Quantitative Research & Statistics Flashcards
7 cards from real CSP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Quantitative Research & Statistics flashcards as text
A researcher finds a Pearson r of 0.85 between hours studied and exam scores. What does this indicate?
Answer: A strong positive linear relationship
A Pearson r of 0.85 indicates a strong positive linear relationship, meaning as hours studied increase, exam scores tend to increase substantially.
Which measure of central tendency is most appropriate when data contains extreme outliers?
Answer: Median
The median is most appropriate with outliers because it is not affected by extreme values, unlike the mean which gets pulled toward outliers.
In a multiple regression analysis, what does the R-squared value represent?
Answer: The proportion of variance in the dependent variable explained by predictors
R-squared (coefficient of determination) represents the proportion of variance in the dependent variable that is explained by the independent variables in the model.
A sociologist uses a Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). This scale produces which level of measurement?
Answer: Ordinal
Likert scales produce ordinal data because responses have a meaningful rank order, but the intervals between response categories are not necessarily equal.
What is the primary purpose of conducting a factor analysis in sociological research?
Answer: To identify underlying dimensions among a set of observed variables
Factor analysis identifies latent constructs or underlying dimensions that explain patterns of correlations among multiple observed variables.
When a researcher increases sample size while keeping all else constant, what happens to the standard error of the mean?
Answer: It decreases
Standard error decreases as sample size increases because SE = σ/√n, so larger n produces a smaller denominator and thus a smaller SE.
A chi-square test of independence is used to determine whether:
Answer: Two categorical variables are associated in the population
The chi-square test of independence assesses whether there is a statistically significant association between two categorical variables.