This book takes the reader through the entire research process: choosing a question, designing a study, collecting the data, using univariate, bivariate and multivariable analysis, and publishing the results. It does so by using plain language rather than complex derivations and mathematical formulae. It focuses on the nuts and bolts of performing research by asking and answering the most basic questions about doing research studies. Making good use of numerous tables, graphs and tips, this book helps to demystify the process. A generous number of up-to-date examples from the clinical literature give an illustrated and practical account of how to use multivariable analysis.
Quantitative and Statistical Research Methods This user-friendly textbook teaches students to understand and apply procedural steps in completing quantitative studies. It explains statistics while progressing through the steps of the hypothesis-testing process from hypothesis to results. The research problems used in the book reflect statistical applications related to interesting and important topics. In addition, the book provides a Research Analysis and Interpretation Guide to help students analyze research articles. Designed as a hands-on resource, each chapter covers a single research problem and offers directions for implementing the research method from start to finish. Readers will learn how to: Pinpoint research questions and hypotheses Identify, classify, and operationally define the study variables Choose appropriate research designs Conduct power analysis Select an appropriate statistic for the problem Use a data set Conduct data screening and analyses using SPSS Interpret the statistics Write the results related to the problem Quantitative and Statistical Research Methods allows students to immediately, independently, and successfully apply quantitative methods to their own research projects.
This open access textbook provides the background needed to correctly use, interpret and understand statistics and statistical data in diverse settings. Part I makes key concepts in statistics readily clear. Parts I and II give an overview of the most common tests (t-test, ANOVA, correlations) and work out their statistical principles. Part III provides insight into meta-statistics (statistics of statistics) and demonstrates why experiments often do not replicate. Finally, the textbook shows how complex statistics can be avoided by using clever experimental design. Both non-scientists and students in Biology, Biomedicine and Engineering will benefit from the book by learning the statistical basis of scientific claims and by discovering ways to evaluate the quality of scientific reports in academic journals and news outlets.
The Wiley Classics Library consists of selected books that have become recognized classics in their respective fields. With these new unabridged and inexpensive editions, Wiley hopes to extend the life of these important works by making them available to future generations of mathematicians and scientists. This title addresses those basic aspects of research design which are common to many related fields in the social sciences, health sciences, education, and market research. The work presents a unified approach to a common core of problems of statistical design that exists in all these fields, along with basic similarities in practical solutions. Describing many examples and analogies that are 'portable' from application field to application field, Statistical Design for Research deals with designs that are the primary basis of research studies, but are neglected in most statistical textbooks that tend to concentrate on statistical analysis. This text takes a broader, more general and philosophical view of the statistics for the more fundamental aspects of design than do the standard treatments of experimental design. Extensively illustrated and carefully organized into seven chapters and 44 sections, this book can be readily consulted by research workers or graduate students!
This book emphasizes the statistical concepts and assumptions necessary to describe and make inferences about real data. Throughout the book the authors encourage the reader to plot and examine their data, find confidence intervals, use power analyses to determine sample size, and calculate effect sizes. The goal is to ensure the reader understands the underlying logic and assumptions of the analysis and what it tells them, the limitations of the analysis, and the possible consequences of violating assumptions. The simpler, less abstract discussion of analysis of variance is presented prior to developing the more general model. A concern for alternatives to standard analyses allows for the integration of non-parametric techniques into relevant design chapters, rather than in a single, isolated chapter. This organization allows for the comparison of the pros and cons of alternative procedures within the research context to which they apply. Basic concepts, such as sampling distributions, expected mean squares, design efficiency, and statistical models are emphasized throughout. This approach provides a stronger conceptual foundation in order to help the reader generalize the concepts to new situations they will encounter in their research and to better understand the advice of statistical consultants and the content of articles using statistical methodology. The second edition features a greater emphasis on graphics, confidence intervals, measures of effect size, power analysis, tests of contrasts, elementary probability, correlation, and regression. A Free CD that contains several real and artificial data sets used in the book in SPSS, SYSTAT, and ASCII formats, is included in the back of the book. An Instructor's Solutions Manual, containing the intermediate steps to all of the text exercises, is available free to adopters.
This book focuses on experimental research in two disciplines that have a lot of common ground in terms of theory, experimental designs used, and methods for the analysis of experimental research data: education and psychology. Although the methods covered in this book are also frequently used in many other disciplines, including sociology and medicine, the examples in this book come from contemporary research topics in education and psychology. Various statistical packages, commercial and zero-cost Open Source ones, are used. The goal of this book is neither to cover all possible statistical methods out there nor to focus on a particular statistical software package. There are many excellent statistics textbooks on the market that present both basic and advanced concepts at an introductory level and/or provide a very detailed overview of options in a particular statistical software programme. This is not yet another book in that genre. Core theme of this book is a heuristic called the question-design-analysis bridge: there is a bridge connecting research questions and hypotheses, experimental design and sampling procedures, and common statistical methods in that context. Each statistical method is discussed in a concrete context of a set of research question with directed (one-sided) or undirected (two-sided) hypotheses and an experimental setup in line with these questions and hypotheses. Therefore, the titles of the chapters in this book do not include any names of statistical methods such as ‘analysis of variance’ or ‘analysis of covariance’. In a total of seventeen chapters, this book covers a wide range of topics of research questions that call for experimental designs and statistical methods, fairly basic or more advanced.
A fresh approach to bridging research design with statistical analysis While good social science requires both research design and statistical analysis, most books treat these two areas separately. Understanding and Applying Research Design introduces an accessible approach to integrating design and statistics, focusing on the processes of posing, testing, and interpreting research questions in the social sciences. The authors analyze real-world data using SPSS software, guiding readers on the overall process of science, focusing on premises, procedures, and designs of social scientific research. Three clearly organized sections move seamlessly from theoretical topics to statistical techniques at the heart of research procedures, and finally, to practical application of research design: Premises of Research introduces the research process and the capabilities of SPSS, with coverage of ethics, Empirical Generalization, and Chi Square and Contingency Table Analysis Procedures of Research explores key quantitative methods in research design including measurement, correlation, regression, and causation Designs of Research outlines various design frameworks, with discussion of survey research, aggregate research, and experiments Throughout the book, SPSS software is used to showcase the discussed techniques, and detailed appendices provide guidance on key statistical procedures and tips for data management. Numerous exercises allow readers to test their comprehension of the presented material, and a related website features additional data sets and SPSS code. Understanding and Applying Research Design is an excellent book for social sciences and education courses on research methods at the upper-undergraduate level. The book is also an insightful reference for professionals who would like to learn how to pose, test, and interpret research questions with confidence.
Data Analysis for Research Designs covers the analytical techniques for the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression/correlation (MRC), emphasizing single-degree-of-freedom comparisons so that students focus on clear research planning. This text is designed for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of the behavioral and social sciences who have an understanding of algebra and statistics.
This innovative text offers a completely integrated approach to teaching research methods and statistics by presenting a research question accompanied by the appropriate methods and statistical procedures needed to address it. Research questions and designs become more complex as chapters progress, building on simpler questions to reinforce student learning. Using a conversational style and research examples from published works, this comprehensive book walks readers through the entire research process and includes ample pedagogical support for SPSS, Excel, and APA style.