Choosing The Appropriate Statistic

Choosing the Appropriate Statistic
Some factors to consider:

 Research design
 Number of groups
 Number of variables
 Level of measurement
(nominal, ordinal, interval/ratio)
NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

Statistical Methods
Statistical Methods
Descriptive Methods Inferential Methods
Univariate Applied to means
Bivariate Applied to other statistics
Multivariate

While the individual man is an insoluble puzzle, in the
aggregate he becomes a mathematical certainty. You
can, for example, never foretell what any one man will
be up to, but you can say with precision what an
average number will be up to. Individuals vary, but
percentages remain constant. So says the statistician.
— Arthur Conan Doyle

Types of Statistics
 Descriptive statistics characterize the attributes of

a set of measurements. Used to summarize data, to
explore patterns of variation, and describe changes
over time.
 Inferential statistics are designed to allow

inference from a statistic measured on sample of
cases to a population parameter. Used to test
hypotheses about the population as a whole.

The invalid assumption that correlation implies
cause is probably among the two or three most
serious and common errors of human reasoning.
— Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man

Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.
— Fletcher Knebel

Randomization
 Random selection is how you draw the

sample for your study from a population.
 This is related to the external validity, or
generalizability, of your results.

Randomization
 Random assignment is how you assign your

sample to groups or treatments in your study.
 This is related to internal validity.
 Random assignment is a required feature of a
true experimental design.

Variables
 Variables are qualities, properties, or

characteristics of persons, things, or situations
that change or vary and are manipulated,
measured, or controlled in research.
 More simply stated:

Variables are things that we measure, control,
or manipulate in research.

Types of Variables
 Independent variables are manipulated or

varied by the researcher, for example,
intervention or treatment.
 Dependent variables are the responses,
outcomes, etc. that are measured by the
researcher.
 Extraneous variables are not part of the
research design, but may have an impact on
the dependent variable(s).

Levels of Measurement
 Nominal
 Ordinal
 Interval
 Ratio

Nominal-Level Variables
 Data are organized into categories

 Categories have no inherent order
 Categories are exclusive
 Categories are exhaustive
 Examples are sex, ethnicity, marital status

Examples of Nominal-Level Questions
 Do you have a loss of appetite?
 Do you smoke a lot?
 What is your ethnicity?

Ordinal-Level Variables
 Categories can be ranked in order

 Intervals between categories may not be
equal
 Examples are socioeconomic status, level of
education attained (elementary school, high
school, college degree, graduate degree)

Examples of Ordinal-Level Questions
 Would Intervention X be your 1st, 2nd, or 3rd choice of
treatment for Condition Y?
1 First choice
2 Second choice
3 Third choice
 Beck Depression Scale – Sadness Item

0 I do not feel sad
1 I feel sad
2 I am sad all the time and I can’t snap out of it
3 I am so sad or unhappy that I can’t stand it

Interval-Level Variables
 Distances between levels of the scale are

equal
 Assumed to be a continuum of values
 An example is temperature (measured in

Fahrenheit or Centigrade)

Examples of Interval-Level Variables
 IQ scores
 GRE scores
 Composite scores of multi-item scales

Ratio-Level Variables
 Equal spacing between intervals

 Have an identifiable absolute zero point
 Examples are weight, length, volume, and
temperature (measured in Kelvin)
 In statistical analysis, typically there is no
distinction made between interval level and
ratio level

Same Variable, Different
Levels of Measurement
Interval level:
What is your age in years? ____
Ordinal level:
What is your age group?
 18 years or younger
 19-44 years
 45 years or older

Importance of Levels of Measurement
 Level of measurement is associated with the

type of statistical method used.
 Higher levels of measurement provide more
information than do lower levels.
 In general, you should use the highest level
of measurement possible. For example,
measure actual age in years, not in age
groups.

Some Major Types of Analyses
 Description
 Relationships among variables
 Differences between groups or treatments

There are three kinds of lies –
lies, damned lies and statistics.
— Benjamin Disraeli

Measures of Central Tendency
Level of
Statistic
Measurement
Nominal Mode What is the most frequent value?
What is the middle score?

Ordinal Median
(50% above and 50% below)
What is the average?

