Understanding Statistics And Experimental Design

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.

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.

Professionals in all areas – business; government; the physical, life, and social sciences; engineering; medicine, etc. – benefit from using statistical experimental design to better understand their worlds and then use that understanding to improve the products, processes, and programs they are responsible for. This book aims to provide the practitioners of tomorrow with a memorable, easy to read, engaging guide to statistics and experimental design. This book uses examples, drawn from a variety of established texts, and embeds them in a business or scientific context, seasoned with a dash of humor, to emphasize the issues and ideas that led to the experiment and the what-do-we-do-next? steps after the experiment. Graphical data displays are emphasized as means of discovery and communication and formulas are minimized, with a focus on interpreting the results that software produce. The role of subject-matter knowledge, and passion, is also illustrated. The examples do not require specialized knowledge, and the lessons they contain are transferrable to other contexts. Fundamentals of Statistical Experimental Design and Analysis introduces the basic elements of an experimental design, and the basic concepts underlying statistical analyses. Subsequent chapters address the following families of experimental designs: Completely Randomized designs, with single or multiple treatment factors, quantitative or qualitative Randomized Block designs Latin Square designs Split-Unit designs Repeated Measures designs Robust designs Optimal designs Written in an accessible, student-friendly style, this book is suitable for a general audience and particularly for those professionals seeking to improve and apply their understanding of experimental design.

The distinguishing feature of experimental psychology is not so much the nature of its theories as the methods used to test their validity. The first edition of Experimental Design and Statistics provided a clear and lucid introduction to these methods and the statistical techniques which support them. For this new edition the text has been revised, the coverage of two-sample tests has been extended, and new sections have been added introducing one-sample tests, linear regression and the product-moment correlation coefficient. Problems associated with the applications of experimental design and how to use observations of behaviour in research are key questions for all introductory students of psychology. This new and expanded edition provides them with an invaluable text and source.

Provides an introduction to the diverse subject area of experimental design, with many practical and applicable exercises to help the reader understand, present and analyse the data. The pragmatic approach offers technical training for use of designs and teaches statistical and non-statistical skills in design and analysis of project studies throughout science and industry. Provides an introduction to the diverse subject area of experimental design and includes practical and applicable exercises to help understand, present and analyse the data Offers technical training for use of designs and teaches statistical and non-statistical skills in design and analysis of project studies throughout science and industry Discusses one-factor designs and blocking designs, factorial experimental designs, Taguchi methods and response surface methods, among other topics

This is the first textbook for psychologists which combines the model comparison method in statistics with a hands-on guide to computer-based analysis and clear explanations of the links between models, hypotheses and experimental designs. Statistics is often seen as a set of cookbook recipes which must be learned by heart. Model comparison, by contrast, provides a mental roadmap that not only gives a deeper level of understanding, but can be used as a general procedure to tackle those problems which can be solved using orthodox statistical methods. Statistics and Experimental Design for Psychologists focusses on the role of Occam's principle, and explains significance testing as a means by which the null and experimental hypotheses are compared using the twin criteria of parsimony and accuracy. This approach is backed up with a strong visual element, including for the first time a clear illustration of what the F-ratio actually does, and why it is so ubiquitous in statistical testing. The book covers the main statistical methods up to multifactorial and repeated measures, ANOVA and the basic experimental designs associated with them. The associated online supplementary material extends this coverage to multiple regression, exploratory factor analysis, power calculations and other more advanced topics, and provides screencasts demonstrating the use of programs on a standard statistical package, SPSS. Of particular value to third year undergraduate as well as graduate students, this book will also have a broad appeal to anyone wanting a deeper understanding of the scientific method. Contents: What is Science?Comparing Different Models of a Set of DataTesting Hypotheses and Recording the Result: Types of ValidityBasic Descriptive Statistics (and How Pierre Laplace Saved the World)Bacon's Legacy: Causal Models, and How to Test ThemHow Hypothesis Testing Copes with Uncertainty: The Legacy of Karl Popper and Ronald FisherGaussian Distributions, the Building Block of Parametric StatisticsRandomized Controlled Trials, the Model T Ford of ExperimentsThe Independent Samples t-Test, the Analytical Engine of the RCTGeneralising the t-Test: One-Way ANOVAMultifactorial Designs and Their ANOVA CounterpartsRepeated Measures Designs, and Their ANOVA CounterpartsAppendices:On Finding the Right Effect SizeWhy Orthogonal Contrasts are UsefulMathematical Justification for the Occam LineGlossaryFurther ReadingReferencesIndex Readership: Students of undergraduate and graduate level psychology, and academics involved in research.

"Advanced Statistics in Research: Reading, Understanding, and Writing Up Data Analysis Results" is the simple, nontechnical introduction to the most complex multivariate statistics presented in empirical research articles. "wwwStatsInResearch.com, " is a companion website that provides free sample chapters, exercises, and PowerPoint slides for students and teachers. A free 600-item test bank is available to instructors. "Advanced Statistics in Research" does not show how to "perform" statistical procedures--it shows how to read, understand, and interpret them, as they are typically presented in journal articles and research reports. It demystifies the sophisticated statistics that stop most readers cold: multiple regression, logistic regression, discriminant analysis, ANOVA, ANCOVA, MANOVA, factor analysis, path analysis, structural equation modeling, meta-analysis--and more. "Advanced Statistics in Research" assumes that you have never had a course in statistics. It begins at the beginning, with research design, central tendency, variability, z scores, and the normal curve. You will learn (or re-learn) the big-three results that are common to most procedures: statistical significance, confidence intervals, and effect size. Step-by-step, each chapter gently builds on earlier concepts. Matrix algebra is avoided, and complex topics are explained using simple, easy-to-understand examples. "Need help writing up your results?" Advanced Statistics in Research shows how data-analysis results can be summarized in text, tables, and figures according to APA format. You will see how to present the basics (e.g., means and standard deviations) as well as the advanced (e.g., factor patterns, post-hoc tests, path models, and more). "Advanced Statistics in Research" is appropriate as a textbook for graduate students and upper-level undergraduates (see supplementary materials at StatsInResearch.com). It also serves as a handy shelf reference for investigators and all consumers of research.

This book provides the first time user of statistics with an understanding of how and why statistical experimental design and analysis can be an effective problem solving tool. It presents experimental designs which are useful for small screening and response surface experiments.