � 12.07
0.049 � 0.05 4.005 � 4.01
1.097 � 1.10 0.675 � 0.68
3.6248 � 3.62 1.995 � 2.00
A reasonable question is: How many decimal places should an answer in statistics have? A good rule of thumb in statistics is to carry all operations to three decimal places and then, for the final answer, round back to two decimal places.
Sometimes a rule of thumb can get you into trouble, though. For example, if halfway through a division problem of 0.0016 � 0.0074 you dutifully round those four decimals to three (0.002 � 0.007), you get an answer of 0.2857, which becomes 0.29. However, division without rounding gives you an answer of 0.2162 or 0.22. The difference between 0.22 and 0.29 may be substantial. I often give you cues if more than two decimal places are necessary, but you should always be alert to the problems of rounding.
Most calculators carry more decimal places in memory than they show in the display. If you have such a calculator, it will protect you from the problem of rounding too much or too soon.
P R O B L E M S
A.60. Define (a) sum, (b) quotient, (c) product, and (d) difference. A.61. Estimate answers to the expressions.
a. b. c. (11.4)2 d. e. 0.412 f. 11.92 � 4.60 g. h.
A.62. Round the numbers to the nearest whole number. a. 13.9 b. 126.4 c. 9.0 d. 0.4 e. 127.5 f. 12.51 g. 12.49 h. 12.50 i. 9.46
A.63. Round the numbers to the nearest hundredth. a. 6.3348 b. 12.997 c. 0.050 d. 0.965 e. 2.605 f. 0.3445 g. 0.003 h. 0.015 i. 0.9949
Decimals
1. Addition and subtraction of decimals. There is only one rule about the addition and subtraction of numbers that have decimals: Keep the decimal points in a vertical
10.009810.888 10.045974.16 � 9.871103.48
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line. The decimal point in the answer goes directly below those in the problem. This rule is illustrated in the five problems here.
Add Subtract
0.004 6.0 1.26 1.310 18.0 14.032 16.00
10.00 4.039 0.5 8.26 4.32 11.26 5.353 24.5 5.772 11.68
2. Multiplication of decimals. The basic rule for multiplying decimals is that the number of decimal places in the answer is found by adding the numbers of decimal places in the two numbers that are being multiplied. To place the decimal point in the product, count from the right.
1.3 0.21 1.47 � 4.2 �0.4 � 3.12
26 0.084 294 52 147
5.46 441 4.5864
3. Division of decimals. Two methods have been used to teach division of decimals. The older method required the student to move the decimal in the divisor (the number you are dividing by) enough places to the right to make the divisor a whole number. The decimal in the dividend is then moved to the right the same number of places, and division is carried out in the usual way. The new decimal places are identified with carets (^), and the decimal place in the quotient is just above the caret in the dividend.
20. 38.46
Decimal moved three places in Decimal moved two places in both both the divisor and the dividend the divisor and the dividend
2.072 .004
Divisor is already a whole number Decimal moved one place in both the divisor and the dividend
The newer method of teaching the division of decimals is to multiply both the divisor and the dividend by the number that will make both of them whole numbers. (Actually, this is the way the caret method works also.)
12.432
6 �
1000
1000 �
12,432
6000 � 2.072
15
0.39 �
100
100 �
1500
39 � 38.46
0.0369
9.1 �
10,000
10,000 �
369
91,000 � 0.004
0.32
0.016 �
1000
1000 �
320
16 � 20.00
9.1^>0.0^3696>12.432
0.39^>15.00^ 0.016^>0.320^
Arithmetic and Algebra Review ■ 365
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P R O B L E M S
Perform the operations indicated. A.64. 0.001 � 10 � 3.652 � 2.5 A.65. 14.2 � 7.31 A.66. 0.04 � 1.26 A.67. 143.3 � 16.92 � 2.307 � 8.1
A.68. 3.06 � 0.04 A.69.
A.70. 152.12 � 127.4 A.71. (0.5)(0.07)
Fractions
In general, there are two ways to deal with fractions.
1. Convert each fraction to a decimal. 2. Work directly with the fractions, using a set of rules for each operation. The
rule for addition and subtraction is: Convert the fractions to ones with common denominators, add or subtract the numerators, and place the result over the common denominator. The rule for multiplication is: Multiply the numerators together to get the numerator of the answer, and multiply the denominators together for the denominator of the answer. The rule for division is: Invert the divisor and multiply the fractions.
For statistics problems, it is usually easier to convert the fractions to decimals and then work with the decimals, and this is the method I use. However, if you are a whiz at working directly with fractions, by all means continue with your method. To convert a fraction to a decimal, divide the lower number into the upper one. Thus, and .
Addition of fractions Subtraction of fractions
Multiplication of fractions Division of fractions
7
8 �
3
4 � 0.875 � 0.75 � 1.17
1
11 �
2
3 � 10.09 2 10.67 2 � 0.06
14 � 1
3 � 14 � 0.33 � 42
10
19 �
61
90 � 0.526 � 0.678 � 0.36
9
21 �
13
19 � 0.429 � 0.684 � 0.63
1
2 �
3
4 � 10.5 2 10.75 2 � 0.38
41
53 �
17
61 � 0.774 � 0.279 � 0.50
2
3 �
3
4 � 0.667 � 0.75 � 1.42
11
12 �
2
3 � 0.917 � 0.667 � 0.25
13
17 �
21
37 � 0.765 � 0.568 � 1.33
1
2 �
1
4 � 0.50 � 0.25 � 0.25
1
2 �
1
4 � 0.50 � 0.25 � 0.75
13 17 � 0.765
3 4 � 0.75
24
11.75
366 ■ Appendix A
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P R O B L E M S
Perform the operations indicated.
A.72. A.73.
A.74. A.75.
A.76. A.77.
A.78.
Negative Numbers
1. Addition of negative numbers. (Any number without a sign is understood to be positive.) a. To add a series of negative numbers, add the numbers in the usual way
and attach a negative sign to the total.
�3 �8
�12 (�1) � (�6) � (�3) � �10 �5
�28
b. To add two numbers, one positive and one negative, subtract the smaller number from the larger number and attach the sign of the larger number to the result.
140 �14 (28) � (�9) � 19 �55 8
85 �6 74 � (�96) � �22
c. To add a series of numbers, some positive and some negative, add all the positive numbers together, add all the negative numbers together (see 1a), and then combine the two sums (see 1b).
(�4) � (�6) � (12) � (�5) � (2) � (�9) � 14 � (�24) � �10 (�7) � (10) � (4) � (�5) � 14 � (�12) � 2
2. Subtraction of negative numbers. To subtract a negative number, change it to positive and add it.
(�14) 5 18 (�7) �(�2) �(�7) �(�3) �(�5)
�12 12 11 �2
18 � 1
3
3
4 �
5
6
1
3 �
5
6
4
5 �
1
6 a
1
3 b a
5
6 b
9
20 �
19
20
9
10 �
1
2 �
2
5
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3. Multiplication of negative numbers. When the two numbers to be multiplied are both negative, the product is positive.
(�3)(�3) � 9 (�6)(�8) � 48
When one of the numbers is negative and the other is positive, the product is negative.
(�8)(3) � �24 14 � �2 � �28
4. Division of negative numbers. The rule in division is the same as the rule in multiplication. If the two numbers are both negative, the quotient is positive.
(�10) � (�2) � 5 (�4) � (�20) � 0.20
If one number is negative and the other positive, the quotient is negative.
(�10) � 2 � �5 6 � (�18) � �0.33
14 � (�7) � �2 (�12) � 3 � �4
P R O B L E M S
A.79. Add the numbers. a. �3, 19, �14, 5, �11 b. �8, �12, �3 c. �8, 11 d. 3, �6, �2, 5, �7
A.80. (�8)(5) A.81. (�4)(�6) A.82. (4)(12) A.83. (11)(�3) A.84. (�18) � (�9) A.85. 14 � (�6) A.86. 12 � (�3) A.87. (�6) � (�7) A.88. (�9) � (�3) A.89. (�10) � 5 A.90. 4 � (�12) A.91. (�7) � 5
Proportions and Percents
A proportion is a part of a whole and can be expressed as a fraction or as a decimal. Usually proportions are expressed as decimals. If eight students in a class of 44 received
A’s, 8 is a proportion of the whole (44). Thus, , or 0.18, is the proportion of the class that received A’s.
To convert a proportion to a percent (per one hundred), multiply by 100. Thus, 0.18 � 100 � 18; 18 percent of the students received A’s. As you can see, proportions and percents are two ways to express the same idea.
If you know a proportion (or percent) and the size of the original whole, you can find the number that the proportion represents. If 0.28 of the students were absent due to illness and there are 50 students in all, then 0.28 of the 50 were absent: (0.28)(50) � 14 students who were absent. Here are some more problems. Cover the answers and work all four problems.
1. 26 out of 31 completed the course. What proportion completed the course? 2. What percent completed the course? 3. What percent of 19 is 5? 4. If 90 percent of the population agreed and the population consisted of 210
members, how many members agreed?
8 44
368 ■ Appendix A
proportion A part of a whole.
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Answers:
1.
2. 0.83 � 100 � 83 percent
3.
4. 0.90 � 210 � 189 members
Absolute Value
The absolute value of a number ignores the sign of the number. Thus, the absolute value of �6 is 6. This is expressed with symbols as ��6� � 6. It is expressed verbally as “the absolute value of negative six is six.” In a similar way, the absolute value of 4 � 7 is 3; that is, �4 � 7� � ��3� � 3.
� Signs
A � sign (“plus or minus” sign) means to both add and subtract. A � problem always has two answers.
10 � 4 � 6, 14
8 � (3)(2) � 8 � 6 � 2, 14
� (4)(3) � 21 � �12 � 21 � 9, 33
�4 � 6 � �10, �2
Exponents
In the expression 52 (“five squared”), 2 is the exponent. The 2 means that 5 is to be multiplied by itself. Thus, 52 � 5 � 5 � 25.
In elementary statistics, the only exponent used is 2, but it will be used frequently. When a number has an exponent of 2, the number is said to be squared. The expression 42 (“four squared”) means 4 � 4, and the product is 16.
82 � 8 � 8 � 64 (0.75)2 � (0.75)(0.75) � 0.5625
1.22 � (1.2)(1.2) � 1.44 122 � 12 � 12 � 144
Square Roots
Statistics problems often require that a square root be found. There are three possible ways to find the square root:
1. A calculator with a square root key 2. A table of square roots 3. The paper-and-pencil method
5
19 � 0.26 0.26 � 100 � 26 percent
26
31 � 0.83
Arithmetic and Algebra Review ■ 369
absolute value A number without consideration of its algebraic sign.
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Use a calculator with a square root key. If this is not possible, find a book with a table of square roots. The third solution, the paper-and-pencil method, is so tedious and error-prone that I do not recommend it.
P R O B L E M S
A.92. Six is what proportion of 13? A.93. Six is what percent of 13? A.94. What proportion of 25 is 18? A.95. What percent of 115 is 85? A.96. Find 72 percent of 36. A.97. 22 is what proportion of 72? A.98. If .40 of the 320 members voted against the proposal, how many
voted no? A.99. 22 percent of the 850 coupons were redeemed. How many were
redeemed? A.100. ��31� A.101. �21 � 25� A.102. 12 � (2)(5) A.103. �(5)(6) � 10 A.104. �(2)(2) � 6 A.105. (2.5)2
A.106. 92 A.107. (0.3)2
A.108.
A.109. Find the square root of the numbers to two decimal places (or more if appropriate). a. 625 b. 6.25 c. 0.625 d. 0.0625 e. 16.85 f. 0.003 g. 181,476 h. 0.25 i. 22.51
Complex Expressions
Two rules are used for the complex expressions encountered in statistics.
1. Perform the operations within the parentheses. If there are brackets in the expression, perform the operations within the parentheses and then the operations within the brackets.
2. Perform the operations in the numerator separately from those in the denominator and, finally, carry out the division.
a 8.2
4.1 b
2
� a 4.2
1.2 b
2
� 12 2 2 � 13.5 2 2 � 4 � 12.25 � 16.25
� 14.40 2 10.583 2 � 2.57
a 10 � 12
4 � 3 � 2 b a
1
4 �
1
3 b � a
22
5 b 10.25 � 0.333 2
� 4 � 1 � 9
2 �
14
2 � 7.00
18 � 6 2 2 � 17 � 6 2 2 � 13 � 6 2 2
3 � 1 �
22 � 12 � 1�3 2 2
2
a 1
4 b
2
370 ■ Appendix A
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Simple Algebra
To solve a simple algebra problem, isolate the unknown (x) on one side of the equal sign and combine the numbers on the other side. To do this, remember that the same number can be added to or subtracted from both sides of the equation without affecting the value of the unknown.
x � 5 � 12 x � 7 � 9 x � 5 � 5 � 12 � 5 x � 7 � 7 � 9 � 7
x � 17 x � 2
In a similar way, you can multiply or divide both sides of the equation by the same number without affecting the value of the unknown.
11x � 30
x � 54 x � 2.73 3 � 14x
0.21 � x
I combine some of these steps in the problems that follow. Be sure you see what operation is being performed on both sides in each step.
x � 2.5 � (1.3)(1.96) 6.6 � 0.04x
x � 2.548 � 2.5
x � 5.048 165 � x
4x � 9 � 52
4x � 25 � 9 14 � x � (1.9)(6)
14 � 11.4 � x
x � 8.50 2.6 � x
x � 34
4
14 � x
6 � 1.9
6.6
0.04 � x
21.6 � 15 x
� 0.04 x � 2.5
1.3 � 1.96
3
14 �
14x
14
1x 2 a 3 x b � 114 2 1x 2
11x
11 �
30
11 16 2 a
x
6 b � 16 2 19 2
3 x
� 14 x
6 � 9
18 � 62
4
4 � 1 �
18 � 36
4
3 �
18 � 9
3 �
9
3 � 3.00
� 6 19 � 5 2
30 �
6 14 2
30 �
24
30 � 0.80
6 3 113 � 10 2 2 � 5 4
6 16 � 1 2 �
6 132 � 5 2
6 15 2
Arithmetic and Algebra Review ■ 371
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P R O B L E M S
Reduce these complex expressions to a single number rounded to two decimal places.
A.110.
A.111.
A.112. A.113.
A.114. A.115.
A.116. A.117.
A.118. A.119.
Find the value of x.
A.120. A.121.
A.122. A.123. x � 36 � 41
8.2 x �
14 � 11
2.5
x � 21
6.1 � 1.04
x � 4
2 � 2.58
104 � 1122>6 2
5
10 � 162>9 2
8
a 9
2>3 b
2
� a 8
3>4 b
26
1>2 �
8
1>3
3 18 � 2 2 15 � 1 2 4 2
5 110 � 7 2
8 3 16 � 2 2 2 � 5 4
13 2 12 2 14 2
a 13 � 18
6 � 8 � 2 b a
1
6 �
1
8 ba
5 � 6
3 � 2 � 2 b a
1
3 �
1
2 b
112 � 8 2 2 � 18 � 8 2 2 � 15 � 8 2 2 � 17 � 8 2 2
4 � 1
14 � 2 2 2 � 10 � 2 2 2
6
372 ■ Appendix A
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appendix B
Grouped Frequency Distributions and Central Tendency
O B J E C T I V E S F O R A P P E N D I X B
After studying the text and working the problems, you should be able to:
1. Use four conventions for constructing grouped frequency distributions
2. Arrange raw data into a grouped frequency distribution
3. Find the mean, median, and mode of a grouped frequency distribution
(In writing this appendix, I assumed that you have studied Chapter 2, Frequency Distributions and Graphs, and the central tendency sections of Chapter 3.)
As you know from Chapter 2, converting a batch of raw scores into a simple frequency distribution brings order out of apparent chaos. For some distributions even more order can be obtained if the raw scores are arranged into a grouped frequency distribution. The order becomes even more apparent when grouped frequency distributions are graphed. In addition to grouping and graphing, this appendix covers the calculation of the mean, median, and mode of grouped frequency distributions.
Grouped frequency distributions are used when the range of scores is too large for a simple frequency distribution. How large is too large? A rule of thumb is that grouped frequency distributions are appropriate when the range of scores is greater than 20. At times, however, ignoring this rule of thumb produces an improved analysis.
Grouped Frequency Distributions
As you may recall from Chapter 2, the only difference between simple frequency distributions and grouped frequency distributions is that grouped frequency distributions
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have class intervals in the place of scores. Each class interval in a grouped frequency distribution covers the same number of scores. The number of scores in the interval is symbolized i (interval size).
Establishing Class Intervals
There are no hard and fast rules for establishing class intervals. The ones that follow are used by many researchers, but some computer programs do not follow them.
1. The number of class intervals. The number of class intervals should be 10 to 20. On the one hand, with fewer than 10 intervals, the extreme scores in the data are not as apparent because they are clustered with more frequently occurring scores. On the other hand, more than 20 class intervals often make it difficult to see the shape of the distribution.
2. The size of i. If i is odd, the midpoint of the class interval will be a whole number, and whole numbers look better on graphs than decimal numbers. Three and five often work well as interval sizes. You may find that i � 2 is needed if you are to have 10 to 20 class intervals. If an i of 5 produces more than 20 class intervals, data groupers usually jump to an i of 10 or some multiple of 10. An interval size of 25 is popular.
3. The lower limit of a class interval. Begin each class interval with a multiple of i. For example, if the lowest score is 5 and i � 3 (as happened with the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) scores in Table 2.4), the first class interval should be 3–5. An exception to this convention occurs when i � 5. When the interval size is 5, it is usually better to use a multiple of 5 as the midpoint because multiples of 5 are easier to read on graphs.
4. The order of the intervals. The largest scores go at the top of the table. (This is a convention not followed by some computer programs.)
Converting Unorganized Scores into a Grouped Frequency Distribution
With the conventions for establishing class intervals in mind, here are the steps for converting unorganized data into a grouped frequency distribution. As an example, I will use the raw data in Table 2.1 and describe converting it into Table 2.4.
1. Find the highest and lowest scores. In Table 2.1, the highest score is 35 and the lowest score is 5.
2. Find the range of the scores by subtracting the lowest score from the highest score (35 � 5 � 30).
3. Determine i by a trial-and-error procedure. Remember that there are to be 10 to 20 class intervals and that the interval size should be convenient (3, 5, 10, or a multiple of 10). Dividing the range by a potential i value gives the approximate number of class intervals. Dividing the range, 30, by 3 gives 10, which is a recommended number of class intervals.
4. Establish the lowest interval. Begin the interval with a multiple of i, which may or may not be an actual raw score. End the interval so that it contains
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i scores (but not necessarily i frequencies). For Table 2.4, the lowest interval is 3–5. (Note that 3 is not an actual score but is a multiple of i.) Each interval above the lowest one begins with a multiple of i. Continue building the class intervals.
5. With the class intervals written, underline each score (Table 2.1) and put a tally mark beside its class interval (Table 2.4).
6. As a check on your work, add up the frequency column. The sum should be N, the number of scores in the unorganized data.
P R O B L E M S
*B.1. A sociology professor was deciding what statistics to present in her introduction to sociology classes. She developed a test that covered concepts such as the median, graphs, standard deviation, and correlation. She tested one class of 50 students, and on the basis of the results, planned a course syllabus for that class and the other six intro sections. Arrange the data into an appropriate rough-draft frequency distribution.
20 56 48 13 30 39 25 41 52 44 27 36 54 46 59 42 17 63 50 24 31 19 38 10 43 31 34 32 15 47 40 36 5 31 53 24 31 41 49 21 26 35 28 37 25 33 27 38 34 22
*B.2. The measurements that follow are weights in pounds of a sample of college men in one study. Arrange them into a grouped frequency distribution. If these data are skewed, tell the direction of the skew.
164 158 156 148 180 176 171 150 152 155 161 168 148 175 154 155 149 149 151 160 157 158 161 167 152 168 151 157 150 154 189
Central Tendency of Grouped Frequency Distributions
Mean
Finding the mean of a grouped frequency distribution involves the same arithmetic as that for a simple frequency distribution. Setting up the problem, however, requires one additional step. Look at Table B.1, which has four columns (compared to the three in Table 3.3). For a grouped frequency distribution, the midpoint of the interval represents all the scores in the interval. Thus, multiplying the midpoint by its f value includes all the scores in that interval. As you can see at the bottom of Table B.1, summing the f X column gives �f X, which, when divided by N, yields the mean.
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In terms of a formula,
For Table B.1,
Note that the mean of the grouped data is 23.92 but the mean of the simple frequency distribution is 24.00. The mean of grouped scores is often different, but seldom is this difference of any consequence.
Median
Finding the median of a grouped distribution is almost the same as finding the median of a simple frequency distribution. Of course, you are looking for a point that has as many frequencies above it as below it. To locate the median, use the formula
For the data in Table B.1,
As before, look for a point with 50 frequencies above it and 50 frequencies below it. Adding frequencies from the bottom of the distribution, you find that there are 37 scores below the interval 24–26 and 24 scores in that interval. The 50.5th score is in the
Median location � N � 1
2 �
100 � 1
2 � 50.5
Median location � N � 1
2
m or X� � ©f X
N �
2392
100 � 23.92
m or X� � ©f X
N
376 ■ Appendix B
TABLE B.1 A grouped frequency distribution of Satisfaction With Life Scale scores with i � 3
SWLS scores Midpoint (class interval) (X) f f X
33–35 34 5 170 30–32 31 11 341 27–29 28 23 644 24–26 25 24 600 21–23 22 14 308 18–20 19 8 152 15–17 16 5 80 12–14 13 3 39 9–11 10 5 50 6–8 7 0 0 3–5 4 2 8
N � 100 2392
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interval 24–26. The midpoint of the interval is the median. For the grouped SWLS scores in Table B.1, the median is 25.
Thus, to find the median of a grouped frequency distribution, locate the class interval that is the location of the middle score. The midpoint of that interval is the median.
Mode
The mode is the midpoint of the interval that has the highest frequency. In Table B.1 the highest frequency count is 24. The interval with 24 scores is 24–26. The midpoint of that interval, 25, is the mode.
P R O B L E M S
B.3. Find the mean, median, and mode of the grouped frequency distribution you constructed from the statistics questionnaire data (problem B.1).
B.4. Find the mean, median, and mode of the weight data in problem B.2.
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appendix C
Tables
A Critical Values for Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficients, r 379
B Random Digits 380
C Normal Curve Areas 384
D The t Distribution 386
E Chi Square Distribution 387
F The F Distribution 388
G Critical Values of the Studentized Range Statistic (for Tukey HSD Tests) 392
H Critical Values for the Mann–Whitney U Test 394
J Critical Values for the Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks T Test 396
K Critical Differences for the Wilcoxon–Wilcox Multiple-Comparisons Test 397
L Critical Values for Spearman rs 398
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Tables ■ 379
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Text not available due to copyright restrictions
380 ■ Appendix C
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Text not available due to copyright restrictions
Tables ■ 381
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Text not available due to copyright restrictions
382 ■ Appendix C
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Text not available due to copyright restrictions
Tables ■ 383
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Text not available due to copyright restrictions
TABLE C Normal curve areas
A B C A B C A B C
z m to z z to � z m to z z to � z m to z z to �
0.00 .0000 .5000 0.55 .2088 .2912 1.10 .3643 .1357 0.01 .0040 .4960 0.56 .2123 .2877 1.11 .3665 .1335 0.02 .0080 .4920 0.57 .2157 .2843 1.12 .3686 .1314 0.03 .0120 .4880 0.58 .2190 .2810 1.13 .3708 .1292 0.04 .0160 .4840 0.59 .2224 .2776 1.14 .3729 .1271 0.05 .0199 .4801 0.60 .2257 .2743 1.15 .3749 .1251 0.06 .0239 .4761 0.61 .2291 .2709 1.16 .3770 .1230 0.07 .0279 .4721 0.62 .2324 .2676 1.17 .3790 .1210 0.08 .0319 .4681 0.63 .2357 .2643 1.18 .3810 .1190 0.09 .0359 .4641 0.64 .2389 .2611 1.19 .3830 .1170 0.10 .0398 .4602 0.65 .2422 .2578 1.20 .3849 .1151 0.11 .0438 .4562 0.66 .2454 .2546 1.21 .3869 .1131 0.12 .0478 .4522 0.67 .2486 .2514 1.22 .3888 .1112 0.13 .0517 .4483 0.68 .2517 .2483 1.23 .3907 .1093 0.14 .0557 .4443 0.69 .2549 .2451 1.24 .3925 .1075 0.15 .0596 .4404 0.70 .2580 .2420 1.25 .3944 .1056 0.16 .0636 .4364 0.71 .2611 .2389 1.26 .3962 .1038 0.17 .0675 .4325 0.72 .2642 .2358 1.27 .3980 .1020 0.18 .0714 .4286 0.73 .2673 .2327 1.28 .3997 .1003 0.19 .0753 .4247 0.74 .2704 .2296 1.29 .4015 .0985 0.20 .0793 .4207 0.75 .2734 .2266 1.30 .4032 .0968 0.21 .0832 .4168 0.76 .2764 .2236 1.31 .4049 .0951 0.22 .0871 .4129 0.77 .2794 .2206 1.32 .4066 .0934 0.23 .0910 .4090 0.78 .2823 .2177 1.33 .4082 .0918 0.24 .0948 .4052 0.79 .2852 .2148 1.34 .4099 .0901 0.25 .0987 .4013 0.80 .2881 .2119 1.35 .4115 .0885 0.26 .1026 .3974 0.81 .2910 .2090 1.36 .4131 .0869 0.27 .1064 .3936 0.82 .2939 .2061 1.37 .4147 .0853 0.28 .1103 .3897 0.83 .2967 .2033 1.38 .4162 .0838 0.29 .1141 .3859 0.84 .2995 .2005 1.39 .4177 .0823 0.30 .1179 .3821 0.85 .3023 .1977 1.40 .4192 .0808 0.31 .1217 .3783 0.86 .3051 .1949 1.41 .4207 .0793 0.32 .1255 .3745 0.87 .3078 .1922 1.42 .4222 .0778 0.33 .1293 .3707 0.88 .3106 .1894 1.43 .4236 .0764 0.34 .1331 .3669 0.89 .3133 .1867 1.44 .4251 .0749 0.35 .1368 .3632 0.90 .3159 .1841 1.45 .4265 .0735 0.36 .1406 .3594 0.91 .3186 .1814 1.46 .4279 .0721 0.37 .1443 .3557 0.92 .3212 .1788 1.47 .4292 .0708 0.38 .1480 .3520 0.93 .3238 .1762 1.48 .4306 .0694 0.39 .1517 .3483 0.94 .3264 .1736 1.49 .4319 .0681 0.40 .1554 .3446 0.95 .3289 .1711 1.50 .4332 .0668 0.41 .1591 .3409 0.96 .3315 .1685 1.51 .4345 .0655 0.42 .1628 .3372 0.97 .3340 .1660 1.52 .4357 .0643 0.43 .1664 .3336 0.98 .3365 .1635 1.53 .4370 .0630 0.44 .1700 .3300 0.99 .3389 .1611 1.54 .4382 .0618 0.45 .1736 .3264 1.00 .3413 .1587 1.55 .4394 .0606 0.46 .1772 .3228 1.01 .3438 .1562 1.56 .4406 .0594 0.47 .1808 .3192 1.02 .3461 .1539 1.57 .4418 .0582 0.48 .1844 .3156 1.03 .3485 .1515 1.58 .4429 .0571 0.49 .1879 .3121 1.04 .3508 .1492 1.59 .4441 .0559 0.50 .1915 .3085 1.05 .3531 .1469 1.60 .4452 .0548 0.51 .1950 .3050 1.06 .3554 .1446 1.61 .4463 .0537 0.52 .1985 .3015 1.07 .3577 .1423 1.62 .4474 .0526 0.53 .2019 .2981 1.08 .3599 .1401 1.63 .4484 .0516 0.54 .2054 .2946 1.09 .3621 .1379 1.64 .4495 .0505
(continued)
384 ■ Appendix C
zµ –z µ
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Tables ■ 385
TABLE C (continued)
A B C A B C A B C
z m to z z to � z m to z z to � z m to z z to �
1.65 .4505 .0495 2.22 .4868 .0132 2.79 .4974 .0026 1.66 .4515 .0485 2.23 .4871 .0129 2.80 .4974 .0026 1.67 .4525 .0475 2.24 .4875 .0125 2.81 .4975 .0025 1.68 .4535 .0465 2.25 .4878 .0122 2.82 .4976 .0024 1.69 .4545 .0455 2.26 .4881 .0119 2.83 .4977 .0023 1.70 .4554 .0446 2.27 .4884 .0116 2.84 .4977 .0023 1.71 .4564 .0436 2.28 .4887 .0113 2.85 .4978 .0022 1.72 .4573 .0427 2.29 .4890 .0110 2.86 .4979 .0021 1.73 .4582 .0418 2.30 .4893 .0107 2.87 .4979 .0021 1.74 .4591 .0409 2.31 .4896 .0104 2.88 .4980 .0020 1.75 .4599 .0401 2.32 .4898 .0102 2.89 .4981 .0019 1.76 .4608 .0392 2.33 .4901 .0099 2.90 .4981 .0019 1.77 .4616 .0384 2.34 .4904 .0096 2.91 .4982 .0018 1.78 .4625 .0375 2.35 .4906 .0094 2.92 .4982 .0018 1.79 .4633 .0367 2.36 .4909 .0091 2.93 .4983 .0017 1.80 .4641 .0359 2.37 .4911 .0089 2.94 .4984 .0016 1.81 .4649 .0351 2.38 .4913 .0087 2.95 .4984 .0016 1.82 .4656 .0344 2.39 .4916 .0084 2.96 .4985 .0015 1.83 .4664 .0336 2.40 .4918 .0082 2.97 .4985 .0015 1.84 .4671 .0329 2.41 .4920 .0080 2.98 .4986 .0014 1.85 .4678 .0322 2.42 .4922 .0078 2.99 .4986 .0014 1.86 .4686 .0314 2.43 .4925 .0075 3.00 .4987 .0013 1.87 .4693 .0307 2.44 .4927 .0073 3.01 .4987 .0013 1.88 .4699 .0301 2.45 .4929 .0071 3.02 .4987 .0013 1.89 .4706 .0294 2.46 .4931 .0069 3.03 .4988 .0012 1.90 .4713 .0287 2.47 .4932 .0068 3.04 .4988 .0012 1.91 .4719 .0281 2.48 .4934 .0066 3.05 .4989 .0011 1.92 .4726 .0274 2.49 .4936 .0064 3.06 .4989 .0011 1.93 .4732 .0268 2.50 .4938 .0062 3.07 .4989 .0011 1.94 .4738 .0262 2.51 .4940 .0060 3.08 .4990 .0010 1.95 .4744 .0256 2.52 .4941 .0059 3.09 .4990 .0010 1.96 .4750 .0250 2.53 .4943 .0057 3.10 .4990 .0010 1.97 .4756 .0244 2.54 .4945 .0055 3.11 .4991 .0009 1.98 .4761 .0239 2.55 .4946 .0054 3.12 .4991 .0009 1.99 .4767 .0233 2.56 .4948 .0052 3.13 .4991 .0009 2.00 .4772 .0228 2.57 .4949 .0051 3.14 .4992 .0008 2.01 .4778 .0222 2.58 .4951 .0049 3.15 .4992 .0008 2.02 .4783 .0217 2.59 .4952 .0048 3.16 .4992 .0008 2.03 .4788 .0212 2.60 .4953 .0047 3.17 .4992 .0008 2.04 .4793 .0207 2.61 .4955 .0045 3.18 .4993 .0007 2.05 .4798 .0202 2.62 .4956 .0044 3.19 .4993 .0007 2.06 .4803 .0197 2.63 .4957 .0043 3.20 .4993 .0007 2.07 .4808 .0192 2.64 .4959 .0041 3.21 .4993 .0007 2.08 .4812 .0188 2.65 .4960 .0040 3.22 .4994 .0006 2.09 .4817 .0183 2.66 .4961 .0039 3.23 .4994 .0006 2.10 .4821 .0179 2.67 .4962 .0038 3.24 .4994 .0006 2.11 .4826 .0174 2.68 .4963 .0037 3.25 .4994 .0006 2.12 .4830 .0170 2.69 .4964 .0036 3.30 .4995 .0005 2.13 .4834 .0166 2.70 .4965 .0035 3.35 .4996 .0004 2.14 .4838 .0162 2.71 .4966 .0034 3.40 .4997 .0003 2.15 .4842 .0158 2.72 .4967 .0033 3.45 .4997 .0003 2.16 .4846 .0154 2.73 .4968 .0032 3.50 .4998 .0002 2.17 .4850 .0150 2.74 .4969 .0031 3.60 .4998 .0002 2.18 .4854 .0146 2.75 .4970 .0030 3.70 .4999 .0001 2.19 .4857 .0143 2.76 .4971 .0029 3.80 .4999 .0001 2.20 .4861 .0139 2.77 .4972 .0028 3.90 .49995 .00005 2.21 .4864 .0136 2.78 .4973 .0027 4.00 .49997 .00003
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386 ■ Appendix C
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Text not available due to copyright restrictions
Tables ■ 387
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Text not available due to copyright restrictions
388 ■ Appendix C
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Text not available due to copyright restrictions
Tables ■ 389
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Text not available due to copyright restrictions
390 ■ Appendix C
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Text not available due to copyright restrictions
Tables ■ 391
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Text not available due to copyright restrictions
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392 ■
A ppendix C
TABLE G Critical values of the studentized range statistic (for Tukey HSD tests)
a � .05
Number of levels of the independent variable
dferror 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1 17.97 26.98 32.82 37.07 40.41 43.12 45.40 47.36 49.07 50.59 51.96 53.20 54.33 55.36 2 6.08 8.33 9.80 10.88 11.74 12.44 13.03 13.54 13.99 14.39 14.75 15.08 15.38 15.65 3 4.50 5.91 6.82 7.50 8.04 8.48 8.85 9.18 9.46 9.72 9.95 10.15 10.35 10.53 4 3.93 5.04 5.76 6.29 6.71 7.05 7.35 7.60 7.33 8.03 8.21 8.37 8.52 8.66 5 3.64 4.60 5.22 5.67 6.03 6.33 6.58 6.80 7.00 7.17 7.32 7.47 7.60 7.72 6 3.46 4.34 4.90 5.31 5.63 5.90 6.12 6.32 6.49 6.65 6.79 6.92 7.03 7.14 7 3.34 4.16 4.68 5.06 5.36 5.61 5.82 6.00 6.16 6.30 6.43 6.55 6.66 6.76 8 3.26 4.04 4.53 4.89 5.17 5.40 5.60 5.77 5.92 6.05 6.18 6.29 6.39 6.48 9 3.20 3.95 4.42 4.76 5.02 5.24 5.43 5.60 5.74 5.87 5.98 6.09 6.19 6.28
10 3.15 3.88 4.33 4.65 4.91 5.12 5.30 5.46 5.60 5.72 5.83 5.94 6.03 6.11 11 3.11 3.82 4.26 4.57 4.82 5.03 5.20 5.35 5.49 5.60 5.71 5.81 5.90 5.98 12 3.08 3.77 4.20 4.51 4.75 4.95 5.12 5.26 5.40 5.51 5.62 5.71 5.79 5.88 13 3.06 3.74 4.15 4.45 4.69 4.88 5.05 5.19 5.32 5.43 5.53 5.63 5.71 5.79 14 3.03 3.70 4.11 4.41 4.64 4.83 4.99 5.13 5.25 5.36 5.46 5.55 5.64 5.71 15 3.01 3.67 4.08 4.37 4.60 4.78 4.94 5.08 5.20 5.31 5.40 5.49 5.57 5.65 16 3.00 3.65 4.05 4.33 4.56 4.74 4.90 5.03 5.15 5.26 5.35 5.44 5.52 5.59 17 2.98 3.63 4.02 4.30 4.52 4.70 4.86 4.99 5.11 5.21 5.31 5.39 5.47 5.54 18 2.97 3.61 4.00 4.28 4.50 4.67 4.82 4.96 5.07 5.17 5.27 5.35 5.43 5.50 19 2.96 3.59 3.98 4.25 4.47 4.64 4.79 4.92 5.04 5.14 5.23 5.32 5.39 5.46 20 2.95 3.58 3.96 4.23 4.44 4.62 4.77 4.90 5.01 5.11 5.20 5.28 5.36 5.43 24 2.92 3.53 3.90 4.17 4.37 4.54 4.68 4.81 4.92 5.01 5.10 5.18 5.25 5.32 30 2.89 3.49 3.84 4.10 4.30 4.46 4.60 4.72 4.82 4.92 5.00 5.08 5.15 5.21 40 2.86 3.44 3.79 4.04 4.23 4.39 4.52 4.64 4.74 4.82 4.90 4.98 5.04 5.11 60 2.83 3.40 3.74 3.98 4.16 4.31 4.44 4.55 4.65 4.73 4.81 4.88 4.94 5.00
120 2.80 3.36 3.69 3.92 4.10 4.24 4.36 4.47 4.56 4.64 4.71 4.78 4.84 4.90 q 2.77 3.31 3.63 3.86 4.03 4.17 4.29 4.39 4.47 4.55 4.62 4.68 4.74 4.80
(continued)
Source: From “Tables of Range and Studentized Range,” by H. L. Harter, 1960, Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 31, 1122–1147. Copyright © 1960 The Institute of Mathematical Statistics. Reprinted with permission.