Interval/Ratio Mean (Sum of all scores divided by the
number of scores)

Example of Central Tendency
15,20,21,20,36,15,25,15
15,15,15,20,20,21,25,36

Example of Mode
RACE Race of Respondent Race of Respondent

1400
Frequency Percent
1 white 1257 83.8 1200
2 black 168 11.2

1000
3 other 75 5.0
Total 1500 100.0
800
Statistics 600
RACE Race of Res pondent 400

N Valid 1500
Frequency
Mis sing 0 200

Mode 1
0
w hite black other
Race of Respondent

Example of Median
EDUC Education level

10
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent
4 Some high s chool 1 4.2 4.2 9
5 Completed high school 6 25.0 29.2
6 Some college 6 25.0 54.2
8
7 Completed college 3 12.5 66.7
8 Some graduate work 4 16.7 83.3
9 A graduate degree 4 16.7 100.0 7
Total 24 100.0
6
Statistics
5
N Valid 24
Mis sing 0 4
Median 6.00
3
N= 24
Education level

Example of Mean
Age of Respondent
200
MEAN
100
Std. Dev = 17.42

Mean = 46
0 N = 1495.00
20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Age of Respondent

I abhor averages. I like the individual case. A man
may have six meals one day and none the next,
making an average of three meals per day, but that
is not a good way to live.
— Louis D. Brandeis

Measures of Variation
Level of
Statistic
Measurement
How many different values are

Nominal Number of categories
there?
What are the highest and lowest

Ordinal Range
values?
What is the average deviation

Interval/Ratio Standard Deviation
from the mean?

Curves of Distribution

Normal Distribution

Normal Curve

Example: Number of categories
RACE Race of Respondent Race of Respondent

1400
Frequency Percent
1 white 1257 83.8 1200
2 black 168 11.2

1000
3 other 75 5.0
Total 1500 100.0
800
600
400
Frequency
200
0
w hite black other
Race of Respondent

Example of Range
Cumulative
Frequency Percent Percent 10
4 Some high s chool 1 4.2 4.2
5 Completed high school 6 25.0 29.2
6 Some college 6 25.0 54.2 9
7 Completed college 3 12.5 66.7
8 Some graduate work 4 16.7 83.3 8
9 A graduate degree 4 16.7 100.0
Total 24 100.0
7
Statistics
6
N Valid 24
5
Mis sing 0
Median 6.00
Range 5 4
Minimum 4
3
Maximum 9 N= 24
Education level

Example of Standard Deviation
Age of Respondent
200
-1 SD MEAN +1 SD
100
Frequency
Std. Dev = 17.42

Mean = 46
0 N = 1495.00
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
25 35 45 55 65 75 85
Age of Respondent

Measures of Relationships
Level of
Statistic
Measurement
Nominal Phi statistic ()
Ordinal Spearman rho () correlation
Interval/Ratio Pearson correlation (r)

Statistics have shown that mortality increases
perceptibly in the military during wartime.
— Robert Boynton

Example of Spearman Correlation
RINCOM91 Respondent's Income DEGREE RS Highest Degree
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Frequency Percent Valid Percent

Valid 1 LT $1000 26 1.7 2.7 Valid 0 Les s than HS 279 18.6 18.6
2 $1000-2999 36 2.4 3.8 1 High school 780 52.0 52.1
3 $3000-3999 30 2.0 3.2 2 Junior college 90 6.0 6.0
4 $4000-4999 24 1.6 2.5 3 Bachelor 234 15.6 15.6
5 $5000-5999 23 1.5 2.4 4 Graduate 113 7.5 7.6
. . . . Total 1496 99.7 100.0
. . . . Mis sing 4 .3
. . . . Total 4 .3
19 $50000-59999 38 2.5 4.0 Total 1500 100.0
20 $60000-74999 23 1.5 2.4
21 $75000+ 44 2.9 4.6
Total 947 63.1 100.0
Mis sing 553 36.9
Total 1500 100.0
Correlations
RINCOM91
Res pondent's
Income
Spearman's rho EDUC Highes t Year Correlation Coefficient .363**
of School Completed Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 945
**. Correlation is significant at the .01 level (2-tailed).

