ABSTRACT
This unit presents an overview of descriptive statistics, including measures of central tendency and dispersion. In addition, it describes the normal distribution and its importance to research, along with terminology and concepts related to deviations from the normal distribution, such as kurtosis and skew. Both the meaning and calculation of statistics such as the mean, median, standard deviation, variance and range are presented. Additional material emphasizes why these statistics are important and how they are most commonly presented in research publications. Visual examples of histograms and distribution curves are included to help illustrate concepts and provide references. Examples of how skew and outliers can distort the mean in real-world variables are also presented.