1 8 - W 4 2 2 1 - A P C 4
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0 : 4 4 A M P
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393
TABLE G (continued)
a � .01
Number of levels of the independent variable
dferror 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1 90.03 135.00 164.30 185.60 202.20 215.80 227.20 237.00 245.60 253.20 260.00 266.20 271.80 277.00 2 14.04 19.02 22.29 24.72 26.63 28.20 29.53 30.68 31.69 32.59 33.40 34.13 34.81 35.43 3 8.26 10.62 12.17 13.33 14.24 15.00 15.64 12.60 16.69 17.13 17.53 17.89 18.22 18.52 4 6.51 8.12 9.17 9.96 10.58 11.10 11.55 11.93 12.27 12.57 12.84 13.09 13.32 13.53 5 5.70 6.98 7.80 8.42 8.91 9.32 9.67 9.97 10.24 10.48 10.70 10.89 11.08 11.24 6 5.24 6.33 7.03 7.56 7.97 8.32 8.62 8.87 9.10 9.30 9.48 9.65 9.81 9.95 7 4.95 5.92 6.54 7.00 7.37 7.68 7.94 8.17 8.37 8.55 8.71 8.86 9.00 9.12 8 4.75 5.64 6.20 6.62 6.96 7.24 7.47 7.68 7.86 8.03 8.18 8.31 8.44 8.55 9 4.60 5.43 5.96 6.35 6.66 6.92 7.13 7.32 7.50 7.65 7.78 7.91 8.02 8.13
10 4.48 5.27 5.77 6.14 6.43 6.67 6.88 7.06 7.21 7.36 7.48 7.60 7.71 7.81 11 4.39 5.15 5.62 5.97 6.25 6.48 6.67 6.84 6.99 7.13 7.25 7.36 7.46 7.56 12 4.32 5.05 5.50 5.84 6.10 6.32 6.51 6.67 6.81 6.94 7.06 7.17 7.26 7.36 13 4.26 4.96 5.40 5.73 5.98 6.19 6.37 6.53 6.67 6.79 6.90 7.01 7.10 7.19 14 4.21 4.90 5.32 5.63 5.88 6.08 6.26 6.41 6.54 6.66 6.77 6.87 6.96 7.05 15 4.17 4.84 5.25 5.56 5.80 5.99 6.16 6.31 6.44 6.56 6.66 6.76 6.84 6.93 16 4.13 4.79 5.19 5.49 5.72 5.92 6.08 6.22 6.35 6.46 6.56 6.66 6.74 6.82 17 4.10 4.74 5.14 5.43 5.66 5.85 6.01 6.15 6.27 6.38 6.48 6.57 6.66 6.73 18 4.07 4.70 5.09 5.38 5.60 5.79 5.94 6.08 6.20 6.31 6.41 6.50 6.58 6.66 19 4.05 4.67 5.05 5.33 5.55 5.74 5.89 6.02 6.14 6.25 6.34 6.43 6.51 6.58 20 4.02 4.64 5.02 5.29 5.51 5.69 5.84 5.97 6.09 6.19 6.28 6.37 6.45 6.52 24 3.96 4.55 4.91 5.17 5.37 5.54 5.69 5.81 5.92 6.02 6.11 6.19 6.26 6.33 30 3.89 4.46 4.80 5.05 5.24 5.40 5.54 5.65 5.76 5.85 5.93 6.01 6.08 6.14 40 3.82 4.37 4.70 4.93 5.11 5.26 5.39 5.50 5.60 5.69 5.76 5.84 5.90 5.96 60 3.76 4.28 4.60 4.82 4.99 5.13 5.25 5.36 5.45 5.53 5.60 5.67 5.73 5.78
120 3.70 4.20 3.50 4.71 4.87 5.01 5.12 5.21 5.30 5.38 5.44 5.51 5.56 5.61 q 3.64 4.12 4.40 4.60 4.76 4.88 4.99 5.08 5.16 5.23 5.29 5.35 5.40 5.45
1 8 - W 4 2 2 1 - A P C 4
/ 4 / 0 7 1
0 : 4 4 A M P
a g e 3 9 3
394 ■ Appendix C
TABLE H Critical values for the Mann–Whitney U test*
One-tailed test Two-tailed test a � .01 (lightface) a � .02 (lightface) a � .005 (boldface) a � .01 (boldface)
N1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
N2
1 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 2 — — — — — — — — — — — — 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
— — — — — — 0 0 3 — — — — — — 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 5
— — 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 4 — — — — 0 1 1 2 3 3 45 5 6 7 7 8 9 9 10
— 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 6 7 8 5 — — — 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
— 0 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 6 — — — 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 15 16 18 19 20 22
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17 18 7 — — 0 1 3 4 6 7 9 11 12 14 16 17 19 21 23 24 26 28
— 0 1 3 4 6 7 9 10 12 13 15 16 18 19 21 22 24 8 — — 0 2 4 6 7 9 11 13 15 17 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34
— 1 2 4 6 7 9 11 13 15 17 18 20 22 24 26 29 30 9 — — 1 3 5 7 9 11 14 16 18 21 23 26 28 31 33 36 38 40
0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 16 18 20 22 24 27 29 31 33 36 10 — — 1 3 6 8 11 13 16 19 22 24 27 30 33 36 38 41 44 47
0 2 4 6 9 11 13 16 18 21 24 26 29 31 34 37 39 42 11 — — 1 4 7 9 12 15 18 22 25 28 31 34 37 41 44 47 50 53
0 2 5 7 10 13 16 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 12 — — 2 5 8 11 14 17 21 24 28 31 35 38 42 46 49 53 56 60
1 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 31 34 37 41 44 47 51 54 13 — 0 2 5 9 12 16 20 23 27 31 35 39 43 47 51 55 59 63 67
— 1 3 7 10 13 17 20 24 27 31 34 38 42 45 49 53 56 60 14 — 0 2 6 10 13 17 22 26 30 34 38 43 47 51 56 60 65 69 73
— 1 4 7 11 15 18 22 26 30 34 38 42 46 50 54 58 63 67 15 — 0 3 7 11 15 19 24 28 33 37 42 47 51 56 61 66 70 75 80
— 2 5 8 12 16 20 24 29 33 37 42 46 51 55 60 64 69 73 16 — 0 3 7 12 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 76 82 87
— 2 5 9 13 18 22 27 31 36 41 45 50 55 60 65 70 74 79 17 — 0 4 8 13 18 23 28 33 38 44 49 55 60 66 71 77 82 88 93
— 2 6 10 15 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 60 65 70 75 81 86 18 — 0 4 9 14 19 24 30 36 41 47 53 59 65 70 76 82 88 94 100
— 2 6 11 16 21 26 31 37 42 47 53 58 64 70 75 81 87 92 19 — 1 4 9 15 20 26 32 38 44 50 56 63 69 75 82 88 94 101 107
0 3 7 12 17 22 28 33 39 45 51 56 63 69 74 81 87 93 99 20 — 1 5 10 16 22 28 34 40 47 53 60 67 73 80 87 93 100 107 114
0 3 8 13 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 60 67 73 79 86 92 99 105
(continued)
* To be significant, the U obtained from data must be equal to or less than the value shown in the table. Dashes in the body of the table indicate that no decision is possible at the stated level of significance. Source: From Elementary Statistics, Second Edition, by R. E. Kirk, Brooks/Cole Publishing, 1984.
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Tables ■ 395
TABLE H (continued)
One-tailed test Two-tailed test a � .05 (lightface) a � .10 (lightface) a � .025 (boldface) a � .05 (boldface)
N1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
N2
1 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 0 0 2 — — — — 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 4
— — — 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 — — 0 0 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 5 6 7 7 8 9 9 10 11
— — — — 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 4 — — 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 15 16 17 18
— — — 0 1 2 3 4 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 11 12 13 13 5 — 0 1 2 4 5 6 8 9 11 12 13 15 16 18 19 20 22 23 25
— — 0 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 15 17 18 19 20 6 — 0 2 3 5 7 8 10 12 14 16 17 19 21 23 25 26 28 30 32
— — 1 2 3 5 6 8 10 11 13 14 16 17 19 21 22 24 25 27 7 — 0 2 4 6 8 11 13 15 17 19 21 24 26 28 30 33 35 37 39
— — 1 3 5 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 8 — 1 3 5 8 10 13 15 18 20 23 26 28 31 33 36 39 41 44 47
— 0 2 4 6 8 10 13 15 17 19 22 24 26 29 31 34 36 38 41 9 — 1 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 51 54
— 0 2 4 7 10 12 15 17 20 23 26 28 31 34 37 39 42 45 48 10 — 1 4 7 11 14 17 20 24 27 31 34 37 41 44 48 51 55 58 62
— 0 3 5 8 11 14 17 20 23 26 29 33 36 39 42 45 48 52 55 11 — 1 5 8 12 16 19 23 27 31 34 38 42 46 50 54 57 61 65 69
— 0 3 6 9 13 16 19 23 26 30 33 37 40 44 47 51 55 58 62 12 — 2 5 9 13 17 21 26 30 34 38 42 47 51 55 60 64 68 72 77
— 1 4 7 11 14 18 22 26 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 13 — 2 6 10 15 19 24 28 33 37 42 47 51 56 61 65 70 75 80 84
— 1 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 33 37 41 45 50 54 59 63 67 72 76 14 — 2 7 11 16 21 26 31 36 41 46 51 56 61 66 71 77 82 87 92
— 1 5 9 13 17 22 26 31 36 40 45 50 55 59 64 67 74 78 83 15 — 3 7 12 18 23 28 33 39 44 50 55 61 66 72 77 83 88 94 100
— 1 5 10 14 19 24 29 34 39 44 49 54 59 64 70 75 80 85 90 16 — 3 8 14 19 25 30 36 42 48 54 60 65 71 77 83 89 95 101 107
— 1 6 11 15 21 26 31 37 42 47 53 59 64 70 75 81 86 92 98 17 — 3 9 15 20 26 33 39 45 51 57 64 70 77 83 89 96 102 109 115
— 2 6 11 17 22 28 34 39 45 51 57 63 67 75 81 87 93 99 105 18 — 4 9 16 22 28 35 41 48 55 61 68 75 82 88 95 102 109 116 123
— 2 7 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 55 61 67 74 80 86 93 99 106 112 19 0 4 10 17 23 30 37 44 51 58 65 72 80 87 94 101 109 116 123 130
— 2 7 13 19 25 32 38 45 52 58 65 72 78 85 92 99 106 113 119 20 0 4 11 18 25 32 39 47 54 62 69 77 84 92 100 107 115 123 130 138
— 2 8 13 20 27 34 41 48 55 62 69 76 83 90 98 105 112 119 127
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396 ■ Appendix C
TABLE J Critical values for the Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test*
a levels for a a levels for a one-tailed test one-tailed test
No. .05 .025 .01 .005 .05 .025 .01 .005
of a levels for a a levels for a pairs two-tailed test two-tailed test
N .10 .05 .02 .01 N .10 .05 .02 .01
5 0 — — — 28 130 116 101 91 6 2 0 — — 29 140 126 110 100 7 3 2 0 — 30 151 137 120 109 8 5 3 1 0 31 163 147 130 118 9 8 5 3 1 32 175 159 140 128
10 10 8 5 3 33 187 170 151 138
11 13 10 7 5 34 200 182 162 148 12 17 13 9 7 35 213 195 173 159 13 21 17 12 9 36 227 208 185 171 14 25 21 15 12 37 241 221 198 182 15 30 25 19 15 38 256 235 211 194
16 35 29 23 19 39 271 249 224 207 17 41 34 27 23 40 286 264 238 220 18 47 40 32 27 41 302 279 252 233 19 53 46 37 32 42 319 294 266 247 20 60 52 43 37 43 336 310 281 261
21 67 58 49 42 44 353 327 296 276 22 75 65 55 48 45 371 343 312 291 23 83 73 62 54 46 389 361 328 307 24 91 81 69 61 47 407 378 345 322 25 100 89 76 68 48 426 396 362 339 26 110 98 84 75 49 446 415 379 355 27 119 107 92 83 50 466 434 397 373
* To be significant, the T obtained from the data must be equal to or less than the value shown in the table. Source: From Elementary Statistics, Second Edition, by R. E. Kirk, Brooks/Cole Publishing, 1984.
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Tables ■ 397
TABLE K Critical differences for the Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons test* (Column N represents the number in one group.)
a � .05 (two-tailed) N K � 3 K � 4 K � 5 K � 6 K � 7 K � 8 K � 9 K � 10
1 3.3 4.7 6.1 7.5 9.0 10.5 12.0 13.5 2 8.8 12.6 16.5 20.5 24.7 28.9 33.1 37.4 3 15.7 22.7 29.9 37.3 44.8 52.5 60.3 68.2 4 23.9 34.6 45.6 57.0 68.6 80.4 92.4 104.6 5 33.1 48.1 63.5 79.3 95.5 112.0 128.8 145.8 6 43.3 62.9 83.2 104.0 125.3 147.0 169.1 191.4 7 54.4 79.1 104.6 130.8 157.6 184.9 212.8 240.9 8 66.3 96.4 127.6 159.6 192.4 225.7 259.7 294.1 9 78.9 114.8 152.0 190.2 229.3 269.1 309.6 350.6
10 92.3 134.3 177.8 222.6 268.4 315.0 362.4 410.5 11 106.3 154.8 205.0 256.6 309.4 363.2 417.9 473.3 12 120.9 176.2 233.4 292.2 352.4 413.6 476.0 539.1 13 136.2 198.5 263.0 329.3 397.1 466.2 536.5 607.7 14 152.1 221.7 293.8 367.8 443.6 520.8 599.4 679.0 15 168.6 245.7 325.7 407.8 491.9 577.4 664.6 752.8 16 185.6 270.6 358.6 449.1 541.7 635.9 732.0 829.2 17 203.1 269.2 392.6 491.7 593.1 696.3 801.5 907.9 18 221.2 322.6 427.6 535.5 646.1 758.5 873.1 989.0 19 239.8 349.7 463.6 580.6 700.5 822.4 946.7 1072.4 20 258.8 377.6 500.5 626.9 756.4 888.1 1022.3 1158.1 21 278.4 406.1 538.4 674.4 813.7 955.4 1099.8 1245.9 22 298.4 435.3 577.2 723.0 872.3 1024.3 1179.1 1335.7 23 318.9 465.2 616.9 772.7 932.4 1094.8 1260.3 1427.7 24 339.8 495.8 657.4 823.5 993.7 1166.8 1343.2 1521.7 25 361.1 527.0 698.8 875.4 1056.3 1240.4 1427.9 1617.6
a � .01 (two-tailed) N K � 3 K � 4 K � 5 K � 6 K � 7 K � 8 K � 9 K � 10
1 4.1 5.7 7.3 8.9 10.5 12.2 13.9 15.6 2 10.9 15.3 19.7 24.3 28.9 33.6 38.3 43.1 3 19.5 27.5 35.7 44.0 52.5 61.1 69.8 78.6 4 29.7 41.9 54.5 67.3 80.3 93.6 107.0 120.6 5 41.2 58.2 75.8 93.6 111.9 130.4 149.1 168.1 6 53.9 76.3 99.3 122.8 146.7 171.0 195.7 220.6 7 67.6 95.8 124.8 154.4 184.6 215.2 246.3 277.7 8 82.4 116.8 152.2 188.4 225.2 262.6 300.6 339.0 9 98.1 139.2 181.4 224.5 268.5 313.1 358.4 404.2
10 114.7 162.8 212.2 262.7 314.2 366.5 419.5 473.1 11 132.1 187.6 244.6 302.9 362.2 422.6 483.7 545.6 12 150.4 213.5 278.5 344.9 412.5 481.2 551.0 621.4 13 169.4 240.6 313.8 388.7 464.9 542.4 621.0 700.5 14 189.1 268.7 350.5 434.2 519.4 606.0 693.8 782.6 15 209.6 297.6 388.5 481.3 575.8 671.9 769.3 867.7 16 230.7 327.9 427.9 530.1 634.2 740.0 847.3 955.7 17 252.5 359.0 468.4 580.3 694.4 810.2 927.8 1046.5 18 275.0 391.0 510.2 632.1 756.4 882.6 1010.6 1140.0 19 298.1 423.8 553.1 685.4 820.1 957.0 1095.8 1236.2 20 321.8 457.6 597.2 740.0 885.5 1033.3 1183.3 1334.9 21 346.1 492.2 642.4 796.0 952.6 1111.6 1273.0 1436.0 22 371.0 527.6 688.7 853.4 1021.3 1191.8 1364.8 1539.7 23 396.4 563.8 736.0 912.1 1091.5 1273.8 1458.8 1645.7 24 422.4 600.9 784.4 972.1 1163.4 1357.6 1554.8 1754.0 25 449.0 638.7 833.8 1033.3 1236.7 1443.2 1652.8 1864.6
* To be significant, the difference obtained from the data must be equal to or greater than the tabled value. Source: From Some Rapid Approximate Statistical Procedures, by F. Wilcoxon and R. Wilcox. Copyright © 1964 Lederle Laboratories, a division of American Cyanamid Co. Reprinted with permission.
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398 ■ Appendix C
TABLE L Critical values for Spearman rs*
No. of
a levels
pairs One-tailed test Two-tailed test
N .01 .05 .01 .05
4 — 1.000 — — 5 1.000 .900 — 1.000 6 .943 .829 1.000 .886 7 .893 .714 .929 .786 8 .833 .643 .881 .738 9 .783 .600 .833 .700
10 .745 .564 .794 .648 11 .709 .536 .755 .618 12 .677 .503 .727 .587 13 .648 .484 .703 .560 14 .626 .464 .679 .538 15 .604 .446 .654 .521 16 .582 .429 .635 .503
For samples larger than 16, use Table A, which requires df.
* To be significant, the rs obtained from the data must be equal to or greater than the value shown in the table. Source: From “Testing the Significance of Kendall’s t and Spearman’s rs” by M. Nijsse, 1988, Psychological Bulletin, 103, 235–237. Copyright © 1988 American Psychological Association. Reprinted by permission.
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appendix D
Glossary of Words
399
a priori test Multiple-comparisons test that must be planned before examination of the data.
abscissa The horizontal, or X, axis of a graph. absolute value A number without consideration of its
algebraic sign. alpha (A) The probability of a Type I error. alternative hypothesis (H1) A hypothesis about
population parameters that is accepted if the null hypothesis is rejected.
analysis of variance (ANOVA) An inferential statistics technique for comparing means, comparing variances, and assessing interactions.
asymptotic A line that continually approaches but never reaches a specified limit.
bar graph A graph of the frequency distribution of nominal or qualitative data.
beta (B) The probability of a Type II error. biased sample A sample selected in such a way that
not all samples from the population have an equal chance of being chosen.
bimodal distribution A distribution with two modes. binomial distribution A distribution of the fre-
quency of events that can have only two possible outcomes.
bivariate distribution A joint distribution of two variables. The individual scores of the variables are paired in some logical way.
boxplot A graph that shows a distribution’s range, interquartile range, skew, median, and sometimes other statistics.
cell In a table of ANOVA data, those scores that receive the same combination of treatments.
Central Limit Theorem The sampling distribution of the mean approaches a normal curve as N gets larger. This normal curve has a mean equal to m and a standard deviation equal to .
central tendency Descriptive statistics that indicate a typical or representative score; mean, median, mode.
s>1N
chi square distribution A theoretical sampling distribution of chi square values. Chi square distributions vary with degrees of freedom.
chi square test An NHST technique that compares observed frequencies to expected frequencies.
class interval A range of scores in a grouped frequency distribution.
coefficient of determination A squared correlation coefficient, which is an estimate of common variance of the two variables.
confidence interval A range of scores that is expected, with specified confidence, to capture a parameter.
control group A no-treatment group to which other groups are compared.
correlation coefficient A descriptive statistic calculated on bivariate data that expresses the degree of relationship between two variables.
critical region Synonym for rejection region. critical value Number from a sampling distribution that
determines whether the null hypothesis is rejected. degrees of freedom A concept in mathematical
statistics that determines the distribution that is appropriate for a particular set of sample data.
dependent variable The observed variable that is expected to change as a result of changes in the independent variable in an experiment.
descriptive statistic A number that conveys a particular characteristic of a set of data. Graphs and tables are sometimes included in this category. (Congratulations to you if you have checked this entry after reading footnote 1 in Chapter 1. Very few students make the effort to check out their authors’ claims, as you just did. You have one of the makings of a scholar.)
deviation score A raw score minus the mean of its distribution.
dichotomous variable A variable that has only two values.
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effect size index The amount or degree of separation between two distributions.
empirical distribution A set of scores that comes from observations.
epistemology The study or theory of the nature of knowledge.
error term Variance due to factors not controlled in the experiment; within-treatment or within-cell variance.
expected frequency A theoretical value in a chi square analysis that is derived from the null hypothesis.
expected value The mean value of a random variable over an infinite number of samplings. The expected value of a statistic is the mean of the sampling distribution of the statistic.
experimental group A group that receives treatment in an experiment and whose dependent-variable scores are compared to those of a control group.
extraneous variable A variable other than the independent variable that may affect the dependent variable.
F distribution A theoretical sampling distribution of F values. There is a different F distribution for each combination of degrees of freedom.
F test A test of the statistical significance of differences among means, or variances, or of an interaction.
factor Independent variable. factorial ANOVA An experimental design with two or
more independent variables; allows F tests for main effects and interactions.
frequency polygon A frequency distribution graph of a quantitative variable with frequency points connected by lines.
goodness-of-fit test A chi square test that compares observed frequencies to frequencies predicted by a theory.
grand mean The mean of all scores, regardless of treatment.
grouped frequency distribution A compilation of scores into equal-sized ranges, called class intervals. Includes frequencies for each interval; may include midpoints of class intervals.
histogram A graph of frequencies of a quantitative variable constructed with contiguous vertical bars.
independent The occurrence of one event does not affect the outcome of a second event.
independent-samples design An experimental de- sign with samples whose dependent-variable scores cannot logically be paired.
independent variable A variable controlled by the researcher; changes in this variable may produce changes in the dependent variable.
400 ■ Appendix D
inferential statistics A method that uses sample evidence and probability to reach conclusions about unmeasurable populations.
inflection point A point on a curve that separates a concave upward arc from a concave downward arc, or vice versa.
interaction In a factorial ANOVA, the effect of one independent variable on the dependent variable depends on the level of another independent variable.
interpolation A method to determine an intermediate value.
interquartile range A range of scores that contains the middle 50 percent of a distribution.
interval scale A measurement scale in which equal differences between numbers represent equal differences in the thing measured. The zero point is arbitrarily defined.
least squares A method of fitting a regression line such that the sum of the squared deviations from the straight regression line is a minimum.
level One value of the independent variable. line graph A graph that shows the relationship between
two variables with lines. lower limit The bottom of the range of possible values
that a measurement on a quantitative variable can have. main effect In a factorial ANOVA, a significance test
of the deviations of the mean levels of one independent variable from the grand mean.
Mann–Whitney U test A nonparametric test that compares two independent samples.
matched pairs A paired-samples design in which individuals are paired by the researcher before the experiment.
mean The arithmetic average; the sum of the scores divided by the number of scores.
mean square (MS) The variance; a sum of squares divided by its degrees of freedom. ANOVA terminology.
median The point that divides a distribution of scores into equal halves; half the scores are above the median and half are below it. The 50th percentile.
meta-analysis A technique that combines separate studies into an overall conclusion about effect size.
mode The score that occurs most frequently in a distribution.
multiple-comparisons tests Tests for statistical sig- nificance between treatment means or combinations of means.
multiple correlation A correlation coefficient that expresses the degree of relationship between one variable and a set of two or more other variables.
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Glossary of Words ■ 401
natural pairs A paired-samples design in which pairing occurs without intervention by the researcher.
negative skew A graph with a great preponderance of large scores.
nominal scale A measurement scale in which numbers serve only as labels and do not indicate a quantitative relationship.
nonparametric tests Statistical techniques that do not require assumptions about the sampled populations.
normal distribution (normal curve) A mathe- matically defined, theoretical distribution with a particular bell shape. An empirical distribution of sim- ilar shape.
NS Not statistically significant. null hypothesis (H0) A hypothesis about a population
or the relationship among populations. null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST) A
statistical technique that produces probabilities that are accurate when the null hypothesis is true.
observed frequency The count of actual events in categories in a chi square test.
one-sample t test A statistical test of the hypothesis that a sample with mean X� came from a population with mean m.
one-tailed test of significance A directional statistical test that can detect a positive difference in population means, or a negative difference, but not both.
one-way ANOVA A statistical test of the hypothesis that two or more population means in an independent- samples design are equal.
operational definition A definition that tells how to measure a variable.
ordinal scale A measurement scale in which numbers are ranks, but equal differences between numbers do not represent equal differences between the things measured.
ordinate The vertical axis of a graph; the Y axis. outlier A very high or very low score, separated from
other scores. paired-samples design An experimental design in
which scores from each group are logically matched. parameter A numerical or nominal characteristic of a
population. partial correlation Technique that allows the sepa-
ration or partialing out of the effects of one variable from the correlation of two other variables.
percentile The point below which a specified percent- age of the distribution falls.
phi (F) An effect size index for a 2 � 2 chi square test of independence.
population All measurements of a specified group.
positive skew A graph with a great preponderance of low scores.
post hoc test Multiple-comparisons test that is appropriate after examination of the data.
power Power � 1 � b. Power is the probability of rejecting a false null hypothesis.
proportion A part of a whole. qualitative variable A variable whose levels are
different kinds rather than different amounts. quantification Translating a phenomenon into numbers
promotes a better understanding of the phenomenon. quantitative variable A variable whose levels
indicate different amounts. random sample A subset of a population chosen in
such a way that all samples of the specified size have an equal probability of being selected.
range The highest score minus the lowest score. ratio scale A measurement scale that has all the
characteristics of an interval scale; in addition, zero means that none of the thing measured is present.
raw score A score obtained by observation or from an experiment.
rectangular distribution A distribution in which all scores have the same frequency; also called a uniform distribution.
regression coefficients The constants a (point where the regression line intersects the Y axis) and b (slope of the regression line) in a regression equation.
regression equation An equation that predicts values of Y for specific values of X.
regression line A line of best fit for a scatterplot. rejection region The area of a sampling distribution
that corresponds to test statistic values that lead to rejection of the null hypothesis.
reliability The dependability or consistency of a measure.
repeated measures An experimental design in which each subject contributes to more than one treatment.
repeated-measures ANOVA A statistical technique for designs with multiple measures on subjects or with subjects who are matched.
residual variance ANOVA term for variability due to unknown or uncontrolled variables; the error term.
sample A subset of a population; it may or may not be representative.
sampling distribution A theoretical distribution of a statistic based on all possible random samples drawn from the same population; used to determine probabilities.
scatterplot A graph of the scores of a bivariate frequency distribution.
