On the first day of lab every year I like to go around the room and have students introduce themselves, say some random fact, and tell me how they feel about the course. I teach a lab for introduction to statistics for psychology majors. There tends to be a significant amount of fear in the room. This is the psych department after all. Psychology is a "soft" science, it is all about feeling feelings and the general power of intuition, numbers just don't jive with the warm and fuzzy feeling we are trying to cultivate. Right? RIGHT?
....Well, hopefully, wrong. Psychology and other social sciences are often scoffed at by the "hard" sciences. You know, the people with lab coats, large budgets, and buildings that need to be evacuated with shocking frequency (seriously guys, enough with the chemical spills). But when it comes to the social sciences the science part comes through with an understanding of statistics, research methods, and measurement.
These three topic areas are interrelated and at the undergraduate level the typical Intro Stats for Psych Majors (or Business Majors, Sociology Majors.... Invented Majors) tends to be a giant party full of greek letters (sans kegs), validity, and some talk of randomization. These classes vary in their approach but by the look of my Facebook wall the student freak outs are a unifying feature.
So why blog about it? I am a PhD student in Psychology and I actually like statistics. I do not need everyone to like statistics but I do feel that a basic understanding of stats, measurement, and methods gives people power, no matter what their future holds.
The concepts covered in these intro courses are used everywhere. If you master a basic understanding of stats, measurement, and methods you open the door to understanding the processes underlying decision making and theory generation in a variety of fields. Medical decisions, economic policy, rocket science, it all comes back to the basics. The problem is, these concepts are often seen as something to get through, a gateway requirement, and the resources for undergraduates can be lacking.
This blog is meant to be accessible to the novice. The kid in the lecture hall wearing the questionable sweatpants wondering when math changed from seemingly sensible numbers to wonky ancient alphabets. It is meant to provide overviews of the basics in an easy to access format. I am not an expert in statistics. I do however have some experience with student stats freak outs.
I am writing this because I think when it comes to stats it is helpful to have a variety of tools available. If this blog helps you, fantastic, if you hate it, find something you don't. The topics we will cover are things I love to talk and think about. They are things that once you master I hope will help you to feel empowered.
And if you are reading this just so you can get through your intro course with the required B-, that's ok too.
....Well, hopefully, wrong. Psychology and other social sciences are often scoffed at by the "hard" sciences. You know, the people with lab coats, large budgets, and buildings that need to be evacuated with shocking frequency (seriously guys, enough with the chemical spills). But when it comes to the social sciences the science part comes through with an understanding of statistics, research methods, and measurement.
These three topic areas are interrelated and at the undergraduate level the typical Intro Stats for Psych Majors (or Business Majors, Sociology Majors.... Invented Majors) tends to be a giant party full of greek letters (sans kegs), validity, and some talk of randomization. These classes vary in their approach but by the look of my Facebook wall the student freak outs are a unifying feature.
So why blog about it? I am a PhD student in Psychology and I actually like statistics. I do not need everyone to like statistics but I do feel that a basic understanding of stats, measurement, and methods gives people power, no matter what their future holds.
The concepts covered in these intro courses are used everywhere. If you master a basic understanding of stats, measurement, and methods you open the door to understanding the processes underlying decision making and theory generation in a variety of fields. Medical decisions, economic policy, rocket science, it all comes back to the basics. The problem is, these concepts are often seen as something to get through, a gateway requirement, and the resources for undergraduates can be lacking.
This blog is meant to be accessible to the novice. The kid in the lecture hall wearing the questionable sweatpants wondering when math changed from seemingly sensible numbers to wonky ancient alphabets. It is meant to provide overviews of the basics in an easy to access format. I am not an expert in statistics. I do however have some experience with student stats freak outs.
I am writing this because I think when it comes to stats it is helpful to have a variety of tools available. If this blog helps you, fantastic, if you hate it, find something you don't. The topics we will cover are things I love to talk and think about. They are things that once you master I hope will help you to feel empowered.
And if you are reading this just so you can get through your intro course with the required B-, that's ok too.
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