I am a fan of David Howell's texts as well. Cheers,
Karl W. ________________________________ From: Christopher D. Green [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, October 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]<mailto:[email protected]> http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ ========================== [email protected]<mailto:[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 ownproblems but I was hopingthat someone out there knows of a "stats for psych" book that at least provides a balance between conceptual understanding and teaching studentstograsp and performthe processes of statistical calculation withlots of real practice problems, related to psych and the social sciences closely allied to it. Before I go through the nuisance of doing thisand 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----- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