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significance level A probability (a) chosen as the criterion for rejecting the null hypothesis.
simple frequency distribution Scores arranged from highest to lowest, with the frequency of each score in a column beside the score.
skewed distribution An asymmetrical distribution; may be positive or negative.
Spearman rs A correlation coefficient for the degree of relationship between two variables measured by ranks.
standard deviation A descriptive measure of the dispersion of scores around the mean of the distribution.
standard error The standard deviation of a sampling distribution.
standard error of a difference The standard deviation of a sampling distribution of differences between means.
standard error of estimate The standard deviation of the differences between predicted outcomes and actual outcomes.
standard score A score expressed in standard deviation units; z score is an example.
statistic A numerical or nominal characteristic of a sample.
statistically significant A difference so large that chance is not a likely explanation for the difference.
t distribution Theoretical distribution used to deter- mine probabilities when s is unknown.
t test Test of a null hypothesis that uses t distribution probabilities.
theoretical distribution Hypothesized scores based on mathematical formulas and logic.
treatment One value (or level) of the independent variable.
truncated range The range of the sample is smaller than the range of its population.
Tukey Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) test Significance test for all possible pairs of treatments in a multitreatment experiment.
402 ■ Appendix D
two-tailed test of significance A nondirectional statistical test that can detect either a positive or a negative difference in population means.
Type I error Rejection of a null hypothesis when it is true.
Type II error Failure to reject a null hypothesis that is false.
univariate distribution A frequency distribution of one variable.
upper limit The top of the range of possible values that a measurement on a quantitative variable can have.
variability Having more than one value. variable Something that exists in more than one amount
or in more than one form. variance The square of the standard deviation; also,
mean square in ANOVA. very good idea Examine a statistics problem until
you understand it well enough to estimate the answer.
weighted mean Overall mean calculated from two or more samples.
Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test A nonparametric test that compares two paired samples.
Wilcoxon rank-sum test A nonparametric test of the difference between two independent samples.
Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons test A nonparametric test of all possible pairs from an independent-samples design.
Yates’s correction A correction for a 2 � 2 chi square test with one small expected frequency; considered obsolete.
z score A score expressed in standard deviation units; describes the relative standing of a score in its distribution.
z test A statistical test that uses the normal curve as the sampling distribution.
19-W4221-APD 4/4/07 10:45 AM Page 402
appendix E
Glossary of Symbols
Greek Letter Symbols
a The probability of a Type I error b The probability of a Type II error m The mean of a population r Population correlation coefficient � The sum; an instruction to add s Standard deviation of a population f Effect size index for 2 � 2 chi square design s2 Variance of a population
Standard error of the mean (population s known) x2 The chi square statistic
Mathematical and Latin Letter Symbols
� Infinity � Greater than � Less than a Point where the regression line intersects the Y axis b The slope of the regression line D The difference between two paired scores
The mean of a set of difference scores d Effect size index for one-sample and two-sample comparisons df Degrees of freedom E In chi square, the expected frequency E(X�) The expected value of the mean; the mean of a sampling distribution F The F statistic in ANOVA f Frequency; the number of times a score occurs f Effect size index for ANOVA H0 The null hypothesis H1 A hypothesis that is an alternative to the null hypothesis HSD Tukey Honestly Significant Difference; makes pairwise comparisons i The interval size; the number of score points in a class interval K The number of levels of the independent variable LL Lower limit of a confidence interval MS Mean square; ANOVA term for the variance
D�
sX�
403
20-W4221-APE 4/4/07 10:45 AM Page 403
N The number of scores or observations O In chi square, the observed frequency r Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient rs A correlation coefficient for ranked data; named for Spearman r2 The coefficient of determination S The standard deviation of a sample; describes the sample ŝ The standard deviation of a sample; estimates s ŝ2 Variance of a sample; estimates s2
ŝD Standard deviation of a distribution of differences between paired scores Standard error of the difference between paired means Standard error of a difference between means Standard error of the mean
SS Sum of squares; the sum of the squared deviations from the mean T Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T statistic for paired samples t t test statistic ta Critical value of t; level of significance � a U Mann-Whitney statistic for independent samples UL Upper limit of a confidence interval X A score X� The mean of a sample X�W The weighted overall mean of two or more means XH The highest score in a distribution XL The lowest score in a distribution Ŷ The Y value predicted for some X value Y� The mean of the Y variable z A score expressed in standard deviation units; a standard score z Test statistic when the sampling distribution is normal zX A z value for a score on variable X zY A z value for a score on variable Y
sX� sX�1�X�2
sD�
404 ■ Appendix E
20-W4221-APE 4/4/07 10:45 AM Page 404
appendix F
Glossary of Formulas
Analysis of Variance degrees of freedom in one-way dftreat � K � 1
ANOVA, p. 238 dferror � Ntot � K
dftot � Ntot � 1
degrees of freedom in factorial dfA � A � 1 ANOVA, p. 281 dfB � B � 1
dfAB � (A � 1)(B � 1)
dferror � Ntot � (A)(B)
dftot � Ntot � 1
degrees of freedom in one-factor dfsubjects � Nt � 1 repeated-measures ANOVA, p. 255 dftreat � Nk � 1
dferror � (Nt � 1)(Nk � 1)
dftot � Ntot � 1
F value in one-way ANOVA and repeated-measures ANOVA, p. 239
F values in factorial ANOVA, p. 281
mean square, p. 238
total sum of squares, p. 234
between-treatments sum of squares, p. 234
SStreat � � c 1�Xt 2 2
Nt d �
1�X tot 2 2
Ntot
SStot � �X 2tot � 1�X tot 2 2
Ntot
MS � SS
df
FAB � MSAB MSerror
FB � MSB
MSerror
FA � MSA
MSerror
F � MStreat MSerror
405
21-W4221-APF 4/4/07 10:45 AM Page 405
between-cells sum of squares, p. 276
between-subjects sum of squares, p. 254
error sum of squares for one-way ANOVA, p. 235
error sum of squares for factorial ANOVA, p. 278
error sum of squares for repeated-measures ANOVA, p. 255
sum of squares for the interaction effect in factorial Check: ANOVA, p. 277
sum of squares for a main effect in factorial ANOVA, p. 276
where 1 and 2 denote levels of a factor and K denotes the last level of a factor
Chi Square
basic formula, p. 297
degrees of freedom for a df � (R � 1)(C � 1) chi square table, p. 308 where R � number of rows
C � number of columns
shortcut formula for a 2 � 2 table, p. 301
where A, B, C, and D designate the four cells of the table, moving left to right across the top row and then across the bottom row
Coefficient of Determination p. 99 r2
Confidence Intervals about a sample mean, p. 159
about a mean difference (independent samples), p. 213 UL � 1X�1 � X�2 2 � ta 1sX�1�X�2 2
LL � 1X�1 � X�2 2 � ta 1sX�1�X�2 2
UL � X� � ta 1sX� 2 LL � X� � ta 1sX� 2
x 2 � N 1AD � BC 2 2
1A � B 2 1C � D 2 1A � C 2 1B � D 2
x2 � � c 1O � E 2 2
E d
� 1�Xk 2 2
Nk � 1�Xtot 2 2
Ntot
SS � 1�X 1 2 2
N1 � 1�X 2 2 2
N2 � p
SSAB � SScells � SSA � SSB
SSAB � Ncell� 3 1X�AB � X�A � X�B � X�gm 2 2 4
SSerror � SStot � SSsubjects � SStreat
SSerror � � c�X 2cell � 1�Xcell 2 2
Ncell d
SSerror � � c�X 2t � 1�Xt 2 2
Nt d
SSsubjects � � c 1�Xk 2 2
Nk d �
1�Xtot 2 2
Ntot
SScells � � c 1�Xcell 2 2
Ncell d �
1�Xtot 2 2
Ntot
406 ■ Appendix F
21-W4221-APF 4/4/07 10:45 AM Page 406
about a mean difference (paired samples), p. 214
Correlation
Pearson product-moment definition formula, p. 92
computation formulas, pp. 93, 94
testing significance from .00 (or use Table A), p. 186
df � N � 2
Spearman rs computation formula, p. 337
Degrees of Freedom See specific statistical tests.
Deviation Score, p. 56 X � X� or X � m
Effect Size Index
definition, p. 77
one-sample design, p. 184
two independent samples, N1 � N2, p. 211
two independent samples, N1 � N2, p. 211
two paired samples, p. 212
ANOVA for all means, pp. 247, 290 f � ŝ treat ŝerror
� BK � 1Ntot 1MStreat � MSerror 21MSerror
d � X� � Y�1N 1sD� 2
d � X�1 � X�2
B ŝ12 1df1 2 � ŝ22 1df2 2df1 � df2
d � X�1 � X�2
BN12 1sX�1�X�2 2
d � X� � m
ŝ
d � m1 � m2
s
rs � 1 � 6�D2
N 1N 2 � 1 2
t � 1r 2B N � 21 � r 2 r �
N�XY � 1�X 2 1�Y 22 3N�X 2 � 1�X 2 2 4 3N�Y 2 � 1�Y 2 2 4 r �
�XY N
� 1X� 2 1Y� 2
1SX 2 1SY 2
r � � 1zX zY 2
N
UL � 1X� � Y� 2 � ta 1sD� 2 LL � 1X� � Y� 2 � ta 1sD� 2
Glossary of Formulas ■ 407
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for two means, pp. 246, 290
chi square (2 � 2), p. 301
Mann–Whitney U Test
value for U, p. 322
where �R1� sum of the ranks of the N1 group
testing significance for larger samples, N � 21, p. 323
where c � 0.5
Mean
from raw data, p. 41
from a frequency distribution, p. 44
weighted mean, p. 50
where N1, N2, and so on are the numbers of scores associated with their respective means and K is the last of the means being averaged
Median Location
p. 44
Range of a distribution, p. 53 Range � XH � XL
where XH � highest score XL � lowest score
interquartile range, p. 55 IQR � 75th percentile � 25th percentile
Regression
predicting Y from X, p. 114 Ŷ � r SY SX
1X � X� 2 � Y�
N � 1
2
X�W � � 1N1X�1 � N2 X�2 � p � NKX�K 2
�N
m or X� � � f X
N
m or X� � �X N
sU � B 1N1 2 1N2 2 1N1 � N2 � 1 212 mU �
N1N2 2
z � 1U1 � c 2 � mU
sU
U1 � 1N1 2 1N2 2 � N1 1N1 � 1 2
2 � �R1
f � Bx 2N
d � X�1 � X�22MSerror
408 ■ Appendix F
21-W4221-APF 4/4/07 10:45 AM Page 408
straight line, p. 110
where a � value at the Y intercept b � slope of the regression line
Y intercept of a regression line, p. 110
slope of a regression line, p. 110
Standard Deviation of a Population or Sample (for description)
deviation-score method from ungrouped data, p. 57
raw-score method from ungrouped data, p. 60
Standard Deviation of a Sample (an estimator of S)
deviation-score method from ungrouped data, p. 61
raw-score method from ungrouped data, p. 63
raw-score method from grouped data, p. 63
paired samples, p. 206
Standard Error of the mean
where s is known, p. 152
estimated from a single sample, p. 159 sX� � ŝ1N
sX� � s1N
ŝD �R �D2 �
1�D 2 2
N
N � 1
ŝ �R � f X 2 �
1� f X 2 2
N
N � 1
ŝ �R �X 2 �
1�X 2 2
N
N � 1
ŝ � B� 1X � X� 2 2N � 1
s or S �R �X 2 �
1�X 2 2
N
N
S � B� 1X � X� 2 2N
b � N�XY � 1�X 2 1�Y 2
N�X 2 � 1�X 2 2
b � r SY SX
a � Y� � bX�
Ŷ � a � bX
Glossary of Formulas ■ 409
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of a difference between means equal-N samples, p. 201
samples with unequal N’s, p. 201
paired samples by the direct-difference method, p. 206
where
paired samples when r is known, p. 205
t Test
one sample m, p. 177
df � N � 1
independent samples, p. 201
df � N1 � N2 � 2
paired samples where r is known, p. 205
paired samples using the direct-difference method, p. 205 df � number of pairs minus one
testing whether a correlation coefficient is significantly different from .00, p. 186 df � number of pairs minus two
t � 1r 2B N � 21 � r 2
t � X� � Y�
sD� �
D�
sD�
t � X� � Y�2sX�2 � sY�2 � 2rXY 1sX� 2 1sY� 2
t � X�1 � X�2
sX�1�X�2
t � X� � m
sX�
sD� � 2sX�2 � sY�2 � 2rXY 1sX� 2 1sY� 2 ŝD �R
�D2 � 1�D 2 2
N
N � 1
sD� � ŝD1N
sX�1�X�2 �R ° �X12 �
1�X1 2 2
N1 � �X22 �
1�X2 2 2
N2 N1 � N2 � 2
¢ a 1
N1 �
1
N2 b
�R �X12 �
1�X1 2 2
N1 � �X22 �
1�X2 2 2
N2 N1 1N2 � 1 2
� B a ŝ11N1 b 2
� a ŝ21N2 b
2
sX�1�X�2 � 2sX�12 � sX�22 410 ■ Appendix F
21-W4221-APF 4/4/07 10:45 AM Page 410
Tukey HSD
one-way, factorial, and repeated-measures ANOVA, pp. 243, 256, 289
where
Variance Use the formulas for the standard deviation. For ŝ2 square ŝ. For s2 square s.
Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks T Test value for T, p. 328 T � smaller sum of the signed ranks
testing significance for larger samples, N � 50, p. 331
where c � 0.5
N � number of pairs
z Score Formulas
descriptive, pp. 70, 126
probability of a sample mean, p. 152
(See also Mann–Whitney U test and Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed-Ranks T test.)
z � X� � m
sX�
z � X � X�
S ; also z �
X � m
s
sT � BN 1N � 1 2 12N � 1 224 mT �
N 1N � 1 2
4
z � 1T � c 2 � mT
sT
sX� 1for N1 � N2 2 � BMSerror2 a 1N1 � 1N2 b sX� 1for N1 � N2 � Nt 2 � BMSerrorNt
HSD � X�1 � X�2
sX�
Glossary of Formulas ■ 411
21-W4221-APF 4/4/07 10:45 AM Page 411
c. Dependent variable: jail sentence; independent variable: occupation; number of levels: three; names of levels: vice president, janitor, and unspecified
1.8. a. Dependent variable: number of suggestions complied with Independent variable, number of levels, and their names: hypnosis; two; yes and no i. Nominal variables: hypnosis, suggestions;
statistic: mean number of suggestions complied with
ii. Interpretation: Barber’s study shows that hypnotized participants do not acquire pow- ers greater than normal (see Barber, 1976).
b. Dependent variable: answer to the question Did you see a barn? Independent variable, number of levels, and their names: mention of the barn in the ques- tion about how fast the car was going; two; mentioned and not mentioned i. Several answers can be correct here. The
most general population answer is “people” or “people’s memory.” Less general is “the memory of people given misinformation about an event.” One parameter is the per- cent of all people who say they see a barn even though no barn was in the film.
ii. Interpretation: If people are given misinfor- mation after they have witnessed an event, they sometimes incorporate the misinforma- tion into their memory. [See Loftus’s book, Eyewitness Testimony (1979), which relates this phenomenon to courts of law.]
c. Dependent variable: weight (grams) of crack- ers consumed Independent variable, number of levels, and their names: the time shown on the clock on the wall; three; slow, correct, and fast i. Weight (grams)
appendix G
Answers to Problems
412
Chapter 1 1.1. a. 64.5–65.5 b. Qualitative c. Qualitative
d. 3.5–4.5 e. 80.5–81.5 1.2. Many paragraphs can qualify as good answers to
this question. Your paragraph should include variations of these definitions: Population: a defined set of scores that is of interest to an investigator Sample: a subset of the population Parameter: a numerical or nominal characteristic of a population Statistic: a numerical or nominal characteristic of a sample
1.3. a. Inferential; sample data are used to predict a future event.
b. Descriptive; the population was available for counting.
c. Descriptive; all the votes were counted and no inference was made.
d. Inferential; a conclusion about engagement is based on sample data.
1.4. Nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio 1.5. Nominal: Different numbers are assigned to dif-
ferent classes of things. Ordinal: Nominal properties, plus the numbers carry information about greater than and less than. Interval: Ordinal properties, plus the distance between units is equal. Ratio: Interval properties, plus a zero point that means a zero amount of the thing being measured.
1.6. a. Ordinal b. Ratio c. Nominal d. Nominal e. Ordinal f. Ratio g. Ordinal
1.7. a. Dependent variable: rating of qualification; independent variable: gender; number of levels: two; names of levels: female and male
b. Dependent variable: narcissism; independent variable: birth order; number of levels: three; names of levels: first, second, and later born
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:45 AM Page 412
Answers to Problems (Chapter 2) ■ 413
ii. Interpretation: Eating by obese men is affected by what time they think it is; that is, consumption by obese men does not depend entirely on internal physiological cues of hunger (see Schachter and Gross, 1968).
1.9. Besides differing in the textbook used, the two classes differed in (1) the professor, one of whom might be a better teacher; (2) the time the class met; and (3) the length of the class period. A 10:00 A.M. class probably has younger students who have fewer outside commitments. Students probably concentrate less during a 3-hour class than they do in three 1-hour classes. Any of these extraneous variables might be responsible for the difference in scores. Also, the investigator needs assurance that the comprehensive test was appro- priate for both textbooks.
1.10. Reason (or rationalism) and experience (or empiricism). Reason (or rationalism).
Chapter 2 2.1.
2.2. The order of candidates is arbitrary; any order is correct.
Candidate f
Attila 13 Bolivar 5 Gandhi 19 Lenin 8 Mao 11
2.3. Temperature intervals Tally marks f
99.3–99.5 >>> 3 99.0–99.2 >> 2 98.7–98.9 > 6 98.4–98.6 5 98.1–98.3 > 6 97.8–98.0 10 97.5–97.7 >> 2 97.2–97.4 >>> 3 96.9–97.1 >> 2 96.6–96.8 0 96.3–96.5 > 1
2.4. Errors Tally marks f
16 >> 2 15 0 14 >> 2 13 >>> 3 12 >>> 3 11 >>>> 9 10 > 6
9 >> 7 8 >>>> 4 7 >> 2 6 > 1
Interpretation: Here are some points that would be appropriate: (1) Surprisingly, no one recognized that all 20 statements were new. (2) All the stu- dents thought they had heard more than a fourth of the statements before. (3) Most students thought they had heard about half the statements before, but, as the number of statements increased or decreased from half, fewer and fewer thought that.
2.5. a. 25 is the midpoint of the interval 24–26 b. 5 is a frequency count; for example, there
were 5 scores in the interval with 10 as the midpoint
c. 0
>>>> >>>> >>>>
>>>>>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>
Women
Height Tally (in.) marks f
72 > 1 71 0 70 > 1 69 > 1 68 > 1 67 >>> 3 66 > 6 65 10 64 >>>> 9 63 >> 7 62 > 6 61 > 1 60 >>> 3 59 > 1
>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>>>>>
>>>>
Men
Height Tally (in.) marks f
77 > 1 76 > 1 75 > 1 74 > 1 73 >>> 3 72 >> 7 71 > 6 70 > 6 69 >>> 8 68 > 6 67 >>> 3 66 >> 2 65 >>> 3 64 > 1 63 0 62 > 1
>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:45 AM Page 413
2.6.
414 ■ Appendix G
2.7. A bar graph is appropriate. I arranged the countries in the order of their scores so that comparisons are easier.
2.8. They should be graphed as frequency polygons. Note that the midpoint of the class interval is used as the X-axis score.
61 62 63 64 65 67 69 717066 68 72 73 74 7675 78 0
1
5
6
7
8
9
2
3
4
Height (in.)
Fr eq
ue nc
y
77
Men
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Country
M ea
n in
du st
ri al
w or
k w
ee k
in h
ou rs
K or
ea
In di
a
M ex
ic o
B ra
zi l
Ja pa
n
U .K
.
U .S
.
C an
ad a
Fi nl
an d
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 Score
2
Fr eq
ue nc
y
4
6
8
10
12
16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 Score
3
6
9
12
15
Fr eq
ue nc
y
58 59 60 61 62 64 66 686763 65 69 70 71 7372 0
6
8
10
12
2
4
Height (in.)
Fr eq
ue nc
y
Women
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:45 AM Page 414
■ Graphs are a means of communication among scientists.
■ Graphs can help you understand. ■ Designing graphs takes time. ■ Attitudes toward graphs have changed in
recent years. ■ New kinds of graphs are being created.
2.17. a. Body temperature f
99.5 2 99.4 1 99.2 1 99.1 1 98.9 2 98.8 2 98.7 2 98.6 2 98.5 1 98.4 2 98.3 3 98.2 2 98.1 1 98.0 3 97.9 5 97.8 2 97.7 1 97.5 1 97.4 2 97.2 1 97.0 1 96.9 1 96.4 1
40
b. Either a frequency polygon or a histogram is appropriate. The form is negatively skewed.
Answers to Problems (Chapter 2) ■ 415
2.9. A bar graph is the proper graph for the qualitative data in problem 2.2.
2.10. Distribution a is positively skewed; distribution b is negatively skewed.
2.11. A frequency polygon has a frequency count on the Y axis; the variable that is being counted is on the X axis. A line graph has some variable other than frequency on the Y axis.
2.12.
Fr eq
ue nc
y 20 18 16 14
10 12
4 6 8
2
A tti
la
B ol
iv ar
G an
dh i
L en
in
M ao
Candidate
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
Elevation (feet)
25
30
35
40
A ve
ra ge
J an
ua ry
te m
pe ra
tu re
( °F
)
7000
Interpretation: Temperature is affected by eleva- tion. The higher the elevation, the lower the temperature, although the relationship is not a straight line.
2.13. Check your sketches against Figures 2.6 and 2.8. 2.14. Right 2.15. a. Positively skewed b. Symmetrical
c. Positively skewed d. Positively skewed e. Negatively skewed f. Symmetrical
2.16. Of course many paragraphs can qualify for A’s. Here are some points you might have included:
■ Graphs are persuasive. ■ Graphs can guide research, not just convey
the results.
96 .1
96 .4
96 .7
97 .0
97 .3
97 .6
97 .9
98 .2
98 .5
98 .8
99 .1
99 .4
Oral body temperature (°F)
2
Fr eq
ue nc
y
4
6
8
10
99 .7
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Chapter 3 3.1. To find the median, arrange the scores in descend-
ing order. a. 5 b. 12.5, halfway between 12 and 13 c. 9.5, halfway between 8 and 11
3.2. It may help to arrange the scores in descending order. Only distribution c has two modes. They are 14 and 18.
3.3. a. For these nominal data, only the mode is appropriate. The mode is Gandhi, who accounted for 34 percent of the signs.
b. Because only one precinct was covered and the student’s interest was citywide, this is a sample mode, a statistic.
c. Interpretation: Because there are more Gandhi yard signs than signs for any other candidate, Gandhi can be expected to get the most votes.
3.4. Women
Height (in.) Tally marks f f X
72 > 1 72 71 0 70 > 1 70 69 > 1 69 68 > 1 68 67 >>> 3 201 66 > 6 396 65 10 650 64 >>>> 9 576 63 >> 7 441 62 > 6 372 61 > 1 61 60 >>> 3 180 59 > 1 59
50 3215
>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>>>>>
>>>>
416 ■ Appendix G
Counting from the bottom of the distribution, you find 18 scores below 64 inches, so the median is located among the 9 scores of 64. Median � 64 inches. The most frequently occurring score (10 times) is 65 inches. Mode � 65 inches, which is found for 20 percent of the women.
Men
Height (in.) Tally marks f f X
77 > 1 77 76 > 1 76 75 > 1 75 74 > 1 74 73 >>> 3 219 72 >> 7 504 71 > 6 426 70 > 6 420 69 >>> 8 552 68 > 6 408 67 >>> 3 201 66 >> 2 132 65 >>> 3 195 64 > 1 64 63 0 62 > 1 62
50 3485
Counting from the top of the distribution, you find 20 scores above 70 inches. The median is among the 6 scores of 70. Median � 70 inches. A height of 69 inches occurs most frequently. Mode � 69 inches, which is the height of 16 percent of the men.
3.5. a.
Counting from the bottom, you reach 7 when you include the score of 12. The 10th score is located among the 5 scores of 13. Median � 13.
b.
Arrange the scores in descending order. Counting from the top, you reach 6 when you include the
Median location � N � 1
2 �
20 � 1
2 � 10.5
Median location � N � 1
2 �
19 � 1
2 � 10
Median location � N � 1
2 �
50 � 1
2 � 25.5
Mean � X�men � ©fX
N �
3485
50 � 69.70 inches
>>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>>
Median location � N � 1
2 �
50 � 1
2 � 25.5
Mean � X�women � ©fX
N �
3215
50 � 64.3 inches
8
6
4
2
96 .4
Fr eq
ue nc
y
Oral body temperature (°F)
10
96 .7
97 .0
97 .3
97 .6
97 .9
98 .2
98 .5
98 .8
99 .1
99 .4
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 416
50 percent of the SWLS scores are in the 7-point range of 21 to 28.
3.13. Women: Because 0.25 � 50 � 12.5, the 25th percentile score is 12.5 frequencies up from the bottom and the 75th percentile score is 12.5 frequencies down from the top. There are 11 scores of 62 or less, so the 12.5th score is among the 7 scores of 63. 25th percentile � 63 inches. There are 7 scores of 67 or more so the 12.5th score from the top is among the 6 scores of 66. 75th percentile � 66 inches. IQR � 66 � 63 � 3 inches; 50 percent of women are 63 to 66 inches tall. Men: With N � 50 for men also, the same 12.5 frequencies from the bottom and top identify the 25th and 75th percentile scores. The 25th percentile score is among the 6 scores of 68 inches (there are 10 less than 68). The 75th percentile score is among the 7 scores of 72 inches (there are 7 greater than 72). IQR � 72 � 68 � 4 inches for men; 50 percent are from 68 to 72 inches tall.
3.14. ■ s is used to describe the variability of a population.
■ ŝ is used to estimate s from a sample of the population.
■ S is used to describe the variability of a sample when you do not want to estimate s.
3.15. a. X
7 2 4 6 1 1 5 0 0 2 �3 9
� 20 0 14
b. X
14 3.8 14.44 11 0.8 0.64 10 �0.2 0.04 8 �2.2 4.84 8 �2.2 4.84
� 51 0 24.80
S � B© 1X � X� 2 2N � B24.805 � 24.96 � 2.23 X� � 10.2
1X � X� 2 2X � X�
S � B© 1X � X� 2 2N � B144 � 23.5 � 1.87 X� � 5
1X � X� 2 2X � X�
Answers to Problems (Chapter 3) ■ 417
score of 2. The location of the 10.5th score is among the 5 scores of 1. Median � 1.
c.
The median is the average of 26 and 21. Median � 23.5.
3.6. and is a minimum. 3.7. a. The mode is appropriate because nominal
variable events are being observed. b. The median or mode is appropriate because
helpfulness is measured with an ordinal variable.
c. The median and mode are appropriate for data with an open-ended category.
d. The median and mode are appropriate measures. It is conventional to use the median for income data because the distribution is often severely skewed. (About half of the frequencies are in the $0–$20,000 range.)
e. The mode is appropriate because these are nominal data.
f. The mean is appropriate because the data are not severely skewed.
3.8. This problem calls for a weighted mean.
74 � 12 � 888
69 � 31 � 2139
75 � 17 � 1275
� 60 4302 percent correct
3.9. For distribution a, mean � 21.80 and median � 20. The mean is larger, so the distribution is positively skewed. For distribution b, mean � 43.19 and median � 46. The mean is smaller, so the distribution is negatively skewed.
3.10. Interpretation: This is not correct. To find his lifetime batting average he should add his hits for the three years and divide by the total number of at-bats, a weighted mean. It appears that his lifetime average is less than .317.
3.11. a. Range � 17 � 1 � 16 b. Range � 0.45 � 0.30 � 0.15
3.12. With N � 100, the 25th percentile score is the 25th score from the bottom. There are 23 scores less than 21 and 3 scores of 21. The 25th percentile score is 21. The 75th percentile score is 25 frequencies from the top. There are 23 scores greater than 28 and 6 scores of 28. The 75th percentile score is 28. IQR � 28 � 21 � 7. Thus,
X�W � 4302
60 � 71.7
© 1X � X� 2 2© 1X � X� 2 � 0
Median location � N � 1
2 �
6 � 1
2 � 3.5
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 417
b. X X2
5 25 2.5 6.25 5 25 2.5 6.25 5 25 2.5 6.25 0 0 �2.5 6.25 0 0 �2.5 6.25 0 0 �2.5 6.25
� 15 75 0 37.50
How did your guess compare to your computation?
3.20. For problem 3.19a, � 2.92. For problem 3.19b,
� 2.00. Yes, these results are between 2 and 5.
3.21. a.
b. s �R294 � 138 2 2
5
5 � 1.02
s �R ©X 2 �
1©X 2 2
N
N �R
262 � 134 2 2
5
5 � 2.48
5
2.50
5
1.71
S � B© 1X � X� 2 2N � B37.506 � 26.25 � 2.50 � 26.25 � 2.50
S �R ©X2 �
1©X 2 2
N
N �R
75 � 115 2 2
6
6
1X � X� 2 2X � X�
S � B© 1X � X� 2 2N � B17.506 � 22.917 � 1.71 � 22.917 � 1.71
S �R ©X 2 �
1©X 2 2
N
N �R
55 � 115 2 2
6
6
c. X
107 2 4 106 1 1 105 0 0 102 �3 9
� 420 0 14
3.16. a. The size of the numbers has no effect on the standard deviation. It is affected by the size of the differences among the numbers.
b. The mean is affected by the size of the numbers.
3.17. City Mean Standard deviation
San Francisco 56.75°F 3.96°F Albuquerque 56.75°F 16.24°F
Interpretation: Although the mean temperature is the same for the two cities, Albuquerque has a wider variety of temperatures. (If your mean scores are 56.69°F for San Francisco and 56.49°F for Albuquerque, you are very alert. These are weighted means based on 30 days in June and September and 31 days in March and December.)
3.18. In eyeballing data for variability, use the range as a quick index. a. The second distribution is more variable. b. Equal variability c. The first distribution is more variable. d. The second distribution is more variable;
however, most of the variability is due to one extreme score, 15.
e. Equal variability 3.19. The second distribution (b) is more variable than
the first (a).
a. X X2
5 25 2.5 6.25 4 16 1.5 2.25 3 9 0.5 0.25 2 4 �0.5 0.25 1 1 �1.5 2.25 0 0 �2.5 6.25
� 15 55 0 17.50
1X � X� 2 2X � X�
S � B© 1X � X� 2 2N � B144 � 23.5 � 1.87 X� � 105
1X � X� 2 2X � X�
418 ■ Appendix G
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 418
3.26. Women
Height (in.) f f X f X2
72 1 72 5,184 70 1 70 4,900 69 1 69 4,761 68 1 68 4,624 67 3 201 13,467 66 6 396 26,136 65 10 650 42,250 64 9 576 36,864 63 7 441 27,783 62 6 372 23,064 61 1 61 3,721 60 3 180 10,800 59 1 59 3,481
� 3215 207,035
Men
Height (in.) f f X f X2
77 1 77 5,929 76 1 76 5,776 75 1 75 5,625 74 1 74 5,476 73 3 219 15,987 72 7 504 36,288 71 6 426 30,246 70 6 420 29,400 69 8 552 38,088 68 6 408 27,744 67 3 201 13,467 66 2 132 8,712 65 3 195 12,675 64 1 64 4,096 62 1 62 3,844
� 3485 243,353
Interpretation: The heights of men are more vari- able than the heights of women.
