In this new edition of Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, we connect students to statistical concepts as efficiently and memorably as possible. We’ve sharpened the focus of the book on the core concepts and introduce each topic with a vivid, real-world example. Our pedagogy first emphasizes mastering concepts, and then gives students multiple step-by-step examples of the process of each statistical method, including the mathematical calculations. The extensive Check Your Learning exercises at the end of each section of the chapter, along with the end-of-chapter exercises and the new LaunchPad Web site, give students lots of opportunities to practice. Indeed, there are close to twice as many exercises in the third edition as in the first. We’ve also clarified our approach by fine-tuning the following features throughout the book.

Each chapter opens with a Before You Go On section that highlights the concepts students need to have mastered before they move on to the next chapter.

Some of the most difficult tasks for students new to statistics are identifying the key points and connecting this new knowledge to what they have covered in previous chapters. The unique Mastering the Formula and Mastering the Concept marginal notes provide students with helpful explanations that identify each formula when it is first introduced and each important concept at its point of relevance. Figure E-1 (“Choosing the Appropriate Hypothesis Test”) in Appendix E is a terrific summary that shows students how to apply statistical techniques to their research. It’s the entire text summarized on a single page; students will learn it quickly and use it for the rest of their careers in statistics.

The text is filled with real-world examples from a wide variety of sources in the behavioral sciences. We outline statistical techniques in a step-by-step fashion, guiding students through each concept by applying the material creatively and effectively.

For instructors who integrate SPSS into their course, each chapter includes outlined instructions and screenshots of SPSS output to help students master the program using data from the text.

Many students have anxiety as they approach end-of-chapter exercises. To ease that anxiety, the How It Works section provides students with step-by-step worked-out exercises representative of those they will see at the end of the chapter. This section appears just before the end-of-chapter exercises and acts as a model for the more challenging Applying the Concepts and Putting It All Together questions.

A new Appendix Guides students through the basics of creating a clear, readable graph with Excel. Using an example from the text, students are guided through the steps of creating a graph and then changing Excel’s default choices to meet the criteria for an excellent graph.

Like a computer game that uses repetition and small changes to lift its players to higher levels of achievement, Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences has increasingly difficult challenges, beginning with confidence-building Check Your Learning sections within each chapter. Many of the more than 1000 exercises in the text are based on real data, so professors and students can choose from among the most engaging exercises. Students can develop the ability to read, understand, and report statistics used in scientific journals by selecting from four tiers of exercises:

A comprehensive Web resource for teaching and learning statistics

LaunchPad combines Worth Publishers’ award-winning media with an innovative platform for easy navigation. For students, it is the ultimate online study guide, with rich interactive tutorials, videos, an e-Book, and the LearningCurve adaptive quizzing system. For instructors, LaunchPad is a full course space where class documents can be posted, quizzes can be easily assigned and graded, and students’ progress can be assessed and recorded. Whether you are looking for the most effective study tools or a robust platform for an online course, LaunchPad is a powerful way to enhance your class.

LaunchPad to Accompany Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, Third Edition, can be previewed and purchased at launchpadworks.com.

Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, Third Edition, and LaunchPad can be ordered together (ISBN-10: 1-319-05345-9/ISBN-13: 978-1-319-05345-1).

LaunchPad for Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, Third Edition, includes all the following resources:

StatClips lecture videos, created and presented by Alan Dabney, PhD, Texas A&M University, are innovative visual tutorials that illustrate key statistical concepts. In 3 to 5 minutes, each StatClips video combines dynamic animation, data sets, and interesting scenarios to help students understand the concepts in an introductory statistics course.

In StatClips Examples, Alan Dabney walks students through step-by-step examples related to the StatClips lecture videos to reinforce the concepts through problem solving.

SnapShots videos are abbreviated, student-friendly versions of the Statistically Speaking video series, and they bring the world of statistics into the classroom. In the same vein as the successful PBS series Against All Odds: Inside Statistics, Statistically Speaking uses new and updated documentary footage and interviews that show real people using data analysis to make important decisions in their careers and in their daily lives. From business to medicine, from the environment to understanding the census, SnapShots help students see why statistics is important for their careers and how statistics can be a powerful tool for understanding their world.

Statistical Applets allow students to master statistical concepts by manipulating data. The applets can also be used to solve problems.

EESEE Case Studies, taken from the Electronic Encyclopedia of Statistical Exercises and Examples, offer students additional applied exercises and examples.

SPSS: A User-Friendly Approach by Jeffery Aspelmeier and Thomas Pierce of Radford University is an accessible introduction to using SPSS. The book uses a proven teaching method, building each section of the text around the storyline from a popular cartoon. Easing anxiety and giving students the necessary support to learn the material, SPSS: A User-Friendly Approach provides instructors and students with an informative guide to the basics of SPSS.

