Statistics studies

Conducting a Study

Steps in conducting a study

1. State a hypothesis
2. Identify individuals of interest
3. State variables to measure
4. Choose entire-population VS sample
5. Address ethical concerns before collecting data
6. Collect Data
7. Use descriptive or inferential stats to answer hypothesis
8. Note concerns about data collection/analysis

Study Types

Experimental:  Change in behaviour is prescribed, and measure the outcomes
Observational: Don't change behaviour, just observe

Considerations

• Studies must be rigorous enough that they can be replicated
• Bias
  • Non-Response/Voluntary Response (who is not responding? is this a fair distribution?)
  • Truthfulness (are people lying on purpose? Are questions too personal?)
  • Recall-Bias (events that occurred a long time ago, mis-remembering events)
  • Hidden Bias (does the wording of your questions influence how people reply? if grading 1-5 is that fine-grad enough?)
  • Interviewer Influence: (should you choose an interviewer that is more similar to your sample?)
  • Placebo: including a placebo group helps account for the placebo-effect
  • Blinding: ensure participants, and those conducting study are unaware of control group they are in (double blind)