3.27. Before:
After: Interpretation: It appears that students were homogeneous and neutral before studying poetry. After studying poetry for 9 weeks, some students
ŝ � 214.286 � 3.78, X� � 5.0ŝ � 21.429 � 1.20, X� � 5.0
ŝ �R 243,353 �
13485 2 2
50
49 � 3.03 inches
ŝ �R 207,035 �
13215 2 2
50
49 � 2.52 inches
3.23. Interpretation: For : Because you spend almost exactly $2.69 each day in the Student Center, each day you don’t go to the center will save you about $2.69. Interpretation: For : Because you spend widely varying amounts in the Student Center, restrict your buying of the large-ticket items, which will save you a bundle each time you spend. (The actual value of ŝ for the data in Table 3.1 is $2.70.)
3.24. The variance is the square of the standard deviation. 3.25. Because the researcher wanted to estimate the
standard deviation of the freshman class scores from a sample, ŝ is the correct standard deviation.
ŝ2 � 33.162
� 233.16 � 5.76 ŝ �R©X
2 � 1©X 2 2
N
N � 1 �R5064 �
1304 2 2
21
20
ŝ � $2.50
ŝ � $0.02
Answers to Problems (Chapter 3) ■ 419
3.22.
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 419
were turned on and some were turned off; they were no longer neutral.
3.28. ŝ is the more appropriate standard deviation; generalization to the manufacturing process is expected.
Process A:
Process B:
Interpretation: Process B produces more consis- tent gizmos. Note that both processes have an average error of zero.
3.29.
3.30. Number of errors
Heard before f f X f X2
16 2 32 512 15 0 0 0 14 2 28 392 13 3 39 507 12 3 36 432 11 9 99 1089 10 6 60 600 9 7 63 567 8 4 32 256 7 2 14 98 6 1 6 36
� 39 409 4489
From the bottom of the distribution, there are 20 scores of 10 or less. From the top there are 19 scores of 11 or more. The 20th score is at 10. Median � 10 errors. Mode � 11 errors. Range � 16 � 6 � 10 errors. The 25th percentile is 9 errors; the 75th percentile is 12. The interquartile range is 3 errors (12 � 9 � 3).
Median location � N � 1
2 �
39 � 1
2 � 20
Mean � �X N
� 409
39 � 10.49 errors
�R 385,749.24 �
13928 2 2
40
39 � 20.504 � 0.71°F
ŝ �R© f X 2 � 1© f X 2 2
N
N � 1
ŝ �R 12 �
02
6
5 � 1.55 millimeters
ŝ �R 18 �
02
6
5 � 1.90 millimeters
Interpretation: Bransford and Franks are interested in the way human beings process information and remember it. Thus, these data are a sample and the purpose is to generalize to all humans. is the appropriate standard deviation, and ŝ2 is the appropriate variance.
ŝ2 � 5.26 errors Interpretation: People are poor at recognizing what they have heard if the test includes concepts simi- lar to what they heard originally. On the average, about half of the 20 sentences that they had never heard were identified as having been heard earlier. (Mean � 10.49 errors; median � 10 errors; mode � 11 errors.) People are fairly consistent in their mistakes; the IQR was only three errors, although the range of errors was from 6 to 16. The standard deviation (ŝ) was 2.29 errors; the variance was 5.26 errors.
3.31. What is your response? Do you know this stuff? Can you work the problems?
Chapter 4 4.1. Zero 4.2. �z � 0. Because � 0, it follows that
.
4.3. Negative z scores are preferable when lower scores are preferable to higher scores. Examples include measures such as errors, pollution levels, and race times.
4.4. Harriett:
Heslope:
Interpretation: Of course, in timed events, the more negative the z score, the better the score. Heslope’s �1.52 is superior to Harriett’s �1.39.
4.5. Tobe’s apple: ;
Zeke’s orange:
Interpretation: Tobe’s z score is larger, so the answer to Hamlet must be a resounding “To be.”
z � 10 � 6
1.2 � 3.33
z � 9 � 5
1 � 4.00
z � 24 � 26.25
1.479 � �1.52
z � 37 � 39.5
1.803 � �1.39;
© 1X � X� 2 S
� 0
© 1X � X� 2
� 25.256 � 2.29 errors ŝ �R© f X
2 � 1© f X 2 2
N
N � 1 �R
4489 � 1409 2 2
39
38
ŝ
420 ■ Appendix G
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 420
Notice that each fruit varies from its group mean by the same amount. It is the smaller variability of the apple weights that makes Tobe’s fruit a winner.
4.6. First test: ;
Second test: ;
Third test:
Interpretation: Drop Ableson’s second test. 4.7. ■ Distribution X, with a range of 7 and an
interquartile range of 2, is positively skewed with the mean of about 3 and the median of about 1 .
■ Distribution Y has a range of 6 and an interquartile range of 2. It is negatively skewed with the mean near 6 and the median near 7 .
■ Distribution Z, with a range of 3 and an interquartile range of 1, is a symmetrical distri- bution with the mean and median at about 6 .
4.8.
1 2
1 2
1 2
1 2
z � 51 � 45
3 � 2.00
z � 125 � 105
15 � 1.33
z � 79 � 67
4 � 3.00
Answers to Problems (Chapter 4) ■ 421
4.11.
a. d � 0.50. Interpretation: A d of 0.50 is a medium effect size index.
b. d � 0.90. Interpretation: A d of 0.90 indicates a quite large effect size, greater even than the 0.80 that is considered large.
c. d � 0.30. Interpretation: A d of 0.30 is inter- mediate in size between values that are considered small and medium; I’d call it “somewhat larger than a small effect size.” (Note that the means are the same in problems b and c. Data variability is always important.)
4.12.
Interpretation: Although first-born children score higher on cognitive ability than second-born chil- dren, the size of the effect is quite small, being about half the size needed to be designated as “small.”
4.13. For cabbages:
For pumpkins:
Lavery’s cabbage:
Eaton’s pumpkin:
Interpretation: Eaton’s pumpkin is the overall winner.
z � X � X�
S �
1446 � 1200
81.65 � 3.01
z � X � X�
S �
124 � 100
8.165 � 2.94
�R4,340,000 � 13600 2 2
3
3 � 81.65 pounds
S �R©X 2 � 1©X 2 2
N
N
X� � ©X N
� 3600
3 � 1200 pounds
�R 30,200 �
1300 2 2
3
3 � 8.165 pounds
S �R ©X 2 �
1©X 2 2
N
N
X� � ©X N
� 300
3 � 100 pounds
d � m1 � m2
s �
X�1 � X�2 s
� 469 � 456
110 � 0.12
d � m1 � m2
s �
X�1 � X�2 s
58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 78
Height (in.)
Women
Men
Normal oral body temperature (oF)
96 97 98 99 100
4.9. For normal oral body temperatures: highest � 99.5°F; lowest � 96.4°F; 25th percentile � 97.8°F; 75th percentile � 98.7°F; median � 98.2°F
4.10. The quick way to solve these problems is to find the value of 1.5(IQR) and subtract it from the 25th percentile and then add it to the 75th per- centile. Use the results to decide each problem. 1.5(IQR) � 1.5(0.9) � 1.35. For small scores, 97.8 � 1.35 � 96.45. For large scores, 98.7 � 1.35 � 100.05. Thus, a. 98.6ºF no b. 99.9ºF no c. 96.0ºF yes d. 96.6ºF no e. 100.5ºF yes
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 421
4.14. Compile the raw data into simple frequency distributions:
Psychotherapy f Control f
34 1 22 1 28 1 21 1 25 1 18 1 23 1 13 1 18 1 10 1 15 1 9 1 13 2 5 1 11 1 4 2 10 2 3 2
9 1 2 1 7 2 1 1 5 1 0 1 0 1 �2 1
�2 1 �3 1 �5 1 �7 1
�10 1 �9 1 �15 1 �12 1
�22 1 � 20 � 20
Mediantherapy: The 10.5th score is between the two scores of 10. Mediantherapy � 10.
Mediancontrol: The 10.5th score is between the two scores of 3. Mediancontrol � 3.
Therapy: 25th percentile: 0.25 � N � 5. The 5th score is 0, so 0 is the 25th percentile. 75th percentile: The 5th score from the top is 18, which is the 75th percentile.
Control: 25th percentile: 0.25 � N � 5. �3 is the 25th percentile. 75th percentile: 10 is the 75th percentile.
d � m1 � m2
s �
X�1 � X�2 s
� 9.8 � 3.0
10 � 0.68
Median location � N � 1
2 �
20 � 1
2 � 10.5
X�control � ©X N
� 60
20 � 3.0
X�therapy � ©X N
� 196
20 � 9.8
422 ■ Appendix G
Interpretation: Psychotherapy helps. On the average, the psychological health of those who received psychotherapy was 9.8 points higher after treatment. Those not receiving treatment improved only 3.0 points. The difference in the two means produced an effect size index of 0.68, which is intermediate between “medium” and “large.” Both distributions of scores were approximately symmetrical.
Chapter 5 5.1. A bivariate distribution has two variables. The
scores of the variables are paired in some logical way.
5.2. Variation from high to low in one variable is accompanied by predictable variation in the other variable. Saying that two variables are correlated does not tell you if the correlation is positive or negative.
5.3. In a positive correlation, as X increases, Y increases. (It is equivalent to say that as X decreases, Y decreases.) In a negative correlation, as X increases, Y decreases. (Equivalent statement: As X decreases, Y increases in negative correlation.)
5.4. a. Yes; positive; taller people usually weigh more than shorter people.
b. No; these scores cannot be correlated because there is no basis for pairing a particular first- grader with a particular fifth-grader.
c. Yes, negative; as temperatures go up, less heat is needed and fuel bills go down.
d. Yes, positive; people with higher IQs score higher on reading comprehension tests.
e. Yes, positive; those who score well on quiz 1 are likely to score well on quiz 2. The fact that some students are in section 1 and some are in section 2 can be ignored.
f. No; there is no basis for pairing the score of a student in section 1 with that of a student in section 2.
�25�20�15�10�5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
Change in psychological health
Control
Psychotherapy
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Answers to Problems (Chapter 5) ■ 423
5.5. Fathers Daughters
Mean 67.50 62.50 S 3.15 2.22 � (score) 405 375 � (score)2 27,397 23,467
� XY � 25,334 r � .513
r by the blanched formula:
By the raw-score formula:
r � 16 2 125,334 2 � 1405 2 1375 22 3 16 2 127,397 2 � 1405 2 2 4 3 16 2 123,467 2 � 1375 2 2 4 � .513
� 4222.33 � 4218.75
6.99 � .512
r �
25,334
6 � 167.5 2 162.5 2
13.15 2 12.22 2
Interpretation: A correlation of .92 indicates that the WAIS and the Wonderlic are measuring almost the same thing.
5.7.
5.8. The actual correlation coefficients are: a. �.60 b. �.95 c. .50 d. .25 Would you be interested in knowing how statistics teachers did on this question? I asked 31 statistics teachers to estimate r for these four scatterplots. These are the means and standard deviations of their estimates:
a. b. c. d. These data suggest to me that estimating correla- tion coefficients from scatterplots is not easy.
5.9. Coefficient of determination � .85. Interpretation: The two measures of intelligence have about 85 percent of their variance in common, which shows that there is a great deal of overlap in what they are measuring.
5.10. r2 � (.25)2 � .0625 Interpretation: This means that 6.25 percent of the variation that is seen in infectious diseases is related to stress; 93.75 percent is due to other factors. Thus, to “explain” illness (prevalence, severity, and such), factors other than stress are required.
5.11. Your shortest answer here is no. Although you have two distributions, you do not have a bivariate distribution. There is no pairing of a height score for a woman with a height score for a man.
5.12. (.10)2 � .01, or 1 percent; (.40)2 � .16, or 16 percent. Note that a fourfold increase in the correlation coefficient produces a 16-fold increase in the common variance.
5.13. Cigarette consumption Death rate
Mean 604.27 205.00 S 367.865 113.719 � (score) 6,647 2,255 � (score)2 5,505,173 604,527
� XY � 1,705,077 N � 11 r � .74
X� � .13; ŝ � .11X� � .42; ŝ � .17 X� � �.87; ŝ � .06X� � �.50; ŝ � .19
r �
8524
10 � 119.0 2 144.4 2
15.744 2 16.184 2 � .25
r � 110 2 18524 2 � 1190 2 1444 22 3 110 2 13940 2 � 1190 2 2 4 3 110 2 120096 2 � 1444 2 2 4 � .25
62 64 66 68 70 72
Father’s height (in.)
58
60
62
64
66
D au
gh te
r’ s
he ig
ht (
in .)
5.6. X� � 105.00 Y� � 103.00
� 11,004.76 � 10,815.00
206.786 �
189.760
206.786 � .92
r �
231,100
21 � 1105 2 1103 2
114.268 2 114.493 2
SY �R 227,200 �
12163 2 2
21
21 � 2210.048 � 14.493
SX �R 235,800 �
12205 2 2
21
21 � 2203.571 � 14.268
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 423
5.18. a.
b. To draw the regression line, I used two points: (X�, Y�) and (62, 60.5). I got the point (62, 60.5) by using the formula Ŷ � a � bX. Other X values would work just as well.
a � Y� � bX� � 62.5 � 1.3612 2 167.5 2 � 38.12
b � r SY SX
� 1.513 2 2.217
3.149 � 1.513 2 1.704 2 � .3612
Interpretation: With r � .74, these data show that there is a strong relationship between per capita cigarette consumption and male death rate 20 years later. Data such as these do not permit cause-and-effect conclusions.
5.14. a. Interpretation: Vocational interests tend to remain stable from age 20 to age 40.
b. Identical twins raised together have very similar IQs.
c. There is a slight tendency for IQ to be lower as family size increases.
d. There is a slight tendency for taller men to have higher IQs than shorter men.
e. The lower a person’s income level is, the greater the probability that he or she will be diagnosed as schizophrenic.
5.15. Interpretation: As humor scores increase, insight scores increase. The effect size index, 0.83, is very large, which indicates that there is a very strong relationship between humor and insight. Humor and insight have 69 percent of their variance in common, leaving only 31 percent not accounted for. The caveats (warnings) that go with r are that the scatterplot must show a linear relationship and that r by itself does not justify cause-and-effect statements.
5.16. Interpretation: A correlation of �.37 means that there is a medium-sized tendency for children with more older siblings to accept less credit or blame for their own successes or failures than children with fewer older siblings. The coefficient of determination, .1369, means that only about 14 percent of the variance in acceptance of responsibility is predictable from knowledge of the number of older siblings; 86 percent is not. No cause-and-effect statements are justified by a correlation coefficient alone.
5.17. A Pearson r is not a useful statistic for data such as these because the relationship is a curved one. You might note that the scatterplot is similar to the curved relationship you saw in Figure 2.9.
424 ■ Appendix G
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Serial position
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
N um
be r
of e
rr or
s
62 64 66 68 70 72
Father’s height (in.)
58
60
62
64
66
D au
gh te
r’ s
he ig
ht (
in .)
5.19. a.
b. Ŷ � a � bX � 4.877 � 10.935 2 1130 2 � 126.4
� 103 � 98.123 � 4.877
a � Y� � bX� � 103 � 10.935 2 1105 2
b � r SY SX
� 1.92 2 14.493
14.268 � 1.92 2 11.016 2 � 0.935
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Answers to Problems (Chapter 5) ■ 425
5.20. a. Advertising X Sales Y
Mean 4.286 108.571 S 1.030 20.304 � (score) 30 760 � (score)2 136 85,400
�XY � 3360 r � .703
b. Ŷ � a � bX � 49.176 � 13.858X c. One point that I used for the regression line
on the scatterplot was for X� � 4.29 and Y� � 108.57, the two means. The other point was X � 6.00 and Y � 132.33. Other X values would work just as well.
Another caution: The $10,000 figure is much more than any of the values used to find the regression line. It is not safe to predict outcomes for points far from the data.
5.21.
Interpretation: An IQ score depends to some degree on the test administered; a person with an IQ of 65 on the Stanford-Binet is predicted to have an IQ of 74 on the WAIS.
5.22. Designate the time number X and the graduates Y.
�X � 15.0000 �Y � 6.3200 N � 5 �X 2 � 55.0000 �Y 2 � 8.0018 �XY � 19.3100 X� � 3.0000 Y� � 1.2640 SX � 1.4142 SY � 0.0516
r � .959 a � 1.1590 b � 0.0350
For the year 2008, X � 10. Thus,
Adjusting the decimals, the number of predicted graduates with bachelor’s degrees in the year 2008 is approximately 1,509,000 or one and a half million. Depending on when you are working this problem, you can check the accuracy of this prediction in the Statistical Abstract of the United States. (Also, because you already have the regression equation, you can easily predict the number of graduates for the particular year that you will graduate.)
5.24. On the big important questions like this one, you are on your own!
What Would You Recommend? Chapters 1–5
a. The mode is appropriate because this is a distribu- tion of nominal data.
b. z scores can be used. c. A regression analysis produces a prediction. d. The median is appropriate because the distribution
is severely skewed (the class interval with zero has the highest frequency). The range, interquartile range, and standard deviation would all be informa- tive. The appropriate standard deviation is s
Ŷ � 1.159 � 0.035 110 2 � 1.509
Ŷ � a � bX � 1.159 � 0.035X
Ŷ � 1.80 2 a 15
16 b 165 � 100 2 � 100 � 73.75 � 74
3 4 5 6 Advertising budget ($ thousands)
80
100
120
140
Sa le
s ($
th ou
sa nd
s)
d. Ŷ � a � bX. For X � 10, Ŷ � 187.756 or, in terms of sales, $187,756.
e. Interpretation: You were warned that the inter- pretation of r can be a tricky business. Your answer might contain one of those common errors I mentioned. With r � .70, you have a fair degree of confidence that the prediction will hold in general. However, if your thinking (and your answer) was that increasing advertis- ing would increase sales, you made the error of inferring a causal relationship from a corre- lation coefficient.
As a matter of fact, some analysts say that sales cause advertising; they say that advertis- ing budgets are determined by last year’s sales. In any case, don’t infer more than the data permit. These data allow you to estimate with some confidence what sales were by knowing the amount spent for advertising. In this problem, the percent of sales spent on advertising (just less than 4 percent) is about the same as the percent spent nationally in the United States.
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 425
426 ■ Appendix G
because the 50 states represent the entire population of states.
e. The applicant with the more consistent judgments is the better candidate. The range, interquartile range, and standard deviation would all be helpful.
f. A line graph is appropriate for the relationship that is described. A Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient is not appropriate because the relation- ship is curvilinear (much forgetting at first, and much less after 4 days).
g. The median is the appropriate central tendency statistic when one or more of the categories is open- ended.
h. A correlation coefficient will describe this relationship. (What direction and size would you guess for this coefficient? The answer, based on several studies, is �.10.)
Chapter 6 6.1. There are seven cards between the 3 and
jack, each with a probability of � .077. So (7)(.077) � .539.
6.2. The probability of drawing a 7 is , and there are 52 opportunities to get a 7. Thus, (52)( ) � 4.
6.3. There are four cards that are higher than a jack or lower than a 3. Each has a probability of . Thus,
6.4. The probability of a 5 or 6 is . In 78 draws, (78)(.154) � 12 cards that are 5s or 6s.
6.5. a. .7500; adding the probability of one head (.3750) to that of two heads (.3750), you get .7500.
b. .1250 � .1250 � .2500 6.6. 16(.1250) � 2 times 6.7. a. .0668
b. Interpretation: The test scores are normally distributed.
6.8. a. .0832 b. .2912 c. .4778
6.9. Empirical; the scores are based on observations. 6.10. z � (X � m)/s.
a. z score � �3.00 b. z score � .67 c. z score � .20 d. z score � .00
6.11. To make a quick check of your answer, compare it with the proportion of students who have IQs of 120 or higher, .0918. The proportion with IQs of 70 or lower will be less than the proportion with IQs of 120 or higher. Is your calculated
4 52 �
4 52 �
8 52 � .154
14 2 1 452 2 � 16 52 � .308.
4 52
4 52
4 52
4 52
proportion less? The figure that follows shows a normal distribution in which the proportion of the population with IQs of 70 or lower is shaded. For IQ � 70, z � (70 � 100)/15 � �30/15 � �2.00. The proportion beyond z � 2.00 is .0228 (column C in Table C). Thus, .0228 or 2.28 per- cent of the population is expected to have IQs of 70 or lower.
?
70 100
6.12. (.0228)(4000) � 91.2, or 91 students. 6.13. z � (110 � 100)/15 � 10/15 � .67. The pro-
portion beyond z � .67 is .2514, which is the expected proportion of people with IQs of 110 or higher.
6.14. a. .2514 � 250 � 62.85, or 63 students b. 250 � 62.85 � 187.15, or 187 students c. . I hope you were able to get
this one immediately by thinking about the symmetrical nature of the normal distribution.
6.15. The z score that includes a proportion of .02 is 2.06. If z � 2.06, then X � 100 � (2.06)(15) � 100 � 30.9 � 130.9 � 131. In fact, Mensa requires an IQ of 130 on tests that have a stan- dard deviation of 15, which permits somewhat more than 2 percent of the population to qualify.
6.16. a. The z score you need is 1.65. (1.64 will include more than the tallest 5 percent.) 1.65 � (X � 64.3)/2.5; X � 64.3 � 4.1 � 68.4 inches.
b. z � (58 � 64.3)/2.5 � �6.3/2.5 � �2.52. The proportion excluded is .0059.
6.17. a. z � (60 � 69.7)/3.0 � �9.7/3.0 � �3.23. The proportion excluded is .0006.
b. z � (62 � 69.7)/3.0 � �7.7/3.0 � �2.57. The proportion taller than Napoleon is .9949 (.5000 � .4949).
6.18. a. , proportion � .0359z � 3.20 � 3.11
.05 � 1.80
1 2 � 250 � 125
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 426
b. The z score corresponding to a proportion of .1000 is 1.28. Thus,
X � 3.11 � (1.28)(.05) � 3.11 � .064 � 3.17 grams
X � 3.11 � .064 � 3.05 grams
Thus, the middle 80 percent of the pennies weigh between 3.05 and 3.17 grams.
6.19.
20. There are other ways to set up this problem that yield the same proportion.
6.22. 800 � .1971 � 157.7 � 158 students 6.23.
Answers to Problems (Chapter 6) ■ 427
30 40
?
a. , proportion � .2967;
, proportion � .2967;
(2)(.2967) � .5934 � the proportion of stu- dents with scores between 30 and 40.
b. The probability is also .5934. 6.20. Interpretation: No, because the distance between
30 and 40 straddles the mean, where scores that occur frequently are found. The distance between 20 and 30 is all in one tail of the curve, where scores occur less frequently.
6.21.
z � 40 � 35
6 � .83
z � 30 � 35
6 � �.83
30 3520
?
.2967
, proportion � .4938
, proportion � .2967
.4938 � .2967 � .1971. The proportion of stu- dents with scores between 35 and 30 is subtracted from the proportion with scores between 35 and
z � 30 � 35
6 � �.83
z � 20 � 35
6 � �2.50
? ?
.0050 .0050
.9900
The z score that is conventionally used for a pro- portion of .0050 is 2.58 (column C). Thus,
X � m � (z)(s) � 100 � (2.58)(15) � 138.7 or 139
and
X � 100 � (�2.58)(15) � 61.3 or 61
IQ scores of 139 or higher or 61 or lower are achieved by 1 percent of the population.
6.24. Because .01 of the curve lies outside the limits of the scores 61 and 139, the probability is .01. The probability is .005 that the randomly selected person has an IQ of 139 or higher and .005 that it is 61 or lower.
6.25.
The proportion associated with z � �.82 is .2061 (column C), and (.2061)(185,822) � 38,298 truck drivers. Because the normal curve corresponds only approximately to the empirical curve, the usual procedure is to report this result as “About 38,000 truck drivers would get raises.”
6.26. This problem has two parts: determining the num- ber of trees over 8 inches DBH on 1 acre and multiplying by 100:
,
proportion � .5000 � .3810 � .8810 .8810(199) � 175.319 trees on 1 acre 175.319(100) � 17,532 trees on 100 acres (about 17,500 trees)
6.27.
The proportion of gestation periods expected to last 10 months or longer is .0110. In modern
z � 300 � 268
14 �
32
14 � 2.29
z � 8 � 13.68
4.83 � �1.18
z � .85 � .99
.17 �
�.14
.17 � �.82
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 427
7.4. Interpretation: Those with greater educational accomplishments are more likely to return the questionnaire. Such a biased sample will overesti- mate the accomplishments of the population.
7.5. Interpretation: The sample will be biased. Many of the general population will not even read the article and thus cannot be in the sample. Of those who read it, some will have no opinion and some will not bother to mark the ballot and return it. In short, the results of such a questionnaire cannot be generalized to the larger population.
7.6. a. Biased, although such a bias is not considered serious. Every sample does not have an equal chance of being selected. For example, two brothers named Kotki, next to each other on the list, could not both be in one sample. Thus, samples with both Kotki brothers are not possible.
b. Biased, because none of the samples would have freshmen, sophomores, or seniors, although they are members of the population.
c. Random, assuming the names in the box were thoroughly mixed.
d. Random; though small, this sample fits the definition of a random sample.
e. Biased; some members of the population have completed the English course and no samples could include these people.
7.7. For many important problems, random samples are impractical or impossible to obtain. Researchers often use convenient samples to con- duct experiments. If the experiments produce a consistent pattern of results, researchers conclude that this pattern is true for the population, and they are usually correct.
7.8. Standard error; expected value 7.9. a. Select a set of numbers as the population. Draw
many samples of the same size, find the range for each sample, and arrange those ranges into a frequency distribution.
b. The standard error of the range c. The expected value of the range, which is the
mean of the sampling distribution of the range, will be less than the population range. Only a very few sample ranges (maybe only one) can have a value equal to the population range. Thus, almost all the sample ranges will be less than the population range. Statistics (such as the range) with expected values that are not equal to the corresponding population parame- ters are called biased statistics and are not popular among mathematical statisticians.
obstetrical care, pregnancies are normally brought to term (by drugs or surgery) earlier than 300 days.
6.28. Converting this problem to inches, you find the z score is
The proportion of the curve above 3.40 is .0003, so only 3 in 10,000 have to duck to enter a resi- dential room.
6.29.
a. , proportion � .5000 �
.4772 � .9772
b. , proportion � .5000 �
.4332 � .9332
.9332(300) � 279.96 or 280 hobbits
c. ,
proportion � .00003 or practically zero
Chapter 7
7.1.
7.2. For this problem, it is not the numbers in your sample that are “right” or “wrong” but the method you used to get them. Create an identifying number (01–20) for every population member. (Table 7.2 works fine.) Haphazardly find a starting place in Table B and record in sequence 10 two-digit identi- fying numbers (ignoring numbers over 20 and duplications). Write the 10 population members that correspond to the 10 selected identifying num- bers. How does your mean compare to the mean of 8.50?
7.3. As in problem 7.2, the method, not the numbers, determines a correct answer. You should give each number an identifying number of 01 to 38, begin at some chance starting place in Table B, and select 12 numbers. The starting place for every random sample taken from Table B should be haphazardly chosen. If you start at the same place in the table every time, you will have the same identifying numbers every time.
X� � ©X N
� 68
8 � 8.50
z � 46 � 36
2 � 5.00
z � 39 � 36
2 � 1.50
z � 32 � 36
2 � �2.00
s �R 130,000 �
13600 2 2
100
100 � 2.00 inches
m � 3600
100 � 36.0 inches
z � 80 � 69.8
3.0 � 3.40
428 ■ Appendix G
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 428
Interpretation: The junior’s suspicion that the $69,900 sample mean might be just a chance fluctuation from a true mean of $73,000 has some foundation. Such a sample mean (or one even smaller) would be expected in about 16 per- cent (one-sixth) of a large number of random samples if the true campus mean is $73,000.
7.19. a. Normal; t b. t; normal c. t; normal 7.20. Degrees of freedom 7.21. W. S. Gosset, who wrote under the pseudonym
“Student,” invented the t distribution so that he could assess probabilities for small samples from populations for which s was not known.
7.22.
7.23. X� � 27.00 points; ŝ � 3.803 points; df � 13
The t value for 95 percent confidence for 13 df is 2.160.
Interpretation: The workshop is effective. The national norm of the DoorMAT test is 24.0 points. Based on a sample of 14, we are 95 per- cent confident that the average score of all who might take the workshop is between 24.80 and 29.20 points. Because the national mean is less than the lower limit of the confidence interval, we can conclude that the workshop increases assertiveness scores. (This conclusion assumes that the clients were not more assertive than aver- age before the workshop.)
7.24. X� � 1.20 inches, ŝ � 0.10 inch, t � 31.598
LL � 1.20 � 31.598(0.0577) � �0.62 inch
UL � 1.20 � 31.598(0.0577) � 3.02 inches
Interpretation: The 120 Krups coffee pots meet the specifications. The company can have 99.9 percent confidence that the true mean burn rate for this box of pots is less than 4 inches per
sX� � 0.0577 inch,
� 27.00 � 2.160 11.016 2 � 29.20 points
UL � X� � ta 1sX� 2
� 27.00 � 2.160 11.016 2 � 24.80 points
LL � X� � ta 1sX� 2
sX� � 1.016 points;
sX� � ŝ2N � 50216 � 12.5 hours
ŝ �R 15,247,500 �
115,600 2 2
16
15 � 50.0 hours
X� � ©X N
� 15,600
16 � 975 hours
Answers to Problems (Chapter 7) ■ 429
7.10. Please check your answer with the definition and explanation in the chapter.
7.11. If this standard error (called the standard error of estimate) is very small, it means that the actual Y will be close to the predicted Ŷ. A very large stan- dard error indicates that you cannot put much confidence in a predicted Ŷ. That is, the actual Y is subject to other influences besides X.
7.12. s
N 1 2 4 8
1 1 2 4 8 4 0.50 1 2 4
16 0.25 0.50 1 2 64 0.125 0.25 0.50 1
7.13. Interpretation: As N increases by a factor of 4, is reduced by one-half. More simply but less accurately, as N increases, decreases.
7.14. 16 times
7.15.
7.16. For sample means of 8.5 or less,
� �1.00;
proportion � .1587
For sample means of 10 or greater,
7.17. For mean IQs of 105 or greater,
For mean IQs of 90 or less,
� �3.33;
probability � .0004
Interpretation: Classrooms with 25 students will have a mean IQ fairly close to 100; departures of as much as 5 points will happen less than 5 per- cent of the time; departures of as much as 10 points will be very rare, occurring less than one time in a thousand. This analysis is based on the premise that no systematic factors are influencing a child’s assignment to a classroom.
7.18. Therefore,
z � 69,900 � 73,000
3162 � �.98; p � .1635.
sX� � 20,000240 � 3162.
z � 90 � 100
15>225 � �103
z � 105 � 100
15>225 � 53 � 1.67; probability � .0475 z �
10 � 9
2>216 � 10.5 � 2.00; probability � .0228
z � 8.5 � 9
2>216 � �0.50.5
z � 8.5 � 9
2>28 � �0.50.707 � �.71; proportion � .2389 sX�
sX�
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 429
Look at the lack of overlap between the confi- dence intervals of trial 2 and trial 3. You can conclude that trial 3 performance is reliably bet- ter than that of trial 2; that is, you are more than 95 percent confident that a second sample of data will also show that the trial 3 mean is greater than the trial 2 mean.
Chapter 8 8.1. Null hypothesis statistical test. 8.2. Interpretation: .20 is the probability of data such
as those actually observed, if the equality hypoth- esis is true.
8.3. The null hypothesis is a statement about a parameter.
8.4. The null hypothesis (symbolized H0) is a tentative hypothesis about the value of some parameter (often the mean) of the population that the sam- ple is taken from. The alternative hypothesis (symbolized H1) specifies other values for the parameter.
