Easy Statistics in Psychology

Designed for those approaching this subject for the first time, Easy Statistics in Psychology is a short, readable guide to the ideas behind statistical formulae and the benefits that a rigorous statistical approach brings to psychological research. Packed with useful analogies, it helps students get beyond the numbers.

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• Focuses on the ideas and practicalities of statistics in psychology, rather than an array of complex numbers and formulas
  
• Covers the key tests and concepts relevant to the undergraduate student
  
• Includes a helpful section on the uses and abuses of statistics, outlining when the specific tests can be used and when they should not
  
• Written by the author of Your Undergraduate Psychology Project: A BPS Guide (Blackwell, 2004)

Preface ix

Acknowledgement xi

1 An Introduction to Measuring Things 1

2 Variance and More 11

3 Probability, Power and Error 23

4 First Steps in Inferential Testing 43

5 Analysis of Variance 51

6 Correlation and Regression 71

7 Factor Analysis 75

8 Goodness of Fit and Chi-Squared 101

9 Non-parametric Tests 111

10 Rarely Used Tests in the Seedy Underbelly of Statistics 115

References 125

Further Reading 127

Index 129

"The book achieves a great deal in a short space, and I am sure many readers will find it extremely useful.... This is an unusual and generally well-written book that will be valuable for those who want their statistical understanding to come from words rather than numbers or mathematics." (Psychology Learning and Teaching, Autumn 2008) Mark Forshaw is Principal Lecturer in Psychology at Staffordshire University. He is a Chartered Health Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He is the author of Your Undergraduate Psychology Project: A BPS Guide (BPS Blackwell, 2004). Written for those experiencing this subject for the first time, Easy Statistics in Psychology: A BPS Guide is compact, accessible, highly readable, new text on psychological statistics. Using simple language, avoiding complexities commonly associated with the topic, this book is written in a friendly, approachable style that is supportive off the needs of the reader. Packed with helpful analogies that will help the first-time students of psychological statistics to understand the thoughts behind the formulae, this text focuses on the ideas and practicalities of statistics in psychology, as opposed to the numbers and formulae only. "This text speaks statistics in a psychologist's language. It avoids mathematical rigour and equations and eases the reader into the unfamiliar territory of statistical methodology with the more familiar map of a relaxed conversational style. This approach should be particularly appealing for people from a non-numerate background who are interested in exploring the potential of what statistics can do to help them understand their data."
–Peter Watson, University of Cambridge

"Many psychology students are scared of statistics. In Easy Statistics in Psychology Mark Forshaw attempts to demystify the most common and useful statistics in psychology and make them accessible and perhaps even cuddly. Mark has taught statistics to many undergraduates and it shows, particularly in his use of helpful analogies and his insight into the common, but rarely discussed, errors students make in data entry and in interpretation of the complex output from statistical packages. This book nicely complements other more advanced or technical texts. Most psychology undergraduates will find it helpful; for some it may be a God send."
–Derek Johnston, Professor in Psychology, University of Aberdeen