Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics / Edition 6

by Neil J. Salkind

Overview

The bestselling Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics is now in its Third Edition! This text teaches an often intimidating and difficult subject in a way that is informative, personable, and clear. Author Neil J. Salkind takes students through various statistical procedures, beginning with correlation and graphical representation of data and ending with inferential techniques and analysis of variance. In addition, the text covers SPSS, and includes reviews of more advanced techniques, such as reliability, validity, introductory non-parametric statistics, and more. Pedagogical features include sidebars offering additional technical information about the topics presented and points that reinforce major themes in the book. Finally, this new edition includes more examples than ever before, an expanded set of exercises at the end of each chapter, and a more comprehensive glossary.

Key Features of the Third Edition
-Provides a companion Web site that helps students and professors make the most of the text
-Offers a dynamic and much expanded suite of Instructor’s Resources
-Gives updated examples from a variety of disciplines, and more of them than ever before
-Contains more Time to Practice exercises, with answers in the back of the book
-Presents additional coverage of general research methods basics
-Includes expanded coverage of power

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506333830
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	09/27/2016
Edition description:	Sixth Edition
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	171,851
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Neil J. Salkind received his Ph D in human development from the University of Maryland, and after teaching for 35 years at the University of Kansas, he was Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology and Research in Education, where he collaborated with colleagues and work with students. His early interests were in the area of children’s cognitive development, and after research in the areas of cognitive style and (what was then known as) hyperactivity, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina’s Bush Center for Child and Family Policy. His work then changed direction to focus on child and family policy, specifically the impact of alternative forms of public support on various child and family outcomes. He delivered more than 150 professional papers and presentations; written more than 100 trade and textbooks; and is the author of Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics (SAGE), Theories of Human Development (SAGE), and Exploring Research (Prentice Hall). He has edited several encyclopedias, including the Encyclopedia of Human Development, the Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics, and the Encyclopedia of Research Design. He was editor of Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography for 13 years. He lived in Lawrence, Kansas, where he liked to read, swim with the River City Sharks, work as the proprietor and sole employee of big boy press, bake brownies (see www.statisticsforpeople.com for the recipe), and poke around old Volvos and old houses.

Bruce B. Frey, Ph.D., is an award-winning researcher, teacher, and professor of educational psychology at the University of Kansas. He is the author of There’s a Stat for That!, Modern Classroom Assessment, and 100 Questions (and Answers) about Tests and Measurement for SAGE and associate editor of SAGE’s Encyclopedia of Research Design. He also wrote Statistics Hacks for O’Reilly Media. His primary research interests include classroom assessment, instrument development, and program evaluation. In his spare time, Bruce leads a secret life as Professor Bubblegum, host of Echo Valley, a podcast that celebrates bubblegum pop music of the late 1960s. The show is wildly popular with the young people.

