Statistical Research Key Course Resources

​Please download and read the handout files below, listed by the week each will enter into our classroom conversation. Additional files may be added during the semester, so please check this page weekly. Each of the files I am providing contain important background information related to the course and/or one or more of the methods we will discuss in class.

Note, some links below direct you to articles on journal websites. If you are accessing this page from a UNT computer, you can download a full-text version of each of the articles for free (this will not work if you are accessing this page from a non-UNT device).

Please feel free to contact me if you have questions about any of these documents.

Week 1: Introduction to the Course
  • What is “probability”?
  • Theoretical Probability versus Empirical Probability
  • Use of probability in the context of descriptive statistics
  • Basic approaches to probability: non-parametric and parametric
  • Probability Distributions
  • Z-Scores
Resources
Week 2: Intro to Probability, Distributions, Z-Scores
  • Theoretical Probability versus Empirical Probability
  • Use of probability in the context of descriptive statistics
  • Basic approaches to probability: non-parametric and parametric
  • Probability Distributions
  • Z-Scores
  • What is “probability”?
Week 3: Normal and Poisson Probabilities, and Statistical Testing Basics
  • Normal Probability Distribution
    • Background, Examples
    • Fitting the Normal Curve to Data
    • Using the Normal Table
    • Foundations of Testing for a Normal Distribution
  • Poisson Distribution
    • Background, Examples
    • Relevance
    • Meaning
  • Introduction to Statistical Testing
    • Hypotheses
    • Assumptions
    • Critical values, test statistics, and the p-value
Week 4: Tails in Testing and Sampling Issues
  • One versus Two-Tailed Tests
  • Errors in Statistical Testing
    • Type 1 versus Type 2 errors
  • Samples and Sampling
    • Sampling Methods
Week 5: Data Description and Transforming Distributions 
  • Description
    • Central Tendency
    • Dispersion
    • Skewness and Kurtosis
  • Transforming Data
    • What Transformations Are
    • Why you do them
    • Major Types
Week 6: Estimates from Samples and Sample Size Determination
  • Estimates from Samples
    • Estimating the Mean
    • Estimating the Standard Deviation
    • Estimates from Small Samples
    • Estimating Proportions
  • Sample Size
  • Overview of Comparative Tests
  • Six Steps of a Formal Statistical Test
  • K-S Test
Week 7: Comparative Statistical Methods, Part I
  • Six Steps of a Formal Hypothesis Test
  • Summary
  • Example
  • Mann-Whitney U Test
  • Student’s t Test
  • Overview of available options 
 
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