Case Study

Explain what this summary represents in psychological research methods and describe what the counts (1010, 3030, and 4040) tell us about how the variable is spread across the sample.

Case context: A student researcher is analyzing data collected from a sample of 100100 university students. The researcher records the number of siblings for each student. To summarize the findings, the researcher reports that 1010 students have zero siblings, 3030 have one sibling, and 4040 have two siblings.

Question: Explain what this summary represents in psychological research methods and describe what the counts (1010, 3030, and 4040) tell us about how the variable is spread across the sample.

Sample answer: This summary represents the distribution of a variable. The counts of 1010, 3030, and 4040 show the frequency with which each value of the variable (zero, one, and two siblings) occurs in the sample, demonstrating how the variable's values are distributed across the 100100 students.

Key points:

  • Explain that the summary shows the distribution of a variable.
  • Describe the counts as frequencies or occurrences of each value of the variable.
  • Explain how the frequencies show the spread of values in the sample of 100100 university students.

Rubric: The response must explain that the summary illustrates the distribution of a variable and interpret the counts as frequencies showing how the sibling values are spread across the sample of 100100 students.

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Updated 2026-05-26

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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