predictive analytics software: what statistics can do for you brett deneckere dr. kimberly dodson...
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Predictive Analytics Software: What Statistics Can Do for You
Brett DeneckereDr. Kimberly Dodson
April 26, 2011A “Living Legend” Production
Why Do We Use Statistics In Research?
• To understand the professional literature,
• To understand the rational underlying research in the behavioral sciences, and
• To conduct behavioral science research:– Explaining, predicting, and controlling social behavior.– Tentative conclusions about the existence and strength of
social relationships.
What Are Statistics?
• The recording, organizing, analyzing, and reporting of quantitative information;
• A collection of numerical data that measure something; and
• Numerical tools used by researchers to help them describe and explain phenomena.
Descriptive Statistics
• Descriptive statistics show the relationship between variables.
• They are used to describe and summarize a particular data set.
Creating a Bar Graph
How do you create a graph? graph
Well Doc, it’s actually not that hard. Let me
show you!
Select “Graphs” from the Menu
Select “Legacy Dialogs”
Select the “Bar Chart” Option
Select the “Simple” option
Click “Define”
Select a variable from the list.
Your selected variable appears here
Click OK and…
SHAZAM! Bar Graph
Testing Relationships
Well Doc, that would depend on the level of measurement of
your variables!
What analysis would you use to find out if
two variables are related? graph
Variables• Variable type is important to determine the level of
measurement and the techniques available to analyze data.– Continuous• Can assume an infinite number of values– Examples: time, age, length
– Discrete• Can assume only a finite number of whole unit values– Examples: sex, political affiliation, number of children in a
family
Levels Of Measurement• Nominal– Variables can be placed in mutually exclusive,
exhaustive categories, but can’t be ordered any further. • Languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Klingon
• Ordinal– Variables can be categorized as well as ranked
according to the degree to which a certain attribute is present• I love my mother: Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral,
Disagree, Strongly Disagree
Levels Of Measurement
• Interval– A scale with an arbitrary zero point, but equal
distance (intervals) between any two adjacent units.• Temperature in Celsius: 1°-100°
• Ratio– Contains all the properties of the first three levels,
but with an inclusion of an absolute zero point.• How much money is in your pocket: $4, $12, $20,
$7,596
Can the data be ordered?
Is there a true zero?
Ratio
Are there equal intervals?
Interval
Ordinal
Nominal
YES
YES
YES
NO
NO
NO
Process for determining level of measurementAdapted from: Walker, J. (1999). Statistics in Criminal Justice. Gaithersburg, Maryland: Aspen.
Testing Relationships
Let’s run a simple crosstabs to answer
that question!graph
What if we wanted to examine the
relationship between gender
and tobacco use ?
Select “Analyze” from
the MenuSelect
“Descriptive Statistics”
Select the “Crosstabs” Option
Select the Variables you
want to Examine
Your Variables will Appear Here
Click “OK”
Hit “Continue” and…
Boom Boom Pow! A Crosstabulation
Crosstabs Results
• The results indicate that males (54%) are more likely than females (32%) to use tobacco.
• Cramer’s V tells us the strength and direction of the relationship between two nominal level variables.
• There is a weak positive relationship between gender and tobacco use with males reporting more use than females.
Testing RelationshipsLet’s run a simple
bivariate correlation to answer that
question!
graph
What if we wanted to know if gender is related to binge
drinking?
Bivariate Correlation
• Bivariate correlation is a statistical technique that gives us the strength and direction of a relationship between two variables.
Select “Analyze” from the menu
Select the “Correlate” option
Select the “Bivariate” option
Select your variables
Both of your variables will appear here
Click “OK” and…
WHOOPAH!A Bivariate Correlation
Chart
Bivariate Correlation Results
• There is a weak positive relationship between gender and binge drinking (r = .26, p = .01).
• In other words, males are more likely to binge drink than females.
Conclusions
Statistics are powerful!
Great Scott!
This is Heavy!
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