Statistics II                                                                                                     La Salle University

PSY 311                                                                                                Department of Psychology

Spring, 2004                                                                                             David J. Falcone, Ph.D.

http://www.lasalle.edu/~falcone

 

We muddle through life making choices based on incomplete information … what makes statistics unique is its ability to quantify uncertainty (from Gonick & Smith's The Cartoon Guide to Statistics).

 

            Statistics (PSY310 & PSY 311) is a one-year course.  In the first semester we focused on understanding statistical concepts and procedures.  We covered data description and inferential techniques – drawing conclusions about populations from sample data.   In this second semester, we will focus more on putting these concepts and techniques to work.  We will enlist SPSS to assist us in this task.

 

Course Objectives

            As a result of successfully completing this course, you will be able to determine and execute the appropriate procedures, and interpret the results associated with:

            a. data preparation                   b. data description                    c. analysis of frequency data

            d. testing for relationships        e. testing for differences         f. analysis of non-parametric data

            g. data transformation

 

Format

            The majority of time will be used for lectures, demonstrations and labs.  This semester I will be using a guideline which designates Mondays for the review of particular statistic concepts and techniques, Wednesdays as the day to demonstrate SPSS procedures; and Fridays for lab exercises.  Most Fridays (and many Wednesdays) we will meet in Holroyd, Room 10 (exceptions will be noted in class).

            Much of this class is going to involve using SPSS on the university network.  Please, understand that we must be prepared to make adjustments in the event that the system is down or specific utilities are not operating satisfactorily.  Expect it.

            You can help yourself, your classmates and me by asking questions.  I would also like to add - the greatest deterrent to getting the most out of this course is going to be TIME.  I can guarantee that this course will only work if you keep up with the assignments. I will do whatever I can to assist in this effort.  Also, please do not fall behind in this class.  It is cumulative ... if you fall behind you will never recover.

 

Texts

            Text:    Statistics for the Psychology (3rd Ed.) by Aron & Aron

                        Study Guide and Computer Workbook (3rd Ed.) by Foster-Lifson

                        SPSS Package accompanying text

 

            The Study Guide that is required for this semester has been written specifically for the Aron & Aron text. Always bring the Study Guide to class.  We will refer to it often.

 

            The Study Guide includes Chapter Outlines and Self-Tests.  Reading through the outlines and completing the Self-Tests will be an excellent way to prepare for each week's material.

While we will not be using formulas this semester, revisit the formulas studied last semester to refresh your understanding of each statistic.  Finally, I cannot overstate the importance of completing a few problems by hand and then, also, with SPSS for each statistic covered this semester.  The comparison of your computations with associated SPSS outputs will be invaluable to your understanding. 

 

Requirements

            Students are responsible for textbook, assigned readings and lecture materials.  Your performance in this class will be evaluated by way of homework assignments, and 4 equally weighted tests.  Each of these assessments contributes equally to the final grade.  In addition to the scheduled homework assignment listed in the syllabus below, homework assignments will also include the completion of designated labs begun in class during specific weeks of the semester.  The final test is comprehensive and mandatory. 

 

Weekly Assignments

            Assignments are due at the start of each class.  Each assignment will be scored to produce a single grade that will be averaged into your final course grade.  Assignments turned in late will be penalized.  All assignments must be completed by April 23rd to be accepted for grading.

          Students often think that to demonstrate their knowledge of SPSS statistical procedures their assignments should be pages of SPSS output: graphs, table and statistics.  This is a mistaken notion.  When completing test and homework assignments, most of your work should result in a narrative text with embedded statistical information.  Pasting graphs or statistical tables into your reports may be helpful occasionally and only if they are accompanied by supporting narrative.  Pages of SPSS output are meaningless to most.  Your assignments should communicate a statistical conclusion and interpretations supported by relevant SPSS output.  All assignments must be typed using WORD.

            To avoid VIRUS contamination of lab computers and to protect your home personal computer designate a disk for this class  to be used only in the lab and only for this course.

 

Exams

            All exams will be completed in the lab and will include statistical problems solved with SPSS. Test periods will need to be arranged for times other than the regularly scheduled class time.  All cooperation on this matter is deeply appreciated.  No disks are necessary or permitted when working on exams.