Table of Contents

A Note to the Student: Why We Wrote This Book
Acknowledgments
And Now, About the Seventh Edition . . .
About the Authors
PART I • YIPPEE! I’M IN STATISTICS
Chapter 1 • Statistics or Sadistics? It’s Up to You
Why Statistics?
A 5-Minute History of Statistics
Statistics: What It Is (and Isn’t)
What Am I Doing in a Statistics Class?
Ten Ways to Use This Book (and Learn Statistics at the Same Time!)
About the Book’s Features
Key to Difficulty Icons
Glossary
Summary
Time to Practice
PART II • SIGMA FREUD AND DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
Chapter 2 • Computing and Understanding Averages: Means to an End
Computing the Mean
Computing the Median
Computing the Mode
When to Use What Measure of Central Tendency (and All You Need to Know About Scales of Measurement for Now)
Using SPSS to Compute Descriptive Statistics
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 3 • Understanding Variability: Vive la Différence
Why Understanding Variability Is Important
Computing the Range
Computing the Standard Deviation
Computing the Variance
Using SPSS to Compute Measures of Variability
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 4 • Creating Graphs: A Picture Really Is Worth a Thousand Words
Why Illustrate Data?
Ten Ways to a Great Figure (Eat Less and Exercise More?)
First Things First: Creating a Frequency Distribution
The Plot Thickens: Creating a Histogram
The Next Step: A Frequency Polygon
Other Cool Ways to Chart Data
Using the Computer (SPSS, That Is) to Illustrate Data
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 5 • Computing Correlation Coefficients: Ice Cream and Crime
What Are Correlations All About?
Computing a Simple Correlation Coefficient
Squaring the Correlation Coefficient: A Determined Effort
Other Cool Correlations
Parting Ways: A Bit About Partial Correlation
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 6 • An Introduction to Understanding Reliability and Validity: Just the Truth
An Introduction to Reliability and Validity
Reliability: Doing It Again Until You Get It Right
Different Types of Reliability
How Big Is Big? Finally: Interpreting Reliability Coefficients
Validity: Whoa! What Is the Truth?
A Last Friendly Word
Validity and Reliability: Really Close Cousins
Summary
Time to Practice
PART III • TAKING CHANCES FOR FUN AND PROFIT
Chapter 7 • Hypotheticals and You: Testing Your Questions
So You Want to Be a Scientist
Samples and Populations
The Null Hypothesis
The Research Hypothesis
What Makes a Good Hypothesis?
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 8 • Probability and Why It Counts: Fun With a Bell-Shaped Curve
Why Probability?
The Normal Curve (aka the Bell-Shaped Curve)
Our Favorite Standard Score: The z Score
Fat and Skinny Frequency Distributions
Summary
Time to Practice
PART IV • SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT: USING INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
Chapter 9 • Significantly Significant: What It Means for You and Me
The Concept of Significance
Significance Versus Meaningfulness
An Introduction to Inferential Statistics
An Introduction to Tests of Significance
Be Even More Confident
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 10 • The One-Sample z Test: Only the Lonely
Introduction to the One-Sample z Test
The Path to Wisdom and Knowledge
Computing the z Test Statistic
Using SPSS to Perform a z Test
Special Effects: Are Those Differences for Real?
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 11 • t(ea) for Two: Tests Between the Means of Different Groups
Introduction to the t Test for Independent Samples
The Path to Wisdom and Knowledge
Computing the t Test Statistic
The Effect Size and t(ea) for Two
Using SPSS to Perform a t Test
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 12 • t(ea) for Two (Again): Tests Between the Means of Related Groups
Introduction to the t Test for Dependent Samples
The Path to Wisdom and Knowledge
Computing the t Test Statistic
Using SPSS to Perform a Dependent t Test
The Effect Size for t(ea) for Two (Again)
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 13 • Two Groups Too Many? Try Analysis of Variance
Introduction to Analysis of Variance
The Path to Wisdom and Knowledge
Different Flavors of Analysis of Variance
Computing the F Test Statistic
Using SPSS to Compute the F Ratio
The Effect Size for One-Way ANOVA
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 14 • Two Too Many Factors: Factorial Analysis of Variance—A Brief Introduction
Introduction to Factorial Analysis of Variance
The Path to Wisdom and Knowledge
A New Flavor of ANOVA
The Main Event: Main Effects in Factorial ANOVA
Even More Interesting: Interaction Effects
Using SPSS to Compute the F Ratio
Computing the Effect Size for Factorial ANOVA
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 15 • Testing Relationships Using the Correlation Coefficient: Cousins or Just Good Friends?
Introduction to Testing the Correlation Coefficient
The Path to Wisdom and Knowledge
Computing the Test Statistic
Using SPSS to Compute a Correlation Coefficient (Again)
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 16 • Using Linear Regression: Predicting the Future
Introduction to Linear Regression
What Is Prediction All About?
The Logic of Prediction
Drawing the World’s Best Line (for Your Data)
How Good Is Your Prediction?
Using SPSS to Compute the Regression Line
The More Predictors the Better? Maybe
Summary
Time to Practice
PART V • MORE STATISTICS! MORE TOOLS! MORE FUN!
Chapter 17 • Chi-Square and Some Other Nonparametric Tests: What to Do When You’re Not Normal
Introduction to Nonparametric Statistics
Introduction to the Goodness-of-Fit (One-Sample) Chi-Square
Computing the Goodness-of-Fit Chi-Square Test Statistic
Introduction to the Test of Independence Chi-Square
Computing the Test of Independence Chi-Square Test Statistic
Using SPSS to Perform Chi-Square Tests
Other Nonparametric Tests You Should Know About
Summary
Time to Practice
Chapter 18 • Some Other (Important) Statistical Procedures You Should Know About
Multivariate Analysis of Variance
Repeated-Measures Analysis of Variance
Analysis of Covariance
Multiple Regression
Meta-Analysis
Discriminant Analysis
Factor Analysis
Path Analysis
Structural Equation Modeling
Summary
Chapter 19 • Data Mining: An Introduction to Getting the Most Out of Your BIG Data
Our Sample Data Set—Who Doesn’t Love Babies?
Counting Outcomes
Pivot Tables and Cross-Tabulation: Finding Hidden Patterns
Summary
Time to Practice
Appendix A: SPSS Statistics in Less Than 30 Minutes
Appendix B: Tables
Appendix C: Data Sets
Appendix D: Answers to Practice Questions
Appendix E: Math: Just the Basics
Appendix F: A Statistical Software Sampler
Appendix G: The 10 (or More) Best (and Most Fun) Internet Sites for Statistics Stuff
Appendix H: The 10 Commandments of Data Collection
Appendix I: The Reward: The Brownie Recipe
Glossary
Index

Editorial Reviews

"This book speaks to students!"

