BRAINWARE UNIVERSITY

ASSINGMENT

COURSE NAME : B.S.c PSYCHOLOGY

STUDENT NAME : ARCHANA SHARMA

STUDENT CODE : BWU/BPY/22/035

SEMESTER :I

SUBJECT NAME : STATISTICS AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY-I

SUBJECT CODE : PSYC102

 A
ASSINGMENT
ON
ANALYZE THE IMPORTANCE
OF DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
IN PSYCHOLOGICAL
RESEARCH
 INTRODUCTION

Descriptive statistics are used to summarize the data. In descriptive statistics we can describe,
present, summarize and organize our data, either through numerical calculations or graphs or
tables. Example: it includes percentages, measures of central tendency- mean, median, mode
and measures of dispersion- range, variance, standard deviation.

Measures of Central Tendency are used to describe average and centre of a distribution of
scores.
Mean- Average of a distribution of scores.
Median- Mid point of a distribution of scores.
Mode- Most frequently occurring score in a distribution.

Measures of dispersion are used to describe the degree of spread in a set of scores.
Range- Measures distance between highest and lowest scores in a distribution.
Standard Deviation- Measures the average distance of scores from the mean.
Variance- Measures the distance of scores from the mean but in a different unit of measure.

STATISTICS AND RESEARCH

Statistics is the science concerned with collection, organization and analysis of data. It is a
complex field of study which defines and explains study patterns. Statistical methods are
essential for scientific research. Determining statistics in research is necessary to justify
research findings. The role of statistics in research is to function as a tool in designing research,
analysing its data and drawing conclusions. Statistics is used in minimizing experimental
errors. It is used for systematic arrangement of data to express them in common communicable
forms It provides a meaningful description or presentation of data. In various ways it is used to
study numerous aspects of human problems like individual differences in physiochemical
properties and psychological characteristics, educational, industrial and population problems,
pollution hazards, market and employment surveys, medical therapy and scientific research.

Psychologists use statistics for a number of reasons, including to find relationships between
different variables, identify correlations among different things, and to use data to draw more
general conclusions about our society. When psychologists begin a research project, they start
with a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an explanation for something that a researcher then
examines, using data, to see if their hypothesis is the correct explanation or not.
 IMPORTANCE OF STATISTICS

Statistics allows us to make sense and interpret a great deal of information. By using statistics,
we can organize and interpret various information in a meaningful way. Statistics allow
psychologists to organize data, describe data and make inferences based upon. It plays a vital
role in our day to day lives, it helps us in predicting what might happen in the future and also
to understand what might happen in the future and also to understand what has happened in the
past. The widely seen human behaviour are also analysed with the help of statistics. It helps
the psychologists to deal with their patients in an effective way.

TYPES OF STATISTICS

STATISTICS

DESCRIPTITIVE STATISTICS INFERNTIAL STATISTICS

MEASURES OF CENTRAL MEASURES OF

TENDENCY DISPERSION

MEAN RANGE

MEDIAN VARIANCE
E
MODE STANDARD DEVIATION
Descriptive Statistics:

Descriptive Statistics provides a summary of data. There are two

categories of descriptive statistics :-

1. Measure of Central Tendency :-

It is used to represent centre point or a particular value

of a data set or sample set. There are three common measures of Central Tendency:-

i. Mean :- Mean is an essential concept in statistics. The mean is the average or the most
common value in a collection of numbers. It is calculated by dividing the sum of
observation by the total number of observations. It is denoted by 𝑥̅ .

Formula for ungrouped data :

𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

Example: 12, 19, 15, 22, 17

𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

85
= 5

= 17

For grouped data there are two methods- Long method and Short method.

Formula for long method:

∑𝑓𝑥
𝑥̅ =
𝑛

Formula for short method:

∑𝑓𝑥
𝑥̅ = + 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛
𝑁
Example for grouped data:-

Long Method:

Class Interval 0-5 6-11 12-17 18-23 24-29

Frequency 4 2 6 6 2

Class Interval Frequency(f) X(mid point) fX

0-5 4 2.5 10

6-11 2 8.5 17

12-17 6 14.5 87

18-23 6 20.5 123

24-29 2 26.5 53

N=20 ∑𝑓𝑋 = 290

∑𝑓𝑋
𝑥̅ =
𝑛

290
=
20

=14.5
Short Method:-

C.I f Cumulative X fX x=(X-A.M) fx

frequency(cf)
12-20 9 9 16 144 -9 -81
21-29 9 18 25 225 0 0
30-38 3 21 34 102 9 27
39-47 6 27 43 258 18 108
48-56 4 31 52 208 27 108
57-65 4 35 61 244 36 144
n=35 ∑𝑓𝑋 = 1,181 𝛴𝑓𝑥 = 306

𝑛
+ 0.5
2
35
= + 0.5
2

=17.5+0.5
=1.8th
Assumed mean = 25

∑𝑓𝑥
𝑥̅ = + 𝐴𝑀
𝑛
306
= + 25
35

= 8.74+25
= 33.74
 ii. Median:

The median is the middle value of a data set, which means that 50% of data points have
a value smaller or equal to the median and 50% of data points have a value higher or equal to
the median. For an ungrouped data we first count the no. of data points (n) and arrange them
in increasing order. If the number of data points is odd, we add 1 to the number of points and
divide the result by 2.

