Statistics for Social Workers

Robert W. Weinbach, Richard M. Grinnell (Autoren)

Buch | Softcover

312 Seiten

2010 | 8th edition
Pearson (Verlag)
9780205739875 (ISBN)

Infos

Now in its eighth edition, this widely used text covers the types of statistical analyses that are most likely to be encountered by social work practitioners and researchers.  It requires no prior knowledge of statistics and only basic mathematical competence.

Inhalt

Preface

1 Introduction
USE OF STATISTICS
METHODOLOGICAL TERMS   


Data    
Information   
Variables and Constants   
Conceptualization  
Operationalization  
Reliability   
Validity   
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
Three Forms of Research Hypotheses
Causal and Non-causal Research Hypotheses   
Independent and Dependent Variables
MEASUREMENT LEVELS   
Nominal   
Ordinal   
Interval    
Ratio   
MEASUREMENT LEVELS AND DATA ANALYSIS   
ADDITIONAL MEASUREMENT CLASSIFICATIONS   
Discrete and Continuous Variables   
Dichotomous, Binary, and Dummy Variables   
CATEGORIES OF STATISTICAL ANALYSES   
Number of Variables in an Analysis   
Primary Purpose of the Analysis   
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS   
STUDY QUESTIONS   



 

2 Frequency Distributions and Graphs 
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS   


Absolute Frequency Distributions   
Cumulative Frequency Distributions   
Percentage Frequency Distributions   
Cumulative Percentage Frequency Distributions   
GROUPED FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS   
USING FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTIONS TO ANALYZE DATA  
MISREPRESENTATION OF DATA   
GRAPHS   
Bar Graphs and Line Diagrams   
Pie Charts   
Histograms   
Frequency Polygons   
Stem-and-Leaf Plots   
A COMMON MISTAKE IN DISPLAYING DATA   
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS   
STUDY QUESTIONS   


 

3 Measures of Central Tendency and Variability 
MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY   


The Mode   
The Median   
The Mean   
Which Measure of Central Tendency to Use?   
MEASURES OF VARIABILITY   
The Range   
The Interquartile Range   
The Mean Deviation   
Variance   
Standard Deviation   
Reporting Measures of Variability   
OTHER USES FOR CENTRAL TENDENCY AND VARIABILITY   
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS   
STUDY QUESTIONS   


 

4 Normal Distributions  
SKEWNESS   
KURTOSIS   
NORMAL DISTRIBUTIONS   
CONVERTING RAW SCORES TO Z SCORES AND PERCENTILES   


Practical Uses of z Scores   
DERIVING RAW SCORES FROM PERCENTILES   
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS   
STUDY QUESTIONS   


 

5  Hypothesis Testing: Basic Principles 
ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATIONS FOR RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN SAMPLES   


Rival Hypotheses   
Research Design Flaws   
Sampling Error   
PROBABILITY AND INFERENCE   
REFUTING SAMPLING ERROR   
Replication   
Statistical Analyses   
STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
p values
Rejection Levels (Alpha)
ERRORS IN DRAWING CONCLUSIONS ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS   
Avoiding Type I Errors   
Avoiding Type II Errors
STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPS AND MEANINGFUL FINDINGS   
More about Effect Size
Is the Relationship Valuable?   
Complex Interpretations of Statistically Significant Relationships   
THE PROCESS OF HYPOTHESIS TESTING
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS   
STUDY QUESTIONS   


 

6 Sampling Distributions, Rejection Regions, and Statistical Test Selection 

SAMPLE SIZE AND SAMPLING ERROR   
SAMPLING DISTRIBUTIONS AND INFERENCE   


Comparing an Experimental Sample with Its Population   
Comparing a Non-Experimental Sample with Its Population   
SAMPLING DISTRIBUTION OF MEANS   
Samples Drawn from Normal Distributions   
Samples Drawn from Skewed Distributions   
ESTIMATING PARAMETERS   
Constructing a 95 Percent Confidence Interval   
Constructing a 99 Percent Confidence Interval   
SELECTING A STATISTICAL TEST
The Importance of Selecting the Correct Test
Factors to Consider in Selecting the Correct Test
PARAMETRIC AND NONPARAMETRIC TESTS
MULTIVARIATE TESTS  
DECIDING WHICH TEST TO USE 
More about Getting Help
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS   
STUDY QUESTIONS    
 

