In 2019, I coauthored a statistics textbook published by Wiley & Sons. It is an updated and significantly revised version of a longstanding and widely used resource. The text is reasonably priced, comprehensive, rigorous, and yet quite accessible and unintimidating. Additionally, it has many unique features (briefly described below) which reflect lessons learned from teaching 80+ sections of this course over the past 25 years.
Statistical Applications for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, 2nd Ed.
The text includes:
- Numerous end-of-chapter questions and exercises for student practice and assessment
- Four accumulating and strategically positioned review sections, each containing a set of research-oriented diagnostic questions designed to help students determine which statistical tools are applicable to which research scenarios
- Additional statistical information on follow-up analyses such as post-hoc tests and effect sizes
- A series of sidebar discussions and spotlights dispersed throughout the text that address, among other topics, the recent and growing controversy regarding the replication crisis in the social science
- Information regarding the use of statistical software packages; both Microsoft® Excel and SPSS®
- Renewed emphasis on the proper presentation of data and findings using the APA format
- Supplementary material for instructors consisting of a set of over 150 “Kick-Start” quizzes designed to get students quickly back up-to-speed at the start of an instructional period, and a complete set of ready-to-use PowerPoint slides for in-class use
Below are some excerpts from the textbook specifically chosen with the general reader in mind; namely, several of the sidebar discussions and spotlights noted in one of the bullet-points above. (Simply click on the essay you wish to view.)
Sidebar discussions:
- A Strategy for Studying Statistics: Distributed over Mass Practice
- Some Notes on the History of Statistics
- The Central Tendency of Likert Scales: The Great Debate
- With z Scores We Can Compare Apples and Oranges
- Playing with the Numbers: Create Our Own Sampling Distribution
- Next Steps with Correlations: Scale Development
“Is the Scientific Method Broken?” series of essays
- Is the Scientific Method Broken? The Wallpaper Effect
- Is the Scientific Method Broken? The Misrepresentation of Data/Findings
- Is the Scientific Method Broken? Demand Characteristics and Shrinking Variation
- Is the Scientific Method Broken? Uncertainty, Likelihood, and Clarity
- Is the Scientific Method Broken? The Value of Replication
- Is the Scientific Method Broken? Type I Errors and the Ioannidis Critique
- Is the Scientific Method Broken? The Questionable Use of One-Tailed t Tests
- Is the Scientific Method Broken? The Need to Take Our Own Advice
- Is the Scientific Method Broken? The Limitations of Science
Spotlights:
- Rensis Likert
- Abraham De Moivre and the History of the Normal Curve
- Thomas Bayes and Bayesianism
- William Gosset
- Sir Ronald Fisher
- John Wilder Tukey
- Karl Pearson
- Sir Francis Galton
More information about the hardcover, e-book, or o-book versions of this resource, including the ability to request an examination copy, can be found here. (Your Wiley sales rep can be found at http://bit.ly/wileyrep.)