Assignment 1

Activity 1:

Understanding mean and standard deviation

Your book discussed these measures of central tendency and variance. In this activity, you will practice calculating each of these.

Go to this link: http://www.shortlist.com/entertainment/books/actor-heights-versus-character-heights (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..

In SPSS calculate the mean and standard deviation for the heights of the characters (this is group 1) and the heights of the actors (this is group 2) playing the characters (You should convert the heights into inches before adding them to make it easier. When a range is given, you can use the low end).

Answer the following questions (clicking submit opens a text entry box):

1. What is the mean for each group (actor vs character)?

2. What is the standard deviation for each group (actor vs character)?

3. Which group has more variance (actor vs character)?

4. Do you think it is possible for two groups to have the same mean but different variance? For two groups to have different means but the same variance? Why?