8.5. H1: m1 � 269.3 grams; H1: m1 � 269.3 grams; H1: m1 � 269.3 grams.
8.6. Your outline should include the following points: a. Gather sample data from the population you
are interested in and calculate a statistic. b. Recognize two logical possibilities for the
population: ■ H0: a statement specifying an exact value
for the parameter of the population ■ H1: a statement specifying all other values
for the parameter c. Using a sampling distribution that assumes H0
is correct, find the probability of the statistic you calculated.
minute. (The lower limit is not of interest to Raytheon, and of course, there is no such thing as �0.62 inches.)
7.25. a. �3.182(2) � �6.364 (12.728 units wide) b. �2.131(1) � �2.131 (4.262 units wide). The
fourfold increase in N produces a confidence interval about one-third as wide. The effect of changing the sample size depends on the rela- tive change in N, not the absolute change.
c. �3.182(1) � �3.182 (6.364 units wide). Reducing ŝ by half reduces the size of the con- fidence interval by half. This relationship is true regardless of the size of ŝ. Data gatherers reduce ŝ by making careful measurements, using precise instruments, and increasing N.
7.26. The size of the standard deviation of each sample. If you happen to get a sample that produces a large standard deviation, a large standard error will result and the confidence interval will be wide.
7.27. a. 19 b. Narrower; because N was increased by four,
is reduced to half of its size. In addition, increasing N decreases the t value from Table D. Therefore, the lines are less than half as long.
7.28. a. 18 b. Narrower; the t value is smaller.
7.29. The actual values for the two 95 percent confi- dence intervals are:
females: 10.9–14.6 years
males: 14.0–15.5 years
7.30. The standard error of the mean for each of the four trial means is 1.0; the t value (24 df ) for the 95 percent confidence interval is 2.064. The lower and upper limits for each mean are �2.064.
Look at the graph that accompanies this problem. The graph in problem 7.30 has been modified by adding a 95 percent confidence interval to each trial mean. The overlap of the trial 2 confidence interval with that of the trial 1 mean indicates that the dip at trial 2 may not be reliable. That is, you are 95 per- cent confident that the population mean for trial 2 is in the range of 3.94 to 8.06. Because the upper half of this range is also included in the trial 1 confi- dence interval, you aren’t confident that a second sample of data will show the dip at trial 2. [Note that the figure that shows only the means invites you to conclude that performance (always) goes down on trial 2. The figure with the confidence intervals leads to a more cautious interpretation.]
sX�
430 ■ Appendix G
1 2 3 4
Trials
4
8
12
16
20
M ea
n pe
rf or
m an
ce
95% confidence interval
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 430
8.18. t.05 (23 df ) � 2.069 a. Interpretation: The mean paranoia score on the
MMPI-2 for the 24 police officers was 54.3, which is significantly greater than the popula- tion mean of 50 ( p � .05). Police officers are significantly more paranoid than the general population.
b. Interpretation: The mean paranoia score on the MMPI-2 for the 24 police officers was 54.3, which is not significantly different from the population mean of 50 ( p � .05). Police officers are not significantly more paranoid than the general population.
8.19. t.05 (9 df ) � 2.262 a. Interpretation: The reduction in return rate
from 5.3 percent to 4.9 percent was not statistically significant ( p � .05). Including testimonials with orders does not reduce returns by a statistically significant amount.
b. Interpretation: Including testimonials with orders reduced the return rate from 5.3 percent to 4.9 percent, a statistically significant reduction ( p � .05).
8.20. The null hypothesis is H0: m0 � 100.
Interpretation: The null hypothesis can be rejected; p � .02. The conclusion is that the Head Start participants had IQs that were significantly above average.
The actual studies that evaluated Head Start were more sophisticated than the one described here, but the conclusions were the same. The IQ differences, however, weren’t lasting, but other benefits were.
8.21. The null hypothesis is H0: m0 � 10. The best alter- native hypothesis is H1: m1 � 10. A two-tailed alternative hypothesis will allow you to conclude that odometers indicate too much or too little distance.
t.02 140 df 2 � 2.423
t � X� � m0
sX� �
105 � 100
1.98 � 2.53; 49 df
sX� � 14.00250 � 1.98
ŝ �R 560,854 �
15250 2 2
50
49 � 14.00
X� � 5250
50 � 105.00
Answers to Problems (Chapter 8) ■ 431
d. If the probability is very small, reject H0 and accept H1. If the probability is large, retain both H0 and H1, acknowledging that the data do not allow you to reject H0.
8.7. Disagree 8.8. False. Although the researcher probably thinks
that H0 is false, the sampling distribution is based on the assumption that H0 is true.
8.9. A significance level (a level) is chosen by the researcher as the point that separates “This is an unlikely event if H0 is true and therefore reject H0” from “This could reasonably happen if H0 is true and therefore retain H0.” The largest accept- able significance level without justification is .05.
8.10. Phrases that should be circled are “p is small” and “Accept H1.”
8.11. a. t.01 (17 df ) � 2.898 b. t.001 (40 df ) � 3.551 c. t.05 ( df ) � 1.96
8.12. A good interpretation explains the results with the terms and concepts used in the description of the problem. It also tells the direction of any differ- ence that was observed.
8.13. a is the probability of a Type I error, which occurs when a researcher mistakenly rejects H0. A statis- tical test of the data produces a p value, which is the probability of obtaining the sample statistic actually obtained, if H0 is true.
8.14. A Type II error is retaining a false null hypothesis. 8.15. Interpretation: The probability of making a Type I
error is zero. If at first you don’t agree with this answer, keep thinking until you understand.
8.16. The probability of a Type I error decreases from .05 to .01, and the probability of a Type II error increases.
8.17. If an answer here surprises you, make a note of what surprised you. Students, like researchers, have expectations and surprises. A surprise often means that you are about to learn something. Figure out why you were surprised.
Critical t-test Reject or value value retain H0? p value
a. 2.262 2.25 Retain p � .05 b. 2.539 2.57 Reject p � .01 c. 2.042 2.03 Retain p � .05 d. 6.869 6.72 Retain p � .001 e. 1.714 1.72 Reject p � .05 f. 2.423 2.41 Retain p � .02
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 431
Interpretation: Retain the null hypothesis. Although the sample mean (10.1 miles) is greater than the actual distance traveled (10 miles), the t test does not provide evidence that odometers record a sig- nificantly greater distance.
8.22.
t.05 (12 df ) � 2.179 Interpretation: Reject the null hypothesis and con- clude that people who were successful in used car sales have significantly higher extraversion scores than the general population.
8.23.
Interpretation: The effect size index, 2.63, is much larger than the conventional designation of “large.” Even though the sample mean was only 1.375 grams more than the Frito-Lay company claimed, the effect was large because the bag- filling machinery was so precise (the standard deviation was small).
8.24.
Interpretation: The difference in extraversion between successful used car salespeople and the population mean has a medium effect size index.
8.25.
Interpretation: An effect size index of �0.57 shows that a medium-size effect existed unde- tected for a long time and that the true value is less than the hypothesized value.
8.26.
a. t � 2.24; df � 8. Because t.05 (8 df ) � 2.31, r � .62 is not significantly different from .00.
t � 1r 2B N � 21 � r 2
d � X� � m
s �
98.2 � 98.6
0.7 � �0.57
d � X� � m
s �
56.1 � 50.0
10 � 0.61
d � X� � m
s �
270.675 � 269.3
0.523 � 2.63
t � X� � m0
sX� �
56.10 � 50.00
2.774 � 2.199; df � 12
t.05 111 df 2 � 2.201
t � 10.1 � 10
0.0537 � 1.86; 11 df
sX� � 0.186212 � 0.0537
ŝ �R 1224.5 �
1121.2 2 2
12
11 � 0.186
X� � 121.2
12 � 10.1
432 ■ Appendix G
b. t � �2.12; df � 120. Because t.05 (120 df ) � 1.98, r � �.19 is significantly different from .00.
c. t � 2.08; df � 13; t.05 (13 df ) � 2.16. Retain the null hypothesis.
d. t � �2.85; df � 62; t.05 (60 df ) � 2.00. Reject the null hypothesis.
8.27. Interpretation: Here’s my response: Chance is not a likely explanation for a correlation coefficient of .74 based on an N of 11 pairs. If there was really no relationship between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, chance would produce an r � �.7348 only 1 time in 100 (Table A, df � 9). An r � .74 is even less likely than an r � .7348, so I conclude that there is a statistically significant correlation between cigarette smoking and lung cancer (p � .01).
8.28.
From Table A, r.01 (40 df ) � .3932. Interpretation: Because .40 � .3932, reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is a posi- tive correlation between the time a student works on a test and the grade, p � .01.
If, as you finished up this problem, you thought about waiting until the end of the period to turn in your next test (so that you would get a better grade), you drew a cause-and-effect conclusion from a correlation coefficient. Better go back and reread pages 101–102.
8.29. H0: m0 � 58.7 �X � 360.8 �X2 � 21,703.86 N � 6 X� � 60.1333 ŝ � 1.2453
t.05 (5 df ) � 2.571
Interpretation: Snickers candy bars weigh more than the company claims ( p � .05). The effect size index for the difference is huge (d � 1.15).
8.30. H0: m0 � 6 �X � 216 �X2 � 1368 N � 40 X� � 5.40 ŝ � 2.274 sX� � 0.3595
d � X� � m
ŝ �
60.1333 � 58.7
1.2453 � 1.15
t � X� � m0
sX� �
60.1333 � 58.7
0.5084 � 2.82; 5 df
sX� � 0.5084
� .40
� 42 146,885 2 � 1903 2 12079 22 342 125,585 2 � 1903 2 2 4 342 1107,707 2 � 12079 2 2 4
r � N©XY � 1©X 2 1©Y 22 3N©X 2 � 1©X 2 2 4 3N©Y 2 � 1©Y 2 2 4
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 432
b. Tentatively assume H0 to be correct and estab- lish an a level.
c. Calculate an appropriate test statistic from the sample data. Compare the test statistic to the critical value for a (which comes from a sam- pling distribution based on the assumption that H0 is true).
d. If the test statistic has a probability less than a, reject H0, adopt H1, and write a conclusion about the effects of the treatment. If the test statistic has a probability greater than a, retain H0 and conclude that the data did not allow you to choose between H0 and H1.
9.5. Experiments are conducted so that researchers can write a conclusion about the effect of an independent variable on a dependent variable.
9.6. Degrees of freedom are always equal to the number of observations minus either ■ The number of necessary relationships that
exist among the observations ■ The number of parameters that are estimated
from the observations 9.7. a. Paired samples. With twins divided between
the two groups, there is a logical pairing (natu- ral pairs); independent variable: environment; levels: good and bad; dependent variable: attitude toward education.
b. Paired samples. This is a before-and-after experiment (repeated measures). For each group, the amount of aggression before watch- ing the other children is paired with the amount afterward; independent variable: exposure to better toys; levels: yes and no; dependent vari- able: number of aggressive encounters.
c. Paired samples. This is a repeated-measures design; independent variable: bright artificial light; levels: yes and no; dependent variable: depression score.
d. Paired samples (yoked control design). Par- ticipants are paired so that the amount of interrupted sleep is equal for the two. One, however, is deprived of REM sleep, the other is not; independent variable: REM deprivation; levels: yes and no; dependent variable: mood questionnaire score.
e. Independent samples. The random assignment of individuals and the subsequent procedures give you no reason to pair two particular partic- ipants’ mood questionnaire scores; independent variable: REM deprivation; levels: yes and no; dependent variable: mood questionnaire score.
Answers to Problems (Chapter 9) ■ 433
t.05 (30 df ) � 2.042
Interpretation: For number choices between 1 and 10, there is no significant difference between the numbers chosen by people subjected to subliminal stimuli and those who were not. The effect size index, 0.26, is small.
Chapter 9 9.1. Your outline should include at least the following
points: a. Two samples are selected using random assign-
ment (or random selection). b. The samples are treated the same except for
one thing. c. The samples are measured. d. The difference in measurements either is attrib-
uted to the difference in treatments or is about what would be expected if the treatment does not have an effect.
e. Write an explanation of the results. 9.2. Random assignment of participants to groups 9.3. a. Independent variable and levels: Satisfaction
with life; high SWLS scorers and low SWLS scorers Dependent variable: annual income Null hypothesis: Mean annual income is the same for people with high SWLS scores as for those with low SWLS scores.
b. Independent variable and levels: type of crime; robbers and embezzlers Dependent variable: years served in prison Null hypothesis: Convicted robbers and con- victed embezzlers spend, on the average, the same number of years in jail.
c. Independent variable and levels: amount (or weeks) of treatment; 1 week and 6 weeks Dependent variable: flexibility scores Null hypothesis: One week of physical therapy produces a mean flexibility score that is equal to the mean score after 6 weeks of treatment.
9.4. Your outline should include the following points: a. Recognize two logical possibilities:
1. The treatment has no effect (null hypothe- sis, H0).
2. The treatment has an effect (alternative hypothesis, H1).
d � 5.4 � 6
2.274 � �0.26
t � X� � m0
sX� �
5.40 � 6
0.3595 � �1.67; df � 39
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 433
9.9 Independent variable: percent of cortex removed; levels: 0 percent and 20 percent; dependent vari- able: number of errors
t.05 (60 df ) � 2.00. Interpretation: Retain the null hypothesis and conclude that a 20 percent loss of cortex does not reduce significantly a rat’s memory for a simple maze. Note: Some brain operations improve per- formance on some tasks, so a two-tailed test is appropriate.
9.10. New package Old package
�X 45.9 52.8 �X 2 238.73 354.08 X� 5.1 6.6 N 9 8 ŝ 0.76 0.89
t.005 (15 df ) � 2.947 (one-tailed test). Thus, p � .005. Interpretation: Reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the search report can be compiled more quickly with the new software than with the old. A one-tailed test is appropriate here because the only interest is whether the new software is better than the one on hand. (See the section “One-Tailed and Two-Tailed Tests” in Chapter 8.)
9.11. First of all, you might point out to the sisters that if the populations are the two freshman classes, no statistics are necessary; you have the popula- tion data and there is no sampling error. State U. is one-tenth of a point higher than The U. If the question is not about those freshman classes but about the two schools, and the two freshman
t � 6.6 � 5.1
B a 10.2415 b 10.24 2 �
1.5
0.40 � 3.75; df � 15
t � X�0 � X�20
sX�1�X�2 �
5.2 � 6.3
0.894 � �1.23; df � 78
sX�1�X�2 � B a 4.00240 b 2
� a 4.00240 b
2
� 0.894
ŝ20 percent �R 2212 �
1252 2 2
40
40 � 1 � 4.00
ŝ0 percent �R 1706 �
1208 2 2
40
40 � 1 � 4.00
f. Independent samples. The instructor randomly assigned individuals to one of the two groups; independent variable: sophomore honors course; levels: yes and no; dependent variable: grade point average. This paragraph is really not about statistics, and
you may skip it if you wish. Were you somewhat more anxious about your decisions on experiments c and d than on experiments a and b? Was this anxiety based on the expectation that surely it was time for an answer to be “independent samples”? Did you base your answer on your expectation rather than on the problem? If your answers are yes, you were exhibiting a response bias. A response bias occurs when you make a response on the basis of previous responses rather than on the basis of the current stimulus. Response biases often lead to a correct answer in textbooks, and you may learn to make decisions you are not sure about based on irrelevant cues (such as what your response was on the last question). To the extent it rewards your response biases, a textbook is doing you a disservice. So, be forewarned; recognize response bias and resist it. (I’ll try to do my part.)
9.8. A two-tailed test is appropriate; if one of the two kinds of animals is superior, you want to know which one. H0: m1 � m2 H1: m1 � m2
Fellow humans Pigeons
�X 147 75 �X 2 7515 1937 N 3 3 X� 49 25 ŝ 12.4900 5.5678
df � 4 Interpretation: Reject the null hypothesis and conclude that pigeons can spot a person in the ocean more quickly than humans can, p � .05.
� 49 � 25
B a 12.4923 b 2
� a 5.567823 b
2 �
24
7.895 � 3.04
t � X�1 � X�2
B a ŝ12N1 b 2
� a ŝ22N2 b
2
434 ■ Appendix G
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 434
t.001 (5 df ) � 6.869. Therefore, p � .001. Interpretation: The conclusion reached by the researchers was that frustration (produced by seeing others treated better) leads to aggression.
Notice that the small difference between means (1.67) is highly significant even though the data consist of only six pairs of scores. This illustrates the power that a large correlation can have in reducing the standard error.
9.14. On this problem you cannot use the direct- difference method because you do not have the raw data. This leaves you with the definition for- mula, t � (X� � Y�)> , which requires a correlation coefficient. Fortu- nately, you have the data necessary to calculate r. (The initial clue for many students is the term �XY.)
Women Men
r � .693
t.001 (15 df ) � 4.073. Thus, p � .001. Interpretation: Here is the conclusion written for the court.
Chance is not a likely explanation for the $2951 annual difference in favor of men. Chance would be expected to produce such a difference less than one time in a thousand if there is really no difference. In addition, the difference cannot be attributed to education because both groups were equally educated. Likewise, the two groups were equal in their work experience at the rehabilitation center. One explanation that has not been eliminated is discrimination, based on sex.
(These data are 1979 salary data submitted in Hartman and Hobgood v. Hot Springs Rehabili- tation Center, HS-76-23-C.)
9.15. This is a paired-samples study. It helps to carry four or five decimal places.
�D � �0.1300 �D2 � 0.0053
N � 7X� � Y� � ©D N
� �0.0186
Y� � 0.1814 secondX� � 0.1629 second
� �4.11
t � 12,782.25 � 15,733.252 1589.75 2 2 � 1987.82 2 2 � 12 2 1.693 2 1589.75 2 1987.82 2
sY� � 987.82sX� � 589.75 ŝY � 3,951.27ŝX � 2,358.99 Y� � $15,733.25X� � $12,782.25
1sX� 2 � sY� 2 � 2rXY 1sX� 2 1sY� 2
classes can be treated as representative samples, a two-tailed test is called for because superiority of either school would be of interest.
t.05 (120 df ) � 1.980. Thus, p � .05. Interpretation: Students at State U. have statisti- cally significantly higher ACT admission scores than do students at The U. You may have noted how small the difference actually is—only one- tenth of a point, an issue that is discussed in a later section in the text.
9.12. a.
ŝD is the standard deviation of the distribution of differences between paired scores.
b. D � X � Y. D is the difference between two paired scores.
c. is the standard error of the difference between means for a paired set of scores.
d. is the mean of a set of scores that is paired with another set.
9.13. X Y D D 2
16 18 �2 4 10 11 �1 1 17 19 �2 4 4 6 �2 4 9 10 �1 1
12 14 �2 4 � 68 78 �10 18 Mean 11.3 13.0
t � 11.3333 � 13.0000
0.2108 �
�1.6667
0.2108 � �7.91; df � 5
sD� � ŝD2N � 0.516426 � 0.2108
� 20.2667 � 0.5164 ŝD �R
©D2 � 1©D 2 2
N
N � 1 �R
18 � 1�10 2 2
6
5
Y� � ©Y>N. Y�
sD� � ŝD>1N. sD�
ŝD �R ©D2 �
1©D 2 2
N
N � 1
t � X�1 � X�2
sX�1�X�2 �
23.4 � 23.5
0.0474 � �2.11; df 7 120
sX�1�X�2 � B a ŝ12N1 b 2
� a ŝ22N2 b
2
� 0.0474
Answers to Problems (Chapter 9) ■ 435
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 435
t.05 (6 df ) � 2.447. Thus, p � .05. Interpretation: The obtained t does not indicate statistical significance. (This is a case in which a small sample led to a Type II error. Auditory RT is faster than visual RT. For practiced subjects, auditory RT � 0.16 second and visual RT � 0.18 second.)
9.16. I hope that you did not treat these data as paired samples. If you did, you exhibited a response bias that led you astray. If you recognized the design as independent samples, you are on your (mental) toes.
Primacy Recency
�X2 � 29 �X1 � 23 �X22 � 225 �X12 � 133
N2 � 5 N1 � 5
t.05 (8 df ) � 2.306. Thus, p � .05. Interpretation: Retain the null hypothesis. This experiment does not provide evidence that either primacy or recency is more powerful.
9.17.
t.001 (60 df ) � 3.460. Thus, p � .001. Interpretation: The meaning of very large t-test values is quite clear; they indicate a very, very small probability. Thus, conclude that children whose illness begins before age 3 show more problems than do those whose illness begins later.
� 24
2 � 12.00; df � 88
t � X�1 � X�2
sX�1�X�2 �
60 � 36
B a 12245 b 2
� a 6245 b
2
t � X�1 � X�2
sX�1�X�2 �
5.80 � 4.60
2.049 � 0.59; df � 8
� 2.049
sX�1�X�2 �R ©X12 �
1©X1 2 2
N � ©X22 �
1©X2 2 2
N
N 1N � 1 2
t � �0.0186
0.00829 � �2.24; df � 6
sD� � 0.0219327 � 0.00829
ŝD �R ©D2 �
1©D 2 2
N
N � 1 � 20.00048 � 0.02193
436 ■ Appendix G
9.18. The p is the probability of obtaining such a dif- ference in samples (or a larger difference) if the two populations they come from (total physical response method scores and lecture–discussion scores) are identical. That is, if the populations are the same, then chance would produce such a difference (or one larger) less than 1 time in 100.
9.19. Here is one version: Significant differences are due to the independent variable and not to chance; important differences are ones that change our understanding about something. Important differences are significant, but signifi- cant differences may or may not be important.
9.20.
Interpretation: An effect size index of 0.28 is small. Thus, in these data d is small and a t test using large samples did not find a significant dif- ference. This combination leads to the conclusion that the effect (if any) of removal of 20 percent of the cortex is small. If there is an effect, to detect it will require very large samples.
9.21.
Interpretation: An effect size index of 1.01 is large; thus, the effect of the multiracial camp on racial attitudes was both reliable (statistically sig- nificant) and sizable. Note that the effect size index gives you information that the means do not. That is, d � 1.01 tells you much more than does the fact that the girls scored an average of 5.78 points higher after the camp.
9.22. This is a paired-samples design.
�D � 10 �D2 � 28
� 1.25 � 1.24 � 2.49
� 13.75 � 2.50 2 � 2.365 10.5261 2
UL � 1X� � Y� 2 � ta 1sD� 2
� 1.25 � 1.24 � 0.01
� 13.75 � 2.50 2 � 2.365 10.5261 2
LL � 1X� � Y� 2 � ta 1sD� 2
sD� � ŝD2N � 1.48828 � 0.5261
ŝD �R ©D2 �
1©D 2 2
N
N � 1 �R
28 � 110 2 2
8
7 � 1.488
D� � 1.25
Y�awake � 2.50X�asleep � 3.75
d � X� � Y�
ŝ �
28.36 � 34.14
5.74 � �1.01
d � X�1 � X�2
ŝ �
5.2 � 6.3
4.00 � �0.28
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 436
Answers to Problems (Chapter 9) ■ 437
Interpretation: We are 95 percent confident that sleep improved memory by 0.01 to 2.49 words in this experiment. With a � .05, the null hypothe- sis is rejected. (Note how much more informative “a 95 percent confidence interval of 0.01 to 2.49 more words” is compared to “the null hypothesis was rejected.”)
9.23. This is an independent-samples study. Note that problem 9.7c had the same independent and dependent variables. The procedures used, not the variables, determine the design.
Interpretation: These data support (with 99 per- cent confidence) the conclusion that 2 hours a day in bright light reduces depression by 1.55 to 8.45 units on the scale used to measure depres- sion. Also note that these data allow the null hypothesis to be rejected, p � .01.
9.24. You can be confident that probabilities are accu- rate when the dependent-variable scores are (1) normally distributed, (2) have equal variances, and (3) when the samples are randomly assigned or randomly selected from the populations.
9.25. Power is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is false.
9.26. My version of the list is (1) effect size, (2) sample size, (3) a level, and (4) preciseness of measuring the dependent variable.
9.27. The null hypothesis is that experience has no effect on performance. H0: mexp � mno exp. A two- tailed test allows a conclusion about the advantage or the disadvantage of experience. The experimen- tal design is independent samples.
t.01 (30 df ) � 2.750. Thus, p � .01. Reject the null hypothesis.
Interpretation: Because the experienced group took longer, you should conclude that the previous
d � X�1 � X�2
ŝ �
7.40 � 5.05
2.22 � 1.06
� 2.35
0.7026 � 3.34; df � 38
t � 7.40 � 5.05
B a 2.13220 b 2
� a 2.31220 b
2
� 111 � 6 2 � 2.878 11.20 2 � 5 � 3.45 � 8.45
UL � 1X�1 � X�2 2 � ta 1sX�1�X�2 2
� 111 � 6 2 � 2.878 11.20 2 � 5 � 3.45 � 1.55
LL � 1X�1 � X�2 2 � ta 1sX�1�X�2 2
experience with the switch retarded the subject’s ability to recognize the solution. An effect size index of 1.06 is large. Thus, the effect of experi- ence produced a large delay in recognizing a solution to the problem.
9.28. This is a paired-samples design.
no cell � 0.95 second cell � 1.11 second
D � �1.28 D2 � 0.438
� � � �0.160 N � 8
t.05 (7 df ) � 2.365; p � .05 Interpretation: Engaging in a hands-free cell phone conversation significantly increased the reaction time to brake lights of a lead car, p � .05. The effect size index (0.88) shows that conversing on the phone has a large effect on reaction time.
These data were constructed so that the means of the two groups (0.95 and 1.11 seconds) and the effect size index (0.88) would be identical to those found by Strayer, Drews, and Johnston (2003). Incidentally, simulated crashes occurred during phone conversations but not during the driving-only condition.
9.29. I hope you recognized that these data could be arranged as matched pairs. Each pair represents a level of achievement in French II.
Listened to tape
In car In laboratory
Rank Errors Rank Errors D D2
1 7 2 7 0 0 4 7 3 15 �8 64 5 12 6 22 �10 100 8 12 7 24 �12 144 9 21 10 32 �11 121
Sum 59 100 �41 429 Mean 11.8 20.0 �8.2
t � �X ��Y
s �D �
�D
s �D �
�0.160
0.0645 � �2.48; df � 7
� R
1.6384 � 0.438
8
8 � 118 � 0.0645
sD � ŝD1N � R
©D2 � 1©D 2 2
N
N � 11N
©D N
YX
YX
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 437
t.02 (4 df ) � 3.747. Thus, p � .02. Reject the null hypothesis at the .02 level. Interpretation: Because the car group made fewer errors, conclude that concrete, immediate experi- ence facilitates learning vocabulary. A two-tailed test is appropriate because disproving a claim is always of interest to the scientifically minded. To use your data to support or refute a claim requires you to choose a two-tailed test (before the data are gathered). An effect size index of 1.70 is very large. (It is true that concrete, immediate experi- ence has a great effect on learning foreign vocabulary words.)
Perhaps you analyzed these data with a confi- dence interval. Here is one for 95 percent confidence.
Interpretation: With 95 percent confidence, you can be sure that the effect of concrete, immediate experience is to reduce the number of errors on a 25-item vocabulary test by 2.22 to 14.18 items.
9.30. These data are independent samples. Answers and interpretations for a t test and a 95 percent confidence interval follow.
Malpractice suits
0 2
�X 24 42 �X2 88 218 N 8 9 X� 3.000 4.667 ŝ 1.512 1.658
� �8.2 � 5.98 � �2.22
� 111.8 � 20.0 2 � 2.776 12.154 2
UL � 1X� � Y� 2 � ta 1sD� 2
� �8.2 � 5.98 � �14.18
� 111.8 � 20.0 2 � 2.776 12.154 2
LL � 1X� � Y� 2 � ta 1sD� 2
d � X� � Y�
ŝ �
11.8 � 20.0
4.817 � �1.70
t � X� � Y�
sD� �
11.8 � 20.0
2.154 �
�8.2
2.154 � �3.81; df � 4
sD� � ŝD2N � 4.81725 � 2.154
ŝD �R ©D2 �
1©D 2 2
N
N � 1 �R
429 � 1�41 2 2
5
4 � 4.817
438 ■ Appendix G
df � 15
t.05 (15 df ) � 2.131. Thus, p � .05. Interpretation: Using audio recordings, judges gave significantly higher dominance scores to sur- geons who had been sued twice as compared to surgeons who had never been sued, p � .05. The difference in the number of suits (0 or 2) produced a large effect on the judgments, d � 1.05.
Interpretation: With 95 percent confidence, con- clude that the tone of dominance used by surgeons who had been sued twice was 0.03 to 3.31 units greater than that used by surgeons who had never been sued. Units represent judgments on a 1 to 7 scale. The difference in the number of suits (0 or 2) produced a large effect on the judgments, d � 1.05.
What Would You Recommend? Chapters 6–9
a. A paired-samples t test allows you to determine if the number of smiles (dependent variable) is related to whether or not there is an audience (independent variable). The samples are paired because each infant contributes data to both the audience and the no-audience condition.
b. A z-score analysis using the normal curve gives the percent of the population that is less gregarious than the social worker who has a score of 73.
c. A one-sample t test gives the probability of obtain- ing a sample with a mean of 55 from a population with a mean of 50. If this probability is very low, conclude that the workshop increased gregarious- ness scores.
d. The lower and upper limits of a confidence interval will capture a population mean with a certain level of confidence (usually 95 or 99 percent).
� 13.000 � 4.667 2 � 2.131 10.769 2 � �0.03
UL � 1X�1 � X�2 2 � ta 1sX�1�X�2 2
� 13.000 � 4.667 2 � 2.131 10.769 2 � �3.31
LL � 1X�1 � X�2 2 � ta 1sX�1�X�2 2
d � 3.000 � 4.667
B 11.512 2 2 17 2 � 11.658 2 2 18 27 � 8 �
�1.667
1.592 � 1.05
t � 3.000 � 4.667
B a 1.51228 b 2
� a 1.65829 b
2 �
�1.667
0.769 � �2.16
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 438
of two variances—a between-treatments variance over an error variance; (b) when the null hypoth- esis is true, both variances are good estimators of the population variance and the ratio is about 1.00; (c) when the null hypothesis is false, the between-treatments variance overestimates the population variance, resulting in a ratio that is greater than 1.00; (d) the F value calculated from the data is compared to a critical value from the F distribution, a distribution that assumes the null hypothesis is true.
10.6. a. Retain the null hypothesis and conclude that the data do not provide evidence that the methods of therapy differ in reducing fear responses.
b. Reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is a relationship between degree of modernization and suicide rate.
10.7. X1 X2 X3 �
�X 12 12 24 48 �X2 50 56 224 330 X� 4 4 8
Check: 32.00 � 42.00 � 74.00 10.8. Independent variable: degree of modernization,
three levels; dependent variable: suicide rate.
Degree of modernization
Low Medium High �
�X 24 48 84 156 �X2 154 614 1522 2290 X� 6.0 12.0 16.8 N 4 4 5 13
SStot � 2290 � 1156 2 2
13 � 418.00
� 2 � 8 � 32 � 42.0
SSerror � a50 � 122
3 b � a56 �
122
3 b � a224 �
242
3 b
� 288 � 256 � 32.00
� 48 � 48 � 192 � 256
SStreat � 122
3 �
122
3 �
242
3 �
482
9
SStot � 330 � 482
9 � 330 � 256 � 74.00
e. The state’s population mean is not captured in prob- lem d because the sample is not a random sample from the state (or even a representative one). A better interpretation is that the interval captures the mean of “those students planning to go to college.”
f. To determine the probability that an r � �.39 could be a chance fluctuation, test the null hypothe- sis H0: r � 0. If H0 is rejected, conclude that there is a reliable relationship between the two variables. (See Elgin and Pritchard, 2006.)
g. The probability that a student, chosen at random, comes from one of the six categories is found by dividing the number of students in that category by the total number of students. (See the most recent issue of Statistical Abstract of the United States for current data.)
h. A paired-samples t test allows you to determine if cognitive and behavioral measures depend on whether or not a child eats sugar at breakfast (the independent variable). The samples are paired— each child serves in both conditions.
