PSYC08H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Bors, The Infamous, Binomial Test
Data Analysis for the Social Sciences: Integrating Theory and Practice
Introductory Video: Douglas Bors
•Statistics are the numbers researchers use to describe their data and to test the trustworthiness of
their findings
•Numbers on their own, can be deceptive at times
•Statistics can often feel puzzling and mysterious
•This orientation provides a three-part framework to make statistics more easy to understand
First Framework
•As a researcher, you start off with one informed research question, or an educated guess about the
world’s nature
•Simplest form of research has only one question
•Your research topic’s question will take one of two forms:
•1) Difference.
•Example: Does relaxation training reduces anxiety symptoms more so than does, the most
commonly prescribed drugs?
•You suspect that one set of scores will be different from the other. Example: the relaxation
training group show less symptoms than does the drug therapy group
•2) Relation or Association.
•Example: Is there an association between the number of hours per week that a student works
off-campus, and his/her grade at the end of the term?
•You suspect that one set of scores will be related to another set of scores; or that one set
allows you to predict the other set
•Perhaps, the more number of hours a student works off-campus, the lower his/her
grade
•The type of question, difference type or relation type, will lead you towards different statistical
procedures that are more appropriate for the question’s type
•Questions of differences and questions of relation are NOT as dissimilar as they first appear!
•They are usually two sides of a single coin, with one question implying the other
•Research topic questions may include both questions of differences and questions of relations/
associations
•Example: You might wonder why some baseball players hit more home-runs than do others
•You might suspect association between height and number of home-runs
•You might suspect difference between types of bats used (aluminum versus wood)
Second Framework
•Your data will take one of two general forms:
•1) Frequency data
•Example: Do students prefer multiple-choice exams more so than essay-type exams?
•You keep track of the number of students (or, frequencies) that prefer m/c question exams,
and the number of students that prefer essay-format examinations
•2) Measurement data
•You suspect that one set of scores will be related to another set of scores; or that one set
allows you to predict the other set
•It is possible that no two students have worked the same number of hours, or have the
same grade
•The two types of data are not as different as at first they may appear
•Earlier, we said: The type of question, difference type or relation type, will lead you towards different
statistical procedures that are more appropriate for the question’s type
•The same can be said about the two types of data: frequency data are associated with one family of
statistical tests, and measurement data are associated with another family of tests