Scatterplot of Self Esteem By Height

Relationship Between Two Variables
Positive Negative Curvilinear

Correlation Correlation Relationship

Example of Pearson Correlation
 Variable HEIGHT is measured in inches
 Variable ESTEEM is the average of 5 items
measured on a four-point scale (1-4)
Statistics 4.0
HEIGHT ESTEEM
N Valid 24 24
Mis sing 0 0 3.5
Mean 66.7917 2.7583
Std. Deviation 7.03395 .59558
3.0
Correlations
2.5
ESTEEM
HEIGHT Pears on Correlation .347
Sig. (2-tailed) .097
N 24 2.0
ESTEEM
1.5
50 60 70 80 90
HEIGHT

Example of Chi-Square Test
RACE * SEX Crosstabulation
SEX
1 Male 2 Female Total
Count % within SEX Count % within SEX Count % within SEX
RACE 1 white 552 86.1% 705 82.1% 1257 83.8%
2 black 66 10.3% 102 11.9% 168 11.2%
3 other 23 3.6% 52 6.1% 75 5.0%
Total 641 100.0% 859 100.0% 1500 100.0%
Chi-Square Tests
Asymp. Sig.
Value df (2-s ided)
Pears on Chi-Square 5.994 a 2 .050
N of Valid Cas es 1500
a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The
minimum expected count is 32.05.

Statistical thinking will one day be as
necessary a qualification for efficient
citizenship as the ability to read and write.
— H.G. Wells

Some Terminology
 Descriptive statistics
Statistics that allow the researcher to organize or
summarize data to give meaning or facilitate insight.
 Inferential statistics
Methods that allow inferences to be made from a
sample to a population
 Hypothesis testing
A statistical test of an expected relationship between
two or more variables

Statistical inference
Statistical inference is the process of estimating

population parameters from sample statistics.

Statistical inference may be used to ascertain
whether differences exist between groups...
90
80
70
Height in inches
60
50
40
30
20
10
Males Females
Are males taller than females?

... or whether there is a
relationship among variables.
4.0
SELF ESTEEM SCORE
3.5
3.0
2.5
GENDER
2.0
FEMALES
1.5 MALES
20 30 40 50 60
AGE
Is there a relationship between age and self-esteem?

Does this relationship differ for males and females?

Examples of Some Commonly Used Statistical Tests
Level of Measurement
Number of groups Nominal Ordinal Interval/Ratio

t-test of sample
Kolmogorov-Smirnoff 1
1 group 2 test mean vs. known
sample test
population value
2 test Independent
2 independent groups Mann-Whitney U test
samples t-test
2 dependent groups McNemar test Wilcoxon test Paired t-test
>2 independent groups 2 test Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA ANOVA
Friedman ANOVA by Repeated

>2 dependent groups Cochran Q test
ranks measures ANOVA

Some Commonly-Used Multivariate Methods
 Analysis of Variance and Covariance

Tests for differences in group means
 Multiple Regression Analysis
Estimates the value of a dependent variable
based on the value of several independent
variables

Some Commonly-Used Multivariate Methods
 Reliability analysis
Assesses the consistency of multi-item scales
 Factor Analysis
Examines the relationships among variables and
reveals related sets of variables (constructs)
 Structural Equation Modeling
Methods for testing theories about the
relationships among variables

Hypothesis Testing Decision Chart
Null Hypothesis (H0 ) is Alternative Hypothesis

Reality
true (H1) is true
Decision
Type I error Correct decision

Reject (H0 )
() (Power = 1 - )
typically .05 or .01 typically .80
Correct decision Type II error

Don’t reject (H0 ) (1 - ) ()
typically .95 or .99 typically .20

Difference between two group means:
The independent samples t-test
Males and females are asked a question that is
measured on a five-point Likert scale:
To what extent do you feel that regular exercise contributes
to your overall health?
1 Strongly agree
2 Agree
3 Neither agree nor disagree
4 Disagree
5 Strongly disagree
Do males and females differ in their response to this question?

25 males and 25 females answered our
question. Here is how they responded:
males
females
1 2 3 4 5
meanmales=2.5
meanfemales=3.2

Reporting Results
 See the guidelines in the

APA Publication Manual,
Fifth Edition
 The manual provides very
specific instructions for
presenting statistical results.
 Example:
The mean exercise score for
females, 3.24, was
significantly higher than for
males, 2.56, t(48) = 2.12, p =
.032.