Chapter 10 10.1. Example 2: Independent variable and levels:
schedule of reinforcement; four levels. Depen- dent variable: persistence. The null hypothesis is that the mean persistence scores of the four populations are equal; that is, the schedule of reinforcement has no effect on persistence.
Example 3: Independent variable and levels: degree of modernization; three levels. Depen- dent variable: suicide rate. The null hypothesis is that suicide rates are not dependent on degree of modernization, that the mean suicide rate for countries with low, medium, and high degrees of modernization is the same. In formal terms, the null hypothesis is H0: mlow � mmed � mhigh.
10.2. Larger
10.3.
10.4. The between-treatments estimate of variance is a variance calculated from the sample means; it is the numerator of the F ratio. The within- treatments estimate of variance is calculated from each set of treatment scores; it is the denom- inator of the F ratio.
10.5. Interpretation: There are several ways to craft a fine answer to this question. You could use graphs, algebra, words, or all three. A good answer includes such elements as: (a) F is a ratio
F � s2
s2
Answers to Problems (Chapter 10) ■ 439
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 439
Check: 259.20 � 158.80 � 418.00 Incidentally, the rate per 100,000 is about 11 in the United States and about 12 in Canada.
10.9. Independent variable: kind of therapy; levels: model, film, desensitization, and control; depen- dent variable: snake-approach responses.
Model Film Desensitization Control �
�X 104 72 68 40 284 �X2 2740 1322 1182 430 5674 X� 26 18 17 10 N 4 4 4 4 16
� 2704 � 1296 � 1156 � 400 � 5041
� 5556 � 5041 � 515
� 36 � 26 � 26 � 30 � 118
Check: 515 � 118 � 633 10.10. Six groups. The critical values of F are based
on 5, 70 df and are 2.35 and 3.29 at the .05 and .01 levels, respectively. If a � .01, retain the null hypothesis; if a � .05, reject the null hypothesis.
10.11. Data from problem 10.7:
a. Source SS df MS F p
Treatments 32.00 2 16.00 2.29 �.05 Error 42.00 6 7.00 Total 74.00 8
F.05 (2, 6 df ) � 5.14. Interpretation: Because 2.29 does not reach the critical value, retain the null hypothesis and conclude that you do not have strong evidence against the hypothesis
� a 1182 � 682
4 b � a430 �
402
4 b
SSerror � a 2740 � 1042
4 b � a1322 �
722
4 b
SStreat � 1042
4 �
722
4 �
682
4 �
402
4 �
2842
16
SStot � 5674 � 2842
16 � 5674 � 5041 � 633
� a 1522 � 184 2 2
5 b � 158.80
SSerror � a154 � 124 2 2
4 b � a614 �
148 2 2
4 b
SSmod � 124 2 2
4 � 148 2 2
4 � 184 2 2
5 � 1156 2 2
13 � 259.20
440 ■ Appendix G
that these three groups came from the same population. b.
Source SS df MS F p
Treatments 24.00 1 24.00 2.40 �.05 Error 40.00 4 10.00 Total 64.00 5
F.05 (1, 4 df ) � 7.71. Retain the null hypothesis.
Note that (1.55)2 � 2.40; that is, t 2 � F. 10.12. Durkheim’s modernization and suicide data
from problem 10.8: For df, use
dftot � Ntot � 1 � 13 � 1 � 12
dfmod � K � 1 � 3 � 1 � 2
dferror � Ntot � K � 13 � 3 � 10
Source SS df MS F p
Modernization 259.20 2 129.60 8.16 �.01 Error 158.80 10 15.88 Total 418.00 12
F.01 (2, 10 df ) � 7.56. Interpretation: Reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is a relationship between suicide rate and a coun- try’s degree of modernization.
10.13. Source SS df MS F p
Treatments 515 3 171.667 17.46 �.01 Error 118 12 9.833 Total 633 15
F.01 (3, 12 df ) � 5.95. Interpretation: Reject the null hypothesis at the .01 level and conclude that the treatment method had an effect on the number of snake-approach responses. By the end of this chapter, you will be able to compare the means to determine which method is best (or worst).
10.14. A priori tests are those planned in advance. They are tests based on the logic of the design
t � X�1 � X�2
sX�1�X�2 �
8 � 4
2.582 � 1.55; df � 4
SSerror � a56 � 122
3 b � a224 �
242
3 b � 40.00
SStreat � 122
3 �
242
3 �
362
6 � 24.00
SStot � 280 � 362
6 � 64.00
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 440
Answers to Problems (Chapter 10) ■ 441
of an experiment. Post hoc tests are chosen after examining the data.
10.15. Recall that the mean suicide rates for the differ- ent degrees of modernization were: low—6.0; medium—12.0; high—16.8. Comparing coun- tries with low and medium degrees of modernization:
Comparing countries with medium and high degrees of modernization:
Comparing countries with low and high degrees of modernization:
Interpretation: Suicide rates are significantly higher in countries with a high degree of mod- ernization than they are in countries with a low degree of modernization. Although the other dif- ferences were not significant, the trend is in the direction predicted by Durkheim’s hypothesis.
10.16. I calculated HSDs for each of the six pairwise differences. For some of these HSDs the equal- N formula was appropriate, and for some the unequal-N formula was necessary. The two values of are
The table shows all six HSD values. The sig- nificance level of each comparison is indicated with one or two asterisks. HSD.05 � 4.00, HSD.01 � 5.09.
� B3.932 a 15 � 17 b � 0.821 sX� � BMSerror2 a 1N1 � 1N2 b sX� � BMSerrorNt � B3.935 � 0.887
sX�
HSD.01 � 5.27
HSD � 16.8 � 6.0
1.890 �
10.8
1.890 � 5.71; p 6 .01;
HSD.05 � 3.88
HSD � 16.8 � 12.0
B15.882 a 14 � 15 b �
4.8
1.890 � 2.54; NS;
HSD.05 � 3.88
HSD � 12.0 � 6.0215.88>4 � 6.01.99 � 3.02; NS;
crf FR2 FR4
FR2 4.63* FR4 7.44** 3.41 FR8 9.47** 5.60** 2.03
* p � .05 ** p � .01
Interpretation: The trend of the means is con- sistent; the higher the ratio of response to reinforcement during learning, the greater the persistence during extinction. The crf schedule produced the least persistence, significantly less than any other schedule. The FR2 schedule pro- duced less persistence than the FR4 schedule (NS) and significantly less than the FR8 sched- ule ( p � .01).
10.17. Comparing the best treatment (model) with the second best (film):
Comparing the poorest treatment (desensitiza- tion) with the control group:
Interpretation: For the treatment of phobias, using a live model and encouraging participa- tion are significantly better than using a film or desensitization. All three of the treatments pro- duced significant improvement compared to an untreated control group.
10.18. Normally distributed dependent variable, homo- geneity of variance, and random assignment.
10.19.
Interpretation: An effect size index of 1.76 is much greater than the value f � 0.40 that signi- fies a large effect; thus, the type of therapy given to those suffering from a phobia has a very large effect on improvement.
� B4 � 116 1171.667 � 9.833 229.833 � 1.76
f � BK � 1Ntot 1MStreat � MSerror 22MSerror
HSD.05 � 4.20
HSD � X�3 � X�4
sX� �
17 � 10
1.568 � 4.46; p 6 .05;
HSD.05 � 4.20
HSD � X�1 � X�22MSerror>Nt � 26 � 181.568 � 5.10; p 6 .05;
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 441
442 ■ Appendix G
10.21. ACS 4MAT Control
X� 8.9 18.1 3.1
Source SS df MS F p
Instruction 2288.533 2 1144.267 20.81 �.01 methods
Error 3134.400 57 54.989 Total 5422.933 59
F.01 (2, 55 df ) � 5.01
HSD values calculated for the three pairwise comparisons are:
ACS and 4MAT: HSD � 5.55** ACS and control: HSD � 3.50* 4MAT and control: HSD � 9.05**
*p � .05 **p � .01 HSD.05 � 3.44 HSD.01 � 4.37
Interpretation: Three months after BSE training, women retained significantly more information if they had learned with the 4MAT method than if they were taught with the ACS method. Either method is better than no training. The effect size index of 0.81 shows that BSE training has a very large effect on information retained three months later.
10.22. Source SS df MS F p
Between embarrassments 141.733 2 70.867 5.76 �.05
Error 147.600 12 12.300 Total 289.333 14
F.05 (2, 12 df ) � 3.88
� B3 � 160 11144.267 � 54.989 2254.989 � 0.81
f � BK � 1Ntot 1MStreat � MSerror 22MSerror
10.20. Disorder
None Schizophrenia Depression �
�X 178 138 72 388 �X2 4162 2796 890 7848 X� 22.25 19.71 12.00 N 8 7 6 21
Source SS df MS F p
Disorder categories 376.31 2 188.16 11.18 �.01 Error 302.93 18 16.83 Total 679.24 20
F.01 (2, 18 df ) � 6.01
Depression and schizophrenia:
Depression and no disorder:
No disorder and schizophrenia:
Interpretation: Those diagnosed with depres- sion have significantly lower R scores on the Rorschach test than those with schizophrenia ( p � .01). The effect of these two diagnoses on R scores was huge (d � 1.88).
Additional note: Depressed patients’ R scores were also significantly lower than those with no diagnosis ( p � .01). Schizophrenics and those with no diagnosis were not significantly differ- ent. For a review of the Rorschach test and an explanation of the problem with R scores, see Lilienfeld, Wood, and Garb (2000).
d � �Xsch ��Xdep
ŝerror �
19.71 � 12.00216.83 � 1.88 � 1.69; NS; HSD.05 � 3.61
HSD � 22.25 � 19.71
B16.832 a 18 � 17 b �
2.54
1.501
� �6.54; p 6 .01; HSD.01 � 4.70
HSD � 12.00 � 22.25
B16.832 a 16 � 18 b �
�10.25
1.567
� �4.78; p 6 .01; HSD.01 � 4.70
HSD � 12.00 � 19.71
B16.832 a 17 � 16 b �
�7.71
1.614
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 442
Answers to Problems (Chapter 11) ■ 443
HSD values are calculated from pairwise comparisons with
Severe and mild embarrassment: HSD � 3.95*
Severe and no embarrassment: HSD � 4.34*
Mild and no embarrassment: HSD � 0.38
*p � .05, HSD.05 � 3.77
Interpretation: The participants who were subjected to severe embarrassment in order to be in the experiment judged the uninteresting discussion more favorably than did those who experienced mild embarrassment ( p � .05) or no embarrassment ( p � .05). The effect size index for the embarrassment procedures in this experiment is quite large ( f � 0.80).
Although common sense says that a valuable goal is worth suffering for, these data (and many more) say that if we have suffered, then whatever we get is valuable. This balance that we create in our minds is called effort justification by social psychologists.
Chapter 11 11.1. Obviously, there are several solutions to this
problem. Before reading further, you might ask yourself if your solution is a practical one. If not, try to create a more practical solution.
One solution is to select participants in groups of three. Within each group the three are matched in some way related to the material that is on the multiple-choice test. If the material is unfamiliar and the participants are college students, I would match on grade point average. Assignment of treatments within a group would be random. This is a three-group version of the matched-pairs design (page 198).
sX� � B12.3005 � 1.568
� B3 � 115 170.867 � 12.300 2212.300 � 0.80
f � BK � 1Ntot 1MStreat � MSerror 22MSerror
11.2. SStot
SSsubjects SStreat SSerror
11.3. Rest interval (weeks)
Subject 2 4 8 �
1 40 50 58 148 2 58 56 65 179 3 44 70 69 183 4 57 61 74 192 � 199 237 266 702 X� 49.75 59.25 66.50
Source SS df MS F
Subjects 365.667 3 Intervals 564.500 2 282.250 7.21 Error 234.833 6 39.139 Total 1165.000 11
F.05 (2, 6 df ) � 5.14
Tukey HSD tests; HSD.05 � 4.34;
HSD8v4 � 2.32; NS
HSD8v2 � 5.35; p � .05
HSD4v2 � 3.04; NS
Interpretation: These data show that as the rest interval increases from 2 weeks to 4 weeks to 8 weeks, there is an increase in percent of recall. That is, the longer the rest interval, the better the percent of recall. Only the difference between 2 weeks and 8 weeks is statistically significant, p � .05.
11.4.
HSD.05 � 4.34. Although always staying with your first choice resulted in an average loss of one point, the difference is not statistically significant.
11.5. The comparison of the therapy techniques does not lend itself to a repeated-measures design
HSD1st v. cont � 74 � 7521.333>4 � �10.577 � �1.73; p 7 .05
sX� � B39.1394 � 3.128
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 443
using the same participants. Clearly, it doesn’t make sense to provide therapy for someone for a period sufficient to help and then use another therapy on that same person.
11.6. (1) Carryover effects, (2) levels of the inde- pendent variable are chosen by researcher, (3) assumptions of the test are true for the populations the samples are from.
11.7. A carryover effect occurs when the effect of one level of the independent variable continues to influence dependent-variable scores during the administration of a second level of the inde- pendent variable.
11.8. Source SS df MS F p
Subjects 34,543.33 4 Periods 5,890.00 2 2945.00 44.73 �.01 Error 526.67 8 65.83 Total 40,960.00 14
F.01 (2, 8 df ) � 8.65
Tukey HSD tests; HSD.01 � 5.64;
HSDbefore v during � 11.30; p � .01
HSDbefore v after � 0.55; NS
HSDafter v during � 11.85; p � .01
Interpretation: During meditation, oxygen consumption drops to about 80 percent of the level observed before and after meditation. The drop is statistically significant, p � .01. The oxygen consumption rates before and after meditation are not significantly different.
11.9. If the conclusion that meditation lowers oxygen consumption is wrong, it is a Type I error. If the conclusion that oxygen consumption before and after meditation is not significantly different is wrong, it is a Type II error.
11.10. Matching Inter- Cognitive- character- personal behavioral Drug istic Placebo therapy therapy therapy �
Women at age 20 18 11 8 10 47
Men at age 30 21 9 15 10 55
Women at age 45 24 16 10 16 66
� 63 36 33 36 168 X� 21 12 11 12
sX� � B65.8335 � 3.629
444 ■ Appendix G
Source SS df MS F
Subjects 45.500 2 Therapies 198.000 3 66.000 8.16* Error 48.500 6 8.083 Total 292.000 11
F.05 (3, 6 df ) � 4.76 *p � .05
Tukey HSD tests: HSD.05 � 4.90;
HSDno v interpersonal � 5.48; p � .05
HSDno v drug � 5.48; p � .05
HSDno v cognitive � 6.09; p � .01
HSDdrug v cognitive � 0.61; NS
Interpretation: Each of the three therapies is significantly better than the placebo control group. There are no significant differences among the three therapy groups.
Chapter 12 12.1. a. 2 � 2 b. 3 � 2 c. 4 � 3
d. 4 � 3 � 3; this is a factorial design with three independent variables.
12.2. a, b, c, and e all have one factor. 12.3. a, b, and d all have an independent variable that
has two levels. 12.4. My version: An interaction occurs when the
effect of changing levels of one factor depends on which level of the other factor you are look- ing at.
12.5. Interpretation: The effect on problem solving of time of day depends on gender. There are sev- eral ways to write a specific answer; here are two: a. Women solve problems better at 7:00 A.M.;
men solve them better at 7:00 P.M. b. A 7:00 A.M. session in problem solving pro-
duces more correct answers from men; a 7:00 P.M. session produces more correct answers from women.
12.6. A main effect is a comparison of the different levels of one factor using dependent variable scores.
sX� � B8.0833 � 1.641
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 444
Answers to Problems (Chapter 12) ■ 445
12.7. i. a. d. There appear to be main effects for both factors.
e. Interpretation: For people with all types of schizophrenia, the larger the dose, the higher the competency score (Factor B, main effect). People with paranoia have higher competency scores than the others at all dose levels (Factor A, main effect).
iii. a.
Card games B1 Computer games B2
Levels of Factor A (age)
50
M ea
n at
tit ud
e sc
or e
Young A1
Old A2
75
b. There appears to be an interaction. c. Interpretation: Attitudes toward games
depend on age. The young prefer com- puter games, and the old prefer cards.
d. There appear to be no main effects. Mar- gin means for games are cards � 62.5 and computers � 62.5. Margin means for age are young � 62.5 and old � 62.5.
e. Later in this chapter you will learn that when there is a significant interaction, the interpretation of main effects isn’t simple. Although all four means are exactly the same, there is a difference in attitudes toward the two games, but this difference depends on the age of the participant.
ii. a.
Disorganized A1
Catatonic A2
Paranoid A3
Diagnosis (Levels of Factor A)
25
50
75
100
M ea
n co
m pe
te nc
y sc
or e
Large dose B3
Medium dose B2
Small dose B1
b. There appears to be no interaction. c. Interpretation: The effect of the drug dose
does not depend on the diagnosis of the patient.
Grade
20
Se lf
-c on
sc io
us ne
ss s
co re
s
5th grade A1
9th grade A2
40
60
12th grade A3
Short B1 Tall B2
b. There appears to be an interaction. c. Interpretation: The effect of a person’s
height on self-consciousness depends on the person’s grade in school. Height seems to make little difference in the 5th grade. In the 9th grade, tall students are much more self-conscious than short students, but this difference is much smaller in the 12th grade.
d. The main effects appear to be signifi- cant. The margin means are 20 and 30 for height; 7.5, 45, and 25 for grade level.
e. Interpretation: Here’s an interpretation that is appropriate for the information you’ve been given so far. (More on inter- pretation of main effects when the interaction is significant comes later.) Tall students are more self-conscious than short students (mean scores of 35 and 30 respectively). Ninth-graders
are more self-conscious than 12th-graders or 5th-graders
.1X� � 7.5 2 1X� � 25 2
1X� � 45 2
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 445
iv. a.
446 ■ Appendix G
Interpretation: At this stage in the chapter, most any opinion will do. There appears to be an interaction between students’ experience in col- lege and their major. Both main effects might be significant because there is a difference in each set of margin means. Right or wrong, a preliminary analysis of a study improves your understanding (and may prepare you to recog- nize gross computational errors if they occur later).
12.9. a. 2 � 2 b. Independent variables and levels: gender:
male and female; handedness: left and right Dependent variable: age at death
c.
SSAB � 3[(73 � 75.5 � 67.5 � 71.25) 2
� (62 � 67.5 � 67 � 71.25)2
� (78 � 75 � 75.5 � 71.25)2
� (72 � 75 � 67 � 71.25)2]
� 3(6.25) � 18.75
Check: SSAB � 404.25 � 216.75 � 168.75 � 18.75
� 61,087.50 � 60,918.75 � 168.75
SShandedness � 4052
6 �
4502
6 � 60,918.75
� 61,135.50 � 60,918.75 � 216.75
SSgender � 4532
6 �
4022
6 � 60,918.75
� 61,323 � 60,918.75 � 404.25
SScells � 2192
3 �
1862
3 �
2342
3 �
2162
3 �
8552
12
� 61,455 � 60,918.75 � 536.25
SStot � 61,455 � 8552
12
20
40
60
Low Middle High Socioeconomic status
M ea
n at
tit ud
e to
w ar
d lo
w er
in g
ta xe
s
Men
Women
b. There appears to be no interaction. Although the lines in the graph are not parallel—they even cross—the departure from parallel is slight and may be due to sampling variation.
c. Interpretation: Gender differences in attitudes toward lowering taxes on invest- ments do not depend on socioeconomic status.
d. There appears to be a main effect for socioeconomic status but not for gender.
e. Interpretation: Men and women do not differ in their attitudes toward lowering taxes on investments (Factor B). The higher the socioeconomic status, the more positive are attitudes toward lower- ing taxes on investments.
12.8.
M ea
n st
ud y
tim e
(h r)
College experience
6
8
10
12
None Some
Humanities major
Natural science major
6
8
10
12
College experience
Some None
M ea
n st
ud y
tim e
(h r)
Humanities
Natural science
Major
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 446
Answers to Problems (Chapter 12) ■ 447
� 26.00 � 42.00 � 32.00 � 32.00 � 132.00
Check: 404.25 � 132.00 � 536.25
12.10. a. Independent variables and levels: therapy: psychodynamic, interpersonal, cognitive- behavioral; gender: women, men Dependent variable: improvement scores
b. 2 � 3 c.
SSAB � 6[(32 � 35 � 46.667 � 47) 2
� (58 � 54 � 46.667 � 47)2
� (50 � 52 � 46.667 � 47)2
� (38 � 35 � 47.333 � 47)2
� (50 � 54 � 47.333 � 47)2
� (54 � 52 � 47.333 � 47)2]
� 344
Check: SSAB � 2964 � 2616 � 4 � 344
� 4762
Check: 4762 � 2964 � 7726
� a15,748 � 3002
6 b � a18,352 �
3242
6 b
� a15,742 � 3002
6 b � a9514 �
2282
6 b
SSerror � a 6930 � 1922
6 b � a20,964 �
3482
6 b
SSgender � 8402
18 �
8522
18 �
16922
36 � 4
SStherapy � 4202
12 �
6482
12 �
6242
12 �
16922
36 � 2616
� 3002
6 �
3242
6 �
16922
36 � 2964
SScells � 1922
6 �
3482
6 �
3002
6 �
2282
6
SStot � 87,250 � 16922
36 � 87,250 � 79,524 � 7726
� c18,284 � 2342
3 d � c15,584 �
2162
3 d
SSerror � c16,013 � 2192
3 d � c11,574 �
1862
3 d
12.11.
SSAB � 5[(8.60 � 6.80 � 6.30 � 7.25) 2
� (4.00 � 7.70 � 6.30 � 7.25)2
� (5.00 � 6.80 � 8.20 � 7.25)2
� (11.40 � 7.70 � 8.20 � 7.25)2]
� 151.25
Check: SSAB � 173.35 � 4.05 � 18.05
� 151.25
� 180.40
Check: 173.35 � 180.40 � 353.75
12.12. Source SS df MS F p
Gender (A) 216.75 1 216.75 13.14 �.01 Handedness (B) 168.75 1 168.75 10.23 �.05 A � B 18.75 1 18.75 1.14 �.05 Error 132.00 8 16.50 Total 536.25 11
F.05(1, 8 df ) � 5.32; F.01 (1, 8 df ) � 11.26
Interpretation: The interaction is not significant, so the main effects can be interpreted directly. Both gender and handedness produced signifi- cant differences. Right-handed people live longer than left-handed people ( p � .05) and women live longer than men ( p � .01).
� a155 � 252
5 b � a750 �
572
5 b
SSerror � a400 � 432
5 b � a100 �
202
5 b
SSrecall � 632
10 �
822
10 �
1452
20 � 18.05
SSlearn � 682
10 �
772
10 �
1452
20 � 4.05
SScells � 252
5 �
572
5 �
432
5 �
202
5 �
1452
20 � 173.35
SStot � 1405 � 1452
20 � 353.75
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 447
12.13. Source SS df MS F p
Therapy (A) 2616 2 1308 8.24 �.01 Gender (B) 4 1 4 0.03 �.05 AB 344 2 172 1.08 �.05 Error 4762 30 158.73 Total 7726 35
F.05 (2, 30 df ) � 3.32; F.01 (2, 30 df ) � 5.39
Interpretation: The interaction between therapy and gender was not statistically significant. The main effect of gender was also not significant. The differences among the three kinds of ther- apy did produce a significant F, p � .01. The amount of improvement among depressed patients depended on the kind of therapy received. [Hollon, Thrase, and Markowitz’s arti- cle on treatment and prevention of depression (2002) explains these psychotherapies and also other psychotherapies and antidepressant medications.]
12.14. Source SS df MS F p
Learning (A) 4.05 1 4.05 0.36 �.05 Recall (B) 18.05 1 18.05 1.60 �.05 AB 151.25 1 151.25 13.41 �.01 Error 180.40 16 11.28 Total 353.75 19
F.05 (1, 16 df ) � 4.49; F.01 (1, 16 df ) � 8.53
448 ■ Appendix G
12.15. i. a. Independent variables: (1) treatment the participant received (insulted or treated neutrally) and (2) administrator of test (same or different). Dependent variable: number of captions produced.
b. Ftreatments � 9.08, p � .01; Fexperimenters � 6.82, p � .05; FAB � 4.88, p � .05.
c. Interpretation: The significant interaction means that the effect of the experimenter depended on whether the participant was insulted or treated neutrally. If the partici- pant had been insulted, taking the humor test from the person who had done the insulting caused a larger number of cap- tions to be written—larger, that is, than if a new experimenter had administered the test. If the participant had not been insulted, there was little difference between the two kinds of experimenters.
Both main effects are statistically signif- icant. For both main effects, the difference in margin means depends heavily on one cell, Cell A1B1. Interpreting the main effects for this problem isn’t advisable.
ii. a. Independent variables: (1) name (high prestige or low prestige) and (2) occupa- tion of father (research chemist or unemployed). Dependent variable: score assigned to the theme.
b. Fname � 0.44, p � .05; Foccupation � 0.05, p � .05; FAB � 8.20, p � .01
Left-handed Right-handed
Gender
60
M ea
n ag
e at
d ea
th
Women Men
70
80 Recall with drug Recall without drug
Learning
4M ea
n re
ca ll
sc or
e
With drug Without drug
8
12
2
6
10
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 448
Answers to Problems (Chapter 12) ■ 449
c. Interpretation: The significant interaction means that the effect of the name depends on the occupation of the father. The effect of the name David is good if his father is a research chemist (Cell A1B1) and bad if his father is unemployed (Cell A1B2). The effect of the name Elmer is good if his father is unemployed (Cell A2B2) and bad if his father is a research chemist (Cell A2B1).
The main effects are not significant. The average “David” theme is about equal to the average “Elmer” theme. Similarly, the themes do not differ signif- icantly according to whether the father was unemployed or a research chemist. Notice that this interpretation of the main effects is misleading; that is, names do have an effect, but the effect depends on the occupation of the father.
iii. a. Independent variables: (1) questions (used and not used) and (2) demonstra- tions (used and not used). Dependent variable: score on a comprehension test.
b. Fquestions � 4.59, p � .05; Fdemos � 9.80, p � .01; FAB � 0.24, p � .05
c. Interpretation: Because the interaction is not significant, the main effects can be interpreted in a straightforward manner. Questions are important; when questions are incorporated, students learn signifi- cantly more than when questions are not used. The demonstrations make a difference; presentations that have demonstrations produce comprehension scores that are significantly better than presentations without demonstrations.
12.16. Interpretation: Only the interaction is signifi- cant. The conclusion is that when conditions of learning and recall are the same, memory is enhanced. When conditions of learning and recall are different, memory is retarded.
12.17. a. The number of scores in each group (cell) must be the same.
b. The scores in each cell must be independent. c. The levels of both factors must be chosen by
the experimenter and not selected randomly. d. The samples are drawn from normally dis-
tributed populations. e. The variances of the populations are equal.
f. The participants are assigned randomly to the group, or the samples are drawn randomly from the populations.
12.18. Source SS df MS F p
Rewards (A) 199.31 3 66.44 3.90 �.05 Classes (B) 2.25 1 2.25 0.13 �.05 AB 0.13 3 0.04 0.00 �.05 Error 953.25 56 17.02 Total 1154.94 63
F.05 (3, 55 df ) � 2.78
Interpretation: There is no significant interac- tion between rewards and class standing, and freshmen and seniors do not differ significantly. There is a significant difference among the rewards; that is, rewards have an effect on atti- tudes toward the police. Pairwise comparisons are called for.
The table that follows shows the four treat- ment means, N’s, and a matrix of HSD values calculated from the formula,
$10 $5 $1 50¢
Means 8.938 10.250 12.125 13.563 N 16 16 16 16
$10 1.27 3.09 4.48* 5 1.82 3.21 1 1.39
* HSD.05 � 3.79
Interpretation: The less students were paid to defend the police, the more positive their atti- tude toward the police. Those paid 50 cents had significantly more positive attitudes toward the police than those paid ten dollars, p � .05.
12.19.
SSreligious � 121 2 2
6 � 124 2 2
6 � 139 2 2
6 � 184 2 2
18 � 31.00
SSmarital � 151 2 2
9 � 133 2 2
9 � 184 2 2
18 � 18.00
� 115 2 2
3 � 184 2 2
18 � 52.00
SScells � 112 2 2
3 � 115 2 2
3 � 124 2 2
3 � 19 2 2
3 � 19 2 2
3
SStot � 480 � 184 2 2
18 � 88.00
HSD � X�1 � X�2217.02>16
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Check: SScells � 18.00 � 31.00 � 3.00 � 52.00
Check: 52.00 � 36.00 � 88.00
Source df MS F p
Marital status 1 18.00 6.00 �.05 Religious behavior 2 15.50 5.17 �.05 AB 2 1.50 0.50 �.05 Error 12 3.00 Total 17
F.05 (1, 12 df ) � 4.75; F.05 (2, 12 df ) � 3.88
The interaction is not significant; HSD tests are appropriate for comparing the three levels of fre- quency of religious behavior. For this problem,
; HSD.05 � 3.77
HSDoften & occasionally � 3.54; NS
HSDnever & occasionally � 0.71; NS
HSDoften & never � 4.24; p � .05
Interpretation: Both marital status and fre- quency of religious behavior have an effect on reports of happiness. Married people reported being more happy than unmarried people ( p � .05). Those frequently engaged in religious behavior reported higher happiness scores than those who never engaged in religious behavior ( p � .05). Happiness was intermediate (but not
HSD � X�1 � X�223.00>6
� 36.00
� a 35 � 19 2 2
3 b � a83 �
115 2 2
3 b
� a 194 � 124 2 2
3 b � a29 �
19 2 2
3 b
SSerror � a 56 � 112 2 2
3 b � a83 �
115 2 2
3 b
� 3 11.00 2 � 3.00
� 15.0 � 6.5 � 3.667 � 4.667 2 2 4
� 13.0 � 4.0 � 3.667 � 4.667 2 2
� 13.0 � 3.5 � 3.667 � 4.667 2 2
� 18.0 � 6.5 � 5.667 � 4.667 2 2
� 15.0 � 4.0 � 5.667 � 4.667 2 2
SSAB � 3 3 14.0 � 3.5 � 5.667 � 4.667 2 2
450 ■ Appendix G
significantly different) for those who occasion- ally practiced religious behavior. There was not an interaction between marital status and fre- quency of religious behavior.
Chapter 13 13.1. Received
program Control Total
Police record 114 101 215 No police record 211 224 435 Total 325 325 650
The expected frequencies are:
O E O � E 1O � E 22
114 107.5 6.5 42.25 0.393 101 107.5 �6.5 42.25 0.393 211 217.5 �6.5 42.25 0.194 224 217.5 6.5 42.25 0.194
� 650 650.0 x2 � 1.174
x2.05 (1 df ) � 3.84 df � 1
By the shortcut method:
Interpretation: Retain the null hypothesis and conclude that the number who had police records in the two groups did not differ significantly. When a statistical test does not show a statisti- cally significant effect, an effect size index usually isn’t calculated. (Did you notice that the proportion with police records was higher for the boys who participated in the program?)
The Cambridge–Somerville Youth study, dis- cussed in many sociology texts, was first reported by Powers and Witmer (1951).
13.2.
Calculations of the expected frequencies are as follows:
135 2 140 2
100 � 14
135 2 160 2
100 � 21
x 2 � 100 3 19 2 134 2 � 126 2 131 2 4 2
135 2 165 2 140 2 160 2 � 4.579
x 2 � 650 3 1114 2 1224 2 � 1101 2 1211 2 4 2
1215 2 1435 2 1325 2 1325 2 � 1.17
1O � E 2 2
E
1435 2 1325 2
650 � 217.5
1435 2 1325 2
650 � 217.5
1215 2 1325 2
650 � 107.5
1215 2 1325 2
650 � 107.5
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Answers to Problems (Chapter 13) ■ 451
O E O � E 1O � E 22
9 14 �5 25 1.786 26 21 5 25 1.191 31 26 5 25 0.962 34 39 �5 25 0.641
� 100 100 x2 � 4.58
x2.05 (1 df ) � 3.84 df � 1
Interpretation: Reject the hypothesis that group size and joining are independent. Conclude that passersby are more likely to join a group of five than a group of two.