7   t Tests and Analysis of Variance 
THE USE OF t TESTS   


Misuse of t  
THE ONE-SAMPLE t TEST   
Determining If a Sample Is Representative   
Seeking Support for a Research Hypothesis
Presentation of Findings   
A Nonparametric Alternative: Chi-Square Goodness of Fit   
THE DEPENDENT t TEST   
Use with Two Connected (or Matched) Samples Measured Once   
Use with One Sample Measured Twice   
A Nonparametric Alternative: Wilcoxon Sign   
THE INDEPENDENT t TEST   
Nonparametric Alternatives: U and K-S   
A Multivariate Alternative: T2   
SIMPLE ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE (SIMPLE ANOVA)   
Additional Data Analyses   
A Nonparametric Alternative: Kruskal-Wallis   
MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE   
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS   
STUDY QUESTIONS    
 

8 The Chi-square Test of Association Between Variables 
WHEN CHI-SQUARE IS APPROPRIATE
CROSS-TABULATION TABLES


Degrees of Freedom   
Using Chi-Square   
Presentation of Findings   
Interpreting the Results of a Chi-Square Analysis   
Meaningfulness and Sample Size   
Restrictions on the Use of Chi-Square   
An Alternative: Fisher’s Exact Test   
Using Chi-Square in Social Work Practice   
CROSS TABULATION WITH THREE OR MORE VARIABLES   
Problems with Sizes of Expected Frequencies   
Effects of Introducing Additional Variables   
SPECIAL APPLICATIONS OF THE CHI-SQUARE FORMULA   
McNemar’s Test   
The Median Test   
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS   
STUDY QUESTIONS   


 

9   Correlation Analyses 
USES OF CORRELATION   
SCATTERGRAMS   
PERFECT CORRELATIONS   
NONPERFECT CORRELATIONS   
INTERPRETING LINEAR CORRELATIONS   


Understanding Correlation Coefficients   
Very Strong Correlations   
Remember,Correlation Is Not Causation!   
Using Correlation For Inference   
PEARSON’S r   
Computation and Presentation   
NONPARAMETRIC ALTERNATIVES   
Spearman’s Rho and Kendall’s Tau   
CORRELATION WITH THREE OR MORE VARIABLES   
Partial r   
Multiple R   
Variations of Multiple R   
OTHER MULTIVARIATE TESTS THAT USE CORRELATION   
Factor Analysis   
Cluster Analysis   
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS   
STUDY QUESTIONS   


 

10  Regression Analyses 
PREDICTION AND EVIDENCE BASED PRACTICE
PREDICTION AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS   
WHAT IS SIMPLE LINEAR REGRESSION?   


Research Questions in Simple Linear Regression   
Limitations of Simple Linear Regression   
COMPUTATION OF THE REGRESSION EQUATION   
MORE ABOUT THE REGRESSION LINE   
The Least-Squares Criterion   
Interchanging X and Y Variables   
INTERPRETING RESULTS   
Presentation of Y ?   
The Standard Error   
Using Regression in Social Work Practice   
REGRESSION WITH THREE OR MORE VARIABLES   
Options for Entering Variables
OTHER TYPES OF REGRESSION ANALYSES   
Discriminant Analysis   
Logistic Regression   
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS   
STUDY QUESTIONS   
 

11Other Ways that Statistical Analyses Contribute to Evidence-Based Practice 
META-ANALYSIS   
ANSWERS SOUGHT IN PROGRAM EVALUATIONS   
NEEDS ASSESSMENTS AND FORMATIVE EVALUATIONS   
OUTCOME EVALUATIONS   


Hypothesis Testing in Outcome Evaluations   
Statistical Analyses of Outcome Evaluation Data   
ANSWERS SOUGHT IN SINGLE-SYSTEM RESEARCH   
Hypothesis Testing in Single-System Research   
Statistical Analyses of Single-System Data   
Using Familiar Statistical Tests   
Two Other Popular Tests   
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS   
STUDY QUESTIONS   
Appendix A    Beginning to Select a Statistical Test   
Glossary   
Index   

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 8.2.2010
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 178 x 233 mm
• Gewicht: 460 g
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik ► Sozialpädagogik
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Empirische Sozialforschung
• ISBN-13: 9780205739875 / 9780205739875
• Zustand: Neuware