Patrick Barlow and TiffanySmith

Descriptive Statistics

Parametric Statistics

Non-Parametric Statistics
Null Hypothesis
Alternative Hypothesis
Mean
Standard Deviation
Correlation
Confidence Interval
Fit the statistics to the research question, not the
other way around!
First, ask yourself, “Am I interested in….
Describing a sample or outcome?”
Looking at how groups differ?”
Looking at how outcomes are related?”
Looking at changes over time?”
Creating a new scale orinstrument?
Assessing reliability and/or validity of an instrument?
Second, “How am I measuring my outcomes?”
Descriptive Statistics
Parametric Statistics
Common tests of relationships
 Pearson r
 Linear/multiple regression
Common tests of group differences
 Independent t-test
 Between subjects analysis of variance (ANOVA)
Common tests of repeatedmeasures
 Dependent t-test
 Within subjects ANOVA
Tests of categorical data
Odds Ratio / Chi Square
Logistic Regression
Common Psychometric tests
Cronbach’s Alpha
Principal Components and Factor Analysis
Numbers used to describe the sample
They do not actually test any hypotheses (or yield any
p-values)
Types:
Measures of Center -
 Mean
 Median
 Mode
Measures of Spread -
 Quartiles
 Standard Deviation
 Range
 Variance
Frequencies
Most powerful type of statistics we use
Researchers must make sure their data meets a
number of assumptions (or parameters) before
these tests can be used properly.
Some keyassumptions
 Normality
 Independence of observations
In research, you always want to use parametric
statistics if possible.
 Pearson r correlation
Linear/Multiple Regression
What is it?
A statistical analysis that tests the relationship
between two continuous variables.
Commonly Associated Terms:
Bivariate correlation, relationship, r-value, scatterplot,
association, direction, magnitude.
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 Each has a Pearson
Correlation of r=.82, is & is
statistically
significant