Worth Publishers is pleased to offer cost-saving packages of Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, Third Edition, with our most popular supplements. Below is a list of some of the most popular combinations available for order through your local bookstore.

Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, Third Edition, & LaunchPad Access Card ISBN-10: 1-319-05345-9 / ISBN-13: 978-1-319-05345-1

Essentials of Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, Third Edition, & iClicker

ISBN-10: 1-319-05346-7 / ISBN-13: 978-1-319-05346-8

We understand that one book alone cannot meet the educational needs and teaching expectations of the modern classroom. Therefore, we have engaged our colleagues to create a comprehensive supplements package that makes both teaching and learning statistics much easier.

We would like to thank the many people who have contributed directly and indirectly to the writing of this text. We want to thank our students at Seton Hall University and William Paterson University for teaching us how to teach statistics in a way that makes sense and for calling our attention to some of the more fun examples you’ll now find in these pages.

Tom: The family members who know me on a daily basis and decide to love me anyway deserve more thanks than words can convey: Donna, Rebekah, Nagesh, Debbie, Anthony, Amy, Elizabeth, Mollie, Jodah, and Benjamin. The close friends, artists, and colleagues who voiced encouragement and timely support also deserve my deep appreciation: Beth, Army, Culley, and Miran Schultz; Laura Cramer-Berness; Ariana DeSimone; J. Allen Suddeth; Nancy Vail; Gerry Esposito; and Sally Ellyson.

My students have always provided a reality check on my teaching methods with the kind of candor that only students engaged in the learning process can bring. And in recent years, our psychology department has made enormous strides by following the “always hire people who are better than you” rule. Some of those “better than you” colleagues have been a steady source of helpful conversation: Michael Gordon, Amy Learmonth, and Natalie Obrecht. Thank you. And Susan, of course, has been as fine a colleague and friend as I could ever have hoped for.

I also want to thank the people at Worth, all of them. They have a vision for quality textbook publishing that is different from that of many publishers. I know I speak for Susan as well when I say how deeply we appreciate their level of close cooperation, timely support, and determination to get every detail right. People with those values are what have made Worth’s textbooks so special.

Susan: I am grateful to my Northwestern University professors and classmates for convincing me that statistics can truly be fun. I am also eternally thankful to Beatrix Mellauner for bringing Tom Heinzen and me together as coauthors; it has been a privilege and a pleasure to collaborate with Tom for so many years.

I owe thanks, as well, to my Seton Hall colleagues and students who are the sources for an endless stream of engaging examples. Thanks, too, to Monica De Iorio, Emily Dow, Michelle Magno, and Inga Schowengerdt, graduate and research assistants extraordinaire, who chased down articles, double-checked arithmetic, and generally helped me carve out time to work on this book. Finally, Seton Hall Department of Psychology secretary, Willie Yaylaci, has contributed in so many ways through her help, support, and friendship; thank you.

Much of the writing of this book took place during my sabbatical and ensuing summers in Bosnia and Herzegovina; I thank my Bosnian friends for their warmth and hospitality every time I visit. A special thank you to the members of the Bojanic and Nolan clans—especially my parents, Diane and Jim, who have patiently endured the barrage of statistics I often inject into everyday conversation. Finally, I am most grateful to my husband, Ivan Bojanic, for the memorable adventures we’ve had (and the statistical observations that have grown out of many of them); Ivan has experienced the evolution of this book through countless road-trip conversations and late-night editorial sessions.

The contributions of the supplements authors are innumerable, and we would like to take a moment to highlight the impressive cast of instructors who have joined our team. Katherine Makarec, Robert Weathersby, and Robin Freyberg are all professionals with a deep interest in creating successful classrooms, and we appreciate the opportunity to work with people of such commitment.

Throughout the writing of the three editions of this textbook, we relied on the criticism, corrections, encouragement, and thoughtful contributions from reviewers, focus group attendees, survey respondents, and class-testers. We thank them for their expertise and for the time they set aside to help us develop this textbook. We also are grateful to the professors who have used our book and then provided specific and valuable feedback; in particular, we thank Harvey H. C. Marmurek and Patricia A. Smiley. Special thanks go to Jennifer Coleman and Byron Reischl at Western New Mexico University and to Kelly Goedert at Seton Hall University for their tireless work in developing the pedagogy with us, providing a responsible accuracy check, and contributing numerous ideas for us to consider as we continue to make this book even better. Special thanks also go to Melanie Maggard at the University of the Rockies and Sherry L. Serdikoff at James Madison University for their invaluable efforts checking the text and exercises.

