Can descriptive statistical processes be used in determining relationships, differences, or effects in your research question and testable null hypothesis? Why or why not? Also, address the value of descriptive statistics for the forensic psychology resea

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Can descriptive statistical processes be used in determining relationships, differences, or effects in your research question and testable null hypothesis? Why or why not? Also, address the value of descriptive statistics for the forensic psychology research problem that you have identified for your course project.

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Post your response in a minimum of 300 words.

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Computing Descriptive Statistics

© 2014 Argosy University

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Computing Descriptive Statistics: “Ever Wonder What Secrets
They Hold?” The Mean, Mode, Median, Variability, and
Standard Deviation

Introduction

Before gaining an appreciation for the value of descriptive statistics in behavioral science
environments, one must first become familiar with the type of measurement data these statistical
processes use. Knowing the types of measurement data will aid the decision maker in making
sure that the chosen statistical method will, indeed, produce the results needed and expected.
Using the wrong type of measurement data with a selected statistic tool will result in erroneous
results, errors, and ineffective decision making.

Measurement, or numerical, data is divided into four types: nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
The businessperson, because of administering questionnaires, taking polls, conducting surveys,
administering tests, and counting events, products, and a host of other numerical data
instrumentations, garners all the numerical values associated with these four types.

Nominal Data

Nominal data is the simplest of all four forms of numerical data. The mathematical values are
assigned to that which is being assessed simply by arbitrarily assigning numerical values to a
characteristic, event, occasion, or phenomenon. For example, a human resources (HR) manager
wishes to determine the differences in leadership styles between managers who are at different
geographical regions. To compute the differences, the HR manager might assign the following
values: 1 = West, 2 = Midwest, 3 = North, and so on. The numerical values are not descriptive of
anything other than the location and are not indicative of quantity.

Ordinal Data

In terms of ordinal data, the variables contained within the measurement instrument are ranked in
order of importance. For example, a product-marketing specialist might be interested in how a
consumer group would respond to a new product. To garner the information, the questionnaire
administered to a group of consumers would include questions scaled as follows: 1 = Not Likely, 2
= Somewhat Likely, 3 = Likely, 4 = More Than Likely, and 5 = Most Likely. This creates a scale
rank order from Not Likely to Most Likely with respect to acceptance of the new consumer
product.

Interval Data

Oftentimes, in addition to being ordered, the differences (or intervals) between two adjacent
measurement values on a measurement scale are identical. For example, the differences in age
between managers 25 years of age and 30 years of age are the same as the differences in age
between managers who are 40 years of age and 45 years of age. That is to say, when each
interval represents the same increment of that which is being measured, the measure is referred
to as an interval measurement or interval mathematical value.

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Ratio Data

Some measurements, in addition to having an equal interval value, also have an absolute zero
value. In this instance, zero represents the absence of the variable being measured. With an
absolute zero value, for example, either you have some money or you do not have any money. In
the money scenario, adding the interval quality to ratio data would mean that you have no money,
$1.00 to $5.00, $6.00 to $10.00, and so on. What is being stated here is that ratio data is
quantitative as it tells us the amount of the variable being measured. Consider other examples of
ration data such as the percentage of votes received by a candidate, the gross national product
per capita, the current American crime rate, and the number of finished consumer products
manufactured per day per person—all of these are examples of ratio data.

Why Measurement Data Matters

To the behavioral scientist, when conducting research, the level of measurement is important
because the higher the level of measurement of a variable, the more powerful the statistical
techniques that can be employed to analyze the data. Take, for example, the voters’ choice
wherein the nominal variables in the 2004 presidential race were Bush, Kerry, Nader, etc. One
can count the number of votes each candidate received as well as calculate the percentage each
candidate received. One can also calculate joint frequencies and percentages by region and by
gender. One can also calculate the relationship between region and vote and whether the
relationship occurred by chance. Unfortunately, using nominal measurement data does not permit
one to use advanced methods of statistics. In the example presented above, even when we
assign numbers to each candidate, we cannot very well determine that Bush plus Kerry equals
Nader or that Nader divided by Kerry is half way between Bush and Kerry, and so on. In an
attempt to calculate the situation, only the mentioned higher level statistical techniques are
required.

If one uses a technique that assumes a higher level of measurement than is appropriate for the
data, there is a risk of getting meaningless results and answers. At the same time, if one uses a
technique that fails to take advantage of a higher level of measurement, important things are often
overlooked about the data collected.