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Anscombe, F.J., Graphs in Statistical Analysis, American Statistican, 27,17-21
What you read:
Study found a relationship between GPA and sense of
belonging, r=.35, p = .03.
What to interpret:
Results show r = .35, p = .03, R2=.12
How to interpret:
There is a weak, significant positive relationship
between college GPA and students’ sense of
belonging to the university. As sense of belonging
increases, GPA also increases.
What is it?
A statistical analysis that tests the relationship
between multiple predictor variables and one
continuous outcome variable.
 Predictors: Any number of continuous or
dichotomous variables, e.g. age, anxiety, SES
 Outcome: 1 Continuous variable, e.g. ER visits per
Month
Commonly Associated Terms:
Multivariate, beta weight, r2-value, model,
forward/backward regression,
sequential/hierarchical regression,
standard/simultaneous regression,
statistical/stepwise regression.
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 Independent t-test
Between Subjects Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
What is it?
Tests the difference between two groups on a single,
continuous dependent variable.
Commonly associated terms:
Two sample t-test, student’s t-test, means, group
means, standard deviations, mean differences, group
difference, confidence interval, group comparison.
What to interpret?
p-values (<.05)
Mean differences and standarddeviations
Confidence intervals
How to interpret?
There is a significant difference between the two
groups where one group has a significantly
higher/lower score on the dependent variable than the
other.
What you read:
Students who were put on academic probation (M=1.50,
SD=.40) had lower sense of belonging than students who
were not put on academic probation (M=3.50, SD=.75), p =
.02.
What to interpret:
p-value: .02
Mean sense of belonging for both groups: academic
probation = 1.50 & non-academic=3.50.
Standard deviations for both groups: on academic probation
=.40 & not on academic probation=.75.
How to interpret:
Participants on academic probation had significantly lower
sense of belonging than students who were not put on
academic probation.
What is it?
Tests the difference among more than two groups on a
single, continuous variable.
 Post-Hoc tests are required to examine where the differences
are.
Commonly associated terms:
F-test, interactions, post-hoc tests (tukey HSD,
bonferroni, scheffe, dunnett).
What to interpret?
p-values (<.05)
 Main effect: Shows overall significance
 Post-hoc tests: shows specific group differences
Mean differences, standard deviations
How to interpret?
Main Effect: There was an overall significant
difference among the groups of the independent
variable on the dependent variable.
Post-Hoc: Same interpretation as an independent t-
test
 What you
read:A researcher looks at differences in average satisfaction on
three different reading interventions (A, B, and C).
 Main effect: Overall F=20.10, p=.01
 Post-hoc: Comparison of Intervention “A”to Intervention “B” shows
average satisfaction to be 4.32 (SD=.50) and 3.56 (SD=1.2),
respectively, p=.04.
What to interpret:
Main effect: p-value=.01
Post-hoc: p-value=.04, group means show Intervention “A”has
higher satisfaction ratings than Intervention “B”.
How to interpret:
Main effect: There is a significant overall difference among the
three interventions on satisfaction.
Post-hoc: Students who received Intervention “A”have
significantly higher satisfaction than those who received
Intervention “B”
 Dependent t-test
Within Subjects Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
What is it?
Tests the differences for one group between two time-points
or matched pairs
Commonly Associated Terms:
Pre and posttest, matched pairs, paired samples, time.
What to interpret?
p-values (<.05)
Mean change between measurements (i.e. over time or
between pairs)
How to interpret:?
There is a significant difference between the pretest and
posttest where the score on the posttest was significantly
higher/lower on the dependent variable than the pretest.
What you read:
An article shows a difference in average test score
before (M=79.50, SD=8.00) and after (M=85.25,
SD=7.90) an educational intervention, p=.08.
What to interpret:
p-value=.08
Mean change=7.75 more points after the educational
intervention.
How to interpret:
Average test score did not significantly change from
before the intervention to after the intervention;
however, there may be a practically relevant difference.
What is it?
A statistical analysis that tests differences of one group
between two or more time-points or matched pairs (e.g.
pretest, posttest, & follow-up or treatment “A”patient,
treatment “B” matched patient, & placebo matched patient).
Commonly Associated Terms:
Multiple time-points/matched pairs, repeated measures, post-
hoc.
What to interpret?
Main effect: p-values
Post-hoc: p-values, mean change, direction of change.
How to interpret:
Main Effect – There was an overall significant difference
among the time points/matched pairs on the dependent
variable.
Post-Hoc: Same as a dependentt-test.
What you read:
An article shows a difference in average classroom comfort
before (M=1.5, SD=2.0), after (M=3.30, SD=.90), and six
months following a cohort-building intervention (M=4.20,
SD=3.0).
 Main effect: Overall F=3.59, p=.02.
What to interpret:
p-value=.02, statistically significant
Mean change=1.8 higher classroom comfort at post-
intervention
How to interpret:
Classroom comfort significantly increased from baseline to
six-months following a cohort-building intervention;
however, post-hoc tests will be needed to show where that
differences lies.
Mixed ANOVA: Used when comparing more than one group over
more than one time-point on a measure
Example – Males vs. female students, before and after a foreign
language course – Average score on an assessment

Factorial ANOVA: Comparing two or more separate

independent variables on one dependentvariable.
Example – Who taught the course (Ms. Lang, Mr. Beard, or Ms.
Brinkley), AND which teaching method was used (online, face to
face) – Average post-test assessment score

Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA): Examining the differences

among groups while controlling for an additional variable
Example – Online or face to face course, controlling for baseline
knowledge – Average post-test assessment score

