{"id":402,"date":"2021-08-04T15:35:18","date_gmt":"2021-08-04T22:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/hjames\/?p=402"},"modified":"2021-08-17T17:46:51","modified_gmt":"2021-08-18T00:46:51","slug":"statistics-striver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/hjames\/statistics-striver\/","title":{"rendered":"Statistics Striver"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am learning something outside of my comfort zone and these blogs will play host to my meaning-making. Please excuse my confusion as I sort new vocabulary and find my way. Any clarification of misconceptions or directions to sources of helpful information will be appreciated!<\/span><\/p>\n

Purpose<\/span><\/h3>\n

My PhD supervisor (Dr. Valerie Irvine<\/a>) set an early expectation of a well-rounded background in qualitative and quantitative research methods as part of my coursework. I have felt fearful of taking a \u201cstats\u201d course from the moment she assigned it! Math courses are traditionally test-based, and no matter how confident I am in the material I always feel very anxious about tests. I tend to overanalyze questions and doubt my ability to recognize answers. I spend more time deciphering what a question is asking than trusting my knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n

After a year of reading articles for assignments and in preparation for my lit review I can see the value in having a better understanding of statistics. In order to read and understand the statistics used in the literature, I will need to understand the process. I have noticed that I glaze over the tables in some articles and instead seek the meaning shared in the written summaries. Would I identify more trends or be more efficient when scanning articles if I was able to interpret these tables on my own?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Intention<\/span><\/h3>\n

I will use my strengths in language acquisition to develop statistical literacy. I will approach these new terms and equations like new vocabulary, grammar, and context. It may be unfamiliar, but with practice I will develop personal understanding and application.<\/span><\/p>\n

Progress (What I have learned so far) and Questions<\/span><\/h3>\n

Personal Meaning<\/span><\/h4>\n

I am at the very beginning of my learning in this topic. I am currently wondering if SPSS and R are interchangeable? Can I use either\/or for this course? I prefer Field\u2019s SPSS (2017) text as opposed to his R (2012) text. It has been updated, there are more current examples, and he has grouped the information somewhat differently. However, the bulk of the statistics content (from my initial perusal) is the same, only the \u201cenvironments\u201d or tools are different. Long term I believe that I would get more use out of learning R as it is free to access and seems like a more popular tool with the students I have worked with in EDCI335.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some bullet point \u201cah ha\u201d moments so far:<\/span><\/p>\n