1. Introduction to Educational Statistics
EDPSY :
Introduction to Educational Statistics

2. Syllabus Key points Introductory course Office hours
Mondays 3:30 to 5:00
Tuesdays 2:00 to 3:30
Or by appointment
Pre-requires or co-requires
Edpsy 505, or equivalent
Other sections
W 1 - 3:30
T 12:30 - 3:00
The textbook and I might differ on some things, but it should be helpful.
Practice Problems : Fluency
Distributed Practice
Fluency
Compensates for once per week contact

3. Syllabus Key points (cont.) Assessment plan
Three Exams (100 points each)
Tend to select items from end of the chapter
Multiple choice
Short answer
Calculations
One page of notes
Can redo missed items for half credit
Four Homework Assignments (75 points each)

4. Syllabus Assessment (cont.) A comment on grades No extra credit
No incompletes
Except for extreme circumstances (e.g., illness, death of family member)
A comment on grades
You earn them
Rule of thumb
Three hours of outside work for every credit hour

5. Syllabus Professionalism Behavior Pathfinder Class starts at 4:00
Honesty
Integrity
Cheating, plagiarism, etc. will not be tolerated and will result in a referral to whoever is in charge of this place.
Behavior
Class starts at 4:00
Turn off cell phones
If you must leave early let me know
Be respectful of others

6. Syllabus Work Habits Other course policies Read
Due dates are non-negotiable
Attempt practice items at end of chapters
If you struggle with the items see tutors ASAP.
Bring a calculator
Follow class examples
Passive learning does not work
Other course policies
Religious accommodations
Disabilities
Inform and provide documentation

7. Homework The assignments require hand calculations and SPSS practice
The first assignment and tutorial are available online
Typically I have you check your answers using SPSS
Do not buy SPSS
Do not leave the SPSS work for night before the due date.
You will need a TEC center account
Do that after class today

8. Who is here? In groups of three or four
Identify yourself and get to know one another
Ask the following questions
What are your professional experiences?
What is your program of study?
What topics within your program interest you?
What is your favorite recreational activity?
Be prepared to introduce one member of your group.
Exchange addresses and/or phone numbers
Contact if you miss class.
Study groups
New friends
Misery loves company ;-)

9. How to study & learn statistics:
Statistics is a Language
Read the textbook
Do the practice problems with each chapter (odd problems)
Distributed Practice
Studying once a week does not work
Use the tutors and my office hours
Don’t get behind & don’t wait to say you don’t understand
Other sections
W 1 - 3:30
T 12:30 - 3:00
The textbook and I might differ on some things, but it should be helpful.
Practice Problems : Fluency
Distributed Practice
Fluency
Compensates for once per week contact

10. Working with your feelings & attitudes
HIGH ANXIETY!
Try to put your math fears aside.
You have the basic math skills.
Some people think the whole process is hogwash (Suspend your Disbelief!)
I cannot promise excitement; this will be intellectually taxing.
Some people like my methods and some don't.

11. The Big Picture: Statistics in Context
There are many different research processes
Each has its own:
Philosophies of Inquiry
Methods of Inquiry
Purposes for doing research
Processes and “Rules”
Statistics does not fit them all.
Here is one process:

12. Notice where stats fits into this ONE process
What stats can and cannot do to address a research question.

13. Chp. 1
Key points
Statistics is a process of collecting data in a scientific manner and making decisions based on these data.
Personal experience vs. systematic empiricism
Personal experience if useful BUT
Subject to bias
Can be haphazard
Systematic empiricism
Systematic observation
Control of bias
Replicable

14. Fundamentals of Research
Answering empirical questions
Observable by the senses.
Publicly verifiable knowledge
Operational definitions
Direct replication
Identical conditions
Systematic replication
Similar conditions

15. Variables Variables Characteristics that takes on different values
Achievement
Age
Condition
Independent variable (IV)
Manipulated or Experimental
Subject
Personality
Gender
Dependent variable (DV)
The outcome of interest
Drop-out status

16. Populations vs. Samples
The complete set of individuals
Characteristics are called parameters
Sample
A subset of the population
Characteristics are called statistics.
In most cases we cannot study all the members of a population

18. Descriptive vs. Inferential
Descriptive statistics
Summarize/organize a group of numbers from a research study
Inferential statistics
Draw conclusions/make inferences that go beyond the numbers from a research study
Determine if a causal relationship exists between the IV and DV

19. Random Sampling vs. Random Assignment
Simple random sampling
Each member of the population has an equal likelihood of being selected.
Helps ensure that our sample will represent the population of interest.
Random assignment
Assigning subjects to different conditions in a way that they have equal chance of being placed in either condition.
Controls for confounding

20. Goals of Scientific Research
Exploratory
What is out there?
Descriptive
What does this group look like?
Explanatory
Why and how are these constructs related?
Evaluation
Does this program work?
Prediction
Who will become depressed?

21. Common Research Designs
Correlational
Do two qualities “go together”.
Comparing intact groups
a.k.a. causal-comparative and ex post facto designs.
Quasi-experiments
Researcher manipulates IV
True experiments
Must have random assignment.
Why?

22. Measurement Is the assignment of numerals to objects. Nominal
Examples: Gender, party affiliation, and place of birth
Ordinal
Examples: SES, Student rank, and Place in race
Interval
Examples: Test scores, personality and attitude scales.
Ratio
Examples: Weight, length, reaction time, and number of responses

23. Categorical, Continuous and Discontinuous
Categorical (nominal)
Gender, party affiliation, etc.
Discontinuous
No intermediate values
Children, deaths, accidents, etc.
Continuous
Variable may assume an value
Age, weight, blood sugar, etc.

24. Values Exhaustive Mutually Exclusive
Must be able to assign a value to all objects.
Mutually Exclusive
Each object can only be assigned one of a set of values.
A variable with only one value is not a variable.
It is a constant.

25. Chapter 2: Statistical Notation
Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs and Adverbs.
Say what?
Here’s what you need to know X
Xi = a specific observation N
# of observations ∑
Sigma
Means to sum
Work from left to right
Perform operations in parentheses first
Exponentiation and square roots
Perform summing operations
Simplify numerator and divisor
Multiplication and division
Addition and subtraction

26. Pop Quiz (non graded) What was that? In groups of three or four
Perform the indicated operations.
What was that?

27. Rounding Numbers Textbook describes a somewhat complex rounding rule.
For this class, truncate at the thousandths place.
e.g  3.456