Do the educational levels of males and females differ?
10
9
Education level
8
9 A graduate degree
8 Some graduate work 7
7 Completed college
6 Some college 6
5 Completed high school
4 Some high school 5
3 Completed grade school
2 Some grade school 4
1 No formal education
3
N= 14 10
Female Male
Gender

Because the dependent variable (education level)
is ordinal-level, we use the Mann-Whitney U Test.
Ranks
For each group, the GENDER N Mean Rank Sum of Ranks

EDUC Education level 1 Female 14 13.46 188.50
Sum and mean of ranks
2 Male 10 11.15 111.50
Is computed. Total 24
Test Statisticsb
The test statistics EDUC

suggest that males’ and Education
level
females’ education Mann-Whitney U 56.500
Wilcoxon W 111.500
levels do not differ in Z -.807
this population. Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed) .420
Exact Sig. [2*(1-tailed a
.437
Sig.)]
a. Not corrected for ties.
b. Grouping Variable: GENDER

Difference between two groups over time:
Repeated measures analysis of variance
 Asthmatic elementary school children are given

training intended to reduce the number of asthmatic
episodes.
 A control group is not given the training.
 Children’s school attendance is monitored during the
month before training is given to the intervention
group, and during each of the two months following
the intervention.
 Does the asthma training intervention improve the

school attendance relative to the control group?

The experimental design:
Month 0 Intervention Month 1 Month 2
Intervention Group O X O O
Control Group O O O
O = observation X = treatment/intervention

We can use the SPSS statistical package to
perform a repeated measures ANOVA on the
sample data:
First we enter the Then we request the General

data into SPSS. Linear Models procedure for
Repeated Measures.

Here are the results involving time:
Tests of Within-Subjects Effects
Meas ure: ATTEND
Type III Sum

Source of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
TIME .034 2 .017 1.695 .205 The time x group
TIME * GROUP .080 2 .040 3.956 .033 interaction is
Error(TIME) .244 24 .010 significant.
And here are the results involving group:

Tests of Between-Subjects Effects
Meas ure: ATTEND

Trans formed Variable: Average
Type III Sum
Source of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Intercept 28.271 1 28.271 6293.102 .000 The main effect
GROUP .068 1 .068 15.201 .002 involving group
Error .054 12 .004 is significant.

This is a plot of the group means over time
Estimated Marginal Means of ATTEND
100%
Attendance (% of days)
90%
Intervention
Control
80%
70%
Month 0 Month 1 Month 2
TIME

Factor Analysis Example
The General Social Survey (GSS) is an “almost annual” personal

interview survey of U.S. households conducted by the National
Opinion Research Center.
In the 1993 GSS, approximately 1500 adult respondents (18

years or older) were asked about their music preferences.
Just for the fun of it, I performed a factor analysis on the music
questions to see if we could identify a pattern of underlying
dimensions, or factors, in the data.

MUSIC GENRES
I'm going to read you a list
of some types of music. Big Band Folk
Bluegrass Jazz
Can you tell me which of Country/Western Opera
the statements on this card Blues or R & B Rap
comes closest to your Broadway Musicals Heavy Metal
feeling about each type of Classical
music. (HAND CARD “B”
TO RESPONDENT.)
RESPONSE CARD “B”
Let's start with big band
music. Do you like it very 1 Like Very Much
2 Like It
much, like it, have mixed
3 Mixed Feelings
feelings, dislike it, dislike it 4 Dislike It
very much, or is this a type 5 Dislike Very Much
of music that you don't 8 DK Much About It
know much about? 9 NA

Factor Analysis Results
The factor analysis revealed four factors in the music preference items.
The varieties of music were associated with the factors as shown below:
Pattern Matrixa
Factor
1 2 3 4
CLASSICL Clas sical Music .844 -.033 -.127 .054
OPERA Opera .715 -.004 -.032 .086
MUSICALS Broadway Mus icals .663 .109 -.024 -.104
FOLK Folk Music .502 -.064 .341 -.005
BIGBAND Bigband Music .459 .240 .125 -.171
JAZZ Jazz Mus ic .035 .766 -.110 .029
BLUES Blues or R & B Mus ic -.024 .714 .106 .057
BLUGRASS Bluegrass Music .070 .084 .753 .052
COUNTRY Country Wes tern Mus ic -.084 -.034 .596 -.033
HVYMETAL Heavy Metal Mus ic -.012 -.016 .020 .602
RAP Rap Mus ic .030 .074 -.004 .559
Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring.
Rotation Method: Oblimin with Kaiser Normalization.
a. Rotation converged in 8 iterations .

Factor Analysis Results
FACTORS
F1 F2 F3 F4
Classical Folk
Musicals Big Band
Heavy
Opera Jazz Blues Bluegrass Country Rap
Metal
MEASURED VARIABLES

Do not put faith in what statistics say until you
have carefully considered what they do not say.
— William W. Watt

Without data, all you are is just another
person with an opinion.
— Unknown

Statistical Power Analysis
 Prior to conducting a study, it is advisable

to conduct a statistical power analysis.
 Power is the probability that a statistical

test will detect a significant effect that
exists.
 The power analysis will suggest an

adequate sample size for the study.

