by Bruce Thompson (Author)
With humor, extraordinary clarity, and carefully paced explanations and examples, Bruce Thompson shows readers how to use the latest techniques for interpreting research outcomes as well as how to make statistical decisions that result in better research. Utilizing the general linear model to demonstrate how different statistical methods are related to each other, Thompson integrates a broad array of methods involving only a single dependent variable, ranging from classical and robust location descriptive statistics, through effect sizes, and on through ANOVA, multiple regression, loglinear analysis and logistic regression. Special features include SPSS and Excel demonstrations that offer opportunities, in the book's datasets and on Thompson's website, for further exploration of statistical dynamics.
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 457
Edition: 1
Publisher: Guilford Press
Published: 04 May 2006
ISBN 10: 1593852851
ISBN 13: 9781593852856
This is a very useful book that graduate students should read to help them understand and use their statistical tools. And not just grad students could stand to read it--some of the issues raised, such as statistical significance and size effects, plague the vast majority of social research. As editor of Social Problems, I very frequently came across sophisticated papers that simply reported the statistical significance of findings without saying a word about the magnitude of the effect purportedly being examined, or the importance or impact of the phenomenon under discussion. --James A. Holstein, Department of Social and Cultural Sciences, Marquette University
This book would be suited for professional and/or class use. The benefit for professional use is the vast number of resources and references cited throughout. This wealth of seminal works from some of the best minds in the field of statistics would provide professionals with supplemental knowledge and information on many crucial statistical issues that have recently been proposed, debated, challenged, and mandated (APA). --Victoria Rodlin, Statistical Consultant (former faculty, Department of Psychology, California State University, Fullerton)Thompson is an expert at presenting outcomes on a level that challenges students to question how and why, and sometimes forces them to abandon their math anxiety and look at numeric outcomes in new ways. For example, one student, in an 'aha moment,' exclaimed, 'I just figured out what the standard error is.' That's big! --Gail Delicio, E.T. Moore School of Education, Clemson University
I found the book very useful as an instructor, and the students really enjoyed the straightforward approach to explaining statistical methods. The accessible style made it easy for students to grasp and apply statistical concepts. --Tammy Kolbe, Department of Education Policy and Leadership, University of Maryland-College Park