Example for odd number of data points:-

12, 19, 15, 22, 17

Ascending Order: 12, 15, 17, 19, 22

Here, n=5

𝑛+1 𝑡ℎ
( 2
)

5+1 𝑡ℎ
=(
2
)

6 𝑡ℎ
=( )
2

=3rd

Median = 17

Example for the even number of data points:-

12, 19, 15, 22, 25, 17

Ascending Order: 12, 15, 17, 19, 22, 25

n=6

𝑛 𝑡ℎ 𝑛 𝑡ℎ
( ) +( +1) 17+19
2 2
2
=
2
6 𝑡ℎ 6 𝑡ℎ
36
( ) +( +1)
= 2 2 =
2 2

3𝑟𝑑 +4𝑡ℎ =18

=
2
Formula for Grouped Data:

𝑛
− 𝑐𝑓
𝑀ⅇ𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 = 𝐿 + (2 )×ⅈ
𝑓

L= Lower limit of median class

n = no. of individuals

cf = cumulative frequency

i = width of median class

Example:

Class Interval Frequency Cumulative Frequency

20-30 4 4

30-40 5 9

40-50 6 15

50-60 9 24

60-70 4 28

n=28

𝑛
𝑛 28
−𝑐𝑓
2
= th
= 14 observation 𝑀𝑑𝑛 = 𝐿 + ( )×𝑖
2 2 𝑓

L= 40 14−9
= 40 + ( ) × 11
6
𝑛
= 14
2 5
= 40 + ( ) × 11
6
Cf= 9
= 49.1
f= 6

i= 11
 iii. Mode:

Mode is the most frequent number that is the number that occurs the highest
number of times.

Example: 3, 7, 1, 3, 4, 8, 3

1, 3, 3, 3, 4, 7, 8

3 occurs most often so the mode is 3.

2. Measures of Dispersion:

It describes how far apart data points lie from each other and from the
centre of distribution. It is measured by the following:-

➢ Range:

It is the difference between the highest and lowest value.

➢ Variance:

It is calculated by taking the average of square deviations from the mean.

Variance tells us the degree of spread in our data set. The more spread the data, the larger the
variance is in relation to the mean.

➢ Standard Deviation:

It is defined as the square root of variance.

Inferential Statistics:

It makes use of various analytical tools to draw inferences about the

population data from sample data. Its goal is to make generalizations about a population. The
following are the some types of inferential statistics:-

➢ One sample hypothesis test

➢ T- test or ANOVA
➢ Pearson Correlation
 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS AND ITS ASSUMPTIONS

Descriptive Statistics describe, show, and summarize the basic features of a dataset found in a
given study, presented in a summary that describes the data sample and its measurement. It
helps to understand data better. It is useful in understanding a data distributions and in
comparing data distributions.

Measures of Central Tendency:-

➢ Mean
➢ Median
➢ Mode

Characteristics of mean:-

✓ It is the average of data set

✓ It is the ratio of the sum of all values to the total number of observations.
✓ It is highly affected by the extreme values in the data set.

Characteristics of median:-

✓ It is the middle value of the data set when arranged in ascending order.
✓ It lies at the centre of data set.
✓ It is not affected by the extreme values.

Characteristics of mode:-

✓ It is the value that occurs the highest number of times.

✓ It is not affected by extreme values.
✓ Its calculation is possible by the graphical method.
Find out mean, median, mode from the given data set

C.I 120-130 130-140 140-150 150-160 160-170 170-180 180-190 190-200

f 3 4 9 10 1 3 4 5

C.I F cf X fx

120-130 3 3 125 375

130-140 4 7 135 540

140-150 9 16 145 1305

150-160 10 26 155 1550

160-170 1 27 165 165

170-180 3 30 175 525

180-190 4 34 185 740

190-200 5 39 195 975

n = 39 𝛴𝑓𝑥 = 6175

𝑛
−𝐶𝑓
Median:- Median= 𝐿 + ( 2
)×𝑖
Mean:- 𝑓
𝑛 39
∑𝑓𝑥 = 19.5−16
𝑥̅ = 2 2
= 150 + ( ) × 11
𝑛 10
= 19.5th observation
6175
= = 150 + (0.35) x 11
39 Median class = 150-160
= 150 + 3.85
= 158.3 L= 150
= 153.85
𝑛
= 19.5
2
Mode:-
Cf= 16
Mode = 3 x median – 2 x mean
f= 10
= 3 x 153.8 – 2 x 158.3
i= 11
= 461.4 – 316.6

= 144.8