Courses: Research methods for undergraduates or graduates. Objectives: The aims of this activity are: (1) to clarify the basics of experimental design; (2) to illustrate the concept of levels of measurement; (3) to demonstrate in-person/hands-on data collection procedures; (4) to understand and practice the steps in null hypothesis testing; and…

This article discusses the basics of the "4 scales of measurement" and how they are applicable to research or everyday tools of life. To do this you will be able to list and describe the four types of scales of measurement used in quantitative research; provide examples of uses of the four scales of measurement; and determine the…

We describe an activity that introduces students to population modelling, enables them to use estimates obtained from a sample to infer back to the population, and understands how the findings are translatable via penguins and their poo!

There is much debate about the place of probability in an introductory statistics course. While students may or may not use probability distributions in their post-collegiate lives, they will likely be faced with day-to-day decisions that require a probabilistic assessment of risk and reward. This paper describes an innovative way to teach…

Testing whether items fit the assumptions of an item response theory model is an important step in evaluating a test. In the literature, numerous item fit statistics exist, many of which show severe limitations. The current study investigates the root mean squared deviation (RMSD) item fit statistic, which is used for evaluating item fit in…

The study presented in this article examined the impact of two simulation-based inference activities on students' understanding of p-values in a second undergraduate statistics course. In the study, students familiar with traditional inference methods used physical and computer simulations to estimate p-values. To examine students' conceptions…

Few introductory statistics courses consider statistical inference for the median. This article argues in favour of adding a confidence interval for the median to the first statistics course. Several methods suitable for introductory statistics students are identified and briefly reviewed.

Children have limited exposure to statistical concepts and processes, yet researchers have highlighted multiple benefits of experiences in which they design and/or engage informally with statistical modelling. A study was conducted with a classroom in which students developed and utilised data-based models to respond to the inquiry question,…

Accompanied by increasing demands on school administrator preparation and rapid development of computer technology, educational statistics courses are exposed to unprecedented pressures for changing both curriculum content and computing platforms. In this article, the intended curriculum is reviewed according to data analysis expectations from…

Statistical thinking partially depends upon an iterative process by which essential features of a problem setting are identified and mapped onto an abstract model or archetype, and then translated back into the context of the original problem setting (Wild and Pfannkuch, Int Stat Rev 67(3):223-248, 1999). Assessment in introductory statistics…

Using simulation-based inference (SBI), such as randomization tests, as the primary vehicle for introducing students to the logic and scope of statistical inference has been advocated with the potential of improving student understanding of statistical inference and the statistical investigative process. Moving beyond the individual class…

We designed a sequence of courses for the DataCamp online learning platform that approximates the content of a typical introductory statistics course. We discuss the design and implementation of these courses and illustrate how they can be successfully integrated into a brick-and-mortar class. We reflect on the process of creating content for…

Psychology teachers have likely heard about the "replication crisis" and the "open science movement" in psychology, and they are probably aware that psychologists have proposed new standards for research practice. How should our psychology courses reflect these new standards? We describe several modern practices that have…

While various studies suggest that informal statistical inference (ISI) can be developed by young students, more research is needed to translate this claim into a well-founded learning trajectory (LT). As a contribution, this paper presents the results of a cycle of design research that focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of the…

While the use of inferential statistics is a nearly universal practice in the social sciences, there are instances where its application is unnecessary and potentially misleading. This is true for a portion of research using administrative data in educational research in the United States. Surveying all research articles using administrative data…