The easiest guide to advanced and multivariate statistics.

Really.

Lost in the unknown territory of structural equation modeling, meta-analysis, and other advanced statistical procedures?

Don’t panic. You have just found the map.

Advanced Statistics in Research: Reading, Understanding, and Writing Up Data Analysis Results is the easiest guide to the nastiest statistics: multiple regression, discriminant analysis, logistic regression, MANOVA, ANOVA, ANCOVA, factor analysis, path analysis, structural equation modeling, meta-analysis, and more. It does not show how to perform statistical analyses—it shows how to read and understand the analyses that appear in the Results section of published scientific articles. It is written for those with little or no background in data analysis. Complex matrix-algebra formulas are avoided, and all concepts are explained in simple, nontechnical terms (with lots of examples). It may be used as a reference for students and researchers or as a textbook for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students.

Advanced Statistics in Research Book Overview

Advanced Statistics in Research: Reading, Understanding and Writing Up Data Analysis Results makes multivariate statistical procedures accessible to all readers—including those with little training in research or data analysis.

Introductory chapters review the basics of research design and elementary statistics. Subsequent chapters then gently build on this foundation.
Complex matrix-algebra formulas are avoided—all statistical concepts are explained in simple, nontechnical terms.
Concepts are illustrated with engaging, easy-to-understand examples.
A comprehensive but user-friendly chapter on meta-analysis finally makes this ultra-important topic accessible to readers at all levels.

Advanced Statistics in Research is the easy-to-understand guide to the most advanced statistical procedures used in research: multiple regression, discriminant analysis, logistic regression, MANOVA, ANOVA, ANCOVA, factor analysis, path analysis, structural equation modeling, meta-analysis, and more. It does not show how to perform statistical analyses. Instead, it shows how to read and understand the results from these analyses as they are typically reported in research articles.

Writing the Results Section in APA Format

Readers will also see how a wide variety of graphs, diagrams, and other figures (again, in APA format) may be used to illustrate results:

Histograms
Bar charts with error bars
Box-and-whisker charts
Scatterplots
Scree plots
Forest plots
Funnel plots
Path diagrams

Students and researchers learning APA format will see many examples of statistical procedures that have been summarized for the Results section of journal articles. All text and tables are prepared according to guidelines from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, and an appendix section reviews the basics of APA format as it applies to the Results section.

Course Resources

If you are a professor, instructor, lecturer, or any other kind of teacher, you are welcome to use this site’s materials in teaching your classes—free of charge. These materials include table of contents, sample chapters, slides and exercises for the classroom. The Instructor’s Page provides information about how teachers may obtain the 600-item test bank or the Exercise Key.

Test Bank is now available on Learning Management Systems (LMS) Formats
The 600-Item Test Bank is available on Learning Management Systems (LMS) formats (Black Board, Canvas, Moodle, Desire2Learn, Pearson eCollege, IMS QTI and Platform Neutral). To open and upload these files you need to have Respondus 4 installed in your computer. The good news is Respondus 4 offers a 30-day free trail if your institution does not offer it. Please refer to the Instructor's Page to learn how to obtain the test bank.

Free exercises

The exercises section provides free PDF downloads of over 20 exercises related to the statistical procedures covered in the book. The typical exercise describes an investigation, provides excerpts from the Results section of the resulting fictitious article, and then asks questions about those results. The exercises can be used as in-class discussion activities, homework assignments, and source material for exam questions.

Traditional practices versus best practices

Advanced Statistics in Research illustrates popular practices: the established conventions that researchers have traditionally followed when writing up their results. It also illustrates best practices: the newer conventions that are currently recommended by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, the APA's Task Force on Statistical Inference, and other authoritative sources. Readers will learn how to report significance tests and will see how researchers now supplement significance tests with confidence intervals, effect size, and replication statistics. A Reference section with over 200 entries is included for those who want to learn more.

Audience

Advanced Statistics in Research may be used as a stand-alone reference for researchers or as a textbook for graduate students or upper-level undergraduates.

Chapter 1: What this Book will Do
Chapter 2: Basic Concepts in Research and Statistics
Chapter 3: Central Tendency, Variability, and Descriptive Statistics
Chapter 4: z Scores and Area Under the Normal Curve
Chapter 5: The Big-Three Results in Research Articles
Chapter 6: Bivariate Correlation
Chapter 7: Bivariate Regression
Chapter 8: Partial Correlation and Statistical Control
Chapter 9: Multiple Regression I: Basic Concepts
Chapter 10: Multiple Regression II: Advanced Concepts
Chapter 11: Discriminant Analysis
Chapter 12: Logistic Regression
Chapter 13: MANOVA and ANOVA
Chapter 14: Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA)
Chapter 15: Exploratory Factor Analysis
Chapter 16: SEM I: Path Analysis with Manifest Variables
Chapter 17: SEM II: Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Chpater 18: SEM III: Path Analysis with Latent Factors
Chapter 19: Meta-Analysis
Chapter 20: Learning More about Statistics
Appendix A: Questionnaire on Eating and Exercising
Appendix B: Basics of APA Format
(and How this Book Sometimes Deviates)
References
Index