According to modern physics, many objectively improbable events actually occur, such as the spontaneous disintegration of radioactive atoms. Because of high levels of improbability, scientists are often at a loss to explain such phenomena. In this main essay of this book, Wesley Salmon offers a solution to scientific explanation based on the concept of statistical relevance (the S-R model). In this vein, the other two essays herein discuss "Statistical Relevance vs. Statistical Inference," and "Explanation and Information."

This comprehensive and accessible book provides an overview of the central and most fundamental methodological issue for empirical researchers - how should we interpret statistical significance? Beginning with a thorough introduction to null-hypothesis testing and statistical significance, the book then advances the arguments for and against the current interpretations and the use of significance testing in research. Siu L Chow presents a coherent challenge to contemporary criticisms of significance testing and offers a substantial and thought-provoking contribution to the debate on the proper role of statistical significance in empirical research.

Basic statistical concepts such as probability, estimation and inference, and their role in research design and analysis are presented in this volume. The author demonstrates which statistical test to use in given circumstances and how to use it, drawing on data from psychology and education.; Written for those without a strong mathematical background, the book's examples can be worked using a pocket calculator. "Real life" data are analyzed using statistical software (SAS), output is interpreted, and a decision chart is presented which summarizes considerations when choosing a statistical test.

A hands-on guide to using statistics in health research, from planning, through analysis, and on to reporting A Practical Approach to Using Statistics in Health Research offers an easy to use, step-by-step guide for using statistics in health research. The authors use their experience of statistics and health research to explain how statistics fit in to all stages of the research process. They explain how to determine necessary sample sizes, interpret whether there are statistically significant difference in outcomes between groups, and use measured effect sizes to decide whether any changes are large enough to be relevant to professional practice. The text walks you through how to identify the main outcome measure for your study and the factor which you think may influence that outcome and then determine what type of data will be used to record both of these. It then describes how this information is used to select the most appropriate methods to report and analyze your data. A step-by-step guide on how to use a range of common statistical procedures are then presented in separate chapters. To help you make sure that you are using statistics robustly, the authors also explore topics such as multiple testing and how to check whether measured data follows a normal distribution. Videos showing how to use computer packages to carry out all the various methods mentioned in the book are available on our companion web site. This book: • Covers statistical aspects of all the stages of health research from planning to final reporting • Explains how to report statistical planning, how analyses were performed, and the results and conclusion • Puts the spotlight on consideration of clinical significance and not just statistical significance • Explains the importance of reporting 95% confidence intervals for effect size • Includes a systematic guide for selection of statistical tests and uses example data sets and videos to help you understand exactly how to use statistics Written as an introductory guide to statistics for healthcare professionals, students and lecturers in the fields of pharmacy, nursing, medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy, A Practical Approach to Using Statistics in Health Research:From Planning to Reporting is a handy reference that focuses on the application of statistical methods within the health research context.

Understanding Statistical Analysis and Modeling is a text for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in the social, behavioral, or managerial sciences seeking to understand the logic of statistical analysis. Robert Bruhl covers all the basic methods of descriptive and inferential statistics in an accessible manner by way of asking and answering research questions. Concepts are discussed in the context of a specific research project and the book includes probability theory as the basis for understanding statistical inference. Instructions on using SPSS® are included so that readers focus on interpreting statistical analysis rather than calculations. Tables are used, rather than formulas, to describe the various calculations involved with statistical analysis and the exercises in the book are intended to encourage students to formulate and execute their own empirical investigations.

This book provides a coherent description of foundational matters concerning statistical inference and shows how statistics can help us make inductive inferences about a broader context, based only on a limited dataset such as a random sample drawn from a larger population. By relating those basics to the methodological debate about inferential errors associated with p-values and statistical significance testing, readers are provided with a clear grasp of what statistical inference presupposes, and what it can and cannot do. To facilitate intuition, the representations throughout the book are as non-technical as possible. The central inspiration behind the text comes from the scientific debate about good statistical practices and the replication crisis. Calls for statistical reform include an unprecedented methodological warning from the American Statistical Association in 2016, a special issue “Statistical Inference in the 21st Century: A World Beyond p 0.05” of iThe American StatisticianNature in 2019. The book elucidates the probabilistic foundations and the potential of sample-based inferences, including random data generation, effect size estimation, and the assessment of estimation uncertainty caused by random error. Based on a thorough understanding of those basics, it then describes the p-value concept and the null-hypothesis-significance-testing ritual, and finally points out the ensuing inferential errors. This provides readers with the competence to avoid ill-guided statistical routines and misinterpretations of statistical quantities in the future. Intended for readers with an interest in understanding the role of statistical inference, the book provides a prudent assessment of the knowledge gain that can be obtained from a particular set of data under consideration of the uncertainty caused by random error. More particularly, it offers an accessible resource for graduate students as well as statistical practitioners who have a basic knowledge of statistics. Last but not least, it is aimed at scientists with a genuine methodological interest in the above-mentioned reform debate.

