| variable | anything that may take on different values or amounts
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| independent variable | the variable manipulated or controlled by the experimenter
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| dependent variable | in behavioral science, the measurement of behavior
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| population | a complete collection of organisms or objects having some common characteristic
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| parameter | a measurable characteristic of a population
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| sample | a subset of a population
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| statistic | a measurable characteristic of a sample
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| sampling | the process of selecting a sample from a population
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| unbiased sample | a sample that shows no systematic tendency relative to the population; a sample that accurately reflects the population from which it was drawn
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| biased sample | a sample that is unrepresentative of the population from which it was drawn
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| random sampling | sampling in which each population member theoretically has an equal chance of being drawn
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| random and independent sampling | another term for random sampling
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| independent sampling | another term for random sampling
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| sampling with replacement | sampling in which each selected individual is returned to the population before the next selection
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| sampling without replacement | sampling in which each selected individual is not returned to the population before the next selection
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| stratified random sampling | sampling in which the population is divided into groups, and random samples are taken from each group
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| scales of measurement | rules used to assign numbers to objects or events
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| measurement data | data involving a true measurement process
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| frequency data | data consisting of counts, totals, or frequencies
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| nominal scale | measurement scale assigning names or labels to different objects or events
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| ordinal scale | scale in which numbers serve to both identify and rank-order the objects or events
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| ranking | placing objects or events in order, from highest to lowest
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| rank-ordering | another name for ranking
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| interval scale | scale in which numbers serve to identify and rank-order the objects or events, and there are equal intervals between the numbers
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| ratio scale | interval scale with a true zero
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| descriptive statistics | statistics that are used to illustrate quantities of numerical observations
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| inferential statistics | statistical techniques that allow us to make conclusions about a larger group based on a subset of it and tell us how confident we are in our conclusions
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education