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Statistical Reasoning in Everyday LIfe

Researchers use __________ to help them see and interpret their observations.


Once researchers have gathered their _______, they must __________ them. One simple way of visually representing data is to use a ___________. It is important to read the _____________ and note the ___________ to avoid being misled by misrepresented data.

data; organize; bar graph; scale labels; range

The three measures of central tendency are the ___________, the ___________ and the ___________.

mode; median; mean

The most frequently occurring score in a distribution is called the ___________.


The mean is computed as the ______ _______of all the scores divided by the _____________ of scores.

total sum; number

The median is the score at the ____________ percentile.


When a distribution is lopsided, or _________, the ____________ (mean/median/mode) can be biased by a few extreme scores.

skewed; mean

Averages derived from scores with ________ (high/low) variability are more reliable than those with ___________ (high/low) variability.

low; high

The measures of variation include the _______ and the __________________ _________________.

range; standard deviation

The range is computed as the ____________.

differences between the lowest and highest scores

The range provides a(n) _________ (crude/accurate) estimate of variation because it ___________ (is/is not) influenced by extreme scores.

crude; is

The standard deviation is a ___________ (more accurate/less accurate) measure of variation than the range. Unlike the range, the standard deviation ___________ (does/does not) use information from each score in the distribution.

more accurate; does

The symmetrical, bell-shaped distribution in which most scores fall near the __________ with fewer and fewer near the extremes is called the ___________ ____________.

mean; normal curve (normal distribution)

It is safer to generalize from a __________ sample than from a _______________ sample.

representative; biased

Averages are more reliable when they are based on scores with __________ (high/low) variability.


Small samples provide a ________ (more/less) reliable basis for generalizing than large samples.


Tests of statistical ____________ are used to estimate whether observed differences are real - that is, to make sure that they are not simply the result of _________ variation. The differences are probably real if the sample averages are __________ and the difference between them is _____________ (relatively small/relatively large).

significance; chance; reliable; relatively large

Statistical significance does not necessarily indicate the importance or __________ significance of a difference or result.


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