ABSTRACT
This chapter helps reader to do the following: distinguish continuous and discontinuous data; describe the four measurement scales; describe the normal distribution curve; describe the measures of central tendency; describe the measures of variability; calculate Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient; and calculate a simple regression equation. Four accepted measurement scales are nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. A measure of central tendency provides useful but limited information about a particular distribution. In addition to a measure of central tendency, it would be helpful to have a measure that describes the spread or dispersion of the scores with respect to the central tendency. Three statistics that are used to indicate the spread or dispersion of scores in a distribution are range, average deviation and standard deviation. These statistics are known as measures of variability. The reliability of a test or measure is determined by correlation. The most common method of calculating the coefficient of correlation is the Pearson Product Moment method.
