Assignment 7: Inferential and descriptive statistics

Assignment 7: Inferential and descriptive statistics

Assignment 7: Inferential and descriptive statistics

DUE DATE: June 28, 2019 before 11:59 PM.

READING

a. To review what descriptive and inferential statistics are, why they are important to learn, and examples of how they are used:

1. Watch SomaliNew Production’s (2009) video, “Inferential & Descriptive.” 2. Watch Lynda.com’s (2010) video, “Understanding Descriptive and

Inferential Statistics.” 3. Read Laerd Statistics’ (no date) article, “Descriptive and Inferential

Statistics.” 4. Read a section of Wikipedia’s (2017) entry, “Descriptive Statistics.” 5. Read Statistics HowTo’s (2014) article, “Inferential Statistics: Definition,

Uses.”

b. To really make sure you understand the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics and what each is used for, watch StatsLectures (2010) video, “The Basics: Descriptive and Inferential Statistics.”

1. At this point, you should be clear on the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics and the common uses for both types of statistics.

2. If you’re not clear, you might want to re-read the above articles and re- watch the videos.

3. You might also want to review how to write a Five-Paragraph Examples- Style Essay, by re-watching the latter part of “The Five-Paragraph Model”

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

c. Write one five-paragraph Examples-Style essay (using examples) to support the thesis “Descriptive statistics are useful.” Remember that descriptive statistics can be graphs and figures, as well as means and modes.

1. Check your essay to make sure your Introduction Paragraph has a hook and a Thesis Statement.

2. Check your Thesis Statement to make sure that it summarizes your three examples.

3. Check your essay to make sure it has three Supporting Paragraphs. 4. Check each of your three Supporting Paragraphs to make sure each one

has a Topic Sentence, three or so Supporting Sentences, and a Conclusion Sentence.

5. Check your essay to make sure it has a Conclusion Paragraph.

Part 1: Inferential and descriptive statistics

6. Check your Conclusion Paragraph to make sure it has a sentence that restates your Thesis Statement (summarizing your three examples).

d. In the same document as your first essay, write another five-paragraph Examples-Style essay (using examples), this time to support the thesis “Inferential statistics are useful.”

1. Check your essay to make sure your Introduction Paragraph has a hook and a Thesis Statement.

2. Check your Thesis Statement to make sure that it summarizes your three examples.

3. Check your essay to make sure it has three Supporting Paragraphs. 4. Check each of your three Supporting Paragraphs to make sure each one

has a Topic Sentence, three or so Supporting Sentences, and a Conclusion Sentence.

5. Check your essay to make sure it has a Conclusion Paragraph. 6. Check your Conclusion Paragraph to make sure it has a sentence that

restates your Thesis Statement (summarizing your three examples).

7. Save the entire document as a PDF (which should contain two five- paragraph essays) and name the file YourLastname_DescriptiveInferentialEssays.pdf.

8. Upload your document to Course Materials ? Writing Assignment #7, Part 1: Descriptive and Inferential Essays

e. If you ever wonder why we repeatedly practice skills, such as writing five- paragraph essays, in different contexts throughout this course, consider the words of William James, who is widely considered the father of modern psychology!

Assignment 7: Inferential and descriptive statistics

READING

a. To become familiar with some of the ways that descriptive and inferential statistics can be used to deceive people, read Chapters 2 through 6 of (a slender!) book titled How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff.

1. NOTE: This book was published in 1954; therefore, the examples are from the 1940s and early 1950s. However, it’s still a beloved book (e.g., it’s recommended reading in a college physics class), despite its age.

2. Chapter 2 explains the deception caused by indiscriminately referring to the mean, median, and mode (i.e., three central-tendency descriptive statistics) as “the average.”

3. Chapter 3 explains the deception caused by random variation and the solutions provided by inferential statistics.

4. Chapter 4 explains the deception caused by differences that aren’t meaningful.

Part 2: How to lie with statistics

5. Chapters 5 and 6 explain deception by graphs and figures.

b. When reading these chapters, jot down your three favorite deceptions. For example, you might choose as one of your favorite deceptions the hypothetical real estate agent’s deceptive use of a neighborhood’s “average” income in Chapter 2.

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

c. Create a teaching document to teach your three favorite deceptions to other people.

1. You need to choose an audience for your teaching document. Your choices are (1) other college students; (2) middle-school students (age 12 to 14); or (3) older adults (over age 60).

2. You need to choose a medium for your teaching document. Your choices are (1) a powerpoint; (2) an infographic (what’s that?); or (3) a comic strip (e.g., The Nib’s).

3. You need to save your teaching document as a PDF, named YourLastname_StatsDeception.pdf.

d. Save your teaching document to the discussion board forum called “Assignment #7, Part 2: Deception Teaching Document.”

Assignment 7: Inferential and descriptive statistics

READING

a. To learn what effect size is and why it’s important to report effect size in scientific articles:

1. Read Sullivan and Feinn’s (2012) article, “Using Effect Size—or Why the P Value Is Not Enough.”

2. Sullivan and Feinn’s (2012) article might be harder to read than other articles you’ve read in this course. But try to understand it at least at a superficial level. Feel free to Google terms that you don’t know.

b. To learn how to guard against other trickery with descriptive and inferential statistics:

1. Read Chapman and Louis’s (2017) article, “The Seven Sins of Statistical Misinterpretation.”

2. In contrast to gaining a working, but superficial understanding of the computations and the like that Sullivan and Feinn (2012) provide in their article, make sure you understand well the seven “sins” that Chapman and Louis provide in their article.

Part 3: Other sorts of statistical trickery to watch out for

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

c. Now it’s time to apply Chapman and Louis’s (2017) “Seven Sins of Statistical Misinterpretation” to scientific articles you have read.

1. Choose three of the six articles that you found and read in Assignment #4, Part 1 and synthesized in Assignment #5.

2. Choose the three articles (of your six articles) that will be the easiest (and most logical) to evaluate according to Chapman and Louis’s (2017) “Seven Sins of Statistical Misinterpretation.”

3. Evaluate the three articles by completing this fillable PDF. ? First, download the unfilled PDF and save it on your own computer. ? Second, rename the unfilled PDF to be YourLastName_PSY430_