Interpreting Statistics for Beginners teaches readers to correctly read and interpret results of basic statistical procedures as they are presented in scientific literature, and to understand what they can and cannot infer from such results. The first of its kind, this book explains key elements of scientific paradigms and philosophical concepts that the use of statistics is based on and introduces readers to basic statistical concepts, descriptive statistics and basic elements and procedures of inferential statistics. Explanations are accompanied with detailed examples from scientific publications to demonstrate how the procedures are used and correctly interpreted. Additionally, Interpreting Statistics for Beginners shows readers how to recognize pseudoscientific claims that use statistics or statements not based on the presented data, which is an important skill for every professional relying on statistics in their work. Written in an easy-to-read style and focusing on explaining concepts behind statistical calculations, the book is most helpful for readers with no previous training in statistics, and also those wishing to bridge the conceptual gap between doing the statistical calculations and interpreting the results.

Learning from Data focuses on how to interpret psychological data and statistical results. The authors review the basics of statistical reasoning to helpstudents better understand relevant data that affecttheir everyday lives. Numerous examples based on current research and events are featured throughout.To facilitate learning, authors Glenberg and Andrzejewski: Devote extra attention to explaining the more difficult concepts and the logic behind them Use repetition to enhance students’ memories with multiple examples, reintroductions of the major concepts, and a focus on these concepts in the problems Employ a six-step procedure for describing all statistical tests from the simplest to the most complex Provide end-of-chapter tables to summarize the hypothesis testing procedures introduced Emphasizes how to choose the best procedure in the examples, problems and endpapers Focus on power with a separate chapter and power analyses procedures in each chapter Provide detailed explanations of factorial designs, interactions, and ANOVA to help students understand the statistics used in professional journal articles. The third edition has a user-friendly approach: Designed to be used seamlessly with Excel, all of the in-text analyses are conducted in Excel, while the book’s downloadable resources contain files for conducting analyses in Excel, as well as text files that can be analyzed in SPSS, SAS, and Systat Two large, real data sets integrated throughout illustrate important concepts Many new end-of-chapter problems (definitions, computational, and reasoning) and many more on the companion CD Online Instructor’s Resources includes answers to all the exercises in the book and multiple-choice test questions with answers Boxed media reports illustrate key concepts and their relevance to realworld issues The inclusion of effect size in all discussions of power accurately reflects the contemporary issues of power, effect size, and significance. Learning From Data, Third Edition is intended as a text for undergraduate or beginning graduate statistics courses in psychology, education, and other applied social and health sciences.

Conventional statistical methods have a very serious flaw. They routinely miss differences among groups or associations among variables that are detected by more modern techniques, even under very small departures from normality. Hundreds of journal articles have described the reasons standard techniques can be unsatisfactory, but simple, intuitive explanations are generally unavailable. Situations arise where even highly nonsignificant results become significant when analyzed with more modern methods. Without assuming the reader has any prior training in statistics, Part I of this book describes basic statistical principles from a point of view that makes their shortcomings intuitive and easy to understand. The emphasis is on verbal and graphical descriptions of concepts. Part II describes modern methods that address the problems covered in Part I. Using data from actual studies, many examples are included to illustrate the practical problems with conventional procedures and how more modern methods can make a substantial difference in the conclusions reached in many areas of statistical research. The second edition of this book includes a number of advances and insights that have occurred since the first edition appeared. Included are new results relevant to medians, regression, measures of association, strategies for comparing dependent groups, methods for dealing with heteroscedasticity, and measures of effect size.