Computing and Using the Mean, Median, Mode, Frequency Distribution, and Standard
Deviation

Regardless of the type of measurement data garnered from a data collection set, the mean,
mode, median, frequency distribution, and standard deviation can be calculated. However, simply
because mathematical calculations can be made does not imply the legitimacy of their use. The
remainder of this section will deal with how one computes and uses measures of central tendency
in business situations.

Mean

Mean is the arithmetic average of a group of measurement values. To be meaningful, the
resulting mathematical value must be based on at least an ordinal set of data or above. Interval
and ratio are also appropriate for calculating the mean. The resulting mean of a group of data will
only describe the data in general descriptive terms. The mean alone cannot be used to draw
conclusions and make inferences about a population being studied.

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Formula:

N (n) = Number of participants in a study, or numeric values

Σ = Sum of all numeric values

X = Raw score, or individual measurement score

= The mean

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Example

Consider a production manager who wants to determine whether the 11 employees of the second
shift of line employees are producing more baby strollers than the 11 first-shift employees. The
second-shift employees produce the following number of baby strollers: 5, 7, 8, 5, 7, 7, 9, 9, 5, 5,
5. The first-shift employees produce the following number of units: 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 9, 2, 4, 6, 8.

Solution:

Second shift total units (ΣΧ) = 72

Second shift total number of employees (n) = 11

Mean = 72/11 = 6.55 units produced

First shift units (ΣΧ) = 69

First shift total number of employees (n) = 11

Mean = 69/11 = 6.27 units produced

Conclusion

What appears to be happening is that the second shift of line employees produces more baby
strollers than the first shift of line employees.

Caution: No other conclusions can be drawn from the mean. To determine whether production
differences are significant, a higher level statistical process must be used. We can only “describe”
what has happened here and cannot draw conclusions or make inferences as to why or how
much.

Median

Median is broadly defined as the middle value of a set of measurement values. Just like medians
divide roads down the middle, so does the median in statistics in that the median is simply the
middle number For highly skewed distributions, the median is a better measure of central
tendency than the mean as extreme outliners or measurement values do not affect it.

Formula:

No statistical formula is needed. To calculate the median of a group of measurement scores,
simply find the
midpoint of the distribution by arranging the scores in ascending order—from low to high.

Example

Second-shift stroller production 5, 7, 8, 5, 7, 7, 9, 9, 5, 5, 5 Ordered Values –5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 7, 7,
7, 8, 9, 9

Median = 7

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First-shift stroller production 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 9, 2, 4, 6, 8

Ordered values –2, 4, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 9

Median = 7

Note: As the median values are equal, the mean is a better choice to describe the measurement
data.

Mode

Mode is defined as the most frequent value in a measurement data set and is of limited value.

Example

Second-shift stroller production: 5, 7, 8, 5, 7, 7, 9, 9, 5, 5, 5

Mode = 5

First-shift stroller production: 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 9, 2, 4, 6, 8

Mode = 7

Variability

Furthermore, the central tendency is a summary measure of the overall quantity of a
measurement data set. Variability (or dispersion) measures the amount of spread in a
measurement data set. Variability is generally measured using three criteria: range, variance, and
standard deviation.

Example

Range

The difference between the largest and the smallest value in the data set is calculated by
subtracting the smallest value from the largest measurement value. Although the range is a crude
measure of variability, it is easy to calculate and useful as an outline description of a data set.

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Example

Second-shift stroller production: 5, 7, 8, 5, 7, 7, 9, 9, 5, 5, 5

Range = 9 – 5 = 4

First-shift stroller production: 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 9, 2, 4, 6, 8

Range = 9 – 2 = 7

Variance

Variance is a deviation. It is a measure of by how much each point frequency distribution lies
above or below the mean for the entire data set:

Note: If you add all the deviation scores for a measurement data set together, you will
automatically get the mean for that data set.

In order to define the amount of deviation of a data set from the mean, calculate the mean of all
the deviation scores, i.e., the variance.

Formula:

Standard Deviation

In statistics, the standard deviation represents the measure of the spread of a set of
measurement values from the mean of the data set. Putting it another way, the standard deviation
can be defined as the average amount by which scores in a distribution differ from the mean while
ignoring the sign of the difference, i.e., the plus or minus value. Further, standard deviations are
only good when referring to single data or measurement values, i.e., finding out when a single
score falls with reference to being above or below the mean.

