Statistics : a guide for researchers and thesis writers / Alberto D. Yazon. --

Include bibliographical references.

Preface i -- Table of contents iii -- Chapter I: Essential concepts in statistics 2 -- Chapter II: Collecting quantitative data 32 -- Chapter 3: Organizing and presenting data 82 -- Chapter IV: Analyzing and interpreting data 98 -- Chapter V: Statistical tests 148 -- References 196 --

"Statistics is a part of everyday language of sociology and other social sciences. These disciplines are research based and routinely use statistics to express knowledge and to discuss theory and research. To join the conversations being conducted in these disciplines, you must be literate in the vocabulary of research, data analysis, and scientific thinking. Knowledge of statistics will enable you to understand the professional research literature, conduct quantitative research yourself, contribute to the growing body of social science knowledge, and reach your full potential as a social scientist. The main goal of this book isto develop basic statistical literacy among students. The statistically literate student understands and appreciates the role of statistics in the research process, is competent to analyze and interpret the meaning of a statistical test, can select an appropriate statistic for a given purpose and a given set of data, and can read and appreciate the professional research literature in his or her field as well as any research reports he or she may encounter in everyday life. Each example in this book is framed in the context of a research situation in educational setting. Hence, this book focuses on applicable and appropriate statistical tools for analysis of specific types of variables that students are dealing with their research. Emphasis will be made all the time in the rationale for using statistical tool in interpreting the result rather than in mechanics of computational procedures, although skill in knowing the uses of statistical knowledge and in the interpretation of the figures is highly important. The topic covered in this book are aligned with expected learning outcomes of the course. The presentation and discussion of the lessons are made simple and understandable so that the relevant consumers may have a good grasp of statistical concepts. Illustrative examples, lesson activities, and chapter tests are provided to enable students developmental acquisition of desired knowledge and skill. The use of Microsoft excel facilitates the presentation and discussion of the topics particularly in the descriptive and inferential data analysis. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) outputs are provided to augment the limited statistical prowess of Microsoft Excel. The author fervently wishes that the students, teachers, and end-users of this book will fin this Learning Guide in Statistics helpful, interesting, and meaningful."