            Missed exams will be handled on an individual basis.  Resulting decisions about how to recover will emphasize fairness to students.  For example, If you miss an exam because you overslept it will automatically result in a penalty because of the extra study time that you create for yourself in taking the exam at a later date.  Missing exams for legitimate reasons (e.g., illness, death in the family, etc.) must be validated appropriately (e.g., doctor's note, newspaper obituary, etc.).  I apologize for this latter requirement,  It seems insensitive.  However, I have learned over the years that it is necessary to provide a fair and caring learning environment for my students, and that matters deeply to me.

 

Absenteeism:  You are expected to be at every class.  Absences will result in a reduction of your grade commensurate with the number of classes missed.

 

Lateness:  Class role is taken at the beginning of class.  If you are not in class when role is taken you are marked absent for the day.  Arriving to class late is disruptive and to put it bluntly, insensitive and unkind to, both, teachers and other students. I addition, the first 5 minutes of class are important in understanding much that is to follow.  So, to be late hurts you as well.  Please be on time.

 

215-951-1684                  falcone@lasalle.edu                     http://www.lasalle.edu/~falcone

 

 

Dates:

Topic

Chapter

Homework # due date

39

Jan 12

Introduction: SPSS

 

 

38

14

Descriptive Statistics

1 & 2

 

37

16

Graphs

 

 

36

21

M, S2,Z,Skew, Kurtosis

 

 

35

23

 

 

1

34

26

 

 

 

33

28

 

 

2

32

30

Exam I

 

 

31

Feb 2

Correlation & Prediction

3 & 4

 

30

4

 

 

 

29

6

 

 

 

28

9

 

 

3

27

11

 

 

 

26

13

 

 

 

25

16

 

 

 

24

18

 

 

4

23

20

Exam II

 

 

22

23

t-test

9 and 10

 

21

25

 

 

 

20

27

 

 

 

19

March 8

Analysis of Variance

12

5

18

10

Post-hoc tests

 

 

17

12

 

 

 

16

15

 

 

 

15

17

 

 

 

14

19

 

 

6

13

22

Factorial ANOVA

13

 

12

24

 

 

 

11

26

 

 

 

10

29

 

 

 

9

31

 

 

7

8

Apr 2

Exam III

 

 

7

5

Chi Square

14

 

6

7

 

 

 

5

14

 

 

 

4

16

 

 

 

3

19

Probability (binomial distrib)

15

8

2

21

 

 

 

1

23

 

 

9

0

 

Final Exam

 

 

 

Homework Assignments:

 

 

Assignt #

Assignments from Workbook

Assignments from Textbook

 

This work should be done with SPSS and the result in a report like narrative which answers questions and explains outcomes with supporting SPSS generated statistics included in the narrative (e.g., means, t’s, r’s, F’s, etc)

This work should be done by hand as well as with SPSS.  The completed assignment will include both, a SPSS supported narrative and a hand calculated statistical outcome.

1

p9: Example.  p14: III A1 and A3, IV A

 

2

p26: Example.  p34: A (stress data only), IV A thru D (use therapy data from the example on page 26, and V A & B. 

p67: #12

3

p49: Example I and II.  p55:  III A, IV A thru C (use the example date from page 49, V and B.

p107: #14

4

p70: Example I and II.  p74:  III A (use on the effect of exposure on recall data). p75: IV A (use the example data from page 70), V A and B.

p153: #17

5

p145: Example.  p149: III A only.  p163:  Example.  III A only.

p337: #17, p373: #15

6

p180:  Example (with assistance from p197 I).  p198:  II A only, IV B3 (do a post-hoc analysis on the problem from IIA).

p447: #14

7

p214:  Example.  p217:  IIIA, IV B.

p503: #20

8

p231: Example.  p. 234: III A both 1 and 2.

p541: #22

9

p243:  Example. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Working together to learn SPSS is highly recommended.  Supporting each other is always a kind thing to do.  However, when you actually complete the writing of your homework you should work alone.  Your homework should not look like any others.  For some of you, the ease of passing around a WORD file will make cheating a real temptation.  I mention this because it has happened in recent semesters.  Please do your own work.  Cheating is an attack on the integrity of the entire educational process.  It will not be tolerated and will lead to serious consequences for this course.