To find out the standard deviation of a data set, you must perform the following steps:

1. Calculate the mean of all the scores.
2. Find the deviation of each score from the mean.
3. Square each deviation.
4. Calculate the average of each deviation.
5. Calculate the square root of the average deviation.

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Formula:

Example

Consider, for example, a real estate manager who wants to determine where his or her
department employees are placed with respect to the average number of real estate closings they
accomplish per month.

The monthly closings are as follows: 8, 25, 7, 5, 8, 3, 10, 12, 9

1. First, calculate the mean and determine N.
2. Remember, the mean is the sum of scores divided by N, where N is the number of scores.
3. Therefore, the mean = (8+25+7+5+8+3+10+12+9) / 9 or 9.67
4. Then, calculate the standard deviation, n, as illustrated below.

Squared

Score Mean Deviation* Deviation

8 9.67 –1.67 2.79

25 9.67 +15.33 235.01

7 9.67 –2.67 7.13

5 9.67 –4.67 21.81

8 9.67 –1.67 2.79

3 9.67 –6.67 44.49

10 9.67 +.33 .11

12 9.67 +2.33 5.43

9 9.67 –.67 .45

(*deviation from mean = score – mean)

Sum of squared deviation = 320.01

Standard Deviation = Square root (sum of squared deviations / (N – 1))

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= Square root (320.01/ (9 – 1))

= Square root (40)

= 6.32

Conclusion

Real estate closings for the month vary ±6.32 closings above or below the mean of a 9.67 closing
average. Caution must be exercised here as no conclusion can be drawn as to whether this is an
acceptable range of real estate closing activity. In other words, you cannot draw a conclusion
about whether the closings are profitable, not profitable, or represent an industry average. Further
statistical data analysis would have to be conducted to draw any such conclusion.

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The Color of Data: Visually Reported Data for Descriptive Statistical Presentations

The Pros and Cons of Visually Reported Data

For the behavioral scientist, whether in business, forensics, sociology, or anthropology, a host of
other related facts such as profit reporting, result forecasting, time sequences, overtime hours,
personality test scores, anxiety scores, and IQ are often reported visually. The reason for using
visual presentations is not only because “a picture is worth a thousand words” but also because
visually presented data is not generally bogged down with useless facts and figures. That is to
say, visual presentations usually present the most salient or robust features of an event,
occurrence, phenomenon, situation, problem, or condition. Visually presented information can
also be considered the road map to what has happened or lies ahead. Further, visually reported
data are not only colorful but also easy to construct, and one does not have to be a statistician to
create them.
Unfortunately, visually reported data results in the behavioral science arena have two primary
drawbacks, namely, the presenter and the lack of data sophistication. For the most part, visually
presented data are based on percentages, raw numeric data scores, and frequencies. Rarely is
visually presented material based on true value statistics based on inferential statistical findings.
The reason is that the values for inferential statistics are not amenable to graphs and charts, and
their values speak mathematically for themselves. That is to say, inferential statistical values are
mathematical values that must be interpreted and are not subjected to graphic presentation.

A Prelude to Statistical Data Analysis: Raw Data’s Wardrobe in the Form of Bar Graphs,
Pie Charts, Line Graphs, Stem and Leaf Displays, and Box and Whisper Plots

Introduction

Regardless of the type of chart or graph you use to illuminate or express a concept or idea, they
all have one thing in common, namely, to communicate via picture what is being studied or what
is happening. A behavioral scientist, or any other person who wants to show what is taking place,
makes use of bar graphs, pie charts, line graphs, leaf displays, and box and whisper plots.
Unfortunately, however, those who are not well-grounded and informed about statistical
processes oftentimes rely on these pictorial presentations to draw conclusions or make inferences
about what is being studied and evaluated. When this happens in the behavioral science arena,
wrong decisions are often made about important matters. Nonetheless, graphs and charts are an
important step in achieving what statistical processes will eventually resolve.

Bar Graph

Bar graphs allow and encourage a great deal of poetic license to those who design or make use
of them. The reason is that the one designing the bar graph determines what scale is to be used.
This means that the information can be presented in a misleading way. For example, by using a
smaller scale (for example, having each half inch of the height of a bar represent 10 widgets
versus 50 widgets produced), one can exaggerate the truth, make production differences look
more dramatic, or even exaggerate values. On the other hand, by using a larger scale (for
example having each half inch of a bar represent 50 widgets versus 10 widgets produced), a
person can downplay differences, make the end results look less dramatic than they actually are
or even make small differences appear to be nonexistent. When evaluating a bar graph, one
should do the following:

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Make sure that the bars that divide up values are equal in width for an equitable comparison.

