Methods Fellows Series | Making Sense of Statistics: An Introduction to Understanding and Conducting Statistical Analyses

New

Itamar Shatz - Methods Fellow CDH

This course will introduce participants to key concepts in statistical analyses, including statistical significance, effect sizes, and linear models. The goal is to give participants the basic tools that they need in order to understand the use of statistical methods by others and to use these methods effectively in their own research. We will focus on an intuitive and practical understanding of statistical analyses, rather than on the mathematical details underlying them. As such, the course will be accessible for those without a quantitative background, although it will help to have knowledge of basic descriptive statistics (e.g., mean and standard deviation).

The course will cover (approximately) the following topics:

• Session 1: statistical significance and statistical tests (including hypothesis testing, p-values, statistical power, t-test, and chi-square test).
• Session 2: effect sizes, correlation, confidence intervals, and outliers.
• Session 3: linear regression (including simple/multiple regression, residuals, beta coefficients, and R-Squared).
• Session 4: linear regression continued (including test statistics, standard errors, centering, interaction, categorical predictors, linear models, and assumption testing).

This workshop is open to graduate students and staff at the University of Cambridge, places will be prioritised for participants who do not have training available from their own department/faculty in this area. Limited places are available and all applicants are requested to complete an information gathering form for a place to be secured (which will be shared upon registration).

It is relevant for any DH researchers who might encounter statistical analyses in their work, and do not already have a strong statistics background.

There are no prerequisites, although knowledge of basic descriptive statistics (e.g., mean and standard deviation) will be helpful.

Number of sessions: 4