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Research Methods and Statistics
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Research Methods and Statistics
An Integrated Approach



July 2016 | 488 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

This innovative text offers a completely integrated approach to teaching research methods and statistics by presenting a research question accompanied by the appropriate methods and statistical procedures needed to address it. Research questions and designs become more complex as chapters progress, building on simpler questions to reinforce student learning. Using a conversational style and research examples from published works, this comprehensive book walks readers through the entire research process and includes ample pedagogical support for SPSS, Excel, and APA style.

 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Section I- Foundations of Design and Analysis
 
Chapter 1- The Scientific Method
Empirical Data

 
Step 1: Ask a Question

 
Choose a Topic

 
Ask a Simple Question

 
Step 2: Read the Published Literature

 
Locate Research

 
Choose a Specific Question

 
Step 3: Create a Method

 
Step 4: Collect and Analyze Data

 
Step 5: Answer the Research Question

 
Step 6: Share Your Results

 
Research in Psychology: APA Style

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
References

 
 
Chapter 2- Ethical Research
Ethical Treatment of Participants

 
Assessing Risk to Participants

 
Literature Review

 
Hypothesis

 
The Sample

 
Method

 
Statistics and the Data

 
Benefits

 
Risk

 
Appendices

 
Personnel

 
Certification of Ethics Training

 
Deception

 
Testing of Special Populations

 
Medical Procedures

 
Animal Research

 
Informed Consent

 
Treating Participants Ethically

 
Ethics After Testing Participants

 
Data Entry

 
Data Analysis

 
Writing a Presentation or Manuscript

 
Authorship Issues

 
Presenting and Publishing Research

 
Who Is Harmed by Unethical Behavior?

 
Ethical Data-Collection Methods

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
References

 
 
Chapter 3- Research Designs and Variables
Correlational Design

 
Longitudinal Studies

 
Cross-Sectional Studies

 
Experimental Design

 
Independent Variable

 
Dependent Variable

 
Cause and Effect

 
Random Assignment

 
Extraneous Variables

 
Internal Validity

 
Levels of Measurement

 
Nominal Variable

 
Ordinal Variable

 
Interval Variable

 
Ratio Variable

 
Why Do We Care?

 
Summarizing Variables: Central Tendency

 
Mode

 
Median

 
Mean

 
Summarizing Variables: Variability

 
Range

 
Standard Deviation

 
SPSS: Summarizing Variables

 
Nominal Data

 
Ordinal Data

 
Interval and Ratio Data

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
Reference

 
 
Chapter 4- Learning About a Population From a Sample
Selecting a Sample

 
Random Sampling

 
Cluster Sampling

 
Stratified Random Sampling

 
Convenience Sampling

 
Bias in a Sample

 
Inferential Statistics

 
Sampling Error

 
Probability

 
Hypothesis Testing

 
Significance

 
p-values and Effect Size

 
Power and Sample Size

 
Degrees of Freedom

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
 
Section II- Categorical Variables and Simple Frequency
 
Chapter 5- One Variable With Frequency Data
Research Design: Categorizing Participants

 
One-Way Chi Square With Equal Expected Frequencies

 
SPSS: One-Way Chi Square With Equal Expected Frequencies

 
Effect Size: Cohen’s w

 
APA Style for the One-Way Chi Square With Equal Expected Frequencies

 
Power

 
One-Way Chi Square With Unequal Expected Frequencies

 
SPSS: One-Way Chi Square With Unequal Expected Frequencies

 
APA Style for the One-Way Chi Square With Unequal Expected Frequencies

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
References

 
 
Chapter 6- Two Variables With Frequency Data
Research Design: Two Categorical Variables

 
Two-Way Chi Square: 2 × 3 Design

 
Power

 
SPSS: 2 × 3 Chi Square

 
Effect Size: Contingency Coefficient and Cramer’s V

 
APA Style for the 2 × 3 Chi Square

 
Two-Way Chi Square: 2 × 2 Design

 
Effect Size: Phi Coefficient

 
SPSS: 2 × 2 Chi Square

 
APA Style for the 2 × 2 Chi Square

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
References

 
 
Section III- Research Without Grouping
 
Chapter 7- Examining Relationships
Pearson’s r: Seeking a Relationship

 
SPSS: Pearson’s r (Seeking a Relationship)

