In this video I describe how we can describe dispersion or variability in nominal data by calculating a variation ratio. This is a simple measure of spread that tells us the frequency of scores that differ from the mode, which … Read More
How to Find the Precise Median (Interpolated Median)
In this video I explain how to find the precise median for a continuous variable with many repeated scores. I walk through an example of this that can be solved visually, then use this example to derive the formula for … Read More
Understanding Central Tendency
In this video I explain the strengths and limitations of the 3 measures of central tendency: the mean, the median, and the mode. This is part of a key theme of statistics, which is the importance of the choices researchers … Read More
The Ordinal vs. Interval Debate in Psychology
In this video I describe how psychologists and social scientists often treat ordinal data as if it were interval data, which is a cause of some debate between pure statisticians and more pragmatic researchers. I discuss why this may or … Read More
Scales of Measurement or Types of Data
In this video I describe the 4 scales of measurement proposed by Stanley Smith Stevens, which have become the standard way of defining types of data. These include nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio. I discuss the defining features of each, … Read More