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Statistics for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, 4/E
Arthur Aron, Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook
Elaine N. Aron, Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook
Elliot Coups, Ph.D., Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

ISBN-10: 0131562789
ISBN-13: 9780131562783

Publisher: Prentice Hall
Copyright: 2008
Format: Paper; 504 pp
Published: 03/21/2007

Suggested retail price: $109.60
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For one-quarter/semester courses that focus on the basics or combine statistics with research methods.

 

By using definitional formulas to emphasize the concepts of statistics, rather than rote memorization, students work problems in a way that keeps them constantly aware of the underlying logic of what they are doing. 

 

Here, in the fourth edition of Statistics for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, the authors have refined their text by building off an already well-established approach - emphasizing the intuitive, deemphasizing the mathematical, and explaining everything in direct, simple language - but also going beyond these principles to both further student understanding and stimulate the long-suffering community of statistics instructors. By using definitional formulas to emphasize the concepts of statistics, rather than rote memorization, students work problems in a way that keeps them constantly aware of the underlying logic of what they are doing. 

 

Do you find it hard to keep your students motivated in such a classically difficult course to do so?

  • The text capitalizes on the students’ motivations in two major ways.
    • First, the examples, while attempting to represent the diversity of behavioral and social science research, emphasize topics or populations that students seem to find most interesting. 
    • The examples continually emphasize the usefulness of statistical methods and ideas as tools in the research process, never allowing students to feel that what they are learning is theory for the sake of theory.
    • Second, the authors have worked to make the book extremely straightforward and systematic in its explanation of basic concepts so that students can have frequent “aha!” experiences. Such experiences bolster self-confidence and motivate further learning.
  • Emphasis on statistical methods as a living, growing field of research.
    • Each chapter includes a “box” about famous statisticians or interesting side-lights. The goal is for students to see statistical methods as human efforts to make sense out of the jumble of numbers generated by a research study; to see that statistics are not “given” by nature, not infallible, not perfect descriptions of the events they try to describe, but rather constitute a language that is constantly improving through the careful thought of those who use it.

Do you find your students having difficulty understanding complex formulas?

  • Definitional formulas are brought to center stage.
    • Because they provide a concise symbolic summary of the logic of each particular procedure, all our explanations, examples, practice problems, and test bank items are based on these definitional formulas. 
    • Students work problems in a way that keeps them constantly aware of the underlying logic of what they are doing.

How do you address the varied learning styles of your students?

  • Each procedure is taught both verbally and numerically–and usually visually as well.
    • Every formula has attached to it a concise statement of the formula in words.
    • Practice problems and test bank items, in turn, require the student to calculate results, write a short explanation in layperson’s language of what they have done, and make a sketch (for example, of the distributions involved in a t test).

Do you address the role of research articles in your statistics courses?

  • Preparing students to read research articles.
    • As this text teaches a statistical method it also gives examples of how that method is reported in journal articles.
    • Practice problems and test bank items also include excerpts from journal articles for the student to explain.
  • A Web Chapter (available at http://www.prenhall.com/aron) that looks at advanced procedures without actually teaching them in detail. It explains in simple terms how to make sense out of these statistics when they are encountered in research articles.

Do your students have access to the most recent and relevant topics in statistics outside of class?

  • The most up-to-date research available.
    • While firmly emphasizing the basis, the text accounts for advances in the field as they relate today.
    • Now, basics are undergirded by a new appreciation of issues like effect size, power, the accumulation of results through meta-analysis, the critical role of models, and a whole host of new orientations arising from the central role of the computer in statistical analyses. The authors are much engaged in the latest developments in statistical theory and application, and this book reflects that engagement.
    • For example, an entire early chapter is devoted to effect size and power and then return to these topics as we teach each technique.

Do you find it useful to have up-to-date, comprehensive instructor materials? 