Tsippa Ackerman

John Jay College

Kenneth Bonanno

Merrimack College

Danuta Bukatko

College of the Holy Cross

Heidi Burross

Pima Community College

Jennifer Coleman

Western New Mexico University

Melanie Conti

College of Saint Elizabeth

Betty Dorr

Fort Lewis College

Nancy Dorr

The College of St. Rose

Kevin Eames

Covenant College

Nancy Gee

State University of New York, Fredonia

Marilyn Gibbons

Texas State University

Elizabeth Haines

William Paterson University

Roberto Heredia

Texas A&M University

Cynthia Ingle

Bluegrass Community and Technical College

E. Jean Johnson

Governors State University

Lauriann Jones-Moore

University of South Florida

Min Ju

State University of New York, New Paltz

Karl Kelley

North Central College

Shelley Kilpatrick

Southwest Baptist University

Megan Knowles

University of Georgia

Paul Koch

Saint Ambrose University

Marika Lamoreaux

Georgia State University

Jennifer Lancaster

St. Francis College

Christine MacDonald

Indiana State University

Suzanne Mannes

Widener University

Walter Marcantoni

Bishop’s University

Kelly Marin

Manhattan College

Connie Meinholdt

Ferris State University

William Merriman

Kent State University

Chris Molnar

LaSalle University

Matthew Mulvaney

State University of New York, Brockport

Angela K. Murray

University of Kansas

Aminda O’Hare

University of Kansas

Sue Oliver

Glendale Community College of Arizona

Stephen O’Rourke

The College of New Rochelle

Debra Oswald

Marquette University

Alison Papdakis

Loyola College in Maryland

Laura Rabin

City University of New York, Brooklyn

Byron Reischl

Western New Mexico University

Michelle Samuel

Mount St. Mary’s College, Chalon

Ken Savitsky

Williams College

Heidi Shaw

Yakima Valley Community College

Ross B. Steinman

Widener University

Colleen Sullivan

Worcester University

Brian Stults

Florida State University

Melanie Tabak

William Penn University

Mark Tengler

University of Houston, Clear Lake

Patricia Tomich

Kent State University

David Wallace

Fayetteville State University

Elizabeth Weiss

The Ohio State University

Charles Woods

Austin Peay State University

Tiffany Yip

Fordham University

Verne Bacharach

Appalachian State University

Jeffrey Berman

University of Memphis

Dennis Goff

Randolph College

Linda Henkel

Fairfield University

Melanie Maggard

University of the Rockies

Kathy Oleson

Reed College

Christy Porter

College of William and Mary

Sherry L. Serdikoff

James Madison University

Alexander Wilson

University of New Brunswick

Emily Dow

Loyola University Maryland

It has truly been a pleasure for us to work with everyone at Worth Publishers. From the moment we signed there, we have been impressed with the passionate commitment of everyone we have encountered at Worth at every stage of the publishing process. Kevin Feyen, vice president, digital product development; Catherine Woods, senior vice president, editing, design and media production; and publisher Rachel Losh foster that commitment to quality in the Worth culture.

Our development editor, Michael Kimball, provides an attention to detail that helps us to achieve our vision for this book. As someone without a statistics background who nevertheless “gets” statistics, Michael helps us shape our language in ways that make it more accessible to students. Director of content management Tracey Kuehn has been enormously important in shaping this edition; we rely heavily on her expert guidance and eternally good-humored encouragement. We are grateful to executive acquisitions editor Daniel McDonough for his skill and patience in guiding the revision process for this third edition. Thanks also goes to editorial assistant Kimberly Morgan who expertly and cheerfully kept track of countless details, stacks of paper, and electronic files.

Project editor Rob Errera, managing editor Lisa Kinne, and production manager Sarah Segal managed the production of the text and worked tirelessly to bring the book to fruition. (We are also grateful to Rob for his patient guidance in keeping us on track and on time during production.) Designer Blake Logan united beauty with clarity and content in the interior design. Copyeditor Anna Paganelli and her hawk’s eye made our prose more consistent, more accurate, and easier to read. Photo editors Jennifer MacMillan and Merrideth Miller helped us to select photos that told the stories of statistics. Thanks to each of you for fulfilling Worth’s promise to create a book whose aesthetics so beautifully support the specific pedagogical demands of teaching statistics.

Media editor Anthony Casciano guided the development and creation of the supplements package, making life so much better for so many students and instructors. Marketing manager Lindsay Johnson quickly understood why we believe so deeply in this book, and each contributed unstinting effort to advocate for this third edition with our colleagues across the country. (And we credit Lindsay for finding several of the new examples in this book!)

We also want to thank the tremendously dedicated Worth team that consistently champions our book while garnering invaluable accolades and critiques from their professor contacts—information that directly leads to a better book.