ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces you to the kinds of procedures that are used to describe and to summarise quantities of data. Some of these might be familiar from schooldays. When the authors measure any variables, psychological or physical, they need to consider the level at which the measurement is made. This is usually a tricky area to grasp, let’s introduce the levels through an imaginary but simple classroom scenario. Suppose it’s a snowy day and only eight people have turned up for your psychology class. Your tutor decides to abandon plans for a 20-participant experiment and decides on a quick demonstration of levels of measurement instead. She instructs you to divide into two equal groups, one ‘short people’ and the other ‘tall people’.
