Statistics for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

by Arthur Aron, Elaine N. Aron

Because today's statistics are done by computer, not by hand, and the majority of individuals in the social sciences are human- and word- oriented, not math and number oriented, this book offers a different approach to teaching statistics. Focusing on understanding , it emphasizes the intuitive, de-emphasizes the mathematical, and explains everything in clear, simple language. The book uses definitional formulas and encourages readers put words to what they know by writing essays rather than reciting formulas. The volume offers a comprehensive overview of key statistical concepts including the mean, variance, standard deviation, and z scores, correlation and prediction, key ingredients for inferential statistics: the normal curve, probability, and population versus sample and introduction to hypothesis testing, decision error, statistical power, and effect size, an introduction to the t test, analysis of variance, chi-square and strategies when population distributions are not normal and making sense of advanced statistical procedures in research articles.

Genres: Psychology, Science, Nonfiction, Academic

Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Arthur Aron received a bachelor's degree in psychology and philosophy in 1967 and a master's degree in social psychology in 1968, both from the University of California at Berkeley. He earned a PhD in social psychology from the University of Toronto in 1970.

Aron's work focuses on the role, creation, and maintenance of friendship and intimacy in interpersonal relationships. He developed the self-expansion model of close relationships; it posits that one of the motivations humans have for forming close relationships is self-expansion, i.e., "expansion of the self", or personal growth and development.

Aron is married to Elaine Aron, also a psychologist.

Reviews

[Dave Leichter · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book gives an overview of various statistical methods and tests. Its tone is extremely condescending, and is often needlessly redundant. It is also really sad that the authors basically admit at the end of the book that have left you unprepared to read and understand a real statistics book.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

$115.00 later.

[christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best class yet. Got an A and loved every minute. The book was really straight forward with lots of problems worked out that helped me get a quick grasp of the topics and easily complete my homework.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to statistics text for college students.