Learning to Use Statistical Tests in Psychology: (Open Guides to Psychology)

The second edition of this text is an introduction to the use of statistical tests in psychology experiments: statistics without panic. Presented in a new textbook format, its key objective is to enable students to select appropriate statistical tests to evaluate the significance of data obtained from psychological experiments. Improvements ion the organization of chapters emphasize even more clearly the principle of introducing complex experimental designs on a "need to know" basis, leaving more space for an extended interpretation of analysis of variance. In an important development for the second edition, students are introduced to modern statistical packages as a useful tool for calculations, the emphasis being on understanding and interpretation. The book shows psychology students: how to psychologists plan experiments and statistical tests; why they must plan them within certain constraints; how they can analyze and make sense of their results. The approach is that: theory is always presented together with practical example; theoretical points are summarize and understanding of them tested; statistical principles are introduced as part and parcel of the principles of experimental design. This fully revised and updated second edition provides a training in statistical methods which is accessible to psychology students at an introductory level. The easy-to-use charts for selecting statistical tests and the step-by-step approach have been retained. As before, the book starts with experimental designs and introduces statistical concepts as they are needed to interpret experimental data. It is this feature os explaining the rationale for statistics in context that has resulted in such a highly favourable reception by psychology students themselves, as well as their teachers.

Table of Contents:
AcknowledgementsPrefacePreface to Second EditionStudy guide for studentsPrologue/f002Part one: IntroductionIntroduction to experimental researchIntroduction to experimental designIntroduction to statistical analysisSelecting a statistical test/f002Part two: Non-parametric testsGeneral method for non-parametric testsNon-parametric tests (two-conditions)Non-parametric tests (three or more conditions)CorrelationsThe Chi Square/f002Part three: Parametric testsRequirements for parametric testsGeneral method for parametric testsThe t testOne-way ANOVAMultivariable experimental designsTwo-way ANOVAEpilogueAnswers to questionsRecommended readingReferencesAppendix 1: computerized statistical packagesAppendix 2: statistical tables A-JIndex.

About the Author :
Judith Greene was educated at Oxford and University College London. After ten years lecturing in psychology at Birkbeck College, she has been Professor of Psychology at the Open University since 1976. Manuela d'Oliveira did her first degree in Experimental Psychology at Birkbeck College, London and her PhD at The Open University where she worked from 1976 to 1985 in the Faculty of Social Sciences. In 1986 she took up her present post as Science and Education Officer for The British Council in Portugal.