1. Will your research require you: to read papers containing statistical methods? to collect data that are subject to chance variation? to analyse such data?

2. If the answer is Yes! then to become a competent researcher: You must understand (at least) basic statistical ideas Otherwise, somebody else will have to explain to you what your research results mean.

3. Intellectual health warning: Learning to use SPSS is not enough! Data processing is not the same as data analysis

4. www.scss.tcd.ie/postgraduate/dipstats/