Appendix A

introduction to statistics

If you remember one thing from reading this textbook, we hope it is this: Psychology is a scientific discipline. As a science, psychology is required to support statements and theories with observations and research findings. The vast knowledge base that defines this field is the result of rigorous and meticulous scientific research, most of which entails the careful collection of data. In Chapter 1, we presented various methods used to gather this data, but we only touched upon the statistical approaches for analyzing it. Here, we will discover how we can use data meaningfully in everyday life. Welcome to statistics, the science of collecting, organizing, analyzing, displaying, and interpreting data.

Students in psychology programs often ask why they have to learn about statistics. In order to understand and think critically about the material in psychology textbooks and journal articles, you must have a basic handle on statistics. Drawing conclusions about research findings requires that you know how to synthesize and interpret data. These skills will come in handy outside the classroom as well. Statistics are everywhere—not just in the academic materials published by psychologists. Newspapers, Web sites, and television shows report on statistical findings every day, though they sometimes make mistakes, exaggerate, or leave out important information. You can detect these types of errors if you understand statistics. It is important for everyone (not just psychology students) to be familiar with statistics.