Question 1: Define the term 'mean' in the context of descriptive statistics.

Answer: The mean is the average value obtained by adding all the data points together and dividing by the number of data points.

Question 2: A class of 30 students took a psychology quiz. Their scores were: 15, 20, 18, 22, 17, 19, 21, 16, 20, 18, 22, 19, 20, 17, 21, 18, 19, 20, 16, 19, 21, 17, 20, 18, 22, 19, 20, 17, 21. Calculate the median score.

Answer: To find the median, first arrange the scores in order: 15, 16, 16, 17, 17, 17, 17, 18, 18, 18, 19, 19, 19, 19, 19, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 21, 21, 21, 22, 22, 22. The median is the middle value, which is the 15th score: 19.

Question 3: Explain the difference between the mean and the median.

Answer: The mean is the average of all data points, calculated by adding them together and dividing by the total number. The median is the middle value when the data is ordered from lowest to highest.

Question 4: A researcher recorded the ages of participants: 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Find the mode of this data set.

Answer: Since all ages are different and appear only once, there is no mode in this data set.

Question 5: Calculate the range of the following scores: 5, 8, 12, 15, 20.

Answer: Range = highest score – lowest score = 20 – 5 = 15.

Question 6: Describe what a 'bar chart' shows in psychological research.

Answer: A bar chart displays data using rectangular bars where the length of each bar represents the frequency or amount of data in each category.

Question 7: Sketch a simple bar chart to represent the number of students who prefer different types of music: Rock (10 students), Pop (15 students), Classical (5 students).

Answer: A sketch should include three labeled bars, with heights proportional to the numbers: Rock (shortest), Classical (shorter), Pop (tallest). The x-axis labels the music types, and the y-axis shows the number of students.

Question 8: What is the purpose of calculating the mode in a data set?

Answer: The mode identifies the most frequently occurring value in a data set.

Question 9: A set of data has the following scores: 7, 9, 10, 10, 10, 12, 14. Calculate the mode.

Answer: The mode is 10, as it appears most frequently (3 times).

Question 10: Explain why it is useful for psychologists to use measures like the mean, median, and mode.

Answer: These measures help psychologists understand the typical or central value of data, identify common responses, and summarize large amounts of data efficiently, aiding in making conclusions about psychological phenomena.