The effect that group size has on joining is mid- way between a small effect and a medium effect.
13.3. a. Recapture site
Issaquah East Fork
Issaquah 46 (34.027) 0 (11.973) Capture site
East Fork 8 (19.973) 19 (7.027)
x2.001 (1 df ) � 10.83. Interpretation: Reject the null hypothesis (which is that the second choice is independent of the first) and con- clude that choices are very consistent; salmon tend to choose the same stream each time. The effect size index is 0.77, which shows that streams have a very large effect on choice.
b. Recapture site
Issaquah East Fork
Issaquah 39 (40.071) 12 (10.929) Capture site
East Fork 16 (14.929) 3 (4.071)
f � Bx 2N � B43.7673 � 2.5995 � 0.77 x 2 �
73 3 146 2 119 2 � 10 2 18 2 4 2
146 2 127 2 154 2 119 2 � 43.76
f � Bx 2N � B4.58100 � 2.0458 � 0.21
1O � E 2 2
E
165 2 140 2
100 � 26
165 2 160 2
100 � 39
x2.05 (1 df ) � 3.84. Interpretation: Hasler’s hypothesis is supported; fish with plugged nasal openings do not make a consistent choice of streams, but those that get olfactory cues consistently choose the same stream. For further confirmation and a short sum- mary of Hasler’s work, see Hasler, Scholz, and Horrall (1978).
13.4. The work that needs to be done on the data is to divide each set of applicants into two inde- pendent categories, hired and not hired. The following table results. Expected values are in parentheses.
White Black Total
Hired 390 (339.327) 18 (68.673) 408 Not hired 3810 (3860.673) 832 (781.327) 4642 Total 4200 850 5050
Interpretation: Given that x2.001 (1 df ) � 10.83, the null hypothesis can be rejected. Because 9.29 percent of the white applicants were hired com- pared to 2.12 percent of the black applicants, the statistical consultant and the company in ques- tion concluded that discrimination had occurred.
The effect size index is 0.10, which is a small effect. The lesson here is that a small effect practiced on a large sample produces a reliable difference between the two groups.
13.5.
� 0.8533 � 2.5600
� 3.4133; df � 1
x2.05 (1 df ) � 3.84. Interpretation: Retain the null hypothesis and conclude that these data are consistent with a 3:1 hypothesis.
x 2 � © c 1O � E 2 2
E d �
1316 � 300 2 2
300 � 184 � 100 2 2
100
f � Bx 2N � B48.915050 � 2.00969 � 0.10
� 3.3070 � 1014
6.7514 � 1012 � 48.91
x 2 � 5050 3 1390 2 1832 2 � 13810 2 118 2 4 2
1408 2 14642 2 14200 2 1850 2
x 2 � 70 3 139 2 13 2 � 112 2 116 2 4 2
151 2 119 2 155 2 115 2 � 0.49
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13.6. The expected frequencies are 20 correct and 40 incorrect: and
df � 1; p � .01
Interpretation: The three emotions can be distin- guished from each other. Observers did not respond in a chance fashion.
There is an interesting sequel to this experi- ment. Subsequent researchers did not find the simple, clear-cut results that Watson reported. One experimenter (Sherman, 1927) found that if only the infants’ reactions were observed, there was a great deal of disagreement. However, if the observers also knew the stimuli (patting, dropping, and so forth), they agreed with each other. This seems to be a case in which Wat- son’s design did not permit him to separate the effect of the infant’s reaction (the independent variable) from the effect of knowing what caused the reaction (an extraneous variable).
13.7. To get the expected frequencies, multiply the percentages given by Professor Stickler by the 340 students. Then enter these expected fre- quencies in the usual table.
O E O � E 1O � E 22
20 23.8 �3.8 14.44 0.607 74 81.6 �7.6 57.76 0.708
120 129.2 �9.2 84.64 0.655 88 81.6 6.4 40.96 0.502 38 23.8 14.2 201.64 8.472
� 340 340.0 x2 � 10.94
x2.05 (4 df ) � 9.49 df � 5 � 1 � 4
(The only restriction on these theoretical fre- quencies is that �E � �O. Thus, df � 4.) Interpretation: Reject the contention of the pro- fessor that his grades conform to “the curve.” By examining the data, you can also reject the contention of the colleague that the professor is too soft. The primary reason the data do not fit the curve is that there were too many “flunks.”
13.8. Goodness of fit
1O � E 2 2
E
x 2 � 132 � 20 2 2
20 � 128 � 40 2 2
40 � 10.80;
123 2 160 2 � 40.1 1 3 2 160 2 � 20
452 ■ Appendix G
13.9. O E O � E 1O � E 22
195 200 �5 25 0.125 200 200 0 0 0.000 220 200 20 400 2.000 215 200 15 225 1.125 190 200 �10 100 0.500 180 200 �20 400 2.000
� 1200 1200 x2 � 5.75
x2.05 (5 df ) � 11.07 df � 6 � 1 � 5
Interpretation: Each of the six sides of a die is equally likely. With 1200 as the total number of throws, the expected value for any one of them is times 1200, or 200. With x2 � 5.75, retain the null hypothesis. The results of the evening do not differ significantly from the “unbiased dice” model.
13.10. Goodness of fit
13.11. O E O � E 1O � E 22
21 12.735 8.265 68.310 5.365 5 13.265 �8.265 68.310 5.150
27 28.408 �1.408 1.982 0.070 31 29.592 1.408 1.982 0.067 0 6.857 �6.857 47.018 6.857
14 7.143 6.857 47.018 6.583 � 98 98.000 x2 � 24.09
x2.001 (2 df ) � 13.82 df � (3 � 1)(2 � 1) � 2
Interpretation: Reject the null hypothesis and conclude that Madison used the word by signifi- cantly more frequently than did Hamilton. The stage is now set to examine the 12 disputed papers for their use of by, an examination that Mosteller and Wallace carried out. They describe the rates they found as “Madisonian.” In addition, other words that distinguished between Madison and Hamilton (upon, also, and others) were used at Madisonian rates in the 12 papers.
13.12. Independence 13.13. To convert the information you have into fre-
quencies that can be analyzed with x2, multiply the percentages (as proportions) by the number of observations. Thus, for observed frequencies:
.193(140) � 27 schizophrenic offspring
.807(140) � 113 nonschizophrenic offspring
1O � E 2 2
E
1 6
1O � E 2 2
E
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Answers to Problems (Chapter 13) ■ 453
For the expected frequencies: .25(140) � 35 schizophrenic offspring .75(140) � 105 nonschizophrenic offspring
O E O � E 1O � E 22
27 35 �8 64 1.829 113 105 �8 64 0.610
� 140 140 x2 � 2.439
x2.05 (1 df ) � 3.84 df � 2 � 1 � 1
Interpretation: Retain the null hypothesis and conclude that these data are consistent with the 1:3 ratio predicted by the theory.
This problem illustrates that data that are con- sistent with the theory do not prove that the theory is true. Current explanations of schizo- phrenia include a genetic component, but not the simple one envisioned by the early hypothesis.
13.14. In the goodness-of-fit test, expected frequencies are predicted by a theory, whereas in the inde- pendence test, they are obtained from the data.
13.15. The first task in this problem is to determine the expected frequencies. To do this, multiply each color’s population percentage by the total number of M&Ms, 57. Next, construct a sum- mary table of O, E, and x2 values.
Color O E O � E 1O � E 22
Blue 9 13.7 �4.7 22.09 1.612 Orange 11 11.4 �0.4 0.16 0.014 Green 17 9.1 7.9 62.41 6.858 Yellow 8 7.6 0.4 0.16 0.021 Brown 5 7.6 �2.6 6.76 0.900 Red 07 7.6 �0.6 0.36 0.047 � 57 57.0 x2 � 9.45
x2.05 (5 df ) � 11.07 df � 6 � 1 � 5
Interpretation: Retain the null hypothesis. The observed frequencies are not significantly dif- ferent from the expected frequencies, which are based on the company’s claims.
Fortunately, this is the kind of problem you can gather your own data on. Of course, you must use a larger sample (and having a research partner would be nice, too). Should you and your partner find yourselves somehow forced to test peanut M&Ms, the percentages are 23 per- cent blue, 23 percent orange, 15 percent green,
1O � E 2 2
E
1O � E 2 2
E
15 percent yellow, 12 percent brown, and 12 percent red. Also, I want to acknowledge my debt to Randolph A. Smith, who explained to me the value of M&Ms as a statistical tool.
13.16. You should be gentle with your friend but explain that the observations in his study are not independent and cannot be analyzed with x2. Explain that, because one person is making five observations, the observations are not inde- pendent; the choice of one female candidate may cause the subject to pick a male candidate next (or vice versa).
13.17. Candidates
Hill Dale �
Yes 57 (59.248) 31 (28.752) 88
Signaled turn No 11 (8.752) 2 (4.248) 13
� 68 33 101
x2.05 (1 df ) � 3.84. Interpretation: Cars with bumper stickers for candidates Hill and Dale were observed as they turned left at a busy intersection. Sixteen percent of the 68 Hill cars failed to signal their left turn; 6 percent of the 33 Dale cars turned left without signaling. This difference is not statistically significant, which means that a difference this big is expected more than 5 percent of the time if, in actuality, there is no difference in the percentage of traffic signal violators among supporters of the two candidates.
13.18. I hope you would say something like, “Gee, I’ve been able to analyze data like these since I learned the t test. I will need to know the stan- dard deviations for those means, though.” If you attempted to analyze these data using x2, you erred (which, according to Alexander Pope, is human). If you erred, forgive yourself and reread pages 295 and 313.
13.19. Houses
Brick Frame �
Hill 17 (37.116) 59 (38.884) 76
Candidates Dale 88 (67.884) 51 (71.116) 139
� 105 110 215
x 2 � 101 3 157 2 12 2 � 131 2 111 2 4 2
188 2 113 2 168 2 133 2 � 2.03
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x2.001 (1 df ) � 10.83; p � .001. Interpretation: Of the 105 affluent (brick) houses 16 percent had Hill signs, and 84 percent had Dale signs. At the 110 less affluent (frame) houses, the relationship was reversed; 54 per- cent had Hill signs and 46 percent had Dale signs. These differences are statistically signifi- cant, which means that if there is really no difference between the two candidates, percent- ages like this would be rare, occurring less than one time in a thousand. These data support the conclusion that Dale’s supporters are more affluent than Hill’s supporters. The effect size index (f � 0.39) indicates that the relationship between candidate support and affluence is between medium and large.
13.20. df � (R � 1)(C � 1), except for a table with only one row. a. 3 b. 12 c. 3 d. 10
Chapter 14 14.1. The relative of the independent-samples t test is
the Mann–Whitney U test. Corresponding to a paired-samples t test is the Wilcoxon matched- pairs signed-ranks T test.
14.2. There are two differences: (a) Parametric tests give accurate probabilities of a Type I error if the populations the samples are drawn from have the characteristics that parametric tests assume (e.g., ANOVA assumes the populations are normally distributed and have equal vari- ances). Nonparametric tests do not have assumptions about the populations built in. (b) The null hypothesis for parametric tests is that the population means are equal; for non- parametric tests, the null hypothesis is that the population distributions are the same.
14.3. Compare your answer with the material in the section “The Rationale of Nonparametric Tests.”
14.4. Scales of measurement and power 14.5. I ranked the fewest errors (7) as #1 so that high
ranks would indicate many errors. If you gave
f � Bx 2N � B32.96215 � 2.1533 � 0.39 �
215 1867 � 5192 2 2
176 2 1139 2 1105 2 1110 2 � 32.96; df � 1
x 2 � N 1AD � BC 2 2
1A � B 2 1C � D 2 1A � C 2 1B � D 2
454 ■ Appendix G
32 errors a rank of #1, the sum of ranks is shown in parentheses, but the U values and con- clusion are the same.
Near airport N1 � 8 Sum of ranks � 94 (50)
Quiet area N2 � 9 Sum of ranks � 59 (103)
Thus, U � 14
From Table H for a two-tailed test with a � .05 (the second page), U � 15. Interpretation: The obtained U is smaller than the tabled U, so reject the null hypothesis. The mean rank in errors for those near the airport was 11.75 (94/8), which is higher than the mean rank for the other group, 6.56 (59/9). Thus, con- clude that children whose school is near a busy airport make significantly more errors on a dif- ficult reading test than children whose school is in a quiet area of the same city. The study by Hygge et al. (2002) was conducted in Munich, Germany, when a new airport opened and the old airport closed.
14.6. With a � .01, there are no possible results that would allow H0 to be rejected. The friend must find more cars.
14.7. �RY � 13, �RZ � 32
Even with a � .05 and a two-tailed test, a U of 1 or less is required to reject H0. Interpretation: With an obtained U � 3, con- clude that the quietness test did not produce evidence that Y cars are quieter than Z cars.
14.8. Giving a score of 0 a rank of 2 and 110 a rank of 40, the sum of the ranks for present day is 409.5; the sum of the ranks for ten years earlier is 410.5. If you ranked in reverse order, the sum of the ranks for present day is 574.5 and the sum for ten years earlier is 245.5. Either way, the smaller U is 109.5 and the larger U is 274.5.
U1 � 124 2 116 2 � 124 2 125 2
2 � 409.5 � 274.5
Smaller U � 14 2 15 2 � 15 2 16 2
2 � 32 � 3
U2 � 18 2 19 2 � 19 2 110 2
2 � R2 � 117 � 59 � 58
U1 � 18 2 19 2 � 18 2 19 2
2 � R1 � 108 � 94 � 14
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Answers to Problems (Chapter 14) ■ 455
The critical value of z is �1.96� for a two-tailed test. Interpretation: Reject the null hypothesis that the distributions are the same. By examining the average ranks (23.9 for present-day birds and 15.3 for 10-years-ago birds), you can conclude that present-day birds have significantly fewer brain parasites. (If the 0 score birds rank 2, the average ranks are 17.1 for present-day birds and 25.7 for 10-years-ago birds. The same conclu- sion results.)
14.9.
Interpretation: Because 2.65 � 1.96, reject H0. The incomes were significantly different after the program. Because you do not have the actual data, you cannot tell whether the incomes were higher or lower than before.
14.10. Without With Signed Worker rests rests D ranks
1 2240 2421 181 2 2 2069 2260 191 4 3 2132 2333 201 5 4 2095 2314 219 6 5 2162 2297 135 1 6 2203 2389 186 3
Check: 21 � 0 � 21 � (positive) � 21 (6)(7) � (negative) � 0
� 21 2 T � 0
N � 6
Interpretation: The critical value of T at the .05 level for a two-tailed test is 0. Because 0
z � 14077 � 0.5 2 � 3164
344.46 � 2.65
� B 1112 2 1113 2 1225 224 � 344.46 sT � BN 1N � 1 2 12N � 1 224 mT �
N 1N � 1 2
4 � 1112 2 1113 2
4 � 3164
z � 1109.5 � 0.5 2 � 192
36.22 � �2.26
sU � B 124 2 116 2 141 212 � 36.22 mU �
124 2 116 2
2 � 192
U2 � 124 2 116 2 � 116 2 117 2
2 � 410.5 � 109.5
(obtained) is equal to or less than 0 (table), reject the null hypothesis and conclude that the output with rests is greater than the output with- out rests. Here is the story behind this study.
From 1927 to 1932 the Western Electric Com- pany conducted a study on a group of workers at the Hawthorne Works plant near Chicago. In the study, workers who assembled telephone relays were separated from the rest of the workers. A variety of changes in their daily routine fol- lowed, one at a time, with the following results: 5-minute rest periods increased output; 10- minute rest periods increased output; company- provided snacks during rest periods increased output; and quitting 30 minutes early increased output. Going back to the original no-rest schedule increased output again, as did the reintroduction of the rest periods. Finally, man- agement concluded that it was the special attention paid to the workers, rather than the changes, that increased output. Today, we call it the Hawthorne Effect when there is an improve- ment in performance that is due to being in an experiment (getting special attention) rather than to the specific manipulation in the experiment. For a summary of this study, see Mayo (1946).
14.11. The experimental design has two independent samples. A Mann–Whitney U test is needed. If high scores are given high rank (that is, 39 ranks 1):
� (Canadians) � 208; � (people from U.S.) � 257 (If low scores are given high ranks, the sums are reversed.)
Consulting the second page of Table H (bold- face type), a U value of 64 is required to reject the null hypothesis (a � .05, two-tailed test). The lower of the two calculated U values for this problem is 88. Because 88 � 64, the null hypothesis must be retained. Interpretation: Conclude that there is no strong evidence that Canadians and people from the United States have different attitudes toward the regulation of business.
Once again you must be cautious in writing the conclusion when the null hypothesis is retained. You have not demonstrated that the two groups are the same; you have shown only that the groups are not significantly different.
U1 � 115 2 115 2 � 115 2 116 2
2 � 257 � 88; U2 � 137
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14.12. Student Before After D Signed rank
1 18 4 14 13 2 14 14 0 1.5 3 20 10 10 9 4 6 9 �3 �4 5 15 10 5 6 6 17 5 12 11 7 29 16 13 12 8 5 4 1 3 9 8 8 0 �1.5
10 10 4 6 7 11 26 15 11 10 12 17 9 8 8 13 14 10 4 5 14 12 12 0 Eliminated
Check: 85.5 � 5.5 � 91 � (positive) � 85.5 (13)(14) � (negative) � �5.5
�91 T � 5.52 N � 13
The tabled value for T for a two-tailed test with a � .01 is 9, so reject H0. Interpretation: Conclude that the after-distribu- tion is from a different population than the before-distribution. Except for one person, the number of misconceptions stayed the same or decreased, so the course reduced the number of misconceptions.
I would like to remind you here of the dis- tinction made in Chapter 9 between statistically significant and important. There is a statistically significant decrease in the number of miscon- ceptions, but a professor might be quite dismayed at the number of misconceptions that remain.
14.13. � (positive) � 81.5 Check: 81.5 � 54.5 � 136
� (negative) � �54.5
T � 54.5 N � 16
T � 29 is required for rejection at the .05 level. Thus, there is no significant difference in the weight 10 months later. Interpretation: Put in the most positive lan- guage, there is no statistically significant evidence that the participants gained back the weight lost during the workshop.
14.14. The tables show the raw data converted to ranks. The table on the left shows the lowest score ranked 1. If the highest score is ranked 1, the table on the right results. Although the sums at the bottom are not the same, the difference between any two pairs is the same.
116 2 117 2
2 � 136
456 ■ Appendix G
Country- Country- Friends Romans men Friends Romans men
15 9 2 4 10 17 18 13 10 1 6 9 12 4.5 6 7 14.5 13 14 11 1 5 8 18 16 3 8 3 16 11 17 4.5 7 2 14.5 12
� � 92 45 34 � � 22 69 80
Friends Romans
Romans 47*
Countrymen 58** 11
*p � .05 **p � .01
For K � 3, N � 6, the critical values are 43.3 (.05 level) and 53.9 (.01 level). Interpretation: Romans and countrymen did not differ from each other, but both groups offered significantly less than friends did. So, when you have a plea, ask a friend to lend an ear.
14.15. The table shows the raw scores converted to ranks.
NO RE SE GE
6 9 8 15.5 4 6 18 20 2 14 17 12.5 1 6 12.5 19 3 10 11 15.5
� 16 45 66.5 82.5 � (reverse ranks) 89 60 38.5 22.5
NO RE SE
RE 29
SE 50.5* 21.5
GE 66.5** 37.5 16
*p � .05 **p � .01 For K � 4, N � 5, the critical values are 48.1 (.05 level) and 58.2 (.01 level). Interpretation: Although group exercise is better than solitary exercise, the difference is not significant. Both of these groups improved sig- nificantly when compared to the no-treatment group. The relaxation group was intermediate between no treatment and solitary exercise, but not significantly different from the other three groups. Take-home message: Exercise with others.
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Answers to Problems (Chapter 14) ■ 457
14.16. Authoritarian Democratic Laissez-faire
X Rank X Rank X Rank
77 5 90 10.5 50 1 86 9 92 12 62 2 90 10.5 100 16 69 3 97 13 105 21 76 4
100 16 107 22 79 6 102 19 108 23 82 7 120 27.5 110 24 84 8 121 29 118 26 99 14 128 32 125 30 100 16 130 33 131 34 101 18 135 37 132 35.5 103 20 137 38 132 35.5 114 25 141 39.5 146 41 120 27.5 147 42 156 44 126 31 153 43 161 45 141 39.5
� 393.5 419.5 222.0 � (reverse 296.5 270.5 468.0
ranks)
Authoritarian Democratic
Democratic 26
Laissez-faire 171.5* 197.5*
*p � .05
For K � 3, N � 15, a difference in the sum of the ranks of 168.6 is required to reject H0 at the .05 level. Interpretation: Both the authoritarian leadership and the democratic leadership resulted in higher personal satisfaction scores than laissez-faire leadership, but the authoritarian and democratic types of leadership did not differ significantly from each other.
14.17. Arranging the data into a summary table gives:
Groups
1 2 3 4 5
2 85
3 31 54
Groups 4 18 67 13
5 103 188* 134 121
6 31 116 62 49 72
*p � .05
For K � 6, N � 8, differences of 159.6 and 188.4 are required to reject the null hypothesis at the .05 and .01 level, respectively. Thus, the only significant difference is between the means of groups 2 and 5 at the .05 level. (With data such as these, the novice investigator may be tempted to report “almost significant at the .01 level.” Resist that temptation.)
14.18. The Mann–Whitney U test is used for ranked data from two independent samples with equal or unequal N’s. The Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test is used for ranked data from two related samples. The Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons test makes all possible pairwise comparisons among K independent equal-N groups of ranked data.
14.19. a. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test; this is a before-and-after study.
b. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test; pairs are formed by family.
c. Spearman’s rs; the degree of relationship is desired.
d. Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons test; the experiment has three independent groups.
e. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test; again, this is a before-and-after design.
14.20. Reject H0 when statistic
Appropriate is (greater, Symbol for what less) than
of statistic design? critical value?
Mann–Whitney U Two Less test independent
samples
Wilcoxon matched- T Two Less pairs signed- paired
ranks test samples
Wilcoxon–Wilcox None More than Greater multiple- two
comparisons test independent samples, equal N’s
14.21. A low correlation means the philosophers have different sets of criteria of what is important. A high correlation means that their criteria are about the same.
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 457
Candidates Locke Kant D D2
A 7 8 �1 1 B 10 10 0 0 C 3 5 �2 4 D 9 9 0 0 E 1 1 0 0 F 8 7 1 1 G 5 3 2 4 H 2 4 �2 4 I 6 6 0 0 J 4 2 2 4
�D2 � 18
Interpretation: The two professors seem to be in pretty close agreement on the selection criteria.
14.22.
Self- Other- Self- judged judged
esteem attrac- attrac- scores Rank tiveness Rank D2 tiveness Rank D2
40 1 97 3 4 37 6 25 39 2 99 2 0 43 4 4 37 3 100 1 4 29 9 36 36 4 93 6 4 25 12 64 35 5 59 12 49 60 1 16 32 6 88 8 4 54 2 16 28 7 83 9 4 28 10 9 24 8 96 4 16 26 11 9 20 9 90 7 4 40 5 16 16 10 94 5 25 49 3 49 12 11 70 11 0 31 8 9 7 12 78 10 4 34 7 25
�D2 � 118 278
a.
In Table L, an rs of .587 is required for statisti- cal significance at the .05 level for a two-tailed test. Thus, the correlation coefficient of .587 is significantly different from .00 at the .05 level.
b.
Interpretation: The greater the participant’s self- esteem, the greater that person’s judgment of his
� 1 � 1668
1716 � 1 � .9720 � .028
rs � 1 � 6©D2
N 1N 2 � 1 2 � 1 �
6 1278 2
12 1143 2
� 1 � 708
1716 � 1 � .4126 � .587
rs � 1 � 6©D2
N 1N 2 � 1 2 � 1 �
6 1118 2
12 1143 2
rs � 1 � 6©D2
N 1N 2 � 1 2 � 1 �
6 118 2
10 199 2 � 1 � .109 � .891
458 ■ Appendix G
or her own attractiveness (rs � .59). However, when other people judged their attractiveness, the correlation between self-esteem and attrac- tiveness dropped to about zero (rs � .03). Thus, the attractiveness of those with high self-esteem is apparent to themselves but not to others.
14.23.
From Table L, a coefficient of .503 is required for significance (two-tailed test). Thus, an rs � .55 is significantly different from .00.
14.24. With only four pairs of scores there is no possi- ble way to reject the hypothesis that the population correlation is .00 (see Table L). Advise your friend that more data must be obtained before any inference can be made about the population.
What Would You Recommend? Chapters 10–14
a. A Mann–Whitney U test should be used to compare systematic desensitization and flooding. The two groups are independent samples—there is no reason to pair the score of a trainee who experienced sys- tematic desensitization with the score of a trainee who experienced flooding. A nonparametric test is called for because the data were skewed.
b. The proper analysis of these data is with a chi square test of independence. The score that a partic- ipant received was counted as a frequency in a category (comply or not comply).
c. These data should be analyzed with a factorial ANOVA. The two independent variables are the appearance and intentionality of the defendant. The dependent variable is the likelihood estimate (a quantitative measure). In Berry and McArthur’s study (1986) of these variables there was a signifi- cant interaction. Baby-faced defendants were less likely to be convicted of an intentional offense than mature-faced defendants, but more likely to be con- victed of a negligent offense.
d. A Spearman rs gives the degree of relationship between two variables. A Spearman rs is more appro- priate than a Pearson r because one variable is rank scores.
rs � 1 � 6©D2
N 1N 2 � 1 2 � 1 �
6 1308 2
16 1162 � 1 2 � .55
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Answers to Problems (Chapter 15) ■ 459
e. The theory, which predicts the number of partici- pants on subsequent occasions of the exercise, can be evaluated using a chi square goodness-of-fit test. (The expected values are 50, 25, and 12.5.)
f. This experiment has one independent variable that has three levels. Because the variance of the “no cues” condition was much greater than that of the other two conditions, a Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple- comparisons test is appropriate. See Winter, Uleman, and Cunniff (1985).
g. A Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test is appropriate for these skewed weight data. This is a paired-samples design because a before-meal score is paired with an after-meal score. (Both scores were obtained from the same dog.)
h. The problem gives no indication that the data are not normally distributed or have unequal variances. Thus, to compare each pair of recipes, use a Tukey HSD test. If, however, you reasoned that tasty recipes would produce a positively skewed distribu- tion (that is, many waste scores � 0), then the answer is Wilcoxon– Wilcox multiple-comparison tests of the pairs.
i. A one-factor repeated-measures ANOVA will help evaluate the program. Tukey HSD tests can deter- mine the immediate effect of the program (post-test vs. pretest), the long-term effect (follow-up vs. pretest), and the effect of time on retention (follow- up vs. post-test).
Chapter 15 Set A 15.1. A weighted mean is needed, and to find it you
need to know the number of dollars invested in each division.
15.2. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test. You have evidence that the population of dependent- variable scores (reaction time) is not normally distributed.
15.3. A one-factor repeated-measures ANOVA 15.4. A median is appropriate because the scores are
skewed. 15.5. Assume that these measures are normally dis-
tributed and use a normal curve to find the proportion (.0228 is the answer).
15.6. Either an independent-measures t test or a Mann–Whitney U test
15.7. A 95 or 99 percent confidence interval about the mean reading achievement of those 50 sixth-graders
15.8. x2 goodness-of-fit test 15.9. Mode
15.10. Neither will do. The relationship described is nonlinear—one that first increases and then decreases. A statistic, eta, is appropriate for curved relationships.
15.11. Paired-samples t test or Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks T test
15.12. A regression equation will provide the predic- tions, and a correlation coefficient will indicate how accurate the predictions will be.
15.13. A 2 � 2 factorial ANOVA 15.14. The student’s wondering may be translated into
a question of whether a correlation of .20 is statistically significant. Use a t test to find whether r � .20 for that class is significantly different from r � .00. Or, look in Table A in Appendix C.
15.15. This is a x2 problem but it cannot be worked using the techniques in this text because these before-and-after data are correlated, not inde- pendent. Intermediate texts describe appropriate techniques for such x2 problems.
15.16. A confidence interval about the sample mean. Does the CI include the manufacturer’s claim of 1000 hours?
15.17. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient 15.18. Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons test (if
the reaction-time scores are skewed) or one-way analysis of variance
15.19. A x2 test of independence may determine whether a decision to report shoplifting is influ- enced by gender (one x2 test) and by the dress of the shoplifter (a second x2 test).
15.20. A line graph with serial position on the X axis and number of errors on the Y axis will illus- trate this relationship.
15.21. A Mann–Whitney U test is preferred because the dependent variable is skewed. The question is whether there is a relationship between diet and cancer. (Note that if the two groups differ, two interpretations are possible. For example, if the incidence is higher among the red meat cul- tures, it might be because of the red meat or because of the lack of grains.)
15.22. An rs will give the degree of relationship for these two ranked variables.
15.23. For each species of fish, a set of z scores may be calculated. The fish with the largest z score should be declared the overall winner.
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 459
15.24. Calculating an effect size for the experiments mentioned in the first part of this question will tell you how big a difference psychotherapy makes.
Set B 15.25. t.001 (40 df ) � 3.55; therefore, reject the null
hypothesis and conclude that extended practice improved performance. Because this is just the opposite of the theory’s prediction, conclude that the theory does not explain the serial position effect.
15.26. An effect size of 0.10 is quite small. Effect sizes of 0.20, 0.50, and 0.80 are classified as small, medium, and large. In the case of a com- pany offering instruction, a large number of clients provides a large N, which can ensure a “statistically significant improvement,” even if the effect size is quite small.
15.27. The screening process is clearly worthwhile in making each batch profitable. Of course, the cost of screening has to be taken into account.
15.28. The critical values are 377.6 at the .05 level and 457.6 at the .01 level. Conclude that Herbicide B is significantly better than A, C, or D at the .01 level and that D is better than C at the .05 level.
15.29. Because x2.05 (2 df ) � 5.99, the null hypothesis for this goodness-of-fit test is retained. The data do fit the theory; the theory is adequate.
15.30. The overall F is significant (p � .01); so the differences should not be attributed to chance. The low dose is significantly better than the placebo (HSD.01 � 4.70) and significantly bet- ter than the high dose (which has a smaller mean than the placebo). The placebo and high dose are not significantly different. A low dose of Cymbalta reduced depression.
15.31. The critical value of U for a two-tailed test with a � .01 is 70. The difference between the two methods is statistically significant at the .01 level. You cannot, from the information sup- plied, tell which of the two methods is superior.
15.32. The critical value at the .001 level of an rs with N � 18 is .708 (Table A, df � 16). Attitudes of college students and people in business toward the 18 groups are similar. College students and businesspeople have similar attitudes.
15.33. t.05 (60 df ) � 2.00; F.01 (30, 40 df ) � 2.20; the poetry unit appears to have no significant effect on mean attitudes toward poetry. There is a very
460 ■ Appendix G
significant effect on the variability of the atti- tudes of those who studied poetry. It appears that the poetry unit turned some students on and some students off, thus causing a large variance in attitudes toward poetry.
15.34. F.05 (1, 44 df ) � 4.06; F.01 (1, 44 df ) � 7.24; only the interaction is significant. A graph, as always, helps in interpretation. Whether to pre- sent one or both sides to get the most attitude change depends on the level of education of the audience. If the members of a group have less than a high school education, present one side. If they have some college education, present both sides.
