Survey of Statistical Methods

1. Survey of Statistical Methods Wednesday, January 19, 2005

2. Group 1 Discussion points • Paths to Knowledge • Personal experience • Authority and/or consensus • Intuition • Common sense & tradition • Rationalism & reasoning • Scientific ‘Norms’ • Universalism • Organized skepticism • Communalism • Disinterestedness • Honesty • Empirical Methods • Empiricism • Rationality • Rationalism

3. Group 2 Discussion Points • Sources of Uncertainty: • Topical • Investigative • Methodological • Design • Internal • External • Statistical • Descriptive statistics • Inferential statistics • Interpretive • Research of any kind has three things in common that are both friend and foe: • Dealing with ignorance & uncertainty • Disputation and conflict within a framework shared by other researchers • Learning and discovery through errors • Kinds of uncertainty: • Distortion • Confusion • Inaccuracy • Incompleteness • Absence • Uncertainty • Probability • Ambiguity or vagueness

4. Group 3 Discussion Points • Two common strategies in research: • Begin with data reduction and then enhance as much as necessary • Begin with data enhancement and then reduce as much as possible. • Quantifying or even counting should not be undertaken without first considering whether these are sensible given possible arguments to the contrary. • Counting vs • Quantification • Data reduction vs • Data enhancement

5. What you must know before conducting attempting any type of statistical analysis • What is the purpose of the research? • What type of research design is being used? • What variables are measured?

6. Hypotheses, Purposes, and Questions - Variations of the same thing…. Hypothesis • Children who were shown a video with mild violence were more aggressive on the playground than those who were shown a similar video without violence. Purpose • The purpose was to explore the differences in aggressive playground behavior between children who were shown a video with mild violence vs. children who were shown a similar video without violence. Question • What effect did watching a video with mild violence have on aggressive playground behavior in children?

7. Quantitative Research in which the results are analyzed and presented as quantities or numbers. Utilizes the laws of probability. Qualitative Research in which the results are trends or themes that are described in words. Experimental Researchers give treatments and observe to see if they caused changes in behavior. Non-Experimental Researchers do not give treatments. Create “treatment groups” based on pre-existing qualities. Overview of Research Designs

8. Research Designs Qualitative Quantitative 1 2 Experimental Non-Experimental 3 4

9. Research Designs Quantitative Qualitative • Pre-Experimental • One-shot case study • One-group pre-post test • Static Group Comparison • True Experimental • Post-test only control group • Pre-post test control group • Solomon 4-group • Factorial Designs • Quasi-Experimental Designs • Interrupted Time Series • Equivalent Time Samples • Non-equivalent Control Group • Counterbalanced Design Case Study Experimental Non-Experimental

10. Research Designs Quantitative Qualitative • Pre-Experimental • True Experimental • Factorial Designs • Quasi-Experimental • Case Study Experimental -None- Non-Experimental

11. Research Designs Quantitative Qualitative • Survey • Epidemiology • Reliability/Validity • Meta-Analysis • Historical Research • Program Evaluation • Case Study • Pre-Experimental • True Experimental • Factorial Designs • Quasi-Experimental • Case Study -None- Experimental Non-Experimental

12. Research Designs Quantitative Qualitative • Phenomenological • Symbolic Interaction • Ethnography or Culture • Ethnomethodology • Case Study • Pre-Experimental • True Experimental • Factorial Designs • Quasi-Experimental • Case Study -None- Experimental • Survey • Epidemiology • Reliability/Validity • Meta Analysis • Historical Research • Program Evaluation • Case Study Non-Experimental

13. Research Designs Quantitative Qualitative • Pre-Experimental • True Experimental • Factorial Designs • Quasi-Experimental • Case Study -None- Experimental • Survey • Epidemiology • Reliability/Validity • Meta Analysis • Historical Research • Program Evaluation • Case Study • Phenomenological • Symbolic Interaction • Ethnography or Culture • Ethnomethodology • Case Study Non-Experimental

14. Effects of Instructors’ Clothing on College Students’ Evaluations of Instruction Background Notes: Two female and two male graduate students alternated the way they dressed while giving the same lectures to undergraduates in 12 sections of introductory psychology. The types of clothing were “formal professional” (i.e. suit and dress shoes), “casual professional” (i.e. skirt and sweater, or slacks and dark sports shirt), and “casual” (worn jeans, T-shirt, open flannel shirt, and athletic shoes). Among other things, students rated the guest lecturers on “competence” and “interesting presentation”.

15. Ethics HSR Fallacy Resources Paradox Tradition Skill Cost How does a researcher decide what design to use? Curiosity Internal Validity Report Problem Assumptions Conclusions Literature Delimitations Data Analysis Hypotheses Limitations Data Collection External Validity Research Design Subjects Variables

16. Assignment for Friday • Complete online homework assignment (linked on the Lecture Schedule page) • Download and read the material for Friday’s lab (linked on the Lecture Schedule page) • Meet in the CHS Computer Lab @ 8am