In your own words, describe the role of statistics in the research process. Using the wheel of science as a framework, explain how statistics link theory with research.
Find a research article in any social science journal. Choose an article on a subject of interest to you, and do not worry about being able to understand all the statistics that are reported.
a. How much of the article is devoted to statistics?
b. Is the research based on a sample from some population? How large is the sample? How were subjects or cases selected? Can the findings be generalized to some population?
c. What variables are used? Which are independent and which are dependent? For each variable, determine the level of measurement.
d. What statistical techniques are used? Try to follow the statistical analysis and see how much you can understand. Save the article and read it again after you finish this course and see if you understand it any better.