Understanding Statistics: A Guide for I/O Psychologists and Human Resource Professionals

by Michael G. Aamodt, Michael A. Surrette, David Cohen

Written by Michael Aamodt, this primer is designed to provide I/O psychologists and human resource professionals with a brief guide to understanding the statistics they encounter in journal articles, technical reports and conference papers. Major topics covered include statistics that describe data, statistics that test differences between groups, understanding correlation and regression, meta-analysis, factor analysis, and conducting simple analyses with Microsoft Excel.

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 19, 2006

About the author

Mike Aamodt is a professor in the Psychology Department at Radford University, where he conducts research and teaches courses in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. He also is an experienced consultant, adding to the text's unique and applied approach. He received his B.A. in psychology from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California and both his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas. As a teacher, Mike teaches courses in employee selection, employee training and development, job analysis and evaluation, organizational politics, organizational influence, forensic psychology, program evaluation, and psychology of the criminal mind. As a consultant, Mike has helped a wide variety of organizations deal with issues such as employee selection, performance evaluation, downsizing, organizational change, compensation, salary equity, affirmative action, and employee motivation. As a trainer, Mike is a frequently requested speaker and is known for his fast-paced, humorous presentations. Mike has published over 50 articles in professional journals and presented more than 90 papers at professional conferences. He is the author of INDUSTRIAL/ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY: AN APPLIED APPROACH, now in its sixth edition, as well as the author of RESEARCH IN LAW ENFORCEMENT SELECTION, LAW ENFORCEMENT SELECTION: RESEARCH SUMMARIES, I/O PSYCHOLOGY IN ACTION, and is the coauthor of HUMAN RELATIONS IN BUSINESS AND STATISTICS FOR HUMAN RESOURCE PROFESSIONALS. Mike is the editor of APPLIED HRM RESEARCH, the technical affairs editor for the ASSESSMENT COUNCIL NEWS, and an associate editor for the JOURNAL OF POLICE AND CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY, and the JOURNAL OF BUSINESS AND PSYCHOLOGY. In his spare time, Mike likes to make lame attempts at being athletic, cook what at times turn out to be edible meals, travel, and SCUBA dive. He lives in Pulaski, Virginia with his wife Bobbie, three neurotic dogs (Gretchen, Ally, and Sydney), and a three-legged cat named Ilean.