  • The authors have written an Instructor’s Manual that really helps teach the course.
    • The manual begins with a chapter summarizing what we have gleaned from the authors' own teaching experience and the research literature on effectiveness in college teaching.
    • The next chapter discusses alternative organizations of the course, including tables of possible schedules and a sample syllabus.
    • Then each chapter, corresponding to the text chapters, provides full lecture outlines and additional worked-out examples not found in the text (in a form suitable for copying onto student handouts).
  • A Test Bank section of the Instructor’s Manual makes preparing good exams easy. This bank supplies approximately 40 multiple-choice, 25 fill-in, and 10 to 12 problem/essay questions for each chapter.
  • The accompanying Study Guide and SPSS Workbook focuses on mastering concepts and also includes instructions and examples for working problems using statistical software.
    • For each chapter, the Study Guide and SPSS Workbook provides learning objectives, a detailed chapter outline, the chapter’s formulas (with all symbols defined), and summaries of steps of conducting each procedure covered in the chapter, plus a set of self-tests, including multiple-choice, fill-in, and problem/essay questions.
    • Also, the Study Guide and SPSS Workbook goes beyond the brief SPSS sections in each text chapter to provide the needed support for teaching students to become comfortable with this program and carrying out analyses on the computer.

New and effective pedagogy.

  • NEW! - Difficult topics are separated out into “Advanced Topics” sections.
  • NEW! - Essay outlines have been added before the Practice Problems section, including definitions of key terms in the margin.
  • NEW! - As an introduction to most chapters, engaging examples are listed that are then carried out throughout the chapter.
  • NEW! - A major new feature is a section at the end of many chapters showing how to carry out the chapter’s procedures using SPSS statistical software.
  • A new final chapter that gives students practical advice and tips on how to apply the statistical methods they learned in the course to their own research projects. This chapter covers topics such as entering the data into the computer, screening the data, selecting an appropriate statistical test, and writing up the results.
  • “How Are You Doing?” sections—Brief questions at the end of each main section of each chapter.
    • Enable students to check that they have learned a section's key points before going on to the next.
  • Verbal explanation boxes attached to each formula.
    • Allows students who are more at ease with words than numbers to grasp important concepts.
  • Examples of worked-out problems—Added to the end of each chapter before the practice problems.
    • Helps ease students' anxiety about doing the practice problems by giving them step-by-step guidance through a model problem before they attempt the practice problems on their own.
  • "Tips for Success” in margins.
    • Point out common errors and provide brief hints and encouragement on key points in the text.
  • “Stat Links” in margins—These provide Internet addresses of relevant statistics websites.
    • These serve as links to resources for students to check, and extend, their understanding of the course material.

  • NEW! - The website for the fourth edition includes two Web Chapters, one on the basics of research methods, and one that helps students to make sense of advanced statistical procedures in research articles. Previously, the second web chapter was Chapter 12 in the text.
  • Continued focus on simplifying exposition and updated content, examples, boxes, and other pedagogical features.
  • NEW! - Further pedagogical aides.
    • Difficult topics are separated out into “Advanced Topics” sections.
    • Essay outlines have been added before the Practice Problems section, including definitions of key terms in the margin.
    • As an introduction to most chapters, engaging examples are listed that are then carried out throughout the chapter.
  • NEW! - A major new feature is a section at the end of many chapters showing how to carry out the chapter’s procedures using SPSS statistical software.
  • A new final chapter that gives students practical advice and tips on how to apply the statistical methods they learned in the course to their own research projects. This chapter covers topics such as entering the data into the computer, screening the data, selecting an appropriate statistical test, and writing up the results.

Chapter 1 - Displaying the Order in a Group of Numbers Using Tables and Graphs

 

Chapter 2 - The Mean, Variance, Standard Deviation, and Z Scores

 

Chapter 3 - Correlation and Prediction

 

Chapter 4 - Some Key Ingredients for Inferential Statistics: The Normal Curve, Sample Versus Population, and Probability

 

Chapter 5 - Introduction to Hypothesis Testing

 

Chapter 6 - Hypothesis Tests with Means of Samples

 

Chapter 7 - Making Sense of Statistical Significance: Effect Size and Statistical Power

 

Chapter 8 - Introduction to the t Test: Single Sample and Dependent Means

 

Chapter 9 - The t Test for Independent Means

 

Chapter 10 - Introduction to the Analysis of Variance

 

Chapter 11- Chi-Square Tests and Strategies When Population Distributions Are Not Normal

 

Chapter 12 - Applying Statistical Methods in Your Own Research Project

For Research Methods in Anthropology


For Research Methods / Experimental Methods


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  • 0131562835Statistics for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, CourseSmart eTextbook, 4/E
    Aron, Aron & Coups
    © 2008 | Prentice Hall | Electronic Book; 504 pages | Instock
    ISBN-10: 0131562835 | ISBN-13: 9780131562837
    URL: http://www.coursesmart.com
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