Nancy and all,

I use Aron, Aron, and Coups from Prentice Hall. This book is not for everyone. 
Their approach to the formula is definitional rather than computational. It 
took me a couple of semesters to get used to it but I like it because it 
teaches students what the calculations do rather than how they can be done 
efficiently. My students like the book too. I also teach them to use SPSS. It 
has a moderate number of problems. 

Dennis

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dennis M. Goff
Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Randolph College (Founded as Randolph-Macon Woman's College in 1891)
Lynchburg VA 24503



-----Original Message-----
From: Christopher D. Green [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Fri 10/30/2009 5:11 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: Re: [tips] Intro Statistics Text recommendation
 
Nancy,

I am with you on learning how to computer statistics by hand before 
learning how to make a computer do it for you.

I have used David Howell's "big" book (Statistical Methods for 
Psychology) for years now. I like it lots, but it goes beyond what most 
undergrads need to learn. Fortunately, Howell has a smaller book as well 
(Fundamental Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences) , which would be 
appropriate for a one-term undergrad course (at least that is how I have 
used it when I have taught our one-term course).

Chris
-- 

Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada

 

416-736-2100 ex. 66164
[email protected]
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/

==========================


[email protected] wrote:
>
>
> Hi,
>  
> I have been asked to teach baby Stats (again) for psychology at a 
> school where my teacher evaluations have been generally decent but the 
> faculty evaluator, who looks at our course materials, does not like my 
> choice of book.
>  
> I use Bluman Brief Edition (4th) which is not a "Psych Stats" book. 
> The examples and practice problems (of which there are a lot, that's 
> why I like the book) cover a variety of social, educational, criminal 
> justice and business applications...there are a few pure psych 
> problems mixed in, not many. The course includes lecture time (during 
> which I teach concepts and lots of by hand-solving of problems) and an 
> SPSS lab.
>  
> I would like to keep my job at this CSU (a concern in our current 
> budget environment), but I am reluctant to part with my book. I like 
> it. Other "stats for psych" books I've used have had far fewer 
> practice problems available and emphasize "teaching the concepts". I 
> hate that. I know I can supply my own problems but I was hoping that 
> someone out there knows of a "stats for psych" book that at least 
> provides a balance between conceptual understanding and teaching 
> students to grasp and perform the processes of statistical calculation 
> with lots of real practice problems, related to psych and the social 
> sciences closely allied to it.
>  
> Before I go through the nuisance of doing this and having to learn 
> someone else's way of doing some of the procedures (every book has a 
> few  of its own idiosyncratic presentations of formulae), I thought I 
> might at least find a book, with your help, that provides a decent 
> number of practice problems.
>  
> PS. I don't want to discuss whether teaching the hand calculations is 
> necessary. I could never learn mathematics by reading descriptions of 
> how to do it. Before they learn SPSS, they need to learn at least a 
> very basic version of what SPSS does. It's like teaching someone to 
> use a calculator without teaching them to add, subtract, multiply etc. 
> with his or her own brain first.
>  
> Thanks for your help - and have a good weekend too.
>  
> Nancy Melucci
> Long Beach CIty College
> Long Beach CA
>
>
> -----Original Message-----


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