All of these methods are used to test interaction effects

Odds Ratio / Relative Risk (Chi-square test of independence)
Logistic Regression
What is it?
A statistical analysis that tests the odds or risk of an event occurring or not
occurring based on one or more predictor variables (independent).
Commonly Associated Terms:
Unadjusted odds ratio (OR), relative risk (RR), 2x2, chi-square, absolute risk
reduction, absolute risk, relative risk reduction, odds, confidence intervals,
protective effect, likelihood, forest plot.
What to interpret?
If a 2x2 table: interpret the OR or RR and confidence intervals rather than
the p-value.
If more than a 2x2 table, then the p-value and frequencies may be more useful.
How to interpret:
Odds Ratio < 1: For every unit increase in the independent variable, theodds
of having the outcome decrease by (OR) times.
Odds Ratio > 1: For every unit increase in the independent variable, the odds
of having the outcome increase by (OR) times.
Odds Ratio = 1 or CI crosses 1.0 or p > .05: You are no more or less likely to
have the outcome as a result of the predictor variable. (this would be non-
significant)
What are the odds of leaving college if a student
has been placed on academic probation?
IV: Academic probation (Y/N)
DV: Completion (Y/N)
What you read:
The odds ratio (95% CI) for college completion and
academic probation showed OR=2.00 (95% CI=1.44 - 2.88),
p <.05.
What you interpret:
OR > 1 (2.00)
95% CI is small, and does not cross 1.0 (1.44 to 2.88)
p-value is below .05
How you interpret:
Students are two times more likely to leave college if they
were placed on academic probation.
What is it?
A statistical analysis that tests the odds or risk of an event occurring or
not occurring based on one or more predictor variables (independent)
after controlling for a number of other confounding variables.
Commonly Associated Terms:
Adjusted odds ratio (AOR), multivariate adjusted odds ratio,
likelihood, protective effect, risk, odds, 95% confidence interval,
classification table, dichotomous DV.
What to interpret?
OR (these are your measures for risk of the outcome occurring given the
predictor variable), p-value for OR, confidence intervals for OR (should
not cross over 1.0, should not be overly large e.g. 1.2 – 45.5),
classification table (if it is provided).
How to interpret:
Odds Ratio < 1: For every unit increase in the independent variable, the
odds of having the outcome decrease by (OR) times after controlling for the
other predictor variables.
Odds Ratio > 1: For every unit increase in the independent variable, the
odds of having the outcome increase by (OR) times after controlling for the
other predictor variables.
Odds Ratio = 1 or CI crosses 1.0 or p > .05: You are no more or less likely to
have the outcome as a result of the predictor variable after controlling for the
other predictor variables. (this would be non-significant)
Does age, male sex, and time spent playing video games,
increase the odds of being on academic probation?
Predictor Variables: age (scale), sex (M/F), Gaming (ordinal, 0hrs, 1-
3hrs, 4-6hrs,etc.)
DV: Probation (Y/N)
What you read:
The ORs (95% CI) for each predictor variable are:
 Age: OR=1.40 (95% CI=0.88 to 6.90),ns
 Sexmale: OR=3.00 (95% CI=2.22 to 5.20), p <.001
 Gaming: OR=6.75 (95% CI=4.69 to 8.80), p <.001
What you interpret:
The OR, CI, and p-value for eachpredictor.
How you interpret:
Both sex and time spent gaming increase the odds of being on
academic probation. Specifically, men are 3.00 times more likely to be
on academic probation than females, and for every unit increase in
gaming time, the odds of being on probation increasesby 6.75 times.
Questions?

Work together (in groups of 3-4) to create survey
research scenarios / questions that could be
addressed using the analyses you have learned about
in class.

Use your “Commonly Used Statistics” handout as a

resource!
Be prepared to share your answers 
 Cronbach’s Alpha
Principal Component Analysis / Factor Analysis
Other psychometric tests
Psychometric tests are used to examine the
characteristics and performance of a survey or
assessment instrument.
Reasons to use these tests
Reliability
Validity
Dimension reduction (constructing new instruments)
Item analysis (objective tests)
Cronbach’s alpha is one of the most common psychometric tests
used by survey researchers.
Looks at the internal consistency of the items in a certain scale or
instrument.
In other words, how responses to items in the scale relate to one
another.
What to interpret
The overall alpha value for the scale
The “alpha if item removed” table
How to interpret
For the Alpha values: > .90 is excellent, .80-.90 is good, .70-.80 is
acceptable, .60-.70 is questionable, between .50-.60 is poor,and
<.50 is unacceptable. If you see a negative value, thenrecheck
your data for coding errors.
For the “alpha if removed” table: Look at the values that the scale
would have if the item was removed. If dropping an item makes a
meaningful improvement (e.g. from .75 to .80), then consider
dropping the item and rerunning the analysis.
More items
More participants
Increase the “good” type of redundancy
Drop poor items (those that affect alpha)
Clarify item stems
Double check coding
PCA and FA are both dimension reduction
techniques that are used when either
pretesting a new instrument (exploratory) or
gathering validity evidence for an existing
instrument (confirmatory).
Both methods look at how items cluster
together as latent (not directly measured)
“factors” or “components”.
Examples: “depression”, “anxiety”, or “sense
of belonging”
Number of items
Number of subjects
Technique used
PCA
FA
Extraction methods
Orthogonal
Oblique
SO many others!
 Remember:

Just because a finding is not significant does not mean that it is not
meaningful. You should always consider the effect size and
context of the research when making a decision about whether or
not any finding is relevant in practice.