Running head: RESEARCH METHODS INCLUDING THE STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS.
STACY WEE
17/09/2008
00006225
RESEARCH METHODS INCLUDING STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS
A statistic is a numerical representation of information. Whenever we quantify or apply numbers to data in order to organize, summarize, or better understand the information. These methods can range from somewhat simple computations such as determining the mean of a distribution to very complex computations such as determining factors or interaction effects within a complex data set.
There are two major branches of statistics, each with specific goals and specific formulas. The first, descriptive statistics refers to the analysis of data of an entire population. In other words, descriptive statistics is merely using numbers to describe a known data set. The term population means we are using the entire set of possible subjects as opposed to just a sample of these subjects. For instance, the average test grade of a third grade class would be a descriptive statistic because we are using all of the students in the class to determine a known average.
Second, inferential statistics, has two goals: (1) to determine what might be happening in a population based on a sample of the population (often referred to as estimation) and (2) to determine what might happen in the future (often referred to as prediction). Thus, the goals of inferential statistics are to estimate and/or predict. To use inferential statistics, only a sample of the population is needed. Descriptive statistics, however, require the entire population be used.
A frequent goal in data analysis is to efficiently describe or measure the strength of relationships between variables, or to detect associations between factors used to set up a cross tabulation. A related goal may be to determine which variables are related in a predictive sense to a particular response variable, or put another way, to learn how best to predict...