INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL METHODS IN EDUCATION
Education 160
Fall 2005
MWF 11:00 - 12:30
CERAS 108—Big Tree
Instructor:
Richard J. Shavelson
Cubberley 308
723-4040
richs@stanford.edu
Teaching Assistants:
Kun Yuan (katyuan@stanford.edu)
Jeff Steedle (jsteedle@stanford.edu)
Cubberley 338
724-9085
Office Hours:
10:00 - 11:00 Wednesday
By Appointment
Office Hours:
12:30-1:30pm Wednesday and Friday
By Appointment
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course introduces students to basic concepts and procedures in descriptive and
inferential statistics, and prepares them for subsequent statistical courses in linear
regression modeling (Ed 250A), analysis of variance (Ed 250B), and beyond. The course
begins with methods for describing and summarizing single-variable (frequency)
distributions followed by methods for describing relationships between two (or more)
variables. The course then introduces probability theory as a background for
understanding inferential statistics. Methods are next presented for drawing inferences
from research samples to populations from which the samples were drawn. The course
covers basic statistical tests: z-tests, t tests, analysis of variance, and nonparametric tests.
Students will also be introduced to two statistical packages: SPSS and STATA. SPSS
will be the main statistical package for this course; STATA will be used in subsequent
courses. We will show you how to use both packages in parallel during class but with
emphasis on SPSS. You can use either SPSS or STATA for assignments. As a
supplement to learning to use SPSS in class, we encourage you to enroll in or audit
Education 401A—a course devoted to the use of SPSS. The schedule for the course is
Monday afternoons from 4:15-6:05pm in Big Tree. Here’s the schedule:
10/10: SPSS #1: descriptive statistics
10/17: SPSS #2: correlation
11/7: SPSS #3: t-tests
11/14: SPSS #4: ANOVA
12/5: SPSS #5: linear regression (simple and multiple)
Ed 160
Intro to Stats Methods
Shavelson, Yuan, Steedle
Check with the instructor, Amita Chudgar (amitac@stanford.edu), if you have any
questions.
The course is meant to be informative and fun (yes, fun!), and we guarantee everyone
that after this course, you will want to know more, and that the world of statistical
thinking will never seem the same for you. Typically Mondays and Wednesdays will be
devoted to presentation of material with some hands-on computer work and Fridays will
be devoted to hands-on data analysis with SPSS (with backup for STATA), discussion of
homework, and (rarely) new material. We encourage you to work in groups… except for
the midterm and final exams.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK
Shavelson, R.J. (1996). Statistical reasoning for the behavioral sciences (3rdEd.).
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Ruiz-Primo, M.A., Mitchell, M., & Shavelson, R.J. (1996). Student guide for Shavelson
statistical reasoning for the behavioral sciences (3rdEd.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
(Unfortunately the Guide is out of print at the publisher.)
NOTE: Both books are on 4-Hour Reserve in Cubberley Library. They will also be used
in Ed 250B: Analysis of Variance.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Homework exercises. Every week to ten days, you will be given problems posted on
CourseWork. We encourage you to work these problems in groups so you have a chance
to discuss them and pose questions. You should work the problems both by hand and
with SPSS (or STATA) as a check on your solution. Come to the lab session (typically
Friday class) with any questions you might have from doing the problems. In this session
we will discuss the problems, answers and your questions; you may annotate your
homework answer during the session, at the end of which you will hand it in. Each
homework assignment will be graded as pass/no pass, but the primary intent of the
homework is for you to assess your on-going learning and to guide your own learning
efforts. So, on your homework sheets, please feel free to include questions and comments
that can help us teach you better.
Exams. There will be two take-home exams during the course, a midterm and final, with
problems similar to those found in the homework problems. In addition, the final will
include a mini-project where you will be given the design of a study and data collected
according to that design, and your task will be to analyze the data and explain what you
found and conclude. These exams are taken under the honor code. Students may not
discuss the problems with others until the exams have been turned in.
Grading. The course is graded Satisfactory/No Credit. To receive credit for the course,
you must successfully complete all assignments and exams. (We’ll hand them back to
you if there are major errors for you to revise.)
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Ed 160
Intro to Stats Methods
Shavelson, Yuan, Steedle
COURSE SCHEDULE AND TOPICS
Week
Of
Topics
Readings
9/26
Introduction to course
Research design and statistics
Frequency distributions
Statistic Lab: Introduction to SPSS &
STATA
Shavelson: Section I, Chapter 1& 2
Ruiz-Primo: Ch 1& 2
S: Section II, Ch 3 (pp. 43-58)
R: Ch 3
Data Set: Pygmalion
10/3
Frequency distributions (cont’d.)
Assignment 1 due on 10/7
Measures of central tendency and
variability
Statistic Lab: Descriptive statistics
S: Ch 3; R: Ch 3
S: Ch 4; R: Ch 4
Data Set: High School & Beyond
(HS&B)
10/10
Measures of variability (cont’d.)
Assignment 2 due on 10/14
Normal Distributions
Joint Distributions and correlation
Statistic Lab: Joint distributions
and correlation
S: Ch 5
S: Section III, Ch 6 (pp. 145-162);
R: Ch 5 & 6
Data Set: HS&B
10/17
Correlation (cont’d.)
Assignment 3 due on 10/21
Linear regression
Statistics Labs: Correlation & regression
S: Ch 6 & 7
R: Ch 6 & 7
Data Set: HS&B
S: Section IV, Ch 8; R: Ch 8
10/21
Take home midterm due on 10/28
Review what has been covered.
10/24
Statistical inference
Probability
S: Ch 8 & 9
R: Ch 8 & 9
Data Set: HS&B
Assignment 4 due on 11/2
10/31
Statistical inference with the normal
distribution
Statistics Lab: Z test
3
S: Ch 10
R: Ch 10
Data Set: HS&B
Ed 160
Intro to Stats Methods
Shavelson, Yuan, Steedle
11/7
Statistical power
t-tests
Statistics Lab: Power
Assignment 5 due on 11/14
S: Ch 11 & Section V Ch 12
R: Ch 11 & 12
Data Set: HS&B
11/14
t-test (Cont’d)
One-way analysis of variance
(ANOVA)
Statistics Lab: t-test
S: Ch 12 & 13
R: Ch 12 & 13
Data Set: HS&B
11/21
THANKSGIVING VACATION
WEEK!!!
11/28
One-way ANOVA (Cont’d)
Assignment 6 due on 12/05
S: Ch 13,
Data Set: HS&B
Statistics Lab: ANOVA
12/5
One-way ANOVA (Cont’d)
Nonparametric statistics
S: Ch 13, 19, 20 (pp. 580-586)
R: Ch 13, 19, 20 (pp. 545-549)
Review
12/9
Take Home Final handed out
Review what has been covered
after the midterm.
12/16
Take Home Final due @ 5PM
Have a Great Vacation!
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