Simple Statistics

1. INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL THINKING ; Some Definitions and Basic Ideas ; Math Phobia, Panic, and Terror in Social Statistics ; The Practical Value of Social Statistics and Statistical Reasoning ; Types of Statistical Methods ; Pedagogical (Teaching) Approaches ; 2. GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT (GIGO) ; Measurement Invalidity ; Sampling Problems ; Faulty Causal Inferences ; Political Influences ; Human Fallibility ; 3. ISSUES IN DATA PREPARATION ; Why Is Data Preparation Important? ; Operationalization and Measurement ; Coding and Inputting Statistical Data ; Available Computer Software for Basic Data Analysis ; 4. DISPLAYING DATA IN TABLES AND GRAPHIC FORMS ; The Importance of Data Tables and Graphs ; Types of Tabular and Visual Presentations ; Hazards and Distortions in Visual Displays and Collapsing Categories ; 5. MODES, MEDIANS, MEANS, AND MORE ; Modes and Modal Categories ; The Median and Other Measures of Location ; The Mean and Its Meaning ; Choice of Measure of Central Tendency and Position ; 6. MEASURES OF VARIATION AND DISPERSION ; The Range of Scores ; The Variance and Standard Deviation ; Population Versus Sample Variances & Standard Deviations ; 7. THE NORMAL CURVE AND SAMPLING DISTRIBUTIONS ; The Normal Curve ; Z-Scores as Standard Scores ; Reading a Normal Curve Table ; Other Sampling Distributions ; 8. PARAMETER ESTIMATION AND CONFIDENCE INTERVALS ; Sampling Distributions and the Logic of Parameter Estimation ; Inferences from Sampling Distributions to One Real Sample ; Confidence Intervals: Large Samples ; Confidence Intervals: Small Samples ; 9. INTRODUCTION TO HYPOTHESIS TESTING ; Confidence Intervals Versus Hypothesis Testing ; Basic Terminology and Symbols ; 10. HYPOTHESIS TESTING FOR MEANS AND PROPORTIONS ; Types of Hypothesis Testing ; Issues in Testing Statistical Hypotheses ; 11. STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION IN CONTINGENCY TABLES ; The Importance of Statistical Association and Contingency Tables ; The Structure of a Contingency Table ; Developing Tables of Total, Row, and Column Percentages ; The Rules for Interpreting a Contingency Table ; Specifying Causal Relations in Contingency Tables ; Assessing the Magnitude of Bivariate Associations in Contingency Tables ; Issues in Contingency Table Analysis ; 12. THE ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (ANOVA) ; Overview of ANOVA and When It Is Used ; Partitioning Variation into Between- and Within-Group Differences ; Hypothesis Testing and Measures of Association in ANOVA ; Issues in the Analysis of Variance ; 13. CORRELATION AND REGRESSION ; The Scatterplot of Two Interval or Ratio Variables ; The Correlation Coefficient Regression Analysis ; Issues in Bivariate Regression and Correlation Analysis ; 14. INTRODUCTION TO MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS ; Why Do Multivariate Analysis? ; Types of Multivariate Analysis