CJ 350 Gau Ch. 04 Measures of Central Tendency

What is the usefulness of averages in social science research?

• Averages are important to the study of social phenomenon because an average offers information about centers or middles of distributions.

• Averages offer the social scientist the opportunity to examine the clustering of data.

• Averages allow social researchers to determine where the middle of a data set is located.

• All of these

Descriptive statistics that offer information about where the scores in a particular data set tend to cluster are referred to in scientific jargon as what?

• inferential explorative statistics

• measures of central tendency

• measures of generalized tendency

• normal measures of generalized tendency

The distance between the mean of a data set and any given raw score in that set is known as ______.

• a deviation score

• a midpoint

• the median

• the midpoint of the magnitude

Within a normal distribution, where would the most frequently occurring scores be located?

• within the tails at either end of the distribution

• directly in the middle of the curve

• The normal curve depicts only those most frequently occurring scores, so a researcher could look anywhere along the curve

• The normal curve does not take into account the frequently occurring scores, so a researcher would be hard pressed to find them on this curve.

The three basic shapes a distribution can take are which of the following?

• a positive skew, negative skew, and normal

• normal, bifurcated skew, and midpoint of the magnitude skew

• midpoint of the magnitude, normal, and bifurcated

• midpoint of the magnitude, ambiguous, and bifurcated

Which of the following measure is appropriate for use with nominal data?

• mean

• median

• midpoint of the magnitude

• mode

What is the median?

• It is the score that cuts a distribution in half, with 50% of the scores above that value and 50% below.

• It is the score that represents the arithmetic average of a distribution.

• It is the score that rests at the 50th percentile.

• It is the absolute value of the scores that sit at the very end of the tails of a normal distribution.

What is the definition of mode?

• the most frequently occurring score

• the middle score

• the arithmetic average

• the score that rests at the 50th percentile

Which of the following is the arithmetic average of a set of data points?

• mean

• median

• mode

• midpoint of the magnitudes

The ______ is the score that rests squarely in the middle of a distribution, with 50% falling above and 50% falling below.

• mode

• median

• mean

• variation