Quantitative Skills for AP Biology Flashcards
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| 7914758980 | hypothesis | A plausible and testable explanation for observed phenomena. |  | 0 |
| 7914758981 | independent variable | The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied. |  | 1 |
| 7914758982 | dependent variable | The variable that responds to manipulations of the independent variable. The data. |  | 2 |
| 7914758983 | confounding variable | Any extraneous variable that affects the variables being studied so that the results do not reflect an actual relationship between the variables under investigation. |  | 3 |
| 7914758984 | quantitative data | Data based on quantities (numerical data). |  | 4 |
| 7914758985 | qualitative data | Data based on qualities (non-numerical data). |  | 5 |
| 7914758986 | continuous data | Data that can be any value on a range. |  | 6 |
| 7914758987 | discrete data | Data that is capable of assuming only particular values. Usually the result of counting or grouping. |  | 7 |
| 7914758988 | control group | The empirical group that does not receive the independent variable. Serves as a basis for comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment. |  | 8 |
| 7914758989 | experimental group | The empirical group that is exposed to the independent variable. |  | 9 |
| 7914758990 | correlational study | A research method that can determine the degree to which two variables are related, but cannot show which variable caused a change in the other variable. |  | 10 |
| 7914758991 | pseudoscience | A body of ideas clothed in the jargon and outward appearance of science but was not created with the standards required of the scientific method. |  | 11 |
| 7914758992 | extrapolation | Estimating a value outside the range of measured data. |  | 12 |
| 7914758993 | statistics | The study of the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data. |  | 13 |
| 7914758994 | population (N) | A complete set of items (people, animals, etc.) that have at least one thing in common and are the subject of the statistical analysis. |  | 14 |
| 7914758995 | sample (n) | A subset of individuals selected from the population. |  | 15 |
| 7914758996 | descriptive statistics | Statistics that quantitatively describe the main features of a data set, especially measures of central tendency and dispersion. |  | 16 |
| 7914758997 | inferential statistics | Statistics that draw conclusions from sample data. Used to test hypotheses and make estimations about the population. |  | 17 |
| 7914758998 | sampling bias | A problem that occurs when a sample is not representative of the population from which it is drawn. |  | 18 |
| 7914758999 | normal distribution | A unimodal, symmetrical, bell-shaped distribution of data. |  | 19 |
| 7914759000 | parametric data | Data that show an approximate normal distribution on a histogram. |  | 20 |
| 7914759001 | nonparametric data | Data that do not show an approximate normal distribution on a histogram. Can be qualitative data. |  | 21 |
| 7914759002 | frequency or count data | Recordings of discrete, or qualitative, data. Generated by counting. |  | 22 |
| 7914759003 | comparative statistics | Statistics that compare variables. |  | 23 |
| 7914759004 | association statistics | Statistics that look for correlations between variables. |  | 24 |
| 7914759005 | standard deviation | A measurement measures the amount of variation or dispersion from the mean. |  | 25 |
| 7914759006 | standard error | A statistic used to make an inference about how well the sample mean matches up to the true population mean. |  | 26 |
| 7914759007 | linear regression | Defines a line of best fit for correlational data that can be used as a prediction of the relationship between two variables. |  | 27 |
| 7914759008 | histogram | A graphical representation of tabulated frequencies. |  | 28 |
| 7914759009 | scatterplot | A graph of plotted points that show the relationship between two sets of data. |  | 29 |
| 7914759010 | bar graph | A graph drawn using rectangular bars to show how large each value is. |  | 30 |
| 7914759011 | box-and-whisker plots | A way of graphically depicting groups of numerical data through their quartiles. |  | 31 |
| 7914759012 | bins | Ranges of numerical values into which data are sorted in statistical analysis. |  | 32 |
| 7914759013 | mean | A measure of central tendency determined by adding all scores together and dividing by the number of scores. Often referred to as the statistical average. |  | 33 |
| 7914759014 | sampling | The selection of a subset of individuals from within a statistical population to estimate characteristics of the whole population. |  | 34 |
| 7914759015 | 68-95-99.7 Rule | In a normal distribution, about 68% of values fall within 1 standard deviation of the mean, about 95% fall within 2 standard deviations of the mean, and about 99.7% fall within 3 standard deviations of the mean. |  | 35 |
| 7914759016 | error bars | A graphical representation of the variability of data and are used on graphs to indicate the error, or uncertainty in a reported measurement. |  | 36 |
| 7914759017 | median | A measure of central tendency, represented by the score that separates the upper half of the scores in a distribution from the lower half. |  | 37 |
| 7914759018 | mode | Measure of central tendency that refers to the most frequently occurring scores. |  | 38 |
| 7914759019 | Chi-square test | A statistical hypothesis test that measures the difference between observed frequencies and expected frequencies. |  | 39 |
| 7914759020 | null hypothesis | Hypothesis that predicts NO relationship between variables. |  | 40 |
| 7914759021 | alternative hypothesis | Hypothesis that predicts a relationship DOES EXIST between variables. |  | 41 |
| 7914759022 | degrees freedom | The number of ways by which a dynamic system can move without violating any constraint imposed on it. (n-1) |  | 42 |
| 7914759023 | critical value | A cutoff value corresponding to a given significance level. |  | 43 |
| 7914759024 | p-value | A predetermined choice of test certainty. The smaller the p-value, the more confidence can be claimed. |  | 44 |
| 7914759025 | mathematical modelling | A description of a system using mathematical concepts and language. |  | 45 |
| 7914759026 | r-value | The correlation coefficient that ranges from -1.0 to +1.0. The closer it is to 0, the less two variables are related. |  | 46 |
| 7914759027 | hypothesis testing | A method of statistical inference that determines if a result is statistically significant or if it is likely to have occurred by chance alone. |  | 47 |
| 7914759028 | Occam's razor | A principle that states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions should be selected. |  | 48 |
| 7914759029 | type I error | False positive. Mistakenly reject the null hypothesis. |  | 49 |
| 7914759030 | type II error | False negative. Mistakenly reject the null hypothesis. |  | 50 |