Make sure that there is an appropriate representation of all information being presented.

Knowing that the information being presented might not be a fair representation of all
information, be prepared to dig deeper and use more advanced statistical processes.

Example

Suppose, for example, we want to pictorially present, via a bar graph, information on how much
money is spent on transportation by individuals of different income levels. The first step is to
gather the information from a representative sample (sampling will be discussed later in the
course) and determine how much money each participant spends on transportation in a year. The
second step is to define income level. The third step is to determine the horizontal axis and the
vertical axis. When you are seeking the “how” of something, always remember that it becomes
the vertical axis and the “category” becomes the horizontal axis. For this particular example, the
bar graph might possibly look like the following:

To construct a bar graph, go to your Windows task bar, click on Insert, click on Chart, and enter
your information when prompted.

Pie Charts

Similar to bar graphs, pie charts, or circle graphs, are a pictorial means using which the individual
can present information in a simple, nonstatistical form. Further, like bar graphs, pie charts are
usually employed to compare percentages of the same whole. Unlike bar graphs, pie charts do
not use a set of axes to plot information or data points. Pie charts are display percentages and
are used to compare different parts of the same whole. With pie charts, it is important to
remember how they are sometimes misrepresented in business situations, namely leaving out
parts of the whole and not defining what the whole really is. When a part of the whole is omitted,
then it increases the percentage values of the remaining parts that are displayed. When the whole

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is not well-defined, the reader is unclear about what the parts represent. Again, a pie is a
graphical representation of how many individual parts contribute to the total.

Example

Take, for example, a human resource manager who is interested in finding out how three different
departments in a business situation waste time on the Internet on a given day when they should
be engaged in company business. The human resource person would collect data through a time
study process and determine the number of times each employee in each department logged on
and off the Internet for personal business. The times would be collected and added together, and
each department’s time would be converted to percentages. Going further, the human resource
manager reported that, cumulatively, the employees of Department 1 spent a total of five hours a
day on the Internet, those of Department 2 spent two hours a day, and those of Department 3
spent six hours. The pie chart would look like the following:

Solution:

The total (sum) of 5 and 2 and 6 is 13.

5 constitutes , or 38.46% of the total.

2 constitutes , or 15.38% of the total.

6 constitutes , or 46.15% of the total.

What is most important to remember in a bar or pie chart or a graph is what is called the “function

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of n.” Remember this fact for discussion later on in the course.

Line Graphs

Like bar graphs, line graphs compare two variables, and each is plotted against an axis, such as
a vertical axis (bottom to top) and a horizontal axis (left to right). Some of the strengths of a line
graph lie in showing the specific value of data, showing trends, and enabling the viewer to make
certain low-level predictions about the results of the data not yet recorded.

Example

Take a situation where a marketing manager wants to plot the growth of a company product over
the past several months. The information this individual wants will assist in determining whether
the product has a steady growth path, irregular growth, or downsliding growth path. Constructing
a line graph will allow the manager to visualize what is happening as well as to make rather
simple predictions about where the product is headed in the months to come. In a graph format,
regardless of the type of graph, it is not possible to make accurate conclusions and inferences
from the data presented. Graphs of all types are generally used in the behavioral sciences for
what is popularly termed “visual data mining.”

Scatter Plot

A broadly viewed scatter plot visualizes the relation (correlation) between the two variables being
examined (e.g., manufacturing cost and profit). Individual measurement data points (raw numeric
values) are represented in two-dimensional space. In this two-dimensional space, the axes
represent the variables being looked at on the horizontal axis (X) and the on the vertical axis (Y).

Example

A manufacturing account manager is interested in determining the relationship between
manufacturing cost and profit on 11 products being produced. To garner a visual understanding of
this relationship, he or she would construct a scatter plot graph. If the scatter plot presents the

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information from the top left descending to the bottom right then there exists a negative
relationship. On the other hand, if the information on the scatter plot is presented from the bottom
left, ascending to the upper right, then there exists a positive relationship between the two
variables.

The same information in a box and whisper plot would look like the following:

Another way to present the data would be with a stem-leaf display. In a stem-leaf display, the data
would look like this if a time series analyst wants to display the time it took 10 employees to
assemble a widget: The times, in minutes, are as follows: 10, 10, 10, 13, 13, 15, 17, 8, 8, 9.