Chapter Checklists

As a consumer, you should be able to

1. Explain the concept of the normal curve
2. Look for evidence of normally distributed data when you read research reports
3. Read a frequency distribution and polygon
4. Describe the differences among mean, median, and mode
5. Explain how the standard deviation affects interpretation of the mean
6. Accurately interpret tables that report data as frequencies and percentages

As a researcher, you should be able to

1. Explain the concept of the normal curve
2. Assess the data you collected for its distribution and compare it to the normal curve
3. Create a frequency distribution and polygon for each variable in a data set
4. Compute the mean, median, and mode for each variable in a data set
5. Compute the range and standard deviation for each variable in a data set
6. Use frequencies and percentages to provide a summary description of nominal data
7. Accurately calculate descriptive statistics
8. Accurately report descriptive statistics