Lewis H. Margolis

"As awell written, well organized, and understandable introduction to statistical reasoning, use and what meaning they may have, the reader will gain a much better grasp of statistics and have better ability to consume social science research."

Ralph Underwager

"Salkind's book has been (still is) an extraordinary part of the process of Statistical learning in my courses since 2004. "

Jose R. Rivera

"Another great teaching tool from an author who understands how to teach statistics. "

Doctor - Neil Penny

"Excellent user-friendly resource. Only gets better edition after edition. "

Doctor - Roberto Torres

I am taking statistics at the graduate level for a Masters program, late in life I might add, and I hate statistics to the depth, breadth, and volume of all the oceans of all the earth combined. This text has helped me more than any other. Even more, I love brownies. And the recipe is fabulous. Thanks.

Bruce Bailey

"Another great teaching tool from an author who understands how to teach statistics."

Dr. Neil Penny

"Excellent user-friendly resource. Only gets better edition after edition."

Dr. Roberto Torres

The author has a wonderful way of taking complex material and presenting it to an already anxiety-filled audience in a manner that not only sets students’ nerves at ease but facilitates their learning to apply the material in useful ways. This text should be required reading in all beginning-level stats classes if for no other reason than to build confidence in the students.

Christopher J. Maglio

There is no extraneous information in the text. It's what students need to know, presented in a way that does not intimidate.

Adriana Buliga-Stoian

The word statistics is often seen as a nasty word to social scientists but Salkind deals with that and makes it somewhat enjoyable for the students and an absolute joy for the instructors.

Dr. David F. Nicholson

It is easy to follow and great for learning . . . My students absolutely love the book.

Soomi Lee

I truly think this is the best statistics book I have encountered."

Daniel R. Block

. . . Salkind and Frey’s Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics, Seventh Edition, takes the worrisome topic of statistics and turns it into an enjoyable enterprise.”

Amanda Graham

Of all the statistics textbooks that I have reviewed, Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics is by far the best.”

Brittany Landrum

[Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics] eases students into concepts with clear intention for each chapter and prompts them to connect everything they've learned.”

Russell Brandon

This [Seventh Edition] continues to be the best textbook for students not comfortable with statistics. While not sacrificing depth, the text makes difficult topics approachable. This texts meets my students where they are and allows them to gain the needed knowledge and appreciation of statistics.”

Christopher Ortega

In its Seventh Edition, Salkind and Frey’s book provides a scaffolding journey for anyone that has a desire to learn the principles of statistics. This book begins with a foundation of defining the rudimentary principles of measurement, explains the principles of descriptive statistics, and disentangles the challenging principles of hypothesis testing and inferential statistics. It uses a very easy reading format, and it contains clear instructions to running all statistical procedures in SPSS^®. The book has an amazing retrieval system of resources (data sets, problem exercises and more) that revitalizes teaching and learning. Therefore, I recommend this book without reservation.”

Tyrone Bynoe

Two of my favorite statistical authors being together in one book may be a dream come true. Both Salkind's and Frey's texts have been a survival manual both for me and for my students. There are very few texts that carry both the weight of statistical grandeur along with the depth of content like this new text does. This is a masterpiece of statistical reference data that meshes the best parts of both authors and fills in the gap following the passing of Salkind. I can't wait to get this new text into the hands of my students and I know that this new book is going to become a foundational pillar in all of my classes.”

Jesse Buchholz

This book has a successful conversion mission. Indeed, it succeeds in converting statistics-shy students into statistics-savvy ardent learners. The re-appearance of this mind-catching treasure is a major plus in the effective teaching and easy learning of an introductory course in descriptive and inferential statistics.”

Abdol Abdollahy Zarandi

Salkind and Frey have written an informative and comprehensive text for the introductory statistics course that is also funny and disarming. My graduate students - many of whom exhibit an initial wariness toward math courses and long-dormant math skills - have found it to be an unexpected pleasure and an accessible read.”

Diana Dansereau

Many students appear unaware that they are using statistics and research methods in their daily lives. When I mention statistics in the research methods course, some get very anxious and remind me that they are not ‘math people.’ Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics is a helpful supplemental text for a research methods course. It provides a different perspective regarding how statistics are used and helps students retrieve and build on their statistics knowledge. The text uses humor and interesting examples and helps illustrate why certain research issues are important.”

Adele Crudden

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