Descriptive statistics

• What is the purpose of descriptive statistics?

  To express numbers showing overall patterns
• What does the range in statistics represent?

  The spread of data values
• How do you calculate the range of a data set?

  Subtract lowest score from highest score
• What is a characteristic of the range?

  It can be distorted by extreme scores
• What is the mean in statistics?

  The mathematical average of scores
• How is the mean calculated?

  Add all scores and divide by number of scores
• Why is the mean considered sensitive?

  It uses all data, affected by extreme values
• What is the median in a data set?

  The middle value when ordered
• How do you find the median of a data set?

  Order data from lowest to highest
• How does the median respond to extreme scores?

  It is not affected by extreme scores
• How does the sensitivity of the median compare to the mean?

  Less sensitive to variation than the mean
• What is the mode in statistics?

  The most common score(s) in data
• What is a characteristic of the mode?

  It is very easy to calculate
• What is a potential drawback of using the mode?

  It can be unrepresentative of data