 
Two-Tailed Test

 
One-Tailed Test

 
Power

 
Graphs as Figures: Scatterplot

 
APA Style for Pearson’s r: Correlational Design

 
Pearson’s r: Seeking Cause and Effect

 
Previewing Data With a Scatterplot

 
SPSS: Pearson’s r (Seeking Cause and Effect)

 
Effect Size: Coefficient of Determination

 
APA Style for Pearson’s r: Experimental Design

 
Inaccurate Pearson’s r

 
When Pearson’s r Falsely Shows No Relationship

 
Outliers That Weaken Pearson’s r

 
Nonlinear Relationship

 
Restriction of Range

 
When Pearson’s r Falsely Shows a Relationship

 
Restriction of Range on a Curvilinear Relationship

 
Outliers That Strengthen Pearson’s r

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
References

 
 
Chapter 8- Scale Development
Pearson’s r and Reliability of Measures

 
Test-Retest Reliability

 
Alternate-Forms Reliability

 
Split-Half Reliability

 
Cronbach’s Alpha and Reliability of Measures

 
SPSS: Scoring and Interpreting Measures

 
Reverse Scoring Items

 
Cronbach’s Alpha on SPSS

 
Scoring a Measure

 
Reliability With Subjective Measures: Interrater Reliability

 
Pearson’s r and Validity

 
Face Validity

 
Content Validity

 
Convergent Construct Validity

 
Discriminant Construct Validity

 
Predictive Validity

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
References

 
 
Chapter 9- Prediction
Prediction and Correlation

 
Linear Regression: Prediction Using One Predictor

 
Correlation First

 
Linear Regression

 
Error in Predictions

 
SPSS: Linear Regression

 
Effect Size: Cohen’s f 2

 
APA Style for Linear Regression

 
Power

 
Multiple Linear Regression: Prediction With Two Predictors

 
SPSS: Multiple Linear Regression

 
APA Style for Multiple Linear Regression

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
References

 
 
Section IV- Grouped Designs With Independent Samples
 
Chapter 10- One Variable With Two Independent Groups
Research Design: One IV With Two Levels

 
SPSS: Independent-Samples t-test With an IV

 
Directional Hypothesis

 
Effect Size: Cohen’s d

 
Confidence Intervals

 
Power

 
APA Style for the Independent-Samples t-test: Experimental Design

 
Graphs as Figures: Bar Graph

 
Outliers

 
Using a Quasi-IV to Establish a Relationship

 
SPSS: Independent-Samples t-test With a Quasi-IV

 
APA Style for the Independent-Samples t-test: Correlational Design

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
References

 
 
Chapter 11- One Variable With More Than Two Independent Groups
Research Design: One IV With More Than Two Levels

 
SPSS: One-Way, Between-Groups ANOVA With an IV

 
Effect Size: Eta Squared

 
Post Hoc Comparisons

 
Confidence Intervals

 
Power

 
APA Style for the One-Way, Between-Groups ANOVA: Experimental Design

 
Analyzing a Quasi-IV With More Than Two Levels

 
SPSS: One-Way, Between-Groups ANOVA With a Quasi-IV

 
APA Style for the One-Way, Between-Groups ANOVA: Correlational Design

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
References

 
 
Section V- Grouped Designs With Related Samples
 
Chapter 12- One Variable with Two Related Groups
Testing the Same People Twice

 
Problems With Testing the Same People Twice

 
Practice Effect

 
Fatigue Effect

 
History Effect

 
Maturation

 
Solving Order Problems by Counterbalancing

 
Avoiding Confounds

 
Research Design: One IV With Two Related Groups

 
SPSS: Related-Samples t-test (Experimental Design)

 
Confidence Intervals

 
Effect Size: Cohen’s d

 
APA Style for the Related-Samples t-test: Experimental Design

 
Power

 
Research Design: One Quasi-IV With Two Related Groups

 
SPSS: Related-Samples t-test (Correlational Design)

 
APA Style for the Related-Samples t-test: Correlational Design

 
Research Design: Testing Different People (Matched Pairs)

 
Matching Participants

 
Matching in a Two-Condition Study

 
The Matching Process

 
SPSS: Matched-Pairs t-test

 
APA Style for the Matched-Pairs t-test

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
References

 
 
Chapter 13- One Variable With Repeated Measures: More Than Two Groups
Research Design: One IV With Repeated Measures

