Question.4601 - Central Tendency & Statistical ThinkingIt is easier to learn statistics, and anything, if we have a story. The first step in this story is learning what our measures of the center are and how to calculate them in SPSS. This is first done within your text and SPSS assignment. With this discussion, we compare and contrast these ideas, looking for their implications as well as just the ability to calculate and use such summary/descriptive statistics.Calculating our measures of the center (measures of central tendency) such as the mean, median, and mode are simple once you practice them in SPSS and you may think "so what"? However simple it is to calculate averages (measures of the center) such as the median and mode, this is a profoundly impactful concept everywhere in life including in psychology. Also make sure to understand that the mean, median, and mode are all different types of averages.Because most statistical tests boil down to mathematically comparing the center of our data to the variability (the spread) in our data, this theme will be part of every statistical formula for every test mentioned in our class. Learning these organizing themes helps develop your overall conceptual framework which you can use to more easily remember ideas and more effectively use statistics. We do not focus much on formulas, but if you look at all of the formulas in our class, they have few steps and of those steps, calculating the mean is usually the first one which follows collection of raw data. If you are a counselor or therapist, maybe you are interested in how much improvement in mental health your clients achieve after the first month of sessions? Perhaps you wonder how happy people are in different occupations. It is possible to measure emotions including happiness and we do see rankings of the best careers, so what are the mean levels of happiness, income, number of vacation days, etc. in any occupation you are interested in?Finding the mean, median, and mode is a general pathway to finding the center of your data. The center of the data is usually our first "model" of the data and model of our expectations in the world. A model is a prediction, so if we only know the mean scores for a set of data, the mean is our prediction for the most commonly occurring scores. We can then test this model against reality by looking at how far scores are spread out (distributed) around the mean, and we can make judgments about whether the mean is a good representative of the data or not. Perhaps you are interested in the most efficient form of fitness training. If you compare the mean number of weeks of training required to increase to a desired level of "fitness", you might be able to find that different activities lead to faster or slower rates of improvement in mean fitness scores.In this discussion, please:Think of an observation from daily or work life which you could quantify with one or more measures of central tendency (the mean, median, or mode)Explain and define the variable (remember last unit with operational definitions and scales of measurement?)Explain the value of calculating a mean, median, or mode for that variableIf you used that measure of central tendency as your primary way of thinking about that phenomena, how useful would that be, how misleading might it be, and what other information might you want to know about that phenomena?Explain your reactions to the article How Mean is the Mean (Click this Link to view the article) and to our featured videos.Discuss problems with using statistics blindly - what have you noticed?Identify some limitations or misinterpretations which come from uncritical reliance on mean-related concepts in your own personal or professional life. For example is a stereotype a kind of average and how much do we rely on stereotypes for our worldviews or beliefs?
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