CHAPTER 3

A Statistic Refreshener
Statistics
 Is one of the most crucial components of testing.
 Without statistics, we wouldn't be able to understand the customer scores that we
generate.
Test scores
 Has a variety of effects on our life. When you succeed, some people will shake your
hand or punch you when you perform poorly. The exam results enable us to pinpoint
areas of mental strength or weakness. As a result, it goes with you to job interviews and
affects your decision regarding a job or career.
How test scores are expressed?
A. Numbers
B. Statistical Tool
 used to describe or make inferences from
 draw conclusions about numbers
Scales of measurement
Measurement
 the act of assigning numbers or symbols to characteristics of things (people or events,
etc) according to rules.
Scale
 a set of sequential verbal or numerical characteristics, often occuring at regular periods,
utilized as a benchmark in measurement
 a collection of numbers (or other symbols) whose characteristics mimic the real-world
characteristics of the objects to which they are given.

The Type of Variable being measured

1. Continuous Scale
 measure a continuous variable.
 Exists when any value of can be divided theoretically by the scale
2. Discrete Scale
 categorizes variables; sex:male or female
 You can count discrete variable values to get them.

Errors in Measurement
Error
- refers to the collective influence of all the factors on a test score or measurement beyond
those specifically measured by the test or measurement
Sources of error
 Thunderstorm going on outside at this time the test was administered
 Particular selection of test items the instructor chose to use for the test
Types of errors
 Gross errors (Administration)
 Measurement Errors (Systematic reaction)
 Blunders (Maling-mali)
Levels/ Scales of Measurement
1. Nominal Scales
 are the simplest form of measurement.
 These scales involve classification or categorization based on one or more
distinguishing characteristics, where all things measured must beplaced into mutually
exclusive and exhaustive categories.
2. Ordinal Scales
 Rank ordering
 Most frequently used in psychology
3. Interval Scales
 Contain equal intervals between numbers.
 Contains no absolute zero point or fixed beginning.
 Temperature
4. Ratio Scales
 Contains true zero point
 You can tell that there is a fixed beginning.
 Scores, years, dates
Describing Data
Distribution
 A sets of test scores arrayed for recording or study.
Raw Scores
 A straightforward, unmodified accounting of performance that is unusually numerical.
Frequency Distributions
 All scores are listed alongside the number of times each score occurred.
 The score might be in tabular or graphic form
  referred to as a simple frequency distribution to indicate that individual scores have been
used and the data have not been grouped.
Grouped Frequency Distribution
 test-score intervals, also called class intervals, replace the actual test scores. The
number of class intervals used and the size or width of each class interval (i.e., the
range of test scores contained in each class interval) are for the test user to decide.
Graph
 is a diagram or chart composed of lines, points, bars, or other symbols that describe
and illustrate data
Types of Graphs
1. Histogram
 A graph with vertical lines drawn at the true limits of each test score (or class interval),
forming a series of contiguous rectangles.
2. Bar Graph
 Numbers indicative of frequency also appears on the Y-axis, and reference to some
categorization (e.g., yes/no/maybe, male/female) appears on the X-axis.
3. Frequency Polygon
 are expressed by a continuous line connecting the points where test scores or class
intervals (as indicated on the X -axis) meet frequencies (as indicated on the Y -axis).
Measures of Central Tendency
Measure of Central Tendency
 is a statistic that indicates the average or midmost score between the extreme scores
in a distribution.
Arithmetic mean
 denoted by the symbol X (pronounced “X bar”), is equal to the sum of the observations
(or test scores in this case) divided by the number of observations.
 Symbolically written, the formula for the arithmetic mean is X = Σ(X/n), where n equals
the number of observations or test scores.
FORMULA:
Arithmetic Mean Population Mean Sample Mean

The Median
  defined as the middle score in a distribution, is another commonly used measure of
central tendency. We determine the median of a distribution of scores by ordering the
scores in a list by magnitude, in either ascending or descending order.
The Mode
 The most frequently occurring score in a distribution of scores
Measures of Variability
Variability
 is an indication of how scores in a distribution are scattered or dispersed.
Measures of Variability
 Statistics that describe the amount of variation in a distribution
The Range
 A distribution is equal to the difference between the highest and the lowest scores.
The Interquartile and Semi-interquartile ranges
 A distribution of test scores (or any other data, for that matter) can be divided into four
parts such that 25% of the test scores occur in each quarter.
The Average Deviation
 Used by statisticians to characterize the dispersion among the measures in a given
population.
Formula:

Standard Deviation
 A measure of variability equal to the square root of the average squared deviations
about the mean.
Variance
 Equal to the arithmetic mean of the squares of the differences between the scores in a
distribution and their mean.
Skewness
 The nature and extent to which symmetry is absent.
 An indication of how the measurements in a distribution are distributed.
1. Positive Skew
 A distribution has a positive skew when relatively few of the scores fall at the high end of
 Positively skewed examination results may indicate that the test was too difficult.
2. Negative Skew
 When relatively few of the scores fall at the low end of the distribution.
 Negatively skewed examination results may indicate that the test was too easy.

Kurtosis
▪ is used to describe a distribution's center slope.
▪ To represent the peak/flatness of three different kinds of curves.
 Platykurtic (relatively flat)
 Leptokurtic (relatively peak)
 Mesokurtic (somewhere in the middle)
Characteristics of all Normal Distributions
 50% of the scores occur above the mean and 50% of the scores occur below the mean.
 Approximately 34% of all scores occur between the mean and 1 standard deviation
above the mean.
 Approximately 34% of all scores occur between the mean and 1 standard deviation
below the mean.
 Approximately 68% of all scores occur between the mean and ± 1 standard deviation.
 Approximately 95% of all scores occur between the mean and ± 2 standard deviations.

Standard Scores
 In the simplest terms possible, a standard score is a raw score that has been translated
to a scale with an arbitrary mean and standard deviation.
Z score
 In essence, a z score is equal to the difference between a particular raw score and the
mean divided by the standard deviation.
 can be called a fifty plus or minus ten scale; that is, a scale with a mean set at 50 and a
standard deviation set at 10.
T Scores
 If the scale used in the computation of z scores is called a zero plus or minus one scale,
then the scale used in the computation of T scores can be called a fifty plus or minus ten
scale; that is, a scale with a mean set at 50 and a standard deviation set at 10.
Stanine
 A method of scaling test scores on a nine-point standard scale with a mean of five and a
standard deviation of two.

Linear Transformation
 One that keeps a close numerical connection to the initial raw score.
Transformation Nonlinear
 The final standard score is not always directly numerically related to the initial raw score.