 
SPSS: One-Way, Repeated-Measures ANOVA (Experimental Design)

 
Sphericity

 
Effect Size: Eta Squared

 
Confidence Intervals

 
Power

 
APA Style for the One-Way, Repeated-Measures ANOVA: Experimental Design

 
Research Design: One Quasi-IV With Repeated Measures

 
SPSS: One-Way, Repeated-Measures ANOVA (Correlational Design)

 
APA Style for the One-Way, Repeated-Measures ANOVA: Correlational Design

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
References

 
 
Section VI- Advanced Design
 
Chapter 14- Two Variables With Independent Samples
Research Design: Two IVs With Independent Samples

 
SPSS: Two-Way, Between-Groups ANOVA (No Significant Interaction)

 
Effect Size: Eta Squared

 
Post Hoc for a Main Effect

 
Confidence Intervals

 
Power

 
Graphing a Main Effect

 
APA Style for Two-Way, Between-Groups ANOVA With Main Effects

 
Research Design: One IV and One Quasi-IV With Independent Groups

 
SPSS: Two-Way, Between-Groups ANOVA (Significant Interaction)

 
Examining the Interaction

 
Post Hoc for an Interaction

 
Graphing an Interaction

 
APA Style for the Two-Way, Between-Groups ANOVA With an Interaction

 
Summary

 
Review of Terms

 
Practice Items

 
References

 
 
Appendices
 
Appendix A- Power Analysis Table
 
Appendix B- Graphing in Excel
Scatterplots

 
Bar Graphs

 
Line Graphs

 
Interaction Graphs

 
 
Appendix C- APA-Style Manuscript Guidelines
Key Elements in APA-Style Writing

 
The Basics

 
Title Page

 
Abstract

 
Introduction

 
Method

 
Results

 
Discussion

 
References

 
Tables, Figures, and Appendices

 
Common Mistakes and Tips for Writing

 
Example Paper With Comments

 
Example Paper Without Comments

 
 
Appendix D- Selected Answers to Practice Items
 
Appendix E- Glossary of Terms
 
Index

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site

Calling all instructors!
It’s easy to log on to SAGE’s password-protected Instructor Teaching Site at  study.sagepub.com/wilson for complete and protected access to all text-specific Instructor Resources for Wilson and Joye's, Research Methods and Statistics. Simply provide your institutional information for verification and within 72 hours you’ll be able to use your login information for any SAGE title!

Password-protected Instructor Resources include the following:

  • A Microsoft® Word® test bank is available containing multiple choice, true/false, short answer, and essay questions for each chapter. The test bank provides you with a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity for editing any question and/or inserting your own personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding.
  • Editable, chapter-specific Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides offer you complete flexibility in easily creating a multimedia presentation for your course
  • Lecture notes summarize key concepts on a chapter-by-chapter basis to help with preparation for lectures and class discussions.
  • The Instructor Teaching Site includes complete answers to all in-text questions.
Student Study Site
  • The open-access Student Study Site includes the following:

    • Mobile-friendly eFlashcards reinforce understanding of key terms and concepts that have been outlined in the chapters.
    • Mobile-friendly web quizzes allow for independent assessment of progress made in learning course material.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 7

Chapter 12


Janie Hamn Wilson

Janie Wilson received her PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of South Carolina in 1994. Since that time, she has been teaching and conducting research at Georgia Southern University. In the classroom, Dr. Wilson specializes in teaching and learning in statistics and research methods. Research interests include rapport in teaching based on empirical data on the first day of class, electronic communications, interactions with students in a traditional classroom, syllabus design, and the development and validation of the Professor-Student Rapport Scale. Recent publications include two brief texts with SAGE: An EasyGuide to... More About Author

Shauna W. Joye

Dr. Shauna JoyeI earned a B.S. in Biology from Georgia Southern University and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Florida State University. During graduate and post-doctoral training, my research and clinical work focused on early childhood learning, attention disorders, temperament, and autism spectrum disorder, with an emphasis on measurement of these constructs. Currently, I am a faculty member at Georgia Southern University, and I examine clinical interventions to enhance self-control, including empirical research in mindfulness. I also work with combat veterans to determine the impact of therapeutic wilderness experiences on wellness. Finally... More About Author

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ISBN: 9781483392141
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