1 Welcome to the NS5108 quantiatitve methods and analysis handbook
This year I have tried to make my half of NS5108 as structured and accessible as possible. Part of this plan was to place all the necessary content together in one place: this book. Here you will find an explanation of all the concepts we will cover this semester, in depth explanations of concepts that we won’t have time to cover in class, relevant video clips from our lectures, and demonstrations of how to perform the various statistical analyses.
This guide is designed to work alongside your NS5108 lectures, not replace them entirely. Personally, I find that with any topic I need several explanations worded slightly differently before a concept starts to click. Please use this book as a way to consolidate your in class learning.
Now, before we get started. Yes, there is going to be maths, and yes there are going to be formulas, sorry I can’t teach statistics without these aspects. However, there are different depths to which you can learn statistics. This handbook is here to give you the basics, but it also allows you to delve a little deeper into the theory behind how the various statistical analysis work.
I've tried to make it so that some of the more terrifying statistical maths is hidden away behind blue boxes (like the one below) that you can click to reveal more information. These blue boxes also contain extra explanation around graphs, and some tangents that I didn’t want to get bogged down into in the main text.
If you're feeling anxious about statistics, know that you're not alone; many people feel the same way.
Think of learning statistics like learning to drive or ride a bike. Initially, it's full of painful stops and bumps, but after a few lessons, things eventually start to make sense. I struggled a lot when I first encountered this material, but once I realised how incredibly powerful it can be when applied to the topics I care about, my motivation skyrocketed, that got me over the hump and now I’m hooked for life. Just remember that learning is a marathon, and it's perfectly fine to move at your own pace. Our goal is to make this journey as smooth as possible through clear explanations and practical exercises.
If you find yourself stuck, don't hesitate to ask for help. Both myself and the graduate teaching assistants are more than willing to explain concepts repeatedly and in various ways; in fact, we welcome it—it keeps us on our toes! Asking questions is an integral part of the learning process, and we're here to support you every step of the way. So, take a deep breath, and be patient and kind with yourself. The skills you'll acquire here will not only serve you well in your academic journey but hopefully lead you to having a meaningful impact in your future work.
1.1 Exercises and statistical software
Throughout this workbook there are exercises where I suggest you download data and conduct an analysis with the use of JASP. JASP is a simple open source (i.e. free) program that can be used to run statistical tests. Here is a link to the website where you can download JASP.
Data files can be found in the weekly materials of the NS5108 Moodle page.
1.2 Note for MSc Health Psychology and MSc Forensic Psychology students
If you are speed running this module as part of your NS7004 or NS7151 research methods modules you may want to conduct your analysis using SPSS or R. You absolutely can and should do so, all the theoretical content here will still apply, you might just need to do a further search around for additional where to click guides. Feel free to email me (rclarke8@glos.ac.uk) if you want me to point you in the direction of other good online content to help you with this aspect.
1.3 This book is a work in progress
This semester, I will be "gromiting" my way through this course.
I have a plan, and I have most of the content, but I'll be building out parts of this book during the semester. So, if you've come to this book early and expect to watch video walkthrough guides of the techniques later in the course, apologies, maybe check back in a few weeks.
Also, if you spot any glaring errors please do contact me on rclarke8@glos.ac.uk and I'll correct as we go.