Four parameters related to
the power of a test:
 Significance level ()
 Sample size (n)
 Effect size (ES)
 Power (1 - )

Relationship between power
and other parameters:
 As significance level () decreases

numerically, power decreases
 As effect size increases, power

increases
 As sample size increases, power

increases

Conventions commonly used:
 Significance level (): .05 *

.01
.001
 Effect size: “small”
“medium” *
“large”
 Power: .80 *
.90
* Typical values for social/behavioral/health sciences

Examples of Effect Size:
EFFECT SIZE
TYPE OF MEASURE OF
TEST EFFECT SIZE
SMALL MEDIUM LARGE
Independent |mA-mB|
Samples T- .2 .5 .8
test 
Product
Moment rXY .10 .30 .50
Correlation

Testing a mean against a true alternative:
1 slightly larger than 0 (“small effect”)
Sampling distribution of
means when H0 is true
Area= Sampling distribution of
means when H1 is true
Area=1-
Area=
0 1
Region of nonrejection Region of rejection

Critical value

Testing a mean against a true alternative:
1 quite a bit larger than 0 (“large effect”)
Area= Area=1-
Area=
0 1
Region of nonrejection Region of rejection

Critical value

Relationship Between Alpha(),
Sample Size (n), and Power (1-)
Two group t-test of equal means (equal n's)
α = 0.025 ( 2) Êδ = 0.500
Æ
α = 0.050 ( 2) Êδ = 0.500
Æ
α = 0.100 ( 2) Ê
Æ δ = 0.500
100
90
80
Power
power=.80
70
60
n=51 n=64 n=78

50
20 40 60 80 100 120
Sample Size per Group

The Power Analysis “Bible”

There are a lot of statistical power analysis
resources (including interactive “power
calculators”) on the World Wide Web.
For example, see the StatPages.net web site at:

http://members.aol.com/johnp71/javastat.html#Power
Or, using a WWW search engine like Yahoo or Google,

use the search string:
statistical power analysis

Getting Help
 For course assignments involving statistics,

see your instructor or teaching assistant.
 For help related to a masters thesis or applied
project, see your faculty advisor.
 Your instructor or advisor may confer with or
make an appointment as needed with a
statistician in the College of Nursing Center for
Research and Scholarship.

Getting Help
The Statistics Hotline is
sponsored by a joint effort of the
ASU Committee on Statistics,
the Department of Mathematics
and Statistics, and the Division
of Graduate Studies. Its
services are available to
anyone affiliated with ASU and
needs assistance with their
ASU-related research.
http://www.asu.edu/graduate/statistics/hotline/

An approximate answer to the right question
is worth a great deal more than a precise
answer to the wrong question.
— The first golden rule of mathematics,

sometimes attributed to John Tukey

Statistical Terms Crossword Solution

On the Web
This presentation is available online in Microsoft

PowerPoint format at:
http://www.public.asu.edu/~eagle/stat_sampler.ppt

Choosing The Appropriate Statistic

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Choosing the Appropriate Statistic

Some factors to consider:

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

Descriptive Methods Inferential Methods

Univariate Applied to means

Bivariate Applied to other statistics

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

— Arthur Conan Doyle

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Descriptive statistics characterize the attributes of

 Inferential statistics are designed to allow

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

— Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Random selection is how you draw the

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Random assignment is how you assign your

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Variables are qualities, properties, or

 More simply stated:

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Independent variables are manipulated or

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Data are organized into categories

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Do you have a loss of appetite?

 Do you smoke a lot?

 What is your ethnicity?

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Categories can be ranked in order

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Beck Depression Scale – Sadness Item

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Distances between levels of the scale are

 Assumed to be a continuum of values

 An example is temperature (measured in

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Composite scores of multi-item scales

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Equal spacing between intervals

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Level of measurement is associated with the

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

 Relationships among variables

 Differences between groups or treatments

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

Nominal Mode What is the most frequent value?

What is the middle score?

What is the average?

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

RACE Race of Respondent Race of Respondent

2 black 168 11.2

RACE Race of Res pondent 400

Mis sing 0 200

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

EDUC Education level

NURSING Dream ● Discover ● Deliver

Std. Dev = 17.42