F ratio

(symbol: F) in an analysis of variance or a multivariate analysis of variance, the amount of explained variance divided by the amount of the error variance; that is, the ratio of between-groups variance to within-group variance. Its value determines whether to accept the null hypothesis stating that there is no difference between the treatment and control conditions, with a large value indicating the presence of a significant effect. Ideally, a researcher prefers to have rather small variation within each group and maximal variation between the groups in order to demonstrate significant group differences. Also called F statistic; F value.

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

Megan’s law

an amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act requiring that state registries of convicted but released sex offenders be disseminated to the public so that communities will be notified of offenders’ presence in a particular neighborhood. More formally known as the Community Notification Act, it was initially passed in New Jersey in 1994 after a repeat sex offender murdered a 7-year-old girl named Megan Nicole Kanka; it became a federal law in 1996.