< 12 years 13+ years
Amount of education
2
3
4
5
M ea
n at
tit ud
e ch
an ge
Both sides
One side
15.35. The tabled value of F.05 (2, 60 df ) � 3.15, so the null hypothesis is retained. There are no sig- nificant differences in the verbal ability scores of third-graders who are left- or right-handed or have mixed handedness.
15.36. Because x2.02 (2 df ) � 7.82, the null hypothesis for this test of independence is rejected at the .02 level. Alcoholism and toilet-training are not independent; they are related. Experiments such as this do not allow you to make cause-and- effect statements, however.
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Answers to Problems (Appendix A) ■ 461
Appendix A Part 1 (Pretest) A.1. About 16 A.21. 1.50 A.41. 0.1225 A.2. About 15 A.22. 3.11 A.42. 3.05 A.3. About 15 A.23. 6 A.43. 0.96 A.4. 6.1 A.24. �22 A.44. 0.30 A.5. 0.4 A.25. �7 A.45. 4.20 A.6. 10.3 A.26. �6 A.46. 4.00 A.7. 11.424 A.27. 25 A.47. 4.50 A.8. 27.141 A.28. �24 A.48. 0.45 A.9. 19.85 A.29. 3.33 A.49. 15.25
A.10. 2.065 A.30. �5.25 A.50. 8.00 A.11. 49.972 A.31. 33% A.51. 16.25 A.12. 0.0567 A.32. 22.68 A.52. 1.02 A.13. 3.02 A.33. 0.19 A.53. 12.00 A.14. 17.11 A.34. 60 birds A.54. 10, 30 A.15. 1.375 A.35. 5 A.55. 12, 56 A.16. 0.83 A.36. 4 A.56. 13.00 A.17. 0.1875 A.37. 6, 10 A.57. 11.00 A.18. 0.056 A.38. 4, 22 A.58. 2.50 A.19. 0.60 A.39. 16 A.59. �2.33 A.20. 0.10 A.40. 6.25
Part 2 (Review) A.60. a. A sum is the answer to an addition problem.
b. A quotient is the answer to a division problem.
c. A product is the answer to a multiplication problem.
d. A difference is the answer to a subtraction problem.
A.61. a. About 10 b. About 7 c. About 100 d. About 0.2 e. About 0.16 f. About 60 g. Just less than 1 h. About 0.1
A.62. a. 14 b. 126 c. 9 d. 0 e. 128 f. 13 g. 12 h. 13 i. 9
A.63. a. 6.33 b. 13.00 c. 0.05 d. 0.97 e. 2.61 f. 0.34 g. 0.00 h. 0.02 i. 0.99
A.64. 0.001 A.65. 14.20 10.000 �7.31 3.652 6.89 2.500
16.153 A.66. 1.26 A.67. 143.300
� 0.04 16.920 0.0504 2.307
8.100 170.627
A.68. 76.5 A.69. 2.04 0.04>3.06 11.75>24.00
2 8 23 50 26 5000 24 4700 20 300 20
A.70. 152.12 A.71. 0.07 �127.40 � 0.5
24.72 0.035
A.72.
A.73.
A.74.
A.75.
A.76.
A.77.
A.78.
A.79. a. (24) � (�28) � �4 b. �23 c. (�8) � (11) � 3 d. (�15) � (8) � �7
A.80. �40 A.81. 24 A.82. 48 A.83. �33 A.84. (�18) � (�9) � �9 A.85. 14 � (�6) � �2.33 A.86. 12 � (�3) � 15 A.87. (�6) � (�7) � 1 A.88. (�9) � (�3) � 3 A.89. (�10) � 5 � �2 A.90. 4 � (�12) � �0.33 A.91. (�7) � 5 � �12 A.92. 6 � 13 � 0.46 A.93. .46 � 100 � 46 percent A.94. 18 � 25 � 0.72 A.95. 85 � 115 � 0.74 � 100 � 74 percent A.96. 25.92 A.97. 0.31 A.98. 128 A.99. 187 coupons
A.100. |�31| � 31 A.101. |21 � 25| � |�4| � 4 A.102. 12 � (2)(5) � 12 � 10 � 2, 22 A.103. �(5)(6) � 10 � �30 � 10 � �20, 40 A.104. �(2)(2) � 6 � �4 � 6 � �10, �2 A.105. (2.5)2 � 2.5 � 2.5 � 6.25 A.106. 92 � 9 � 9 � 81 A.107. 0.3 � 0.3 � 0.09 A.108. A.109. a. 25.00 b. 2.50 c. 0.79
d. 0.25 e. 4.10 f. 0.0548 g. 426.00 h. 0.50 i. 4.74
114 2 2 � 10.25 2 10.25 2 � 0.0625
18 � 1
3 � 18 � 0.333 � 54
3
4 �
5
6 � 0.75 � 0.833 � 0.62
1
3 �
5
6 � 0.333 � 0.833 � 0.40
4
5 �
1
6 � 0.80 � 0.167 � 0.63
a 1
3 b a
5
6 b � 0.333 � 0.833 � 0.28
9
20 �
19
20 � 0.45 � 0.95 � 0.47
9
10 �
1
2 �
2
5 � 0.90 � 0.50 � 0.40 � 1.80
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 461
A.110.
A.111.
A.112.
A.113.
A.114.
A.115.
A.116.
A.117.
A.118.
A.119.
A.120. x � 4
2 � 2.58, x � 4 � 5.16, x � 9.16
� 104 � 24
5 �
80
5 � 16.00
104 � 1122>6 2
5 �
104 � 1144>6 2
5
� 10 � 4
8 �
6
8 � 0.75
10 � 162>9 2
8 �
10 � 136>9 2
8
� 13.52 � 10.6672 � 182.25 � 113.785 � 296.03
� 19 � 0.667 2 2 � 18 � 0.75 2 2
a 9
2>3 b
2
� a 8
3>4 b
2
� 12 � 24 � 36
6
1>2 �
8
1>3 � 16 � 0.5 2 � 18 � 0.333 2
� 324 4 2
15 �
576
15 � 38.40
3 18 � 2 2 15 � 1 2 4 2
5 110 � 7 2 � 3 16 2 14 2 4 2
5 13 2
� 8 311 4
24 �
88
24 � 3.67
8 3 16 � 2 2 2 � 5 4
13 2 12 2 14 2 �
8 342 � 5 4
24 �
8 316 � 5 4
24
� 12.583 2 10.292 2 � 0.75
a 13 � 18
6 � 8 � 2 b a
1
6 �
1
8 b � a
31
12 b 10.167 � 0.125 2
� 13.667 2 10.833 2 � 3.05
a 5 � 6
3 � 2 � 2 b a
1
3 �
1
2 b � a
11
3 b 10.333 � 0.500 2
� 16 � 0 � 9 � 1
3 �
26
3 � 8.67
� 42 � 02 � 1�3 2 2 � 1�1 2 2
3
112 � 8 2 2 � 18 � 8 2 2 � 15 � 8 2 2 � 17 � 8 2 2
4 � 1
� 4 � 4
6 �
8
6 � 1.33
14 � 2 2 2 � 10 � 2 2 2
6 �
22 � 1�2 2 2
6
462 ■ Appendix G
A.121.
A.122.
A.123.
Appendix B B.1. Test scores
(class interval) Tally marks f
63–67 > 1 58–62 > 1 53–57 >>> 3 48–52 >>>> 4 43–47 >>>> 4 38–42 7 33–37 7 28–32 7 23–27 7 18–22 >>>> 4 13–17 >>> 3 8–12 > 1 3–7 > 1
� � 50
B.2. Weights Tally marks f
189–191 > 1 186–188 0 183–185 0 180–182 > 1 177–179 0 174–176 >> 2 171–173 > 1 168–170 >> 2 165–167 > 1 162–164 > 1 159–161 >>> 3 156–158 5 153–155 >>>> 4 150–152 6 147–149 >>>> 4
� � 31
The data are positively skewed.
B.3.
Median location
There are 23 frequencies in the intervals below 33–37 and 7 scores in the interval. The median is 35, the midpoint of the interval 33–37.
� N � 1
2 �
50 � 1
2 � 25.5.
X� � ©X N
� 1720
50 � 34.40
>>>> >
>>>>
>>>> >> >>>> >> >>>> >> >>>> >>
x � 36 � 41
8.2 �
�5
8.2 � �0.61
x � 14 � 11
2.5 �
3
2.5 � 1.20
x � 21
6.1 � 1.04, x � 21 � 6.344, x � 27.34
22-W4221-APG 4/4/07 10:46 AM Page 462
Answers to Problems (Appendix B) ■ 463
Because four intervals share the largest number of scores, 7, the mode is the midpoint of these four intervals. Mode � 32.5.
B.4.
Median location There
are 14 frequencies below the interval 156–158, which has 5 measurements. The median is 157 pounds.
� N � 1
2 �
31 � 1
2 � 16.
X� � ©X N
� 4939
31 � 159.32 pounds
The mode is 151 pounds because the interval 150–152 has 6 frequencies, more than any other interval.
Note that the mean is larger than the median, confirming your judgment that the distribution is positively skewed.
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Index
471
Abscissa, 30 Aiken, L. S., 269 Alpha (a)
choice of .05, 188–189 defined, 174–175 and power, 217 relation to b, 179, 217 and Type I error, 178–179
Alternative hypothesis, 171, 181–182, 194–195
Ambady, N., 219 American Psychological Association, 4 American Statistical Association, 16, 125 American Statistical Society, 16 Analysis of variance (ANOVA)
assumptions, 245–246, 260, 291 comparisons among means
a priori, 243 multiple t tests, 224 post hoc, 243
correction factor, 235 degrees of freedom, 237–238, 255, 281 effect size indexes, 246–247, 290 error estimate, 227, 255, 281 factorial design
assumptions, 291 compared to one-way ANOVA, 263 compared to t test, 263 interaction, 263–265, 267–269 interpretation, 263–264, 284–286 null hypothesis, 265 R � C notation, 264–265 Tukey HSD, 289–290
F tests, 238–239, 256, 281 grand mean, 232 interaction, 265, 267–269, 284 main effects, 265, 268, 284–286 mean square, 238, 255–256, 281 null hypothesis, 224, 265 one-way ANOVA
compared to factorial design, 263
compared to t test, 229–230 effect size index, 246–247 interpretation, 239–240 null hypothesis, 225 Tukey HSD, 243–245
rationale, 225–226, 265 repeated measures, 250–260
advantages, 258–259 assumptions, 260 interpretation, 251–252 rationale, 252 Tukey HSD, 256–257
sum of squares, 232–236, 253–255, 276–278
Tukey HSD, 243–245, 256–257, 289–290
of variances, 240 A priori test, 243–244 Aron, A., 218, 308 Aron, E. N., 218, 308 Aronson, E., 248 Assumptions when using
chi square, 313 F distribution, 245–246, 260, 291 Mann–Whitney U, 319 Pearson r, 86, 103–105 t distribution, 216 Tukey HSD, 243 Wilcoxon T, 319 Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple
comparisons, 333 Asymptotic, 126 Asthma, 210
Baggins, Bilbo, 140 Bahrick, H. P., 257 Bandura, A., 237 Barber, T. X., 20, 412 Bar graph, 32–33, 270–272 Baumeister, R. F., 341 Barker, R. B., 200
Benjamin, L. T., 257 Berry, D. S., 458 Beta (b), 179, 217–218 Biffen, R. H., 189 Bimodal distribution, 35 Binomial distribution, 122–123 Birch, H. G., 218 Birth weights, 139 Bivariate distribution, 86 Blackmun, Justice Harry, 5 Blair, R. C., 320 Body mass index (BMI), 125 Boehner, C., 36 Box, J. F., 230 Boxplot, 73–75 Bradley, D. R., 310 Bransford, J. D., 30, 68, 420 Brehm, J. W., 291
Cabbage, 81 Cambridge–Somerville Youth Study, 302 Camilli, G., 310 Cancer, and cigarette consumption, 101,
102–103, 189 Casteneda v. Partida, 5 Central Limit Theorem, 149–151 Central tendency
comparisons among, 47–49 defined, 40 and skewness, 47–49 See also Mean; Median; Mode
Cervone, David, 210 Chi square distribution, 296–297 Chi square test, 297
additive nature, 307 combining categories, 311–313 contingency table, 298 effect size index (f), 301–302 formula, 297 goodness of fit, 303–305, 314 of independence, 297–300, 314
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Chi square test (continued ) more than 1 df, 306–308 restrictions, 313 shortcut for 2 � 2 table, 300–301 small expected frequencies, 310–313 Yates’ correction, 310
Cigarette consumption, and cancer, 101, 102–103, 189
Clark University, 16 Class intervals, 38, 47, 374 Cleveland, W. S., 37 Cochran, W. G., 380, 388 Coefficient of determination, 99–100 Cohen, A. R., 291 Cohen, J., 77, 98, 169, 212, 247 Cohen, S., 96 Columbia University, 16 Confidence interval
calculating limits, 159–160 concept of, 159 on graphs, 161–162 interpretation, 160, 213–214 about a mean difference, 213–214 relation to NHST, 213, 214 about a sample mean, 159–161
Contingency table, 298 Control group, 192 Coren, S., 279 Correlation
and causation, 101–102 curvilinear, 104 multiple, 106 negative, 89–91 partial, 106 positive, 87–89 of ranked data, 336–339 zero, 91 See also Correlation coefficient
Correlation coefficient cause and effect, 101–102 coefficient of determination, 99–100 computation formulas, 93–94 effect size index, 98 interpretation, 98–100 other than Pearson, 106 reliability, 100 significance test, 186–187 Spearman rs, 106, 319, 336–339 spuriously low, 103 truncated range, 104–105 z formula, 92 See also Correlation
Cramér, Harald, 308 Critical region. See Rejection region Critical value, 175
Dallenbach, K. M., 215 Darwin, Charles, 85 Darwin, Erasmus, 85 David, H. A., 125, 296 Degrees of freedom
analysis of variance, 237–238, 255, 281
chi square, 299, 305, 310 explained, 196–197 independent-samples t test, 201–202 paired-samples t test, 206 Pearson r, 187, 197 one-sample t test, 156 Spearman rs, 339
DeMoivre, Abraham, 125 Dependent variable, 13 Descriptive statistics, 2, 11 Descriptive Statistics Report, 79–81 Deviation score, 56–57, 70 Diener, E., 24, 25, 292, 341 Dillon, K. M., 4, 194 Distribution
bimodal, 35 binomial, 122–123 bivariate, 83, 86 empirical, 66, 119–120, 124–125 F, 226–230 normal, 34, 125–139 rectangular, 34, 121–122, 150–151 skewed, 34–35, 47–48, 49–50 symmetrical, 34 t, 156 theoretical, 66, 120, 124–125, 139 univariate, 83, 86 See also Frequency distributions;
Sampling distribution Distribution-free statistics. See
Nonparametric tests Doll, R., 103 Doritos, 168–178 Durkheim, Emile, 236, 245
Edwards, A. W. F., 225 Effect size
analysis of variance, 246–247, 290–291 chi square, 301–302 correlation coefficient, 98 explained, 76–79 one-sample t, 184–185 and power, 217 two-sample t, 211–213
Elgin, J., 439 Ellis, D., 3 Empirical distribution, 66, 119, 124–125 Epistemology, 15
Error as mistake, 148, 178–180 as variation, 125, 148
Error term, 227, 255, 281 Estimating answers, 66 Eta (h), 106 Evans, G. W., 326 Expected frequencies, 297
goodness-of-fit test, 304 test of independence, 298–300
Expected value, 148, 150 Experimental design, 12–15, 191–194 Experimental group, 192 Extraneous variable, 14, 216
Faber, D., 125 Factor, 250, 262 Factorial design. See Analysis of variance F distribution, 226–231. See also F test Federalist papers, 4–5, 309 Field, A. P., 106, 225 Fisher, R. A., 189, 225, 226, 228, 230,
379, 386, 387 Flynn, J. R., 130 Forbs, R., 129 Franks, J. J., 30, 68, 420 Frequency distributions
bimodal, 35 bivariate, 83, 86 class intervals, 28, 374–375 grouped, 28, 373–377 rectangular, 34, 121–122, 150–151 simple, 26–27 skewed, 34–35, 47–48 See also Bar graph; Distribution;
Frequency polygon; Graphs; Histogram
Frequency polygon, 31 F test
of an interaction, 281 of means, 238–239, 256, 281 of variances, 240 See also Analysis of variance
Gable, P. A., 125 Galton, Francis, 84–86, 87–88, 100–101,
125, 188, 296, 337 Gauss, C. Friedrich, 125 General Linear Model, 346 Gibson, J. R., 139 Girl Scout cookies, 57–59, 60 Glass, G. V., 82 Goodness of fit. See Chi square Gosset, W. S. (“Student”), 156, 188, 200,
230
472 ■ Index
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Grand mean, 232 Graphs
bar graph, 32–33, 270–272 bimodal, 35 boxplot, 73–75 confidence interval, 161–162 elements, 30 frequency polygon, 31 histogram, 31–32 interaction, 269–272 invented, 16 line graph, 36, 270–272 rectangular, 34, 121–122, 150–151 scatterplot, 87–91, 97–98 skewed distributions, 34–35 standard deviation, 65 See also Distribution
Grouped frequency distributions. See Frequency distributions
Guinness Company, 156, 188 Guinness World Records, 81
Hacking, I., 296 Hald, A., 225 Halpern, D. F., 279 Hamilton, Alexander, 5, 309 Harter, H. L., 392 Harvard University, 16 Hasler, A. D., 302–303, 451 Hausmann, S. E., 36 Hawthorne Effect, 455 Heart rates, 137 Hedges, L. V., 79 Heights, 29, 100, 282–284 Hemphill, J. F., 98 Higgins, J. J., 320 Histogram, 31–32 Hobbits, 140 Hollon, S. D., 260, 279, 448 Hopkins, K. D., 310 Hotelling’s T 2, 346 Howe, S., 36 Howell, D. C., 106, 123, 188, 218, 222,
242, 246, 259, 263, 269, 286, 291, 308, 333
Hygge, S., 326, 454 Hypothesis testing. See Null hypothesis
statistical testing
Important versus significant, 210–211 Income, 91, 142 Independence. See Chi square test Independent-samples design
compared to paired-samples design, 197
confidence interval, 213–214 effect size index, 211 explained, 199 F test (see Analysis of variance) Mann–Whitney U test, 321–326 t test, 200–203 Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-
comparisons test, 333–335 Independent variable, 13, 250 Inferential statistics, 2, 142, 163 Inflection points, 126 Ingham, A. G., 202 Interaction
effect on interpretation of main effects, 284
explained, 265, 267–269, 284 graphics, 269–272, 284
Interquartile range, 54–55, 74 Interval scale, 10 Iowa State University, 229 Irion, Arthur L., 210
Jacoby, W., 37 Jay, John, 5 Jenkins, J. G., 215 Johnson, R. C., 85 Johnston, J. O., 129
Killeen, P. R., 346 King, B. M., 100, 363 Kirk, R. E., xvii, 16, 50, 240, 246, 247,
259, 263, 286, 295, 323, 339, 394, 396
Kotki, the brothers, 428 Kramer, C. Y., 245 Kruskal–Wallis one-way ANOVA, 333
Lambert, J. H., 16 Landon, Alf, 146 Laplace, Pierre-Simon, 125 Lashley, K., 204 Least squares, 108–112 Lee, Alice, 96, 108, 156 Lewin, K., 200, 336 Lilienfeld, S. O., 442 Limits, 7 Linear regression. See Regression Line graph, 36, 270–272 Literary Digest, 146 Loftus, E. F., 20, 412 Lowry, Richard, 19
M & M’s, 314 Mackowiak, P. A., 29, 52, 76, 160 Madison, James, 5, 309
Maindonald, J., 125 Main effects. See Analysis of variance Mann, H. B., 321 Mann–Whitney U test, 321–326
compared to t test, 319 for large samples, 323–326 for small samples, 321–323 tied scores, 323
MANOVA, 346 Markowitz, J. C., 260, 279, 448 Matched pairs, 198–199 Mayo, E., 455 McKeachie, W. J., 257 McKeown, T., 139 McMullen, L., 188 Mean
in boxplot, 74 calculation, 41, 44–45, 375–376 characteristics, 43 compared to median and mode, 47–49 defined, 41 skewed data, 47–48 weighted, 50–51
Mean square defined, 232 factorial ANOVA, 281 one-way ANOVA, 238 repeated-measures ANOVA, 255–256 See also Analysis of variance
Median in boxplot, 74 calculation, 44, 45–46, 376–377 compared to mean and mode, 47–49 defined, 43 skewed data, 47–48
Mensa, 134 Meta-analysis, 346 Meyer, A. B., 129 Micceri, T., 139 Michels, K. M., 246, 291 Michigan, University of, 16 Milgram, S., 302, 342 Mills, J., 248 Milnor, W. R., 137 Minium, E. W., 100, 363 Minium’s First Law of Statistics, 363 Mischel, H. N., 304 Mode
calculated, 44, 46, 377 compared to mean and median, 47–49 defined, 44
Moh scale, 19 Mosteller, F., 5, 309, 452 Mrazek, P. A., 210 Multiple correlation, 106
Index ■ 473
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Names common surnames, 87 given, 87, 207
Napoleon, 37, 135 Natural pairs, 198 Nelson, N., 175 Neoiconophobia, 359 Nickerson, R. S., 4, 194 Nicol, A., 37 Nightingale, Florence, 125 Nijsse, M., 398 Nominal scale, 10 Nonparametric tests, 317–340
compared to parametric, 319 null hypothesis, 319 rationale, 318–319 See also Mann–Whitney U test;
Spearman rs; Wilcoxon matched- pairs signed-ranks T test; Wilcoxon rank-sum test; Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple- comparisons test
Normal distribution, 34, 125–139 Normal distribution table, 127–128 Nowell, A., 79 NS (not significant), 175 Null hypothesis
ANOVA, 225–226 chi square, 297, 304 correlation coefficient, 186, 338 described, 170–171, 194 how to reject, 217–218 nonparametric tests, 320, 338 t test, 172
Null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST) alternative hypothesis, 171 ANOVA, 225–226 chi square, 297, 304 correlation coefficient, 186–187,
328–329 interaction, 281 logic of, 167–171, 194–195 sample mean, 168–174 two means, 201, 206 two variances, 240
One-tailed test, 180–182, 194 One-way ANOVA. See Analysis of
variance Ordinal scale, 10 Ordinate, 30 Outliers, 49–50, 74 Overall, J. E., 311
p � .05, meaning, 182 prep, 346
Pagano, R. R., 123 Paired-samples design
compared to independent-samples design, 197
confidence interval, 214 effect size index, 212 explained, 198–199 matched pairs, 198–199 natural pairs, 198 repeated measures, 199 t test, 205–207 Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks
T test, 327–331 Parameter, 6 Partida, Rodrigo, 5 Pearson, E. S., 188, 296 Pearson, Karl, 85, 96, 108, 139, 155, 156,
188, 295–296 Pearson product-moment r. See
Correlation coefficient Peden, B. F., 36, 97 Pennsylvania, University of, 16 Percentile, 54 Pexman, P., 37 Phi (f), 301–302 Philosophy and statistics, 15–16 Playfair, W., 16 Pope, Alexander, 453 Population, 6 Porter, T. M., 125 Post hoc test, 242–243 Power of a test, 217–218, 259, 320 Powers, E., 450 Probability, 120–121, 152–154 Pryor, J. H., 142 “Publius,” 5 Pumpkin, 81
Qualitative variables, 8, 31 Quantification, 85 Quantitative variable, 7, 31 Quetelet, Adolphe, 125, 296
r. See Correlation coefficient Rabinowitz, H. S., 218 Raison d’être, for experiments, 193 Random assignment, 216 Random digits table, use of, 144 Random samples, 143–145 Range, 53–54 Ratio scale, 11 Rectangular distribution, 34, 121–122,
150–151 Regression, 107–114
coefficients, 110 described, 107
equation, 108–110 line appearance, 87, 113 two lines, 114 two meanings, 87–88 See also Regression equation
Regression equation algebraic explanation, 108 least-squares method, 108–112 predicting Ŷ, 11l, 113–114 regression coefficients, 110 slope-intercept formula, 108 See also Regression
Reinforcement, schedules of, 240 Rejection region, 175 Reliability, 100–101 Repeated measures, 199, 250–260 Residual variance, 258 Richardson, A. M., 125 Robustness, 216 Rokeach, M., 5 Roosevelt, Franklin, 146 Rorschach, Hermann, 247 Rosenthal, R., 175, 284 Rosnow, R. L., 175, 284 Royal Statistical Society, 16 Runyon, R. P., 54
Salmon, 302 Salsburg, 15, 188 Sample
biased, 146 defined, 6 random, 143–145 research, 146–147 size and standard error, 150–152
Sampling distribution chi square, 297 described, 147–148 differences between means, 194–195 empirical construction, 148–149 F distribution, 226–230 importance of, 141 of the mean, 148–149 normal curve, 149–150 other than the mean, 185–186 standard error, 148, 150 t distribution, 156–158 without s, 155–158
SAT, 89–90, 94–95, 99 Satisfaction With Life Scale, 25 Scales of measurement, 9–11, 47. See
also Interval scale; Nominal scale; Ordinal scale; Ratio scale
Scatterplot, 87–91, 97–98 Schachter, S., 21, 413 Schedules of reinforcement, 240
474 ■ Index
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Scholz, A. T., 302, 451 Schumacher, E. F., 339 Seligman, M. E. P., 25 Shakespeare, 335, 420 Shedler, J., 101 Sherif, M., 328–329 Sherman, M., 452 Significance level, 174 Significant versus important, 210–211 Simple frequency distributions. See
Frequency distributions Skewed distributions, 34–35, 47–48, 49–
50, 74 Smeeton, N. C., 319 Smith, L. D., 37 Smith, M. L., 82 Smith, R. A., 245 Smith, Randolph A., 453 Snedecor, G. W., 229, 380, 388 Snickers, 189–190 Social loafing, 202–203 Spatz, C., iii, 4, 194 Spatz, T. S., 248 Spearman, Charles, 337 Spearman rs. See Correlation coefficient Sprent, P., 319 Sprinthal, R. C., 333 SPSS, 19 Standard deviation, 55–65
computation, 57–59, 63–64 as descriptive index, 57–61 as estimate of s, 56, 61–64 explanation of N � 1, 62 graphs of, 65 relation to range, 61 relation to standard error, 150 relation to variance, 65 three kinds, 56
Standard error of any statistic, 185–186 defined, 148 of a difference, 201, 205, 206, 217 of estimate, 114 of mean, s known, 150, 152 of mean, s unknown, 155–159, 177,
196 and power, 217
Standard score, 71 Statistically significant, 175 Statisticians, categories of, 16 Statistics
beauty of, 86 defined, 2, 6 descriptive, 2 dynamic nature, 3–4 and experimental design, 12–15
history, 16 inferential (see Inferential statistics) and philosophy, 15–16
Statistics courses, 16 Sternberg, R. J., 104 Stevens, S. S., 10, 19 Stratton, F. J. M., 188 Strayer, D. L., 219 “Student.” See Gosset, W. S. Suicide, 236 Sum of squares
defined, 232 factorial ANOVA, 275–278 one-way ANOVA, 232–236 repeated-measures ANOVA, 253–255 See also Analysis of variance
Swampy Acres, 48
Tales (tails) of distributions, 81, 141, 182, 345
Tanur, J. M., 4 t distribution, 156
confidence interval, 159–161, 213–214 degrees of freedom, 156, 177, 201,
206 relation to F distribution, 229 relation to normal curve, 157 See also t test
t distribution table, use of, 156–158 Temperature
cities, 59 oral body, 29, 52–53, 161
Theoretical distribution, 66, 120, 124–125, 139
Thrase, M. E., 260, 279, 448 Traffic deaths and unemployment,
89–91 Treatment, 13, 192 Truck driver’s wages, 128 Truncated range, 104–105 t test
assumptions, 216 compared to ANOVA, 229, 263 compared to nonparametric test,
319 effect size index, 184–185, 211–213 independent samples, 200–203 one-sample, 176–178 paired samples, 205–207 Pearson r, 186–187 See also t distribution
Tufte, E. R., 16, 37, 103 Tukey Honestly Significant Difference
test, 243–245, 256–257, 289–290 Tukey, J. W., 243 Two-tailed test, 181–182, 194
Type I error, 178–180, 257–258, 311 Type II error, 178–180, 257–258, 311
Uleman, J., 459 Unemployment and traffic deaths,
89–91 Univariate distribution, 86
Variability, 41, 52–53. See also Interquartile range; Range; Standard deviation; Variance
Variable, defined, 7 Variance, 65–66, 232 Variance, analysis of. See Analysis of
variance VassarStats, 19 Velleman, P. F., 37 von Hippel, P. T., 49
Wainer, H., 37 Walker, H. M., 16, 296 Wallace, D. L., 309, 452 Wallace, R. K., 260 Wallace, W. L., 94 Waller, J. C. W., 86 Watson, J. B., 305 Weighted mean, 50–51 Weldon, W. R. F., 188, 296 Wells, H. G., 4 West, S. G., 269 White, E. B., 12 Whitney, D. R., 321 Wight, R. D., 125 Wilcox, R. A., 333 Wilcoxon, F., 327, 331, 333, 397 Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks
T test, 319, 327–331 Wilcoxon rank-sum test, 321 Wilcoxon–Wilcox multiple-comparisons
test, 319, 333–335 Wilde, G. J. S., 90 Wilkinson, L., 30 Williams, W. M., 104 Williamson, G. M., 96 Winer, B. J., 246, 291 Winter, L., 459 Witmer, H., 450 Wittrock, M. C., 9 Wolraich, M. L., 221 Wonderlic Personnel Test, 96 Wood, T. B., 188 Woodworth, R. S., xv Wunderlich, C. R. A., 161
Yale University, 16, 37, 291 Yates’ correction, 310
Index ■ 475
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Yates, F., 225, 379, 386, 387 Youden, W. J., 135
Zajonc, R. B., 81 Zeigarnik, Bluma, 3, 6, 14
Zeigarnik effect, 3 z scores, 70–72, 126, 152
correlation formula, 92 range of values, 72
z-score table, how to use, 127
z-score test large sample T, 331 large sample U, 323–325
Zwick, R., 245
476 ■ Index
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LibraryPirate
Purpose
Descriptive
Variability (interval/ratio)
Single score
One-way ANOVA (246)
One-sample t test (184)
Two-sample t test (211, 212)
Factorial ANOVA (290)
Standard deviation (57, 63)
Variance (65)
Range (53)
Outlier (74)
z score (70)
UnivariateBivariate
Mode (44, 46)
Median (44, 45)
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Interval/RatioNominal
Central tendency
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Scatter- plot (87)
Linear regression (110)
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Nonparametric
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χ2
2�2 (301)
Frequency distribution graphs
Qualitative data
Bar graph (32)
Histogram (31)
Frequency polygon (31)
Quantitative data
Boxplot (73)
Graphs
Effect size
Decision Tree for Descriptive Statistics
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LibraryPirate
Purpose
Inferential
Confidence interval
About a?mean (159)
Independent samples
Mann– Whitney U (321)
Wilcoxon matched- pairs signed- ranks T (327)
Wilcoxon– Wilcox multiple comparisons (333)
Paired samples
Independent samples
One-sample t test (177)
Paired t test (205)
Independent t test (201)
Paired samples
Related samples
Independent samples
One-way ANOVA (239)
Tukey HSD (243)
Repeated measures ANOVA (256)
Tukey HSD (256)
Independent samples
Test of independence
Goodness of fit
> Two levels of independent variable
Two levels of independent variable
Ranks (nonparametric)
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≥ Two levels of independent variable
Factorial ANOVA (281)
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Two independent variables
Two levels of independent variable
One independent variable
Means (parametric)
One sample
χ2 (303)
χ2 (297)
Independent samples
Variances (parametric)
F test (240)
Null hypothesis statistical testing (NHST)
Type of data
About a?mean difference (213, 214)
Quantitative (parametric)
Decision Tree for Inferential Statistics
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