MPC-006: Statistics in Psychology — Exam Preparation
📊 Overview
Based on analysis of 14 years × 2 sessions (2011–2024) of previous question papers:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Total Papers Analyzed | 27 (2019-December missing) |
| Total Questions Extracted | ~225 |
| Unique Topics Identified | 28 |
| Most Repeated Question | Parametric vs Non-parametric statistics — assumptions, advantages, disadvantages (present in all 27 papers, 100%) |
| Very High Priority Topics | 8 |
| High Priority Topics | 14 |
| Medium/Low Priority Topics | 6 |
🎯 Exam Pattern
The exam format changed from 2015. All recent papers (2015–2024) follow this structure:
| Section | Questions Given | Answer | Marks Each | Word Limit | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Section A (Long/Computation) | 4 | Any 2 | 10 marks | ~450 words or full computation | 20 |
| Section B (Medium) | 5 | Any 4 | 6 marks | ~250 words or computation | 24 |
| Section C (Short Notes) | 3 | Any 2 | 3 marks | ~100 words | 6 |
| Total | 50 |
Note (Pre-2015 Format): Papers from 2011–2014 had 10 questions, answer any 5 — each 10 marks. Calculator is permitted throughout.
Time Management
- Total time: 2 hours
- Section A: ~25 minutes per answer (2 answers = 50 min; include full computation steps)
- Section B: ~12 minutes per answer (4 answers = 48 min)
- Section C: ~6 minutes per note (2 notes = 12 min)
- Reading & selection: 10 minutes
Question Selection Strategy
- Section A is almost always one conceptual + one computation question; choose accordingly
- ANOVA computation and Chi-square computation appear virtually every paper — prepare both fully
- Parametric vs non-parametric is the safest conceptual Section A choice
- Section B fixtures: Mann-Whitney U computation + Two-way ANOVA / interactional effect
- Section C short notes rotate through: Type I/II errors, Level of significance, Degrees of freedom, Kurtosis
🔥 Most Repeated Questions (Must Prepare)
| Question Theme | Papers | Probability |
|---|---|---|
| Parametric vs Non-parametric — assumptions, advantages, disadvantages | 27/27 (100%) | 🔴 Certain |
| Compute one-way ANOVA for given data | 22/27 (81.5%) | 🔴 Extremely High |
| Compute Chi-square for given data | 22/27 (81.5%) | 🔴 Extremely High |
| Normal probability curve — properties, characteristics | 22/27 (81.5%) | 🔴 Extremely High |
| Hypothesis testing — steps, errors, null vs alternative | 20/27 (74.1%) | 🔴 Extremely High |
| Compute Mann-Whitney U test | 20/27 (74.1%) | 🔴 Extremely High |
| Compute Spearman's Rho for given data | 19/27 (70.4%) | 🔴 Very High |
| Compute regression equation | 18/27 (66.7%) | 🔴 Very High |
| Divergence from normality — skewness, kurtosis, factors | 16/27 (59.3%) | 🔴 Very High |
| Two-way ANOVA — interactional effect, merits and demerits | 14/27 (51.9%) | 🔴 Very High |
Strategy: Computation topics (ANOVA, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, Spearman's Rho, Regression) require practice of the full step-by-step procedure. Conceptual topics (Parametric/Non-parametric, Normal curve, Hypothesis testing) require structured written answers.
📈 Topic Priority Analysis
View complete statistical analysis →
🔴 Very High Priority Topics (8 topics — core of every paper)
| # | Topic | Papers | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Parametric vs Non-parametric Statistics | 27/27 (100%) | 🔴 Very High |
| 2 | One-Way ANOVA | 22/27 (81.5%) | 🔴 Very High |
| 3 | Chi-Square Test | 22/27 (81.5%) | 🔴 Very High |
| 4 | Normal Distribution & Normal Probability Curve | 22/27 (81.5%) | 🔴 Very High |
| 5 | Hypothesis Testing | 20/27 (74.1%) | 🔴 Very High |
| 6 | Mann-Whitney U Test | 20/27 (74.1%) | 🔴 Very High |
| 7 | Spearman's Rank Correlation | 19/27 (70.4%) | 🔴 Very High |
| 8 | Regression Analysis | 18/27 (66.7%) | 🔴 Very High |
View all high priority topics →
🟠 High Priority Topics (14 topics)
| # | Topic | Papers | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Divergence from Normality | 16/27 (59.3%) | 🟠 High |
| 10 | Two-Way ANOVA | 14/27 (51.9%) | 🟠 High |
| 11 | Type I & Type II Errors | 13/27 (48.1%) | 🟠 High |
| 12 | Kendall's Tau Correlation | 12/27 (44.4%) | 🟠 High |
| 13 | Levels of Measurement | 12/27 (44.4%) | 🟠 High |
| 14 | Pearson's Product Moment Correlation | 12/27 (44.4%) | 🟠 High |
| 15 | Standard Error | 12/27 (44.4%) | 🟠 High |
| 16 | Descriptive Statistics: Central Tendency & Dispersion | 12/27 (44.4%) | 🟠 High |
| 17 | Data Organisation & Frequency Distribution | 12/27 (44.4%) | 🟠 High |
| 18 | Point Biserial & Phi Coefficient | 11/27 (40.7%) | 🟠 High |
| 19 | Partial & Part Correlation | 11/27 (40.7%) | 🟠 High |
| 20 | t-Test | 10/27 (37.0%) | 🟠 High |
| 21 | Biserial & Tetrachoric Correlation | 9/27 (33.3%) | 🟠 High |
| 22 | Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA | 9/27 (33.3%) | 🟠 High |
🟡 Medium Priority Topics (6 topics)
| # | Topic | Papers | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | Wilcoxon Matched Pair Signed Rank Test | 8/27 (29.6%) | 🟡 Medium |
| 24 | Multiple Regression & Multiple Correlation | 8/27 (29.6%) | 🟡 Medium |
| 25 | Level of Significance | 9/27 (33.3%) | 🟡 Medium |
| 26 | Linear & Non-linear Relationship | 7/27 (25.9%) | 🟡 Medium |
| 27 | Point & Interval Estimation | 7/27 (25.9%) | 🟡 Medium |
| 28 | Skewness & Kurtosis | 7/27 (25.9%) | 🟡 Medium |
📚 Study Resources
- Complete Course Content — MPC-006
- Block 1: Parametric & Non-parametric Statistics (foundations, descriptive, hypothesis testing, Type I/II errors, significance)
- Block 2: Correlation & Regression (Pearson, special correlations, partial/multiple, regression)
- Block 3: Normal Distribution (NPC, standard error, t-test, one-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA)
- Block 4: Non-parametric Statistics (rationale, Mann-Whitney U, Wilcoxon, Kruskal-Wallis, Chi-square, Kendall's Tau)
Note: Calculator is permitted in the exam. Practice computation with the calculator but always write every step clearly for full marks.
✅ Track Your Progress
- Review topic analysis and section-wise patterns
- Complete all Very High Priority topics (0/8)
- Parametric vs Non-parametric Statistics
- One-Way ANOVA (computation)
- Chi-Square Test (computation)
- Normal Distribution & NPC
- Hypothesis Testing
- Mann-Whitney U Test (computation)
- Spearman's Rank Correlation (computation)
- Regression Analysis (computation)
- Complete all High Priority topics (0/14)
- Complete all Medium Priority topics (0/6)
- Practice full computation papers (Section A + B together)
- Practice short